Recent AEW debutant talks about his first impression of Paul Heyman; they met 25 years ago
The Bloodline's Wise Man, Paul Heyman, has been a part of the pro wrestling business for decades, working with numerous top names. A recent AEW debutant has detailed his first impression of Heyman in ECW. The name in question is Rob Van Dam.
RVD recently debuted in AEW and was immediately booked in a fued with Jack Perry. He worked with Heyman in ECW during the early days of his career and was one of the biggest stars in the now-defunct promotion.
During his WWE tenure, Mr. Monday Night again had the opportunity to work with The Bloodline member. At ECW One Night Stand 2006, Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the latter's world title.
In an interview with Denise Salcedo, RVD spoke about his initial experience working for former ECW boss Paul Heyman 25 years ago. While the veteran praised Heyman for his creativity, he also talked about the ways Heyman allegedly deceived talents in relation to their payments.
"Well, Paul was (...) I had Sabu to warn me and give me his feedback and impressions of Paul. I'm sure he told me like how to trust him or not trust him [on] what he's saying or whatever. But Sabu liked him and that was important. I just thought he was always good at pulling out strengths and hiding weaknesses. And I also learned he was willing to say whatever to get through the moment, even if, later on, that was (...) even if reality wasn't connected to it, you know what I mean?" (From 28:00 to 29:10)
You can watch RVD's full interview with Denise Salcedo below:
Do you want to see RVD back in AEW?
RVD made his AEW debut on the August 2, 2023, edition of Dynamite by confronting FTW Champion Jack Perry. He challenged the up-and-coming star to a title match on the following episode of the Wednesday night show. Unfortunately, the Hall of Famer couldn't dethrone Perry.
Van Dam's match against Perry was seemingly a one-off appearance. In the same interview, the veteran talked about possibly returning to AEW.
"Did Tony [Khan] and I talk about possibly doing something again? Yes, we did. [Were there] any specific results to report from that, or any other related conversations? We’ll just have to wait and see." [From 16:30 to 16:55]
With Wrestlemania 40 set to take place in Philadelphia, there are rumors of RVD going back to WWE for another run. He made a massive name for himself in the city during his ECW stint. Hence, the Hall of Famer could show up at next year's Show of Shows.
What did you think of RVD's AEW debut? Where do you think he should go next? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use RVD's quotes from this article, please credit the original source and add a H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcription.