Rob Van Dam Recalls Being “A Little Bit Disrespectful” After 2002 Shawn Michaels Match
Rob Van Dam opened up about facing Shawn Michaels in his return to WWE.
In 2002, Shawn Michaels made his surprise return to WWE after being out of action for years with a severe back injury. Shortly after winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at Survivor Series, Michaels faced Rob Van Dam on an episode of Monday Night Raw.
Speaking on a recent edition of his One Of A Kind podcast, RVD opened up about his bout with Michaels, admitting that he saw it as he would any other match.
“I remember specifically, a conversation with Stephanie McMahon and it was after everybody had picked my brain to see how I felt … She said, ‘Is this a dream match for you? Do you have dream matches?’
“I felt I had enough of a relationship with her that I could open up and talk and I said, ‘I don’t get it, why is everybody coming up to me, asking me this? I’m a competitor here. Have you seen the matches I’ve had for the past 12, 18 months?’ I was wondering about how this match is gonna be. If the match wasn’t great that’s on him. He’s the one with the bad back … I didn’t get it. Admittedly, now as I say that, it sounds a little bit disrespectful on my part.”
“I Tend To Believe He Did Grow” – Rob Van Dam On Shawn Michaels’ Reputation
Continuing, Van Dam opened up about having no issues with Michaels despite HBK’s reputation backstage during the 90’s.
“I feel like I’ve heard [Shawn talk about his reputation]. I didn’t know him before ’98 to compare but … when I was there, he wasn’t that horrible, sh*tty person that he was rumored to have been before, so I tend to believe he did grow.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, Rob Van Dam spoke about burying the hatchet and hugging it out with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania.
Van Dam recently made his debut for AEW where he unsuccessfully challenged Jack Perry for the FTW Championship.