It's official: RVD is Champ
On Monday Night RAW, Rob Van Dam was officially confirmed as the new WWE Champion and accordingly, a celebration was announced for Tuesday's ECW premiere on Sci Fi. Also, in response to the statements from Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon, John Cena made a statement of his own, taking out three of ECW's most extreme wrestlers with a steel chair.
Sunday night at One Night Stand, Rob Van Dam captured the WWE Championship in what some WWE fans are calling "controversial fashion". At the beginning of RAW, Paul Heyman addressed the controversy regarding the WWE Championship. "Edge blatantly interfered in the match, there's no denying that. Two referees were incapacitated and I, Paul Heyman did count John Cena's shoulders down 1-2-3. I'm not an official referee but it was under ECW rules, which means anything goes. Therefore, ladies and gentleman, Rob Van Dam is officially the new WWE Champion." (watch the announcement)
Heyman continued, and in the process made a huge announcement regarding ECW's ground breaking debut on Sci Fi. "Tomorrow night is the world premiere of ECW on Sci Fi. On that very show tomorrow night, the WWE Championship will be re-christened the ECW Championship. RVD will be a fighting champion, and ECW does recognize Edge as the No. 1 contender. RVD will defend that title at Vengeance against Edge, therefore ECW would like to invite Edge and Lita to join us tomorrow night."
Minutes after Heyman's announcement, Mr. McMahon upheld the ruling during his State of the WWE address. "ECW's representative Paul Heyman made it very clear at the top of the show when he stated that we have a new WWE Champion, and his name is Rob Van Dam."
Also at One Night Stand, the new face of ECW, Kurt Angle forced Randy Orton to tap out. On RAW, Randy Orton delivered a challenge to the Wrestling Machine. "At One Night Stand, I faced Kurt Angle in an ECW ring on ECW turf with ECW rules. If he has any guts, he'll do me the favor of facing me at Vengeance in a WWE ring, with a WWE ref under WWE rules. Vengeance is my destiny."
Later, ECW wrestlers Balls Mahoney, Stevie Richards and Justin Credible sat ringside in the front row for the main event between John Cena and Edge. Following the match, the ECW wrestlers hopped the barrier and engaged in a wild brawl with the former WWE Champion. Unlike what happened at One Night Stand, Cena would get the upper hand after the repeated use of a steel chair. (watch the ECW wrestlers on Unlimited)
Following the attack, Cena took the microphone and made a promise to ECW's Paul Heyman. "At One Night Stand, I got an awakening as to how ECW does business. According to them, anybody can show up and when they get there they can do whatever the hell they want. You know what I think? I think I like it. I think I really like it because tomorrow night is the television debut of ECW and I'm gonna show up. And when I do, I'm gonna do whatever the hell I want. So Paul Heyman, thank you for throwing this party tomorrow night, because I guarantee you, John Cena will have an extremely good time." (watch Cena's promise)
What will happen when the most extreme form of wrestling returns to national television? What will John Cena and Edge have to say when Rob Van Dam is named the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion? History will be made tonight when the new breed is unleashed. The only way to see it is to tune in live to the Sci Fi channel tonight at 10/9 CT.
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