Rob Van Dam Recalls How He Felt After Winning WWE Championship

Rob Van Dam has had countless memorable moments throughout his legendary career, but perhaps the crowning jewel came when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and dethroned John Cena as WWE Champion at ECW's One Night Stand event back in 2006.

While speaking on his podcast "1 Of A Kind," Van Dam reflected on the moments following the conclusion of the match.

"What I remember about that is [the referee counting] 1, 2, 3. Oh my God, that just happened," Van Dam said. "That's how I felt. I'm on top of the world right now. The coveted, top seat in the industry. [It was like] 'Woah,' and I did it my way which meant so much more to me than winning it twenty times doing it their way."

Van Dam recalled dropping down to his knees to taking in the moment when he was handed the WWE Championship by Paul Heyman after he counted the final fall of the match.

"This is the way I remember it," Van Dam said. "He was like, 'If you're going to cry, then we'll cry together. We'll play it that way.' Instead, I think I grabbed the belt and he went from almost crying to not crying just by playing it off of me."

Van Dam couldn't remember what the reaction of WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon was and mentioned that he didn't remember seeing him at all backstage. He credited the build-up he had undertaken throughout his career prior to the match as the driving force behind his journey to the top of the WWE mountain and questioned if he would've achieved what he did otherwise.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "1 Of A Kind" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.