As far back as the 1990's, Rob Van Dam was considered the kind of ECW star that either Eric Bischoff or Vince McMahon might be interested in. Van Dam did have brief forrays into WCW (competing as Robbie V), but he'd never really break into either of the bigger companies until the original ECW went out of business. 1997 presented the idea that he was about to make the leap. In the Spring of that year, ECW were promoting their first ever pay-per-view, Barely Legal. Paul Heyman wanted to maximise exposure to the show, so he cut a deal with Vince McMahon which enabled the company to promote via the WWF's Monday Night Raw. Throughout the build to the event, Rob Van Dam started dubbing himself 'Mr. Monday Night', hinting that he was leaving ECW for the WWF. This was designed to make sure the rabid ECW audience hated his guts, and it worked. In promos, Van Dam would deem himself too good for the promotion, claiming his talents deserved to be viewed on a bigger platform. The nickname was later phased out, although did make a return during Van Dam's tenure in the WWF/WWE following ECW's extinction.
