"Awkward, unfortunate" – Jim Ross on RVD refusing to lose to WWE Hall of Famer
Jim Ross recently recalled how Rob Van Dam (RVD) once walked out on WWE after being told to lose a match against Road Dogg.
In 1997, RVD was one of ECW's top stars when Paul Heyman's former promotion invaded RAW as part of a storyline. WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon wanted Van Dam to lose to Road Dogg, but the high-flying superstar thought the booking would make ECW look bad.
Ross, a WWE commentator and backstage executive at the time, discussed the behind-the-scenes incident on his Grilling JR podcast:
"Awkward, unfortunate, I thought he got bad advice. Here's the deal, should he have put Road Dogg over? If that's what the booker wanted, yeah. Is it the right thing to do? Well, I could argue that point, but I sure as hell would have stayed on my post and done my work, and that's just how Rob was raised." [32:17 – 32:39]
RVD was trained by The Sheik, real name Edward Farhat. Ross speculated that Van Dam's stance about not losing might have been influenced by the way Farhat taught him.
Why did RVD refuse to lose to Road Dogg?
In a 2016 interview on The Steve Austin Show, RVD claimed that Paul Heyman told him to walk out if he disliked WWE's booking. He later realized that Heyman likely gave bad advice to decrease WWE's interest in him, meaning he could still wrestle for ECW.
5/12/1997
Rob...Van...DAM (in his WWF return) defeated Jeff Hardy on RAW from the Bob Carpenter Center in #WWENewark, Delaware.
#RobVanDam #RVD #TheWholeFuckingShow #OneOfAKind #RollingThunder #ECW #ECFNW #ExtremeChampionshipWrestling #WWE #WWELegend #WWELegends #WWEHistory https://t.co/rlGbfC877H
Reacting to Van Dam's past comments, Jim Ross added that the issue would have been resolved if all parties communicated better:
"Communication is such an important part of our lives, whether you're in the wrestling business or not. I think it's just hard to do business with people that are not forthcoming, and I think we had a little issue there. Everybody involved in the equation wasn't forthcoming." [35:07 – 35:34]
Van Dam joined WWE permanently in 2001 and went on to win several titles, including the WWE Championship and ECW World Heavyweight Championship. The 52-year-old was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
What are your thoughts on Rob Van Dam's career? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.