Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Rob Van Dam on Wisdom, ECW, His Legacy and "RVDology"

Episode Date: November 5, 2021

Today's guest is Rob Van Dam. RVD is a WWE Hall of Famer and is well known for his time in ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling). He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios inside the Wynn Las Vegas to talk about his legacy, his CBD brand RVDCBD, his wife Katie Forbes, his Mount Rushmore of ECW wrestlers, the best advice he learned from Paul Heyman, almost jumping ship from ECW to WCW, his relationship with TNA Impact Wrestling and more! For more info on RVDCBD visit http://rvdcbd.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! Greetings and salutations, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Vleet. Thank you so much for being with us on this episode. And for a lot of you on every single episode. I'm so pumped to share this conversation with RVD with you

because this is our first interview from the brand new Blue Wire Studios inside the wind Las Vegas. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the photos and the videos that I posted on my Instagram and my Twitter. This studio is unbelievable. It's absolutely beautiful. Blue Wire is the podcast network

that I've been with since pretty much day one, since pretty much the beginning of the podcast in 2019. You see their logo right there on the podcast art for the show on every single episode. And it's now a community of creators with 200 different shows on the network. Go to bluewirepods.com if you want to find out more info, or if you have a podcast and you're looking for a podcast network,

we're open to hear you out to check it out. So bluewirepods.com. I'm based in Los Angeles, but I went to Las Vegas earlier in the week. We recorded a bunch of interviews there that you'll be hearing here. You'll be seeing on my YouTube channel. By the way, the interviews are always, hosted here on the podcast first. So if you happen to be listening for the first time, make sure you hit subscribe wherever you choose to listen to your podcast so you don't miss out

on anything that we have coming up. By the way, give Rob Van Dan a follow on Twitter or Instagram. He's at the real RVD. You can check out RVD CBD at RVDcbd.com. And if you're not following me already, it's at Chris VanVleet or at Chris dot VanVleet on TikTok. Shout out to our fan of the week, Jamie Stanley, who says, CVV is that dude. America's jawline, patent pending, Jamie Stanley here,

NWA's most handsome, talented, charismatic, and humble man. Here to tell the world how much I love the CVV podcast. Just started listening a few months ago, and this podcast has quickly become my go-to, whether I'm in the gym, in the car, or doing what I do best,

bashing nerds and being absolutely adorable while doing so. This is a great promo, way. We're only halfway through. Chris's positivity, passion, and out-of-the-box interview style is a total breath of fresh air from any other wrestling podcasts. I approve so much, I would even be willing to grace the show with my excellence. Who knows? America's podcaster interviewing America's jawline? I like the sound of that. 10. 10 out of 10, 10, 10, Jemies. That's good. Keep killing it. Sincerely, that dude. Jamie Stanley. Wow. That is quite a promo and quite a

review. Thank you, that dude, for not only listening, but for also leaving review on the podcast. And if you want a shout out or a promo or whatever, leave a few words on Apple Podcasts, or if you left a review already and it didn't get read out or you want another shout out, just go back in to your podcast. Just click on where it says write a review on Apple Podcasts, add a few words or add your name, add a few emojis, whatever. And it shows up as a new review. when you do that. So if you haven't yet, please take a chance or take a second to do that or go back in and take another second to do it again. My guest today is an ECW legend. He's a WWE Hall of Famer and he's someone who really revolutionized pro wrestling as we know it. Please welcome from the Blue Wire

Studios at the win Las Vegas, RVD, Rob, Van, V.D. Rob, Van, damn. RVD and CVV. Always so good to see you. Dude, of course. Thank you for coming by. Hey, you know, welcome to Vegas. Thank you.

This is my hometown. It has been for a few years now. Yeah, how long have you lived here? It has been three years now. And it's, it's, I love it. I love it. One of the things that I love is that everything seems so close. Unless your way out in Henderson, which a lot of people,

prefer but to me i'm so spoiled now that if i have to go to henderson it almost feels like going from the south beta north hollywood in l.a except for that obviously takes three hours in traffic this is more like 20 to 25 minutes and i bitch about that it's that good here anyone who follows you on instagram knows your loving life in las vegas like it's just pools full of bikini babes Well, if they're even wearing bikinis. What do you want me to say? You're like correct. That is accurate.

I got a good tan. When did that become part of who you are? Or when did that start to become of the lore of Rob Van Dam? It's not, that's what's funny when fans say, what happened? You know, and it's not very many, but, you know, you're not famous if you don't have some haters. You know what I mean? Sure. Yeah.

