RVD is pushing back against the long-running criticism surrounding WWE’s in-ring style, explaining why he believes the company’s approach actually makes wrestlers more effective performers in the long run.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, RVD explained that WWE teaches wrestlers to slow down, make fewer moves count, and connect more with the crowd instead of just throwing everything into a match. He said he once warned Sammy that WWE would change his style and force him to rethink how he worked.
“I was telling Sammy though at that show, I was like, ‘Bro, you’re gonna hate the way they’re going to change you up there.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want to ruin your night or tear you apart right now, you know, but all this doesn’t make sense up there.’ They’re going to take that from you and they’re going to teach you to slow it down—to do less, but to make it mean more.”
RVD said he wasn’t guessing because every wrestler goes through that adjustment when they enter WWE’s system.
“Everybody goes through it. Everybody does. There’s still an appropriate pace for the competition, but slowing down what you’re doing and making it mean more—having it more explosive.”
He explained that doing more moves does not automatically make a match better. In his view, one strong, explosive moment can mean more than several weak-looking moves stacked together.
“There are wrestlers I see where their stuff looks weak, right? And they’re like bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam—and they did way too much because it wasn’t explosive. If they would have just done one ‘bam’ and it really smacked, then guess what? You’re making it mean more.”
RVD said wrestlers often resist that lesson at first because they think being told to slow down means their creativity is being restricted. Over time, though, RVD believes wrestlers realize WWE’s style is designed to help them connect with a bigger audience and make more money.
“It’s a different style, and you kick and scream because the artist inside of you says, ‘They can’t keep up with me, so they’re telling me to slow down.’ That’s bull***—they should be faster. But eventually you realize what they’re teaching you is a way to connect with the crowd more, and then you’re going to grow and make more money.”
He added that the mainstream audience will usually respond more to that style than to the faster, more self-indulgent approach some wrestlers may prefer. RVD added that wrestlers owe it to themselves to learn WWE’s style and adapt when necessary.
“So yeah—the mainstream is always going to react more to that than the way the artist inside of you wanted to do it. That’s okay for the backyard, or maybe a deathmatch show, or even a smaller indie show. But when it comes to the big stage, you’re talking about the majority of basic thinkers, and they’re going to relate to the mainstream style the most. So when you look at it that way, it really is something you owe it to yourself to learn and adapt when necessary.”
RVD’s point is simple: WWE’s style may frustrate wrestlers at first, but it teaches them timing, selling, crowd connection, and how to make moments feel bigger. In his view, that is what makes performers more effective on the biggest stage.
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