RVD explains why he stayed with WWE when he wanted to leave
Rob Van Dam (RVD) recently recalled how the excitement surrounding WWE’s revamped ECW brand initially stopped him from leaving the company.
In 2006, Vince McMahon brought back ECW as a weekly show and promoted it as WWE’s third brand. Van Dam, who made his name in ECW during the 1990s, was marketed as one of the top stars on the show.
Speaking on “Rewind Recap Relive,” the 51-year-old revealed he wanted to leave WWE before the ECW revival.
“Before that I was kinda feeling, ‘I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna stick around,’” RVD said. “I really needed a break. The monotony, the politics, feeling like it didn’t matter, I didn’t matter, and then all of a sudden, boom, I remember saying, ‘Dude, I’m good, man, I can go another 10 years right like this. Let’s get ECW going. Let’s build it up!’” [1:08:42-1:09:11]
Following ECW’s relaunch, Van Dam was awarded the ECW World Heavyweight Championship by Paul Heyman on June 13, 2006. Three weeks later, he was suspended by WWE for 30 days after being arrested for possession of drugs. As a result, he lost both the ECW and WWE Championships in early July 2006.
RVD disliked WWE’s presentation of ECW
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While many fans wanted WWE to recreate the ECW of old, Vince McMahon had a different vision for the once-extreme company. The then-WWE Chairman presented the brand as an inferior version of RAW and SmackDown, which ultimately led to Paul Heyman’s exit in December 2006.
Van Dam expected WWE to create an even better version of ECW. However, he soon realized that the brand was never going to be viewed as a priority.
“Then of course it was like, ‘Oh, we’re doing the s****y arenas again?’” RVD continued. “We’re back to the Rostraver Ice Arena, Pennsylvania? And we cut back to the original ECW budget for advertising.” [1:09:12-1:09:28]
WWE ECW ran from June 2006 to February 2010 before being replaced by NXT. Van Dam left WWE in 2007 due to burnout. He later returned in 2013 and 2014 before joining the Hall of Fame in 2021.
Please credit “Rewind Recap Relive” and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.