So those comments, you know, I'll come across them and they stand out because they're different than everyone else. You know, everyone's like, oh, dude, fuck yeah. You know, that's why I'm a fan. I wish I could be, and then if one, you know, it's something else, you know, that says, you know, be saved by Jesus. You know, you're going on the wrong path. It's going to stand out. But anyway, I mean, definitely showcasing it has been since Katie Forbes. Yeah, you know, for sure.

And she's, she's a party girl, you know, she's fun. And she's awesome. And together, we make such a good couple because we're both open and honest as much as we can be. And, you know, of course, I've taught her a lot because I have more life experience than her. But that's something, you know, that that's cool. but it was in uh we went on a cardi b cruise katy loves cardi b which if you've ever seen a cardi b video and seen anything like katy post then you shouldn't be surprised because yep yeah she loves jaking her ass and it makes her happy so i'm happy that she's happy and um we were we saw cardy b in miami when we went

before the cruise and then the next night she was on the cruise and we were on the boat you know so it was it was pretty cool and this really big producer dude um cue i believe it's his name he's like he produces um someone that was making a salient i think but anyway one of those girls that's in that in that click that was anyway he he was as a fan you know he viped me and tell him comes down and hang out in his uh jacuzzi and we were and it was just loaded with all these girls shaking their asses and stuff and uh we posted a video of that that went viral and that's when i learned how much impact followed our social media because then Impact started writing that kind of stuff into the script

stuff about that or stuff about our friend Jennifer. And it's specifically, you know, putting stuff on there that nobody would know unless they follow us on social media. So I guess Impact thought that that was a fair amount of their audience. I think this is the first time I've seen you without Katie by your side in like three years maybe. Yeah. Right? Yeah, probably so. Like you guys are inseparable. Yeah, we are. But you're in our hometown, so she has like normal appointments today, you know, and this is one of my appointments. So, unfortunately, no Katie for you until I get back. Man, Katie for me. Okay. Well, tell her I say hello. Yeah, we'll do. She's very famous in her world. You're very famous in your world. Who do you think gets recognized more when you guys go out?

I do. I mean, if you mean, I, I mean, I, totally get recognized more. I'm not sure that I get looked at more. I wonder why. A lot of times what will happen is we'll be walking together and then eyes will first go to her. And we all know, we noticed that. And then a second later, they'll be like,

RVD? You know, hey. You know, that's usually how it happens. Since I've seen you last year, you're now a W.W.E. Hall of Fame inductee. Congratulations. Thank you. Can't believe you didn't wear the ring.

Yeah, you know, it's something that I'm not used to wearing, so it gets in the way, you know, like when I hold doors open for people or whatever, I use my knuckles. It's just, I think it's a germ thing. I've just always done that with that ring on there and you hit a glass door. It's like it feels like I'm going to break it. Things like that. I actually took it off when I was in my gym and that's where it's at right now. And I realized a couple blocks after I left home, like, oh, I wanted to wear the ring for the podcast. But there's. That's, that's it. But obviously, great honor, you know, don't know what else will come of the relationship with myself and WWE. Like, even the merchandise that they make with me, I don't know about it almost ever until it's already out, you know? No way. It's always been that way. You know, like, before I even started collecting action figures, I used to sign them from the fans. They bring it up to me, whoa, I haven't seen this one.

That's cool. And then I just started like collecting and feeling like, why got to get them all? Because I have so many and I'm obsessive when I get into something. But that's just the way it is. There was a little bit of a conflict because I allowed, I gave a third party permission to make an RVD action figure. They're called Hills and Faces. They make really good work. Yeah, like really authentic.

Yeah, yeah. And I didn't know that WWV was doing anything with me. but at San Diego Comic Con earlier in the year, the virtual whatever they had, Faces and Heels and Faces made their announcement about my figure. And also Mattel was making an announcement the exact same day about an RVG figure. I had no idea.

So, WWE got a hold of me shortly afterwards and made me cancel the first one, you know, which is understandable via, you know, but I just don't know. So, you know, when people ask, you know, Are you going to be in this video game? I'm going to try. I have very little to do with being in the game,

but they're just using my likeness. Yeah. Do you think you have any more matches left in you? I definitely have matches in me. I don't know if they'll be in WWE or not. You know, I think probably because why not at the same time, maybe there is a why not that I don't know about. So who knows, you know, I go with the flow.

I kind of feel like if there's, there was a why not, you would know about this, why not? You would know, like, that there was heat there or there was a problem there. But it depends on where there is. At the top, no. Somewhere along the lines, possibly. You were talking about this splash at Survivor Series 2002 on a Triple H. Is that what we're talking about?

Not specifically. I wouldn't even thinking about that move. I'm just saying that all along throughout anything, I've kept in touch with Vince, and I know we have a good relationship, you know. And specifically with when certain things happened, you know, there was something nobody really knows about. It was thrown around. It got back to me that Carrano had said that I was part of the concussion suit, you know, against WWE. Complete bullshit.

