Rob Van Dam says the Me Too movement has affected wrestling, but not as much as he believes it eventually will.
Speaking on The Dirty Secrets Podcast with Kate Shelor, RVD discussed how sexualized wrestling was during parts of the 2000s before being asked whether the Me Too movement has changed the industry.
So back in, let’s see what year would this have been, I don’t know, between 2001 and 2005 definitely in that time, it was like WWE was trying to push the envelope as much as they could.
ECW, where I came from, is very instrumental in kicking off the whole Ruthless Aggression era, which has your anti-heroes and your counterculture theme.
RVD said the tone of ECW helped influence adult-themed wrestling on a more mainstream level.
So it was like adult-themed. ECW was ultraviolent, swear words. I mean, they had weird custody angles and stuff.
That bled out into mainstream wrestling.
RVD pointed to WWE’s use of adult-themed segments during that period.
Then WWE was doing HLA, hot lesbian action, was something they would build every week.
The girls, and any of the girls that were wrestlers, well most of them, they had to do dance-offs and strip. That was part of it back then.
When asked if the Me Too movement has affected wrestling, RVD said he believes it has, but that there is more to come.
Absolutely. Not as much as it’s going to.
Katie and I were talking about there’s been a few times when we thought the lid was about to get blown off on some of our peers.
RVD said there have been moments where he thought things were about to escalate publicly, only for the subject to fade away.
Right when it started getting messy, boom, it went away.
I just think that’s going to happen only so many times.
Vince McMahon was also mentioned during the conversation, with Shelor noting the scandals surrounding the former WWE Chairman.
Always has been.
I don’t think it’s one of those things when you see the headlines, you’re not surprised.
RVD said some of the specific details that have emerged have still been surprising.
Some of the details that came out are surprising, though.
Lines are definitely crossed. Like, I didn’t see that coming.
RVD compared the broader lack of surprise to scandals involving major figures in Hollywood.
You see Hollywood, you come out with some director, some producer who’s a dirtbag, and you’re like, of course.
You’re not surprised. You could be shocked at what they do, but you’re not surprised.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Dirty Secrets Podcast with Kate Shelor, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
