Rob Van Dam Reveals His True Feelings On Beloved WWE Title

Rob Van Dam has given his thoughts on the WWE title he shone a spotlight on.

The Harcore Championship began life in 1998 as a gift given to the ‘Hardcore Legend’ Mick Foley by Vince McMahon to try to keep him away from the WWE Championship. Foley was all too happy to accept the belt, which was a beat-up version of the classic Winged Eagle title. He went on to defend it under Hardcore rules – meaning anything was allowed – until he lost it to The Big Bossman in a Ladder Match. The title then entered general circulation as a midcard championship.

When it was won by Crash Holly in 2000, he introduced the stipulation that the title would be defended 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This led to it becoming a comedy title, with defenses coming every week in arenas, theme parks, and anywhere else the champion could be found.

Rob Van Dam recently reflected on the championship during an episode of his 1 Of A Kind podcast. The star admitted he thought the title was making a mockery of ECW. However, once he won it for himself, he loved his reign.

“This is very relevant. When I was in WWE and I won – well, first, even before I got to WWE, like when I started watching the product before I got there, I was a little insulted by the Hardcore Championship because I felt like they were kind of making fun of ECW. And no offense to Crash [Holly], but he would do things to make them laugh. They would fight in the pit of balls for the kids and knock the taco cart over and fight at weird places. And when I won the WWE Hardcore Championship, I was Rob Van Dam. Just kept being me and, and, uh, and having great f***ing matches, and I loved it.”

RVD loved his reign as he felt he was able to elevate the title into something that meant a lot more to fans than was supposed to happen. On the downside, he thinks this led to the end of the championship.

“I was f***ing loving it, and then it meant too much. So that wasn’t their plan. So what do they do? They retire it. They retire the f***ing championship while I’m wearing it while I’m having these kickass matches. Me and Tommy Dreamer had a match I think to retire it.”

Rob Van Dam Wants Possession Of WWE Hardcore Championship

During the episode, Van Dam discussed the idea of Mick Foley coming back for one more deathmatch. He noted that, despite all he did for the Hardcore Championship, he wasn’t given possession of the belt when it was retired, instead it is in the hands of the first champion.

“Did they give me the Hardcore Title? Do I have that hanging in my Rob Van Dam room of outstanding f***ing accomplishments and memorabilia? No. You know who has that Hardcore Championship? Mick Foley.”

Having already said that he thinks he should be the man to face Foley in his final match, he then hinted that he thinks that title should be on the line.

“So deep inside, there’s a little bit of resentment on my behalf. Not resentment, but I would like to have it.”

H/T to SEScoops for the above transcription.