And it offended me. it also seemed at the moment to stop me from being able to do something that I wanted to do. And anyway, I forgot what I was talking about, dude, talking about concussions. No, you were talking about how there wasn't, that was ironic that you were talking about concussions and then you forgot it. Right. No, I was talking about Corona, but I don't remember why. Like, well, I don't remember my point was.

But then you realize that there wasn't an issue with it. Oh, right. Exactly. Like, yeah, this, yeah, exactly. You know, like Barry shortly around there, you know, I talked to him, didn't even mention anything, you know, but I just said, you know, back to that guy that's, obviously, he could check and see how hard is that to find out. And, you know, but, but speaking of concussions, the movie that I made Headstrong, I probably mentioned on a show before. I had it on Amazon Prime. It has been

sold to Rails TV. Oh, it's amazing. Channel. They're going to be showing it November 13th. They're going to, you'll see promotions coming up real soon for that. You know, they got a bunch of bites leading up to us. So pretty cool. And that's something that the agent that made that happen. You know, this is part of a bigger plan overseas and stuff. So pretty stoked about it. Yeah, that's great.

That's great distribution too. And as far as concussion awareness goes, that's something that, you know, obviously I learned to throw myself even more into since I made the movie. because at first I was like, I don't want everyone seeing me vulnerable. And there was, you know, rumors went out that the WWE had told me

I could never wrestle for them again because of concussions. And most people believe that that was true. And I usually hardly ever feel obligated to correct people, you know, when they're wrong because people just talk so much,

you hear everything, you know. But, you know, I've never talked to WWU about any concussions. And that was just some, some bullshit that someone pulled out of some divorce papers when, you know, the evil X is being really nasty. She was saying, by the way, at the time on paper that I was faking the double vision that I had, you know, which is documented throughout the whole movie of Headstrong.

I had double vision. I had to get, I had to go to the neurologist and had to get the, the CAT scans and MRIs. And I probably already told you about all this in a previous interview, right? but all that. And at the same time, my evil X to get, to get more money was saying I should be out there working full time like I did back in 2003 said in her money.

Yeah. So anyway, someone pulled that out and it got out there. And then, of course, people think it's true because it's on the internet. Yeah. Everything on the internet's true. Of course.

But in all seriousness, how much has weed and CBD helped your concussions? Well, you know, I'm only one factor. So how could I compare to, you know, like what if I didn't smoke, you know? But this one tiny little bump that I took in 2016, November of 2016, it gave me double vision. And my vision still isn't the same as it was before that, you know.

It's, you know, but I'm also, you know, five years older. There's all kinds of factors. It was so simple. It was just, it was like a weird Mexican arm drag, uh, to gay me. I doubt that he even knows that this happened unless he happened to see the movie because I didn't tell anybody. You know, whose fault is? It's just me, but

it's just this really weird thing that I was a little apprehensive about before. No, no, no. Anyway, it was just like a rolling thing you would never know but you see it in the movie where I stand up and I'm shaking my head like I'd done countless times before. Usually I just

shake it off. It's an RVVD tradeback. I have to, but you know, a lot of times things are spinning. Sometimes they're going round and round. This time it was double, you know, and I was like, whoa. And then it wasn't going away, you know, and I was like, you know, I even told the ref, I need a second. And then after it felt like it was going to be awkward if I waited any longer,

I was like, all right, like I said, I'm going to continue and hope that my vision will fit. But it was after the match, I still had it, you know, and then, like I said, it was like the better part of two years. I had double vision. And that was like a crazy thing to go through. God, I had the cameras there and I documented the whole thing with Headstrong. And it's a movie that I know has helped a lot of other people as well. But yeah, that's something that I went through.

You know, it wasn't a very, very hard bump. That's why it's crazy because over all the years, I took all the other abuse, never had any lasting symptoms ever. And all my friends did. And whenever the conversation would come up, I'd be talking to my peers about, do you have any, like, permanent concussion damage? and everybody, it seems like, seriously, like 90% at least of my peers.

Oh, I see floaters or sometimes I have a ringing in my ears or sometimes I just space out. Everyone has something, headaches. And I was always like, wow, you know, I wonder if it's because I have such a high THC level, if that's why I don't have any long lasting. And I still think it probably helped me out, you know, because it is amazing that I didn't have any until like November 12th. 2016 and then boom just that one freakish thing and i learned so much about concussions way more than i ever wanted to yeah one thing i learned that's uh it's probably debatable most people think

one concussion makes you more vulnerable to another the more you have i've never felt that was true and my neurologist he also agrees with me and says no and when he cleared me to wrestle he even said if i got another concussion it would have nothing to do with this one it would be on its own. And I believe, from my experience, that that's the way it is. So you're cleared to wrestle now. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You can work a match tomorrow. I, yeah. I've wrestled so many times since, since this movie, yeah. But the last year, yeah. Last match I had was in September. No, I just had one in September at the ECW arena, September 18th or the 25th. Both those dates sound right. But I teamed up with Bubba Dudley and a wrestle against Matt Hardy and his partner from AEW.

