|
Before I get into RVD, I had to address the HHH-Lesnar thing. HHH did actually do a number on Lesnar. Hunter was the one who convinced Vince to create a second World Title. Why? Well it was Hunter's turn to do a JOB to Lesnar. If you look at the guys Brock went through, Hunter was likely going to be next in line after Brock finished with Taker. However, Hunter didn't like that idea, and knew he couldn't lobby to actually beat Brock so early in his title run, so he swered him out of being Undisputed Champion. If you look at the PPV numbers, that did a real number to Lesnar as a draw.
As for RVD, I think the answer is all of the above, excpet I dont think Hunter had much of a say at least in his first missed push. Why RVD didn't get pushed in the Fall of '01 will always be a mystery to me. At that time they were desperate to create a new babyface who could fued with the heel Austin. They knew HHH wasn't coming back till the new year, so RVD would have been a great choice to run with the ball. But that never happened.
I think it was in part because he wasn't a WWE creation, it was in part because he didn't 'know how to work the WWE main event stlye', he hurt people in the ring, and yeah he cant cut a promo. All of these things contributed to his lack of push.
Oddly enough the next year they seemed to have another golden opportunity to push Mr PPV, but again balked. The second time was all because of HHH. RVD would have made a great choice for champion, especially since Hunter was handed the championship, and having RVD beat him clean in the ring would have legitimized the title somewhat. However, as Hunter always seems to do, he avoided doing a JOB, and kept the title around his waist.
Now RVD is just a guy people pop for, but really dont care about, maybe he could be revived if he was moved over to SD, but his various actions over the years has made it a certainty that he will never get pushed in the WWE.
Its a sad, missed opportunity, but hey its Vince's money to piss away I guess.
|