Did he Has Big Expectations On His Return: No, I can’t say that I’ve had any specific expectations for the excitement prior to my return. WWE has been really pumping up my return. It’s great. As soon as that first video aired, my phone was blowing up. Whether people were sitting in their living room in Oklahoma or in a bar in Dublin, Ireland, everyone was chanting “RVD.” That’s a pretty awesome feeling.
On Wrestling In Philadelphia: Philadelphia’s awesome. It’s one of my top home away from homes. When I walk around on the streets there, people recognize me. They think I’m from Philadelphia, because I was there so much and because I’m so associated with Philadelphia through ECW. That was Paul’s genius. It wasn’t just a hardcore, extreme, rebellious, renegade wrestling company. It had the flavor and the pride of South Philly, which was very proud of ECW and me and my accomplishments. Because of that, people will always associate me with Philly.
On Winning The WWE Title From John Cena: Winning the match at the Hammerstein Ballroom and bringing home that championship to ECW meant so much to me. Not because I always wanted to be WWE Champion. In fact, I didn’t think that was ever going to happen if I hadn’t changed the entire playing field. When we brought ECW back as a third brand, I couldn’t have been happier. That was the way I wanted to be seen. When I’m in the ring, I’m showing off. That’s what I get out of my matches. Just like this upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match. It’s the perfect way to bring RVD back, because the rules that normally confine us and make us harder to stand out are thrown out the window. For me, [reviving ECW] was a resurgence of motivation. Doing the ECW style on WWE’s platform was a dream come true that I had never thought possible before. I was the happiest that I could have been.
On Why He Left in 2007: I was burned out from the schedule. I never had any time off and I was always homesick. And once I knew for sure that ECW was going downhill, I was disheartened and unmotivated and the routine became monotonous. I needed to disengage myself from it in order to rebuild my inner self. When my contract expired, John Laurinaitis wanted me to re-sign, take a couple months off and come back. I couldn’t do it. At the time, I was so burned out that whenever I was home, I was literally counting the hours until I had to go back to the airport.
On Wrestling In Philadelphia: Philadelphia’s awesome. It’s one of my top home away from homes. When I walk around on the streets there, people recognize me. They think I’m from Philadelphia, because I was there so much and because I’m so associated with Philadelphia through ECW. That was Paul’s genius. It wasn’t just a hardcore, extreme, rebellious, renegade wrestling company. It had the flavor and the pride of South Philly, which was very proud of ECW and me and my accomplishments. Because of that, people will always associate me with Philly.
On Winning The WWE Title From John Cena: Winning the match at the Hammerstein Ballroom and bringing home that championship to ECW meant so much to me. Not because I always wanted to be WWE Champion. In fact, I didn’t think that was ever going to happen if I hadn’t changed the entire playing field. When we brought ECW back as a third brand, I couldn’t have been happier. That was the way I wanted to be seen. When I’m in the ring, I’m showing off. That’s what I get out of my matches. Just like this upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match. It’s the perfect way to bring RVD back, because the rules that normally confine us and make us harder to stand out are thrown out the window. For me, [reviving ECW] was a resurgence of motivation. Doing the ECW style on WWE’s platform was a dream come true that I had never thought possible before. I was the happiest that I could have been.
On Why He Left in 2007: I was burned out from the schedule. I never had any time off and I was always homesick. And once I knew for sure that ECW was going downhill, I was disheartened and unmotivated and the routine became monotonous. I needed to disengage myself from it in order to rebuild my inner self. When my contract expired, John Laurinaitis wanted me to re-sign, take a couple months off and come back. I couldn’t do it. At the time, I was so burned out that whenever I was home, I was literally counting the hours until I had to go back to the airport.
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