WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam is not only widely regarded as one of the most influential performers of the modern era, but was also known to be rather stiff in the ring, making him an easy fit in the world of ECW in the ’90s. One man who he and a lot of other people were stiff with was Spike Dudley, who RVD wrestled numerous times in ECW and WWE.
During a recent edition of his “1 Of A Kind” podcast, RVD revealed why people were so tough on the runt of the Dudley family.
“I beat the s**t out of Spike,” RVD said. “That’s what you do with him, you know? That’s what you do with him. You’ve got a 100 — maybe 165-pound dude in the ring with you, what else are you going to do? But that’s what Spike was good at was his durability, his endurance … he was able to take an a** whooping and keep on going, and that’s kind of what got him over. I was pretty snug with everybody, but those matches, I remember those as being pretty solid. I had fun with it, I don’t know, that was my style, and I love Spike, still do, and I love doing that to him, taking it and giving it both.”
Spike has admitted that his reckless care for his own body not only helped him get over with the fans but made other wrestlers look good too. He was famously powerbombed three times in a row during Brock Lesnar’s debut in 2002, put through multiple flaming tables by The Dudley Boyz in ECW, and took what The Undertaker described as one of the nastiest bumps he had ever seen during their match.
Please credit “1 Of A Kind” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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