Jim Ross on Why WWE Helped ECW Stay Afloat, Talks Rob Van Dam Appearing on Raw

– Jim Ross discussed WWE’s famous deal to financially support ECW in 1997 on the latest Grilling JR podcast. Speaking with Conrad Thompson, Ross recalled Rob Van Dam appearing on Raw in May of 1997 and how that came about. Highlights and the podcast are below:

On WWE working to keep ECW afloat: “Well, it is [groundbreaking]. One of the things behind the scenes that some people know is that the WWF at the time was subsidizing ECW and helping them keep their doors open. I know that to be a fact, it’s not heresay because it came out of my budget on the talent relations side. And that was for several reasons. I think Vince actually liked Paul [Heyman], I certainly did. We knew he was a bright mind who was there if we ever needed something somewhere down the road. He was an asset that we wanted to at least cover to some degree. But the other thing is, is that we also knew that ECW had some really good talents. And so many of them were Northeastern guys, that they grew up with the WWWF background and DNA. So they would be a good fit for us, because they would want to come to our company we thought. And they did. So there’s a lot of reasons to do that, and it helped keep the business alive. All kinds of the right reasons. So that was kind of the part of that deal. It wasn’t like it was a screwjob on Paul or anything, it was all planned out.”

On Rob Van Dam appearing on Raw: “But I thought Rob Van Dam — I still do, I think he’s one of the best performers we ever had. He can do things that were so far ahead of their time. He’s so innovative and creative and unique. And the thing a lot of people don’t realize about Rob, you talk about how tough he is. His movie that he did not too long ago, little documentary was really good. He talked about his concussions. This son of a gun worked hurt a lot. He was tougher than a two-dollar steak without a doubt. So Rob Van Dam was always high on my list of talents, and I’m glad that we got him. Rob Van Dam had that ability — that inherent ability, which is a blessing in this business — to connect with his audience. Because he was being himself, not unlike how Steve Austin was being himself or Shawn Michaels being himself, or Bret Hart. Rob Van Dam [the character] was an enhanced version of Rob Van Dam [the person]. And people could get that. They didn’t think that they were being worked.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.