Rob Van Dam Reflects On His And Sabu’s Arrest, Shares What He’d Do Differently

WWE legend Rob Van Dam revisited the notorious 2006 incident that abruptly altered the trajectory of his wrestling career.

During an interview with “The Black Announce Table,” Rob Van Dam recounted the arrest that led to him forfeiting both the WWE Championship and the ECW Championship. On July 1st, 2006, Van Dam and fellow wrestler Sabu were stopped for speeding in Hanging Rock, Ohio. What began as a routine traffic stop took a serious turn when the police officer noticed the smell of marijuana.

A search of the vehicle followed, revealing 18 grams of marijuana and five Vicodin pills in Van Dam’s possession. Sabu, meanwhile, was found with drug paraphernalia and nine Testolactone tablets. Reflecting on the event, Van Dam discussed how his casual attitude contributed to the situation.

I’m in Hanging Rock, Ohio, I’m driving careless because I was so careless back then, that I never really looked at the speedometer. I would have grabbed that Ozium, inconspicuously, and went [spraying sounds] and then when the cop said ‘Why does it smell like an air freshener?’ I would have said ‘Sabu farted!’

The fallout from the arrest was immediate and significant. Just two days later, on July 3rd, Van Dam was forced to drop the WWE Championship to Edge, a title he had only recently won. The next evening, he lost the ECW Championship to The Big Show. Following these back-to-back losses, Van Dam was suspended for 30 days. The incident marked the end of a major career push that had put him at the top of the WWE.

Which Injury Did Rob Van Dam Say Was The Scariest In His Career?

Rob Van Dam spoke about which injury was the scariest of his entire career and revealed that the time a piece of shattered table sliced his eyelid was the most frightening as it nearly cost him his vision. The injury occurred during a match where he and Sabu performed a double leg drop onto Bam Bam Bigelow who was lying on top of a table. However, the table broke in an unexpected manner which caused the piece of the table to hit Van Dam on his eyelid, causing the injury.

H/t to ITRWrestling.com