Rob Van Dam Explains Why He Initially Didn't Want To Sign With WWE In 2001

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has described his apprehensions about joining WWE in 2001 after ECW folded.

"The Whole F'n Show" talked on his "1 Of A Kind" podcast about what he was afraid WWE would do to his character, which made him think long and hard about joining the pro wrestling promotion.

"That's why I didn't want to go to WWE in 2001. I was afraid that they would give me some lame character and change everything about me. That really bothered me because, obviously, it's always been important for me to be myself, and I really thought that was going to be up for battle. I thought they were going to come up with some lame, who knows what. That's why I was even upset ... I didn't tell them that I kissed Ted DiBiase's foot because I didn't want them to make an angle out of it."

The veteran star, though, revealed that his former ECW boss, Paul Heyman, batted for him and explained his character to the WWE creative team. 

"Paul [Heyman] was, I think, trying to explain me to the office, and certain guys in the office who might have power now would've rather just passed on me," said RVD.

RVD explained that the WWE office didn't understand his character and why people loved him. He believes that WWE would've been happier to create his character and explain it to him rather than the other way around. Van Dam joined WWE in 2001 and debuted as part of the Invasion angle after ECW shut down. The high-flying wrestler was part of WWE until 2007 before leaving the company to wrestle in indie promotions and then TNA. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022 and continues to wrestle in AEW.