RVD is one of the superstars who is debated over most on this forum. There are many avid supporters of this very unique superstar. But at the same time, there are many who dislike him as well. So I've decided to do a thread trying to....'explain' his situation a bit better so that people will know what they're talking about when the debates resurface (it's inevitable)... The first thing I'd like to touch on is that RVD is one of WWE's most popular superstars. No matter what they do with him or where ever they choose to stick him on the card, he is always over with the fans. This shows that in this aspect, he is ready for the main-event. But, this alone doesn't get you into the main event scene... RVD has never shone in the mic skills department. Sure, he has improved and sure as hell feels comfortable when he's out there, talking on the mic, but he's not one of those inventive guys like JBL, Edge, HBK, etc who are really articulate with their promos. But then again, not many people are. But when he does speak on the mic, RVD's mic skills are definitely good enough. Especially for his type of character. One aspect of RVD that is debateable is his character and personality. At times it seems like RVD is too silent or doesn't have enough speaking parts. But RVD shows his charisma in his own unique way...

While some of the time, WWE restricts his character in terms of talking on the mic and sometimes giving him limited roles in backstage segments, he finds his own way to get through to the crowd, and that is through his personality. For a good example, RVD may not have said a single word in weeks, but whenever he makes his way down to the ring and points his thumbs at himself, you can bet that the whole arena will be saying those three letters: R----V----D!

With that being said, RVD has another important way of showing his personality...and that is his wrestling skill. RVD is one of the few superstars who has a very gimmicky move-set and that is one of the things that conveys his extreme personality.

Which brings me to my next point... the in-ring work of RVD. This is surprisingly one of the most debated issues of RVD. To most people, when they see an RVD match, they are very impressed and find his in-ring work very entertaining, which it is....but there is more to the story...

RVD's in-ring psychology is the part of his in-ring skill that gets picked at the most. When in reality, his in-ring psychology problems are very miniscule, especially when compared to other wrestlers that don't take half the crap for it that he does.

For example, people often complain when RVD is getting worked over in a match, but then goes right back to his high-octane, sky-high style when he returns to offense. While this is a problem, it's not as bad as it's made out to be. Because RVD does sell well, and does sell the 'injuries' his opponent gave to him as the match continues, but doesn't do it perfectly. There might be a few times, for example, if RVD's leg was getting worked over, he might still do a martial arts kick later. Even though this is a bit of a problem, RVD sells the injuries well enough and it doesn't come out looking like RVD pulled a superman victory out of his sleeve.

Take the current WWE champion, John Cena, for example. Now before I begin, I'm not a Cena-hater, nor a fan, I'm just using him as an example because he has a big problem when it comes to in-ring psychology. In an RVD match, his opponent works him over and as the match continues, here and there there'll be a small move that....'breaks' slightly what the opponent just did to him. But with John Cena, he'll get worked over, then hit his comeback combo, not showing any weakness of what his opponent just did. And when he wins, it comes off looking like a complete superman victory, which is a very negative thing.

Now, although there is a lot of Cena hate, when do you hear people complain about his in-ring psychology problems, which is his biggest problem with his ring work" Almost never. When in reality his in-ring psychology problems are about 10 times as bad as RVD's.

And although RVD may have minor in-ring psychology problems, it's really nothing to complain about. Because in the long run, if RVD's style would probably be a lot less entertaining and exciting if he didn't break a small rule here and there. And it's not like that is going to ruin a match by any means.

In conclusion, I think that RVD is definitely ready for the main event scene. However, the only thing that I would say needs to happen before he would get the belt, would be to focus on his character a little more. Just give him a few more backstage promos and a few more mic work segments. Even if they waited until after he used the briefcase if they wanted the shock value, it could wait until after he won the title. Much the same way that it went with Edge a few months earlier. But other than that, he's ready to make a 5 star impact on the main event scene.

by Matt Cooper..