He didn't really introduce himself, so I don't know his name. But he's a black dude, does all these flips and stuff. And I think he works with Matt on the show. But anyway, really nice kid. And that was just recently, yeah. I mean, I do still wrestle sometimes, but since it's not on TV, you know, not as many people are going to be privy to that fact. I think everyone thinks your last match was an impact last year.

No. The match I had before that was in Wisconsin, which was right after I got inducted. into the Hall of Fame. I had a match with Ben McCoy, who's got this wrestling group going out there. It was really cool because it was part of a fundraiser. He's an Army vet

that got his face blown off and all of his peers committed suicide and he became important. He decided, instead of killing himself, he was just going to live his dream and he wanted to wrestle. We have a documentary of that all leading up to him being able to wrestle his hero, RVD,

you know, and that's all part of it. It was just, it was a really cool story and it went off great and I'm glad to be a part of it. I don't think the documentary is finished yet. I haven't seen anything close to the finished product yet, but super cool and a great cause. You know, there's even since then, you know, this thing going on with Afghanistan is like really, really upset him a lot because he said that's where he lost his face. That's where he lost a lot of his buddies. And he said he worked so hard. All of his friends worked so hard and we're getting women right.

over there and stuff. And then, you know, it kind of feels like, boom. Yeah. Yeah. I mentioned Impact and I thought it was as a fan from the outside looking in. It was so strange that you were doing stuff with Impact and then you made a return to WWE during that. How did you make this work?

I'm the whole effing show. That was. That we go. It's end the show right there. That's it. Mike drop. No, but seriously, do you have to, who do you have to get approval from or makes this happen? I, Paul Heyman reached out to me.

I reached out to Scott DeMore that gave me permission. You know, Paul handed it up and, you know, I'm not afraid to do something that's never been done before. Yeah. You know, I feel like as we're sitting here, it's almost the end of 2021. By the way, I was really hoping I was going to be able to wrestle. That's why I was totally in my gear and stuff. Like, I thought I was going to run in and do something and jump up and do a frog splash. And that all changed at the very, at the last second.

And then I was like really upset. And then I was like, oh, yeah, that's exactly what it's like being here. And then it made you go, oh, I'm kind of glad I'm an impact right now. Well, you know, it was just like, yeah, you get your hopes up. And then you start compromising and you feel, you know, like, okay, I'm going to make the most out of what I got here, you know, or am I going to let it bother me that I wanted it to be more. Yeah. You know, you get it.

I get it. But maybe the Royal Rumble. Maybe that's a spot where you can come in, do a five-star frog splash. Okay. be. That feels like, that feels like it would make sense to you, for you to do a return at the Royal Rumble. But who knows? But no plans to share with you though at this point. Not yet. But I also feel like those are when, like, you might get the phone call like that Friday. That has happened before. And then ever since that did happen, there's certain friends that

every year they swear I'm going to be in it. And then they don't believe me when I'm like, Dude, I'm booked, like, in a different part of the country. You know, I'll be over and they're like, you wouldn't tell me if you were, if you were, if it was going to be a surprise. Yeah. Well, no. Yeah. But fuck.

It ain't. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. soccer podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klanmer. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Times ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really stick their claim. And they want to be on that World Cup roster.

There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. At what point in your career do you feel like you started to embrace being Rob Van Dam? Like being who you, like the character. I feel like you're the character all the time.

It would be at some point in ECW because when I first went there, I was still very shy, didn't want to be anywhere around the microphone. This is 96. I would run from the promo room and hope that Paul didn't drag me in there because, you know, I didn't, didn't know how to sell tickets with, uh, by, by, you know, me. Come and watch me because I'm going to do cool moves, you know, and that's, that's kind of like when I look back, you know, Scottie Anton, you're going to get a Van Terminator. My voice even sounded different.

