RVD reveals his first impressions of Tony Khan following AEW debut
WWE Hall of Famer RVD shared what his first impressions of AEW President Tony Khan were following his recent debut for the company at the 200th edition of Dynamite.
Rob Van Dam made his shocking debut on August 2nd to confront FTW Champion Jack Perry after he had challenged Jerry Lynn, a man who is arguably Van Dam's greatest rival, to a fight.
Speaking on his podcast, 1 of a Kind, RVD admitted that he had previously spoken to Tony Khan over the phone in the past, but his first meeting with the AEW President was great, given how much of an ECW fan Khan was as a teenager.
“I had only talked to him on the phone before, so last night I met him and, obviously, he was cool, respectful and he reminded me that he had told me this on the phone a long time ago, that as a fan, he was at the stretcher match of RVD and Sabu in Philadelphia. He said he was there, and he said that he felt like that night was a big vehicle moment that catapulted me."
Van Dam said that the aforementioned match between himself and Sabu in 1996 was one of his favorites in ECW and that the two men bonded over talking about that match.
“At the time, it was like my favorite match at the time. I loved it. I remember the match really well, certain spots of it. At that time, every match for me was the next one would be my favorite, you know, the next one, especially with Sabu. He was there, and that was a real special night for him as a fan too. So pretty cool.” [H/T Fightful]
RVD Vs Sabu in a stretcher match. The original ECW boys did not care how much space they had to work with. They were gonna make it work regardless lmao pic.twitter.com/5yJ6KzqPZ1
RVD was happy to get his old ECW entrance music back
Thanks to Tony Khan's love for ECW, he wanted to go out of his way to make RVD feel as 'at home' as possible.
So much so that he went out of his way to get the rights to Van Dam's original entrance music from his days in Extreme Championship Wrestling, 'Walk' by the legendary metal band Pantera.
RVD appreciated this touch as he felt that it put him in a different vibe before he went out as he knew what kind of reaction the song would get and how emotionally connected some fans are to that song.
"That was awesome. Yeah, when I found out that he was gonna have the rights to ‘Walk,’ it just like put me in a different vibe. You know what I mean? Just knowing the reaction that was going to get and how the fans would be emotionally connected to that, let it play for a few seconds." [H/T Fightful]
Re.... Spect.... Walk
I'm marking out to hearing RVD make another entrance to Pantera. Thought I'd never see it again. Great moment
I've gotten @MsV1Bee1 into Pantera lately so she should enjoy this too pic.twitter.com/tDq7f8agJ7
Rob Van Dam will face Jack Perry for the FTW Championship on the upcoming episode of AEW Dynamite in an FTW Rules match.
Do you think RVD will become the new FTW Champion? Let us know in the comments section down below!