Rob Van Dam: 25 Years Of The Whole F’N Show

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we celebrate 25 years of Rob Van Dam.

What’s your earliest memory of Rob Van Dam?

James Klonowksi: When he debuted as part of The Alliance in 2001 and was instantly the most over man on the combined roster. His ability and agility amazed me. He was a shining light in an otherwise dire angle. He was slightly ahead of his time in terms of stature, selling and arsenal. His mic skills weren’t in the upper echelon, which was always going to hold him back, but no one can deny his in-ring talent.

Juan Bautista: When Rob was in WWE in 2005. I was 2 years old when ECW went belly up in 2001.

Steven Jackson: My earliest RVD memory was seeing him deliver the Van Daminator to Jerry Lynn on the cover of ECW Hardcore Revolution. It was such a brilliant action shot and instantly drew me to RVD.

John Corrigan: July 9, 2001, the night The Alliance was born. RVD and Tommy Dreamer interfered in a tag match on Raw, attacking Kane and Chris Jericho. Soon, a bunch of ex-ECW guys hit the ring to join them and I saw the Van Daminator for the first time. It was the coolest thing ever.

Chad Gelfand: My earliest memory of RVD is Invasion 2001. That was the first PPV I saw and my favorite match on that show is RVD vs. Jeff Hardy for the Hardcore Championship. From his gear to his moves to his demeanor, he just came off cool.

Jack Goodwillie: RVD was featured on the first wrestling PPV I ever saw: The Great American Bash 2004. Sure, he played fourth fiddle to John Cena, Booker T and even Rene Dupree in that match, but he quickly won me over with the matches he’d go on to have with Cena over the next year. Later, I picked up Smackdown Shut Your Mouth on PlayStation 2, which takes place around April 2002 and it really gave me some insight to how strong RVD’s momentum was at the time. He wasn’t over the hill, but this was one of the first examples I’d seen of WWE stunting a superstar’s growth. Naturally, when the time came for Van Dam to win the WWE Championship, I got right behind it because I fully understood what kind of superstar RVD used to be, was and could continue to be.

Did WWE drop the ball with Rob Van Dam?

Klonowski: No. Within months of his WWE debut, he was put into a series of PPV main events, challenging for the WWE Championship and winning titles at WrestleMania. He was given a huge push in 2006 when handed both the WWE and resurrected ECW Championships, only for it to all fall apart when he was caught with drugs in his vehicle. He was never given the same spotlight again, and rightfully so. Always a favorite of Vince McMahon, he remained an upper-midcarder for the rest of his period with the company.

Bautista: WWE dropped the ball in not repositioning him as a championship contender. He got busted and served the penalty, but nothing was really done with him after. They could’ve had RVD go on this journey to regain a belt. Instead, it was a mess because WWE did a concussion storyline where RVD took too many RKOs. In retrospect, it’s distasteful.

Jackson: Absolutely! Rob Van Dam is one of the most unique and charismatic talents in all of wrestling and WWE didn’t capitalize on him half as much as it should have. During the inVasion of 2001 and into 2003, RVD was on fire. Probably because he wasn’t made as part of the WWE system, he didn’t get the push he deserved, which still irks me to this day.

Corrigan: For sure. I’ll go one step further than Goodwillie does – RVD was the first organically over WWE Superstar that the company purposely cooled off. He was the most popular in The Alliance and should have been world champion way before 2006. Hell, when Triple H beat him at Unforgiven 2002, RVD should have chased him all the way to WrestleMania XIX.

Gelfand: Yes. From the end of 2001 to 2002, RVD was red hot. He was getting some of the biggest pops in the company while still being aligned with the heel Alliance team and then during his feud over the World Heavyweight Championship with Triple H in 2002 he was still massively over. I don’t think WWE ever fully got what made RVD special; instead, putting him in a box that made him one dimensional.

Goodwillie: Yes. I don’t think Vince McMahon, or for that matter, many of the other creative decisionmakers in WWE really “got” what Rob Van Dam was all about. Creativity and innovation. Athleticism and showmanship. RVD could combine all these attributes and turn it up to 11 inside the ring and that’s where he really excelled. Outside the ring, some may perceive him to be laid back, and that’s fine, but if I had a nickel for every time someone used the words “laid back” in a derogatory way, I’d at least have enough to buy both of us lunch. The older generation will typically throw words like that around to mean lazy, but really, that couldn’t be further from the truth, especially in RVD’s case. The contrast between his in-ring and out-of-ring personas is what made him an original and quite possibly one of the most influential wrestlers of the modern era. WWE just never quite got that.

Of course, the story of Rob, Sabu and the van of reefer is well documented. Was HE perhaps the one who dropped the ball? Yes and no. It was an unfortunate situation and I don’t think I can criticize WWE for wanting to make an example of him. No matter your stance on marijuana/CBD, rules are rules and that’s the unfortunate fact. That said, who’s to say RVD didn’t deserve another opportunity atop the card? It’s not as if he had a character problem or was some kind of backstage troublemaker. Beyond that, WWE should have went with him years earlier, so I’ve never really subscribed to the theory that RVD “blew his chance.”

What’s Rob Van Dam’s greatest match?

Klonowski: That’s a tough one as he has had many great battles, especially in the original ECW, and even some corkers in TNA. However, I’m going to stick with his WWE run which was littered with memorable clashes against The Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero, just to name a few. I’ll go with his One Night Stand 2006 bout with John Cena, which saw him capture the WWE Championship in front of a rabid ECW crowd.