Yeah. It's like, it wasn't even. even mature yet. It's crazy. Is this why Bill Alfonso was brought in? I'm sure it was. It wasn't explained to me at the time, but knowing what I know now, I would have to assume yes. So then did you finally just

go, I got to embrace this. Like, this is who I am. You know, there was yes. And then the more I did that, the more over I was getting. And then there was the night that I clearly crossed the line and became a superstar. And that was when I

won the television championship from Bam, Ambigolo. And Paul told me that. The next show that we were at was in Queens, New York at the Elks Lodge. And just like always, I'm always trying to think of an advancement of my last cool move, you know. Well, how can I take it a step further? And I wanted to crotch Mikey Whiprek on one guardrail. The guardrail's going down to the ring from the dressing room to separate the fans, crotch him. And then I wanted to, of course, have Fonzie old chair over his face. I wanted to go from the other the crowd on the other side springboard off the guardrail jump all the way across you know the walkway bam deliver a flying sidekick i was like what do you think paul ran it by him earlier

when i was sitting there thinking about and he said i think it doesn't matter what you do tonight those people are gonna love you that is such a good paul amen i didn't know what he made i was just like okay whatever i had no idea what he met you know but i clearly had crossed the line and the reaction that I got from that moment on was just totally different. It was, I don't know why. It was like, all of a sudden, like, bam, I felt legit. Like, I was a superstar. That gave me the confidence to say, hey, being myself, what I'm doing is working.

You know. So that's Paul basically saying to you, you're over, no matter what you do. And it was right. He was right. It was totally the reaction from the crowd that confirmed that. Yeah. You can't think of ECW without thinking of RVD. So this is going to be difficult, but I'm going to put you on the Mount Rushmore of ECW.

Who are the other three faces that should be up there, in your opinion? Saboo. Okay. Of course, there's so many guys, you know, that it's hard to decide between Dreamer, Sandman, and Taz, Raven. Let's put Taz up there. Okay. And before you, before you, any more honorable mentions before we list our final person? Maybe Rhino, Rino.

Mike Awesome did, Mike Austin. Ryan is a candidate, but you know, I feel like he came in there after me. Yeah. And I think about, you know, like Saboo, Dreamer, those guys like were there since the beginning. And so I kind of feel like they have a deeper foundation in it. Yeah. Kind of more grandfathered or godfathered in. I don't know.

Yeah. So, but, you know, obviously, whatever I say is going to be a good answer. So RVD, Sabu, Taz, and. Dreamer. Is Paul? Paul's not an option. I mean, yeah. Like, he'd have to be, right?

Well, he's just kind of without, without Paul Heyman. There's no ECW. Right. So I think we just go, of course, Paul Heyman's there. So maybe it's just performers? In that case, then it would be really hard, but I would, uh, if Dreamers not up there already, I would go with him. And there it is.

I mean, honorable mention to the Sandman, Raven. Well, you can go out and honest. What about the eliminators? What about these guys, that guy? But I'm trying to think of who's been there the longest and he's had the most impact on the company. And it's a pretty good, a pretty good three or four,

but I'd rather be able to put Six on probably. Yeah. You really can't argue with any of the names you just listed. There have been a lot of people who have been making comparisons from AEW to ECW. Do you think that those are fair? Is there anything that's similar between ECW and AEW? There is. I would, what I think is similar is that they're pushing the envelope like we did,

and they're doing it in a way where the fans think it's cool. So that's what I really liked about ECW. I felt like, man, if everybody just watch this, if they just caught it flipping the channels, a lot of people are going to just get sucked in because what you're watching is so different. I feel like AEW is trying to be the different for now, which is hard because there's so many different groups. And even WWE is more of a hybrid than it used to be.

Now it's more of a combination of that plus everybody that they've absorbed up, you know. And of course, most of these guys grew up watching me. And so because of that, they're more ECW-like and the fact that they want to be extreme. and do extreme moves and stuff. So in that matter, you know, I say, yeah, it couldn't be the exact same way that it was then. It has to be different for now different than what we've seen and cool. And, you know, they're kind of,

I think they're seen as that by their fans for sure. At the height of your career in ECW, did WCW ever try to pluck you? The height of my career in ECW? Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a pretty, well-known story when I went to a show that they had at Savannah, Georgia. I was living in the town, and I went to see, I believe it was Louis Spicoli. Scotty Riggs was also a friend of mine. Maybe it was

both of them. I went there and ended up having a conversation with Eric Bischoff at the time, and he was telling me that he saw me. He gave me details. He said, you know, I'd like to see here. I see you being on a three-year progressive contract starting at this, to this, to this, and boom, boom, boom. And I was like, okay. And it was like, yeah, think about it.

Let me know. And then it was right after that that it got out. And everybody thought that I was going to be leaving. And then that's where the whole Mr. Monday Night angle came from. because while considering that, Paul ended up sweetening the pot, you know, making my position a lot stronger there because I'd been left off their first pay-per-view, but now he was going to be centering the whole company around me in my situation of being wanted by the other groups. So that was the whole Mr. Monday night thing.

