WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has given his thoughts on an offseason being utilised in wrestling and how successful the concept would be.
Unlike professional sports, wrestling continues pretty much every week of the year. Along with weekly TV and pay-per-views, there is also the added extensive travel and house shows being a part of the schedule. For many years, fans and analysts have spoken about there being a set period where there would be no wrestling taking place.
Along with the stars given an extended break to recover, the product is less likely to get stale and fans will be more excited for the first show of the new season similar to that of the opening week of any sports season.
Addressing the concept on his 1 of a Kind podcast, Rob Van Dam stated that a wrestling offseason is unlikely to work:
“An offseason for wrestling, you wouldn’t get the same energy out of it. I don’t think that wrestlers can take time off. Here’s one of the rules of thumb or expressions in the business. They say that a wrestler’s worst enemy is time off. I’ve always heard that, and I take that to mean, especially from the wrestlers telling me that, that when they stop moving, that’s when all the pain sets in.
They’re active, they’re bumping, they’re bumping every night they’re commissioned to go, and then when their job ends or they’re not getting booked or whatever and they stay home, then all of a sudden they’re feeling all the aches and pains, and then it’s not easy to go back and do it again. I think if they continued their lifestyle on the time off, then it could work,”
“It Could Work”: WWE Legend Rob Van Dam Not Entirely Against Wrestling Offseason
Continuing, Van Dam gave his own perspective on the matter as a part-time performer, noting that he still keeps active between matches. Additionally, while the WWE Hall of Famer remained sceptical about the idea, he did outline one way that it could work:
“Even for me, I continue to be active for months in between matches. Most people couldn’t do that, I don’t think, the way that I can. I hear people say, ‘Oh, I’m feeling a little rusty tonight. What about you?’ ‘No.’ But I do feel better and more conditioned after day one, especially if it’s been a lot of time off and then a tour of Japan, let’s say, day one’s the hardest, day two, a little bit better, and then boom, pretty soon, you’re like, okay, I got the hang of it. You feel all the bumps and bruises from that first night.
So it would be counter-conducive to give wrestlers time off in some ways, but it could work. But I think they would have to report to a ring…depending on their experience, at least a couple times a month, if not more, on the time off.”
H/t to Fightful.