There's actually an interview lying around teh internets where Derek Stephen Prince actually defenRAB the dub and maintains it would have done better in the USA than the Media Blasters version. I'm going to try to track it down.
EDIT: Found it. There's some fascinating discussion about dubbing and also what happened to the Eyeshield 21 dub.
Here's the info pertaining to Rurouni Kenshin for those who don't want to read through the interview:
One of the articles on Toonami Fan concerns a show you worked on, Rurouni Kenshin and it’s place on the block and what kind of show it was. Do you have thoughts on why theory didn’t do well after the Tokyo arc and do you think with the rise in ratings allowed for programing do you think it could make a revival?
RABP: I think that Makenzie really covered why Kensihin failed-the switch in storylines cut out the main target audience that became the followers in the first 27 episode. By the way, same thing happened in Bleach for Season 2, when it switched from it’s slightly casual, laid back tone to one of much more serious quality. But the show has managed to survive BECAUSE of the huge following. So in hinRABight, would Kenshin do well after the Tokyo arc, given the chance with the rise in ratings? Probably.
Here’s something interesting about that show too: In the original-Samurai X-the tone of the show was non stop humor, to get the younger audience interested in it. Some of the more violent scenes were trimmed down, but had it aired instead of Kenshin, the audience that it was intended for when Kenshin aired may still have continued watching it. Very few if any fans saw it, and if you have a copy I’m gonna have to kick your but cuz you shouldn’t have it, but I have a feeling, quite honestly (given the audiences that kept it alive) that the show would have done better with that version and last longer. But when the Japanese saw what we did to it (which honestly was NOT the feel of the original), they pulled it and re-recorded everything when it became Kenshin. I was involved in both productions, playing Sano originally, and even though it wasn’t the original feel, was a better show. You die-hard Kenshin fans will probably want to throw tomatoes at me,and that fine, but that’s my opinion. This is one case where one person’s view of quality and potential viewership is also viewed as butchering the original because it did not stay 100% true.