I think not only was it a reaction against SOAP, but also against other common API styles like shoving everything into a GET query string or a POST body. Some

I think not only was it a reaction against SOAP, but also against other common API styles like shoving everything into a GET query string or a POST body. Some name had to be attached to it. Simply 'HTTP' couldn't be used as both SOAP and query/POST both used HTTP as well (not to mention WebDAV). As a young engineer implementing an early, prominent 'REST' service, it was kind of a surprise to me to find these lurking, unused verbs like PUT or DELETE in the spec. But they were there & that style beat the living tar out of SOAP or query string. But, in my memory, rfc2616 was used far more as inspiration and reference than Fielding's dissertation.