"Are you saying I need to kiss his a**?" - Former WWE star recalls advice to build a relationship with Vince McMahon
Former WWE star Rob Van Dam recently spoke about trying to build a relationship with Vince McMahon.
RVD won the WWE Championship from John Cena at ECW One Night Stand back in 2006. Although he didn't have a long championship run, the win immortalized him as a top star for the company and gave him the recognition that he deserved.
This week on the 1 of a Kind podcast, Van Dam recalled a conversation with Bruce Prichard asking him to develop his equation with McMahon. He detailed how Prichard told him that Vince needed a guy he could trust to move forward and crown the new champion.
"He was like, 'You need to build a relationship with Vince. Vince needs to know that he can trust you, that you're the guy he can invest in, that he can put the belt on that can lead this company. He needs to know that.' I was like are you saying I need to kiss his a**? I'm out there having great matches, the crowd's going nuts, I don't know what else you want from me. That's one of the things that held me back as well." [From 2:40 - 3:06]
You can watch the full video here:
Rob Van Dam explained that John Cena was taking a break from WWE
During the conversation, the Hall of Famer made it clear that Prichard wanted him to establish himself as one of the top superstars in the company. He revealed that John Cena was away shooting for The Marine and that was his window to shine.
Rob revealed that he had similar conversations with the likes of Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon and felt that he was to engage in backstage politics to go up the ranks in WWE.
"That same conversation happened with ShaneO, Stephanie. I didn't get it. I thought they were telling me that I had to politic. Maybe they were, maybe it was the right thing to do but I didn't get it." [From 3:08 - 3:25]
17 Years ago today, Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship in the main event of ECW One Night Stand 2006. https://t.co/EBRVbbvpbl
Looking back, Van Dam has a career that he can be proud of and a WWE Hall of Fame induction to show for it.
What do you think of RVD's exploits inside the ring? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you use the quotes from this article, please credit 1 of a Kind podcast and add a H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.