Bruce Prichard On RVD’s Push To The Main Event In 2002, If HHH & HBK Disliked RVD

On a recent edition of Something To Wrestling, Bruce Prichard talked about the dream match, or lack thereof, between Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam. The demise of Shock TV and attempt to get Steve Austin return. Some highlights are below.

On Vince McMahon declaring shock TV dead: “Shock TV was over it was dead. It wasn’t Shock TV, it was Crash TV. It was a different way to do things. All too often if you find something that works, we are guilty of this, wear it the f*** out. We were all guilty of that. You Crash TV and you Crash TV until you crash into a wall.”

On an India trip: “Horrible. Horrible. Regal and Booker T getting really, really sick. I remember Booker laying on a table in the hallway just doubled over in pain… Regal got a parasite or something that just tore his system up so he got really sick… India is a tricky place.”

On the dream match between Shawn Michaels & Rob Van Dam: “I think it was a styles clash. It was a clash of styles that I didn’t think would work. I really didn’t. Rob needs a certain kind of opponent. Shawn could work a broomstick. Rob defitnely wasn’t a broomstick. Rob was heavy, he was thick.. It was ugly. It got hit by an ugly stick. It was two guys who didn’t mesh. They were not meshing for several minutes.. It didn’t gel.”

On if it’s true that HHH & HBK didn’t like RVD’s work: “No. They actually were both big fans of Rob. They were two proponents of getting Rob into the mix. Hence the reason we even did the match. A lot of the luster came off when Rob came off the top onto Hunter’s throat.. It wasn’t clumsy it was just an accident. I think a lot of people looked at that and thought Rob was dangerous. That was a reputation that Van Dam had. That he was dangerous. I didn’t think Rob was dangerous, I thought he was snug. I don’t think anything Rob ever did was dangerous to his opponents. In hurting Hunter it was ‘oh God, he’s dangerous.”

On using Fabulous Moolah in 2002: “Absolutely. She loved working. She loved coming in and doing whatever it is we wanted her to do. Moolah would have worked everyday if she could. She just loved it. She loved being out in front of an audience and being in the ring performing.”

On trying to get Steve Austin Back in late 2002: “It was more Steve was going to have to come to us. JR was working hard. He was working real hard on it. Vince’s feeling was Steve walked out. Steve left us we didn’t leave Steve. If and when Steve wants to come back we’ll listen.”

If you use any of the above quotations, please credit Something To Wrestle With with an h/t to 411mania for the transcription.