Legend explains how he worked for AEW and WWE at the same time
Several wrestlers have appeared in AEW and WWE in recent years, but only a select few have worked for the companies at the same time. In a recent interview, Rob Van Dam (RVD) explained how he reached agreements with both organizations.
Van Dam cemented his status as a WWE legend during his first run with the company between 2001 and 2007. The 53-year-old still wrestles sporadically and competed in six matches for AEW between August 2023 and April 2024.
On the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast, Van Dam said his WWE Legends Contract permits him to wrestle elsewhere. As a result, he was allowed to sign match-by-match deals to appear in Tony Khan's promotion:
"The first time that I talked to Tony Khan about doing this, a factor was that I still have a WWE Legends deal, so my use to AEW would be limited as far as they can't put me on video games, action figures, and stuff like that," Van Dam stated. "You can say it's limited on both ends or you can say I've got both ends going, best of both worlds, or you can just say RVD does whatever he wants." [21:43 – 22:18]
Van Dam's most recent AEW match took place on the April 20 episode of Rampage. He defeated Isiah Kassidy, Komander, and Lee Johnson in a High Flying 4/20 elimination contest.
How Jack Perry and Rob Van Dam's AEW match was set up
On August 9, 2023, Jack Perry defeated RVD on Dynamite to retain the FTW Championship.
While some AEW matches were pitched to him at the last minute, Van Dam recalled how the bout with Perry was planned months in advance:
"Jungle Boy [Jack Perry] was saying he had this idea. He wanted to wrestle me and maybe have a few extreme guys before me and then have a big match set up with me. It was the beginning of the year [several months before the match]." [20:11 – 20:32]
Van Dam's most recent WWE appearance occurred on the September 13 episode of SmackDown. He was a guest at the event to celebrate the blue brand's return to the USA Network.
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Please credit the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.