During the March 19th, 2025 edition of AEW Dynamite, Jon Moxley successfully defended his AEW World Championship by defeating Adam Copeland (Cope) in a brutal street fight. The match, which leaned heavily into hardcore wrestling, saw Moxley take a painful bump onto a bat covered in nails — referred to as Cope’s “spike” bat. The violent spectacle drew plenty of reactions, both from fans and those within the industry.

One voice that stood out was WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam, who addressed the match on his podcast and took issue with the extreme nature of the spot. In a video posted on his official RVDTV.com website, Van Dam clarified his position after being labeled a “hypocrite” by critics on social media.

“Now, I did not bash AEW. I would not bash AEW. And it seems to me by far, the worst part about AEW — and I hope this quote gets picked up — is the fans on [the] IWC,” RVD said. “The fans are so ignorant. Here is what I said. I am going to say it again. So if it hurt to hear it the first time, you are going to hear it again. I am going to tell you what I did say.”

RVD took time to explain that while his career included plenty of violent matches — especially during his run in ECW — that style was never his personal preference.

“My whole career in ECW, even before that, the matches that Sabu taught me were garbage matches, which included all the weapons and gore and had wrestlers that did not even have to know how to wrestle to be in the match. Those have always been the bottom of the list of my favorite matches. That is my opinion. If you do not think I have a right to say that because I was in ECW… So here is the thing. Those matches, especially the ones that have like thumb tacks, glass, fire, fish hooks… and when they have the competitors in there that do not do a single wrestling move, and they do not even have to know how to wrestle, quote, ‘to me, that is not wrestling.’”

He then pointed directly to AEW’s current direction as a company, suggesting it is moving further toward extreme content.

“The more AEW does things like that, like the Jon Moxley Spike Bat thing — and I think that they are heading in that direction more — I think WWE is heading into more like old-school WWE storytelling in the ring and less of ‘let us stick a knife through someone’s cheek, burn their house down, go for shock value.’ The more that they seem to be two separate styles, which I am fine with, the more I personally would rather have RVD, the wrestler, associated with WWE.”

RVD reiterated that he was not attacking AEW as a promotion, but rather expressing a personal taste in wrestling.

“Now, if you heard that and you still feel like I am bashing AEW, you need to check yourself. You are way too defensive because I am not, and I am not even bashing that spot. I do not like that spot. But the people do not understand. The fans are so challenged that they hit me with things like, ‘well, if you did that stuff and you are saying you do not like it, you are a hypocrite.’ That is not what a hypocrite is. You know what? I do not like to be in mixed tag matches, but I did them. Does that make me a hypocrite?”

Van Dam’s comments continue to spark debate, especially among fans who associate him with the very hardcore style he now critiques. Nevertheless, his message was clear — his perspective comes from experience, not contradiction.

"Okay, now I didn’t bash AEW, I wouldn’t bash AEW and it seems to me by far, the worst part about AEW and I hope this quote gets picked up, is the fans on IWC. The fans are so ignorant." [RVDTV.com]
byu/TonyGrapevine inSquaredCircle