Rob Van Dam’s Initial Concerns About WWE Arrival in 2001

Rob Van Dam burst on the wrestling scene on the hardcore brand, ECW with his unique acrobatic style and offensive. However, after the demise of the land of Extreme, Van Dam had his own apprehensions about joining rival promotion, WWE.

On the latest edition of his 1 Of A Kind” podcast, RVD spoke about his initial fears of coming to WWE. He mentioned that he was afraid of what they would do with his character and feared that they would give him a creative direction that would not be suitable for him.

“That’s why I didn’t want to go to WWE in 2001. I was afraid that they would give me some lame character and change everything about me. That really bothered me because, obviously, it’s always been important for me to be myself, and I really thought that was going to be up for battle. I thought they were going to come up with some lame, who knows what. That’s why I was even upset … I didn’t tell them that I kissed Ted DiBiase’s foot because I didn’t want them to make an angle out of it.”

Rob further continued that Paul Heyman advocated his character for him to the higher-ups of WWE.

“Paul [Heyman] was, I think, trying to explain me to the office, and certain guys in the office who might have power now would’ve rather just passed on me.”

However, Van Dam really had nothing to fear as he went on to become one of the most popular WWE superstars of all time, winning multiple championships and accolades. His career was immortalized when RVD was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021. But currently, he has chosen to wrestle for WWE’s rival competitor, AEW looking to be in the best shape of his life and not lose a step inside the squared circle.

Do you think Rob Van Dam should return to WWE for one more run? Sound off in the comments!