I want to WCW, but instead I went to WWF and I was trying to do everything at the same time. When you were in ECW and there were all these big names that kept leaving, mostly, usually for WWF at the time, what was the feeling like amongst the boys? Were they like, congrats, way to go, or it was like, I can't believe you're leaving us? For me, I think it was more of the latter, you know, looking at it now at this age and this much experience, you know, you never know what someone else is going through. You never do. But at times where, you know, even though we're...

ignorant of that. We're judgmental and I think that I was feeling more like, man, how are you guys going to give up? Because I wasn't going to give up. I didn't understand how they could feel different because I just thought, you know, the answer is to blow ECW up so we don't have to go anywhere else. Yeah. And I thought that was possible. Yeah. But because there were so many big names. Like, I remember when Taz left and I felt like there was part of the crowd was happy for him. And then the other part of the crowd was like, I can't believe you're leaving. This sucks. Yeah.

Yeah. I'll agree with that. Yeah. Again, you know, he had his family, his wife, all kinds of stuff. You know, even when a lot of the guys had checks bouncing and stuff, mine weren't. And I don't think that I really thought about how much pressure that would be to be having kids that depend on you feeding them and your wife and all these. bills and actually, you know, worrying about if you're going to make it and you got an offer over your head. So, you know, now it's a lot easier to understand. But I think at the time,

I just looked at it like, come on, man, we're soldiers. We don't give up. And you had a real loyalty to Paul Heyman, too. I did. But I was also generous. The more I think about it with the guys, you know, whenever I could help them out, I always did, you know, because I felt like we all were there earning together. So in different ways, I tried to keep everybody going, you know, that I cared about when I could. But, you know, it obviously wasn't meant to be, and that was just one of many mistakes that I've made at this point. You consider it a mistake, really?

No, I don't. I don't, but the belief that it was going to take off obviously was a mistake. You know, the belief that, you know what, once we get on a national TV channel, which you were, TNN. Boom, right. And I thought in my mind, all of a sudden we're in all these different homes, and I also thought they were going to promote it. I thought we're going to be on the sides of buses

going through downtown, you know, telling people about us. Eyes are going to be pointed our way, and that's all we need because we're so fucking cool, you know, and that's, I believed that it was going to take off. Do I think that was a mistake in retrospect?

Sure. I mean, but you didn't know how TNN was going to view you guys. No, of course not. They loved roller derby more than pro wrestling, which is crazy. And going through it again, you know, I wouldn't have changed it. I wouldn't have jumped ship. That's part of who I am. You know, my, as you've said, it's part of my real character in real life as much as it is

the wrestler. Yeah. But 30 plus years now in the business, congrats, by the way. That's incredible. What would you go back 30 years ago and tell year one Rob Van Dam? That's a good question. So back when I'm just breaking in. Just breaking in.

I think it would be a behavioral improvement that I could see, you know, when you self-criticized inside your mind and stuff. And now, like, I'm so open and honest, like, you're not going to catch me in a lie. You're just not. I don't lie, you know, I don't lie anywhere. People that, and this is, for me, like, the reason I even state that, some people don't believe it. Some people say, as soon as someone tells you they're honest, you know, they're lying to you.

Okay. If you feel like that, you and I are not like-minded. You would not follow RVDology, my ways of life. And I wouldn't recommend that everybody does because it doesn't make you popular. It doesn't make you understood. But for me, it totally works. I love my life and I have certain ways, you know. And I'm starting to share some of those on my YouTube channel real soon.

I'm just learning the production end of it and stuff. But so I think that. that starting out, I was just too defensive, you know, and then I couldn't admit what was obvious. So my first year, when people referred to me as being green, I totally took it as an insult. I'm not green. Fuck you.

I'll show you how green I am. And maybe that can be, maybe you can find some silver lining and having that fire, this or that. I'm better than these guys have been working 10 years. You know, they're not going anywhere. They're wrestling for themselves once a year on these, you know, their shows that they promote, you know. And I got that from Sabu.

He was my mentor for the first several years, whatever he said, boom, you know, that would go. But just now, I think, you know, of course I was green. I was just starting out. How could I have not been? I think life in general could have been a little less awkward if way back then, if I could have had more connection. Well, it's really a connection with the universe. and it's a spiritual thing, but I think it would start with self-awareness

and being open about that, you know? Yeah. I was always so self-protective. Dude, even when I was like 26 or something in there, it was, I don't know exactly, but it was like 97, so yeah, I wrote about this. Sorry, I got congestion. No, there's actually a cough button here.

Look, you can hold that down when you cough. Great, I'm going to do that a lot. I did this movie. I wrote about this on my Instagram and shit, and it's called Blood Moon, right? I just started like in ECW, and this was my second action movie to do. I was like super excited.

