RVD Names AEW Star As The Top Heel Of 2021

As a guest of Sportskeeda Wrestling, Rob Van Dam talked about AEW and what his initial thoughts were of the brand new wrestling company. The WWE Hall of Famer mentioned how he thought at first the company would be just like IMPACT and other companies but after watching them hit the success they have, he believes they're legit competition.

"Pretty cool, they're groundbreaking," RVD said. "When they first came out, they just stood as good a chance as everybody else in my mind because even though I heard they had a lot of money, this guy owns [the Jacksonville Jaguars], even with all of that, that wasn't anything new. Happens all the time, every once in a while somebody comes up and they think they're going to be the next big thing and usually, they have one show, if that, and then they're done.

"AEW started and I thought they were just going to be another one of those companies, and they certainly weren't. It's amazing that they draw as many fans as they do and that's on TV and in person. The crowds are so much bigger than IMPACT Wrestling or a lot of the independents outside of WWE. So they've stepped up and they really are the next big thing."

Just this past month, RVD revealed that neither WWE or AEW had been in contact with him for an appearance or to wrestle. During this interview, RVD revealed that he expressed interest to WWE about making a return at the Royal Rumble but he never received a call back.

Continuing to speak about AEW, RVD talked about one of the top stars in the company, MJF, and why he thinks he was the top heel of 2021. Having just won the biggest match of his career against CM Punk, MJF has yet to lose a singles match in AEW. Van Dam revealed a story of MJF and why it told him he's such a great heel.

"I think MJF really has the fans' attention," RVD said. "He's super committed from what I understand, he was at a comic convention of some kind and on his own without the production crew behind him or anything, he walked into a room full of black people but they had a black person on stage and he said, 'Does anybody have any questions on Black Lives Matter?' Like, what a heel. He's just committed, he doesn't laugh at himself or break character that I know."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.