Produced By Tiar’a Literary & Illustration
The nineteen-nineties, was a time when neon, big hair, and wild clothing of the nineteen-eighties was unceremoniously laid to rest, and quite abruptly. Though decades later, the pomp and circumstance of the nineteen-eighties would be resurrected to quell the drab and colorless nineties – and thank God!
In the world of professional wrestling, a massive change swept across the platform of its organizations. From the then WWF (that was the name of the WWE before it became WWE) to the non-defunct WCW (World Championship Wrestling) a new attitude was emerging. It wasn’t the same as the one that had been populated by colorful characters that made kids and families smile in the eighties. It was far cry.
As a reflection of the times, pro wrestling evolved. Many would have preferred the nineteen-eighties style of pro wrestling to continue. Although, advertisers, and the wrestling “powers-the-be” opted to go in a new direction …
From this came the birth of ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) previously known as Eastern Championship Wrestling. The company was based in Philadelphia and operated by current WWE personality and WWE Hall of Famer, Paul Heyman. At the time, Paul was more affectionately referred to as Paul E. Dangerously.
Paul’s new vision for pro wrestling involved a more aggressive, violent, non-PG, non-gimmick-driven product, which eventually caught traction across the entire pro wrestling landscape.
In the late nineteen-nineties, the WWF and WCW mirrored elements of the ECW environment. However, neither company was able to quite duplicate its raw unadulterated passion. One of the reasons was due to the fact neither WWF or WCW had access to the cast of characters ECW had. Among those were future WWE world champion, and class of 2021 WWE Hall of Famer, Rob Van Dam.
Rob began his career in Battle Creek Michigan in the nineteen-eighties. Prior to stepping into a pro wrestling ring professionally, Rob was a champion kickboxer and martial artist. When Rob shared his story with us live on the Victoire podcast, we quickly discovered that Rob’s early career eerily resembled that of the hit Netflix series, Cobra Kai.
Join us soon on Victoire for an in-depth 2024 interview with one of pro wrestling’s most inspiring performers – Rob Van Dam. His career, and life outside the ring are truly Hall of Fame worthy.
If you are a fan of pro wrestling, and if you want to know more about past wrestling legends, current stars, up and comers, and hear from YOU, the fans, then check out one of the greatest new podcast series on YouTube – VICTOIRE. With class, and eye-opening insight into wrestlers’ personal lives, to thought-provoking questions that educate, inspire, and motivate. VICTOIRE will be the number one wrestling podcast series in the world, and we want you to be a part of it. Simply search, @VICTOIREPODCAST on YouTube and make sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button, LIKE and SHARE videos. The more people know, the better.