There's a scene, well, one of my only scenes, but it's the same to my character's introduced in a bar, and I'm supposed to be a former Tough Man contest winner. It's my bar, and I'm trying to bang this bitch on a pinball machine, right? And he wanted me to take her bra off, you know, and I'm making out with her, and this killer comes in, boom, we fight, right? I didn't know how to take her bra off. And I didn't have the honesty or the whatever it is I didn't have.

I had too much fucking defense. It's almost pride. Maybe, yeah, in a bad way, I think, now. But yeah, it's like a stubborn. We had to go take after take after take. And they even tried, you know, he was like, hey, you know, let me, maybe you guys look at, oh, I got it, let's go. You know, my finger hurt, whatever. I was just, you know, and again, I blame Shab.

Cough. Hey, good job. Yeah. Dude, except for everyone down on their third floor. That was something, you know, that I wish I could know what I don't know. All right. I'm very good at that right now. I know what I don't know.

If you ask me a question and I don't know it, I'm going to be like, oh, that's a question for my accountant, or you need to talk to my so-and-so. I have no idea. And that's what I lacked. There's a power there in being able to say, I don't know, instead of trying to convince someone that maybe you know this. Exactly. So that's what I would tell myself 31 years ago, dude, know what you don't know and, you know, apply that. That's your first lesson of RV Deology. I love it. Are there any more lessons of our ideology that you want to share with us? Give us one more. Okay, everybody has their own values. Almost every single conflict, and I also believe there's no absolutes, which means there's always exceptions. But having said that, we're not going to point out the exceptions because they don't follow the rules, right? Sure. But everybody has their own values. Every conflict is because of a mismatch of values and a void of respect for the others' values, whether we're talking about wars, whether we're talking about animals, eating smaller animals, anything that happens, you know, and so for me, like, it's easy for me to understand,

you know, we had this conversation on the way here, on the radio, not on the radio, on the phone, it's talking to me on the speaker about somebody that I don't even know, his buddy, and he was talking about a situation where he, his buddy, caught his wife, banging this other guy, you know, and they were going to fight. And then she said that they didn't really fuck. And so now they're going to go back together, you know. And my friend's like, oh, you know, and he's like, you know, how are you going to take her back, you know, after that?

And I'm like, dude, some guys like watching their wives bang other guys. I mean, it doesn't work for me, but I'm just saying that you don't know someone else's values that everything has its own importance. And if he thinks, you know what, I think, I'll be able to deal with this and work it out because I love her enough, then who am I to judge that? You know, although I might be thinking, dude,

you're always going to be thinking that when you're with her. It's going to come up over and over. I don't know that. I don't even know the guy. Yeah. But people that I do know, you know, it's like everyone has their own set of values. You know, if you and I were to go, Chris,

how do you feel about the color blue? Yeah, I love the color blue. Dude, what if I fucking hate it? What a stupid thing? Dude, blue is a fucking stupid. Are you like blue? Blue sucks, bro. Yeah.

I were in first grade, right? Yeah. Some adults never leave that state of mind. It's true. When I'm around other guys, that's what it's like, like in the locker room, you know, it's like, dude, what? You think so-and-so is hotter than someone else? We all have our own set of values.

And for me, just knowing that and being okay with that, and I'm not saying that someone can come up and hang out with me and tell me they're a child molester. You know what I mean? One, I'm still going to be judgmental by my own values. It's just that I know that. I know that we all are. We all have, and since we all have our own values and do things for our own values, which are based on our own priorities and other things,

because of that, we all do think that the way we do things is the best way to do them. And so much of it is perception. Like you say something and I perceive it a certain way and I go, wow, RVD is really, he's a real dick to me. And you don't even realize that you're doing this. sure absolutely it's like when you talk someone with text there's no emotion because you don't know what they're saying and same thing uh and also people translate and then they use different words and i'm very and i'm not perfect but our ideology is a way of growing and wanting to improve and i've been on this for years and i am

growing and improving so much i wouldn't go back two years i wouldn't go back 10 years because right now I just feel like I'm at my best. I feel like I'm the best, the best me I can be. Are you writing a book? Writing an RV Deology book? I hope so. Let me say yes, but.

Yeah, say yes. Put it out of the world. I am, but it's not at a stage where I can say that it's really developing. I have a couple different angles and approaches to it. One of them was going through the WWE books, and believe it or not, they actually told my guy that I'd be doing it with that we'd be better off going somewhere else. Can you imagine that?