Bautista: Any match with Jerry Lynn.

Jackson: The Intercontinental Championship ladder match he had against Christian on RAW in 2003. The crowd was on fire, the stakes were high and the moment when RVD delivered the Five-Star Frog Splash off the top (yes, the true top!) of the ladder made my jaw drop.

Corrigan: RVD vs. Eddie Guerrero on May 27, 2002. In one of the greatest matches in Raw history, these two veterans let it all hang out, performing death-defying stunts off the ladder while incorporating time-tested psychology such as targeting the leg. After all, if he can’t stand, he can’t climb! Latino Heat proved that he belonged back in WWE after his forced sabbatical to get clean and sober, and Mr. Monday Night cemented his status as the highlight of Raw.

Gelfand: RVD vs. Christian in a Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship on a 2003 episode of Raw. I know this is an unconventional choice with the amount of classics RVD had with Jerry Lynn and Sabu in ECW, but this ladder match is one of my favorites.

Goodwillie: Ya know, as much love as his matches with Jerry Lynn get and as much as I loved tag matches with Sabu, his ladder match with Eddie Guerrero and his Money in the Bank appearances, I keep coming back to his match at ECW Two Night Stand with John Cena, his crowning moment in WWE. He got the hero’s welcome, and the match was technically solid with theatrics while not being too overbooked. Plus, I always thought Cena worked well with RVD. This match was no exception. Despite being firmly entrenched as “Super Cena,” the former Doctor of Thuganomics steered into the hostile environment and gave what to that point was one of the greatest performances of his career. Maybe I’ll revisit the show this spring, because I do feel it’s a tad underrated compared to how fondly people remember the original One Night Stand.

What’s Rob Van Dam’s greatest moment/angle?

Klonowski: Definitely winning the WWE Championship has to be up there, as it rubber-stamped his career as a true main eventer in the eyes of the decision makers. I’ll go with something else though, and that’s his run as the ECW TV Champion, which was the longest reign in the history of the promotion, at a time where titles were swapped at a rapid rate.

Bautista: One Night Stand 2006, where he became the double champ and did whatever the fuck he wanted. Well, it’s either that or getting Impact kicked off Twitch.

Jackson: Winning the WWE Championship from John Cena at One Night Stand 2006. The moment was a long time coming and considering the circumstances, something like that will never be repeated.

Corrigan: One Night Stand 2006. Finally winning the WWE Championship in front of his crowd, that’s every wrestler’s dream.

Gelfand: Winning the WWE Championship at One Night Stand 2006. Much like the CM Punk WWE Championship victory at Money in the Bank 2011, it felt like this was the beginning of something big. And just like that, this also ultimately was disappointing and underwhelming after a phenomenal start to the angle. As a snapshot, RVD celebrating with the WWE Championship in the crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom is always going to be a moment I’ll never forget.

Goodwillie: It could be when he captured the WWE Championship, but as far as angles and promos go, I loved the interview he gave at the original One Night Stand. It opened a lot of eyes backstage and hit harder years after when we learned that RVD, who missed the event after tearing up his knee just five months prior, was allegedly the one who conceived the idea for an ECW reunion show in the first place. It also set the wheels in motion for a big return to the ring in early 2006.

What’s Rob Van Dam’s legacy?

Klonowski: He’s the most innovative high-flyer of all time. Jeff Hardy is the biggest risk taker, but RVD did more for that particular genre of wrestling. He brought so many new moves to the business, including coast-to-coast, now used by Shane McMahon, and the Van Daminator. He will go down in history as the Whole F’N Show.

Bautista: He was an innovator in the ring. RVD was ECW Television champion for 500 days until injury and has really taken control of his career recently by not caring what anyone says about him doing everything that he’s done with Katie Forbes.

Jackson: RVD’s legacy is one of uniqueness. His style is unique. His charisma is unique. His matches are unique. There is only one Rob Van Dam (pointing my thumbs at my head in true RVD fashion). He’s the greatest ECW star of all time and one of the greatest wrestlers of the last 30 years.

Corrigan: In addition to innovating the industry and advocating for cannabis decades before the government followed suit, RVD has always given the fans their money’s worth. We all know about his time in ECW and WWE, but let me tell you about his return to Impact Wrestling during WrestleMania Weekend in 2019. He and Sabu reunited to face the Lucha Bros. in a dream match at the Rahway Rec Center in New Jersey. RVD didn’t come out until after 1 a.m., and the crowd was still packed (George Kittle sat in front of me). The Whole F’N Show may have moved a step or two slower in the ring, but he still hit all of his highlights and posed for selfies afterward. That’s his legacy.

Gelfand: RVD will go down as one of the most unique and fun-to-watch wrestlers of his generation. He’s someone that accomplished nearly everything in WWE, but it still felt like he was slightly held back from being a mainstay in the upper echelon.

Goodwillie: RVD may have never reached the potential I felt he had as a superstar at the highest level of professional wrestling, but when you look at modern wrestling, we’ve begun to see a more hybrid style that RVD is largely responsible for cultivating. Matches tend to trend on the faster side with striking, particularly with the legs (educated feet as the great Jim Ross would say), and wrestlers of all sizes are taking to the air. Sounds quite a bit like a Rob Van Dam match, no? He’s also a favorite of mine. With his recent departure from Impact, this could be the end for the 50-year-old, though it’s impossible to say for certain. If it is, thanks for the memories, RVD. We here at The Wrestling Estate will do our best to never let people forget all the positive contributions you made to this craft.