Rob Van Dam InterviewBy Josh Modaberi| May 20, 2012 Wrestling Interviews Previous Page ECW was relaunched by WWE with One Night Stand followed by the ECW Brand on television, what did you make of the product? I had high hopes for One Night Stand, I pitched the idea to Vince because I loved ECW and all of the fans at the Raw and Smackdown shows were chanting ‘ECW’ when myself and other former ECW wrestlers made our way to the ring. I gave Vince a list of 14 guys that had been in the original ECW that were on WWE’s books at the time and they didn’t need to bring anyone else in. Vince liked the idea and thought that he could make some money from it and I was getting more excited each time we talked about it. I was glad we had it and I thought it was awesome, there are things that I could complain about but my major complaint was that I had knee surgery and couldn’t wrestle but again I talked on the microphone. What I said on the mic did more for me than what a match would have done as far as I will be remembered in people’s memories, because they didn’t know I could talk because WWE didn’t want those people to know I could talk. I didn’t like it when they used ECW as the third brand just like Raw and Smackdown with all the rules and all of a sudden it didn’t mean anything anymore, it basically squeezed every last bit out of our hearts that we had left. What was it like to be involved in the ECW One Night Stand and beating John Cena for the WWE Championship and holding the WWE Championship and ECW Championship at the same time? I have to say that was my crowning moment and the reason for that isn’t just because of the World Championship’s I won but also because of what it stood for. Everybody remembers the sign in the crowd that said ‘If Cena wins we riot’ the crowd that night was one hundred percent behind Rob Van Dam and in my opinion, the way wrestling could be if you would allow it to be cool. Then there was John Cena who stood for the way WWE wants to shove wrestling down your throat and the fans in the arena that night said, we don’t want wrestling that way, we want wrestling this way damn it and that’s what that match was about. To win that match by sticking to my guns, by not letting go of what I always believed and refused to ever stray from was an awesome night. What did you make of TNA’s reincarnation of ECW, Hardcore Justice? I enjoyed it, Sabu and I had an awesome match and to be honest I thought he would still be in TNA today because on that night he proved he can still go. 2 Cool Scorpio had an awesome match with Kid Kash. It was a great night all in all and all of the guys had a great time and we were really thankful to Dixie Carter for letting us do that but we didn’t want to carry it on just to milk it. I guess there are certain people that will always look to make money on the back of ECW, Shane Douglas recently held a Hardcore Reunion event also. Again you had many great matches during your time in WWE, what was it like getting in the ring with guys like Undertaker etc? Every time I get in the ring with someone, each time it is different and they bring what they bring to the table as do I. Brock Lesnar is the strongest guy I have ever been in the ring with, he just picked me up and threw me about like a rag doll, and I didn’t even know which way to shift my weight or anything and I’ve always been a fan of his since I first met him. The Undertaker is the legend and is the leader of WWE locker-room because he has been there for so long and when you step in the ring with him you know he is the leader. It was also great to work with guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero and Shawn Michaels. What have you made of Brock’s return to WWE? When I saw Brock lose his last UFC fight I actually tweeted ‘looks like someone is going to be heading back to WWE’, it was an obvious move and a good move. After Rock v Cena at WrestleMania, bringing Brock back was probably the biggest thing they could have done in wrestling today and it is great to see Paul Heyman on TV again. You are currently under contract with TNA, and two guys that have a similar career path to you are Bully Ray and Devon, what have you made of their singles pushes? I think that it has been a good move for both of them, they obviously like the spotlight and when you’re a tag-team then you share that spotlight. They have been partners for a long time and achieved so much during their time together, and I’m sure like most partnerships they just needed some time apart from each other and they can now grow on their own. I wrestled Bully Ray recently in singles competition and he’s in the best shape of his career and he’s built kind of like his action figure now. Devon is also the current Television championship and is defending the title on a regular basis, so things are going well for the Dudley Boys. When will we next see you with gold around your waist? It will only be a matter of time, I’ve held more titles than any other World Champion, so gold always finds its way around RVD’s waist, well my shoulder, I hardly wear the titles around my waist. I understand when one of your idols The Ultimate Warrior called you when he was looking to get back in ring shape for a return, is this true and what was it like working with him? He called me and wanted me to train him because he had his first match coming back in ten years and he was fifty years old. I was honoured because I was a big fan of his and we actually went to a wrestling school, so I didn’t want to go to rough on him and didn’t want to take a chance injuring him so we did a bit on the ropes and worked off some cobwebs. We only did it the once but talked about doing a few more times but it never happened, he did do some RVD TV for me and he was super cool. Are there any dream matches that you would like to have? I’ve been in the ring and had matches with a lot of guys, someone did recently mention John Morrison and I think that would be a great match, it’s not a big dream of mine or anything but I was hanging out with him recently and we got talking about having a match and some of the things we came up with sounded pretty awesome. Having worked with Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon and Dixie Carter how would you compare your three bosses in terms of their similarities and differences? I would say that Dixie rules with love, Vince rules with fear and Paul rules by letting you think your ruling. What have you made of the way wrestlers are using the internet and social networking sites? I actually first started watching Hardy Boy’s TV, and that is what gave me the idea to do RVD TV and radio. Lots of wrestlers have their own YouTube channels and podcasts, and I think it is a great idea because when we’re wrestling we’re only able to show one side of ourselves, which are the characters we portray but we actually have other sides to us that are the real us. You are currently involved in a documentary about the Medical Kush Beach Club, what is your relationship with the club and what can people expect from the documentary? The Medical Kush Beach Club is a very famous building on Venice Beach, California and it’s a hang out of RVD’s, I actually spent quite a bit of time there when I was in between WWE and TNA. One of my best friends actually ran and operated a cannabis dispensary and he had nearly 100,000 patients that would come in. Whenever I had other wrestlers staying over at mine I would always take them there because he is such a big wrestling fan. He has a band and they actually perform the theme music that I come out to every week. The Kush Beach Club is always being raided and it got shut down, they are always changing laws and are trying to fight for their different interpretations about legalising cannabis for medical purposes, and since the club has closed down it is back being sold on the streets. The whole rise and fall of the Medical Kush Beach Club was caught on film for Hash Bar TV and a film documentary we are putting together Broadwalk Hempire. Find out more information about: RVD & The Kush Beach Club and follow RVD on Twitter @therealRVD.
