Lack Of Political Skills Held Back WWE Hall Of Famer

Without ECW, the career of one WWE Hall of Famer would have been very different.

Although he made appearances for both WCW and WWE during the 1990s, it was with ECW that Rob Van Dam truly made his name.

Under the guidance of Paul Heyman, Van Dam honed his unorthodox style and overall approach, before signing with WWE in 2001. Despite being anything but the typical WWE ‘top guy,’ the star eventually became WWE Champion, and in 2021 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Van Dam was asked about Heyman and his influence, and he admitted his career would have gone differently without the ECW mastermind.

“Okay, so if I hadn’t met Paul Heyman, I would have jumped probably right up to WWE or WCW because, at the time, they were the top two. There was no seeing one of them going down and the other one sticking around.

I wouldn’t have developed the way that I did. I wouldn’t have probably been as comfortable or fit in, because before 96 when I came to ECW, I was hardcore and I was doing things that I hadn’t seen done in the ring.

When me and Sabu would wrestle we were diving out to the crowd and breaking tables and stuff and then when I wrestled Sabu in ECW the crowd had never seen anything like that, what we were giving them, but we had.

So I feel like if I hadn’t come to ECW, I wouldn’t have found a proper voice, and I probably would have been much, much different; whether I was as comfortable or not, it might have been better for business. I have a lot of things that work against me.”

Continuing on, Van Dam conceded that being able to deal with backstage politics was never his strong point, and something failed to navigate.

“To be the absolute best pro wrestler, what would that mean? You have to include not just your moves and you got a lot of P’s, not just your promos. What about politics? You got to be good at politics. That’s something I could never do. I forgot what I was going to say about some of the other P’s, but you have to be good at being a puppet sometimes because you’re a vessel for other people’s values, creative ideas, and stuff.

In a lot of ways, I wasn’t as flexible on a lot of stuff like that. I was more stubborn. So, having all that as details to answer that question, I don’t think it would have worked out as good for me if I wasn’t able to build myself in my more organic, natural environment.

But in the end, if I would have been able to be, whether you want to see it as manipulated, but if I would have gone down some other paths and learned to like them, or deal with them, or whatever then, who knows, maybe a champion of the world right now.”

WWE Legend Rob Van Dam Not Planning Retirement

During the same interview, Rob Van Dam admitted he’ll likely never officially retire. The veteran pointed to all the wrestlers who have said goodbye only to return, and he’s keen to ensure he won’t add his name to that list.

Van Dam admitted there could be lengthy periods where he stays out of the ring, but there’s always the possibility he’ll wrestle if the right opportunity comes up.

“Mr Monday Night” hasn’t wrestled since appearing on the April 20, 2024 edition of AEW Rampage.

H/t to Fightful