It certainly wasn't always that way. I remember a lot of times that a clearly out-of-process deletion was made and when it was taken to VFU it received a bunch of recommendations to "keep deleted - this article is crap".
VFU and DRV are not the same thing. Just look at the titles - one is about undeleting articles, the other is about reviewing deletions. I wasn't very active when the move was made from VFU to DRV, but I would guess that that was when it became about process and not content.
If you believe new information has come to light, then you should recreate the article and explain your point of view in the edit summary of the creation and on the talk page. If any admin speedies the article after that, then you go to the admin noticeboard and I'm sure you'll find someone willing to undelete it. (A full DRV is not required to undo a speedy deletion.)