WWE Legend Disappointed By Manner Of Hall Of Fame Induction
A WWE legend has reflected on being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
After becoming synonymous with ECW and wowing crowds with his unorthodox style, Rob Van Dam arrived in WWE as part of the Invasion. The star had briefly appeared on WWE television back in 1997 as part of ECW’s own invasion of Monday Night Raw, but four years later he was there to stay.
Van Dam was an immediate hit with fans and eventually went on to win the World Championship in 2006 after winning Money In The Bank as well as European, Hardcore, Intercontinental, and Tag Team gold.
The star left the company in 2007 and returned to the independent scene before joining TNA in 2010. Van Dam headed back to WWE for a short spell in 2013 but he’s enjoyed a somewhat nomadic wrestling existence since.
As a tribute to his legacy and glittering career, Van Dam was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021, but he found the experience a little underwhelming.
WWE Hall Of Fame Induction Was “Kind Of Disappointing”
During an appearance on Wrestling Life with Ben Veal, Van Dam reflected on his Hall of Fame induction, explaining that while it was an honour to get the nod, the ceremony taking place under COVID-19 restrictions was less than ideal.
“It was very validating to be thought of on that Mount Rushmore of wrestlers. That’s something that they can never take away from me now. It felt like I elevated up to a level, and now people refer to me as a Hall of Famer. It’s very prestigious. So I was honored.
The fact that it was during COVID and we didn’t have a crowd was kind of disappointing after going to Hall of Fame for so many years and watching the really long speeches. They told us to go three to five minutes on our speeches after hearing [really long speeches].
So it kind of felt like when I was in high school, all the grades sell M&M’s to pay for the senior trip, and then when you’re finally a senior, then you capitalize on it, but by the time we made, they stopped taking the boat to the Bahamas, and instead we got screwed because we just went to this local amusement park.
That happens to me sometimes. But the thing about the time and there not being people there, if you’ve seen my speech, then you’ve seen like nine minutes of it, but the whole thing was actually 27 minutes, so I actually went in theory maybe 24 minutes over the three-minute request. I didn’t hear anything.
When I got back, I said, ‘That was a little long, wasn’t it?’ I had no idea until I saw the whole thing that it was that long. You’re playing off of somebody turning the volume up and down on a response. I’ll have to get in it again,”
Over the last 12 months, Van Dam has made several appearances on WWE television, most recently featuring on NXT. On the November 6th episode from the ECW Arena, Van Dam ended up cheering on Je’Von Evans in his match with Wes Lee after Lee had attacked RVD backstage earlier in the night.
The show went head-to-head with AEW Dynamite and handed Tony Khan’s promotion another ratings defeat.
Van Dam has since hinted he’s open to making more appearances in the future.
H/t to Fightful