No. What? That doesn't make any sense. I, you know. Maybe is that a nice way of them saying like thanks, but no thanks? Well, I don't know. I mean, is it just one book guy? Because like I said before, I can call over his head and I kind of feel like there'd be more of an interest. So maybe that's something, you know, maybe I'm being a little too honest, but that's what I do. Maybe it's just a bio. Maybe it's an RVD bio that has RVD. Well, no, the thing is, yes, this would be a book of memoirs, which can be taken as my first attempted in autobiography. And it is something that I'm doing. I just don't have any other details except for what I've shared with you. But I am, you know, part of me learning the production of streaming and all this stuff

is going to be me being able to record. And part of that and hoping that I'll spend more time on it is going to lead towards, you know, me telling these stories for this book. We'll come back to this clip in like three years when your book comes out. Cool. And I've always said, anytime you go back in my career, though, ever, and you ask about, am I going to do a book? I've always said, yes.

It's always been very important to me. So important that it's hard for me to just do. And I've had meetings with book agents and publishers and different would-be writers over the years, you know, and thought about writing it all myself versus having a ghost writer, all kinds of stuff. And it's been a learning experience. And just like everything, when it's the right time, the universe is going to put it right in front of my plate and say, here you go.

I love that. Yes, sir. What would you say is the one match most fans ask you about when you do signings? The one match would probably be when I beat John Sina at ECW one-night stand and won the championship belts. Yeah. Yeah. Which if they ask me, I bring it up.

If they asked me, like, what my favorite match was, you know, because with that match, it's, it's the first off, the match itself was, you know, in my opinion, great. I loved, I loved the match, you know, obviously seen as, you know, great. He was great with that crowd. The crowd was incredible, one-of-a-kind crowd, like irreplaceable moment. One-of-a-kind, so you did that. One-of-a-kind. Besides all of that, it's like, what was my,

story, my buildup, going into that particular match, everything since 96, you know, maybe even before that, you know, if you want to add the history. So, so for those reasons, I mean, I was me and all, every fan in that building, we were all fighting for what I believed in and in my heart and what got me all the way up to that point. And that's why they all wanted to see the match go the way it did and see Cina go down or they would riot. And a lot of, uh, You know, fans bring it up differently. A lot of times saying, I still remember that, Matt's, you know, when you beat Sina. I hope you still remember it.

But then again, they were only five when it happened. So that's cool. What was the conversation with Sina like backstage? Like, he must have known what that crowd was going to be like. He must have known what the reaction was going to be. What were the conversations that you had before you went through the curtain? I don't think anybody could have known exactly how that crowd was going to be, you know, first off, to put that out there.

Like, I didn't. I knew for sure that was that was my home. That was your crowd. I knew that. They were with me. That was my building. But I couldn't have predicted, you know, that they were going to feel so much that way. They were going to be like, no, fuck your t-shirt.

Throw it back. I mean, you see me laughing when you watch that. I thought that was funny and great. What are the chances that a fan that could have a John Cena shirt because they're all real fans at heart? Yeah. Would do that. And then it doesn't. Boom, second guy does it again.

You know, third guy wipes his ass with it. You know, it's like, holy crap. Like, this is great. Like, I had no idea it was going to be like that. John knew that he was in for a rough night. He was going to get shit on a lot. He knew that. And he was just super cool.

I really think he was looking forward to the match. I think that he had fun with it. I know I did. And I think that John was probably happy to be in that heel role, at least, like, for one time in his life. because every other, you know, the reaction everywhere else was fairly similar at that point. For him to go in there and be able to wrestle as a heel, I think was. Yeah, that was, I did see him get booed by the whole crowd before, and that was in Wales.

And that was like early in my WWE days. So I don't know, probably 2003 or four. It seems like, I don't know, but I was shocked because I hadn't seen that before at that point. and everyone booed and then he got on the microphone and he cut this promo he said,

you can boo me, you can boo me, yeah, keep it up, let's go. He was like, that's what we want, man,

as long as you're screaming and, you know, and your voice in your opinion, you're, you know, that means you're ready to go and they're ready for wrestling,

you know, and he was like, that's all we want. Either way you go and make sure you're having a good time, so keep it up. He turned them

and made me a much bigger fan of his, at that moment. Wow. I was like, wow, he knows how to turn the whole crowd that hated him into loving him and, you know, two minutes. Wow. It's been so good hanging out with you, RVD. Thank you so much for coming by. Abso Smurfly, dude. I end every conversation with the same question, so I will ask it of you. Are we going to talk about Irvody CBD? We will plug all of that at the end, yes. Oh, okay. Well, anyway, that's those ventures. You know, I've always wanted, I could talk about it for something.

Please, yeah, absolutely. I will hijack this airway. Now, what I want to say is I've always wanted to educate and to make cannabinoids more accessible for people who could benefit from them. So having my own CBD line and also in some states now, THC going is a great thing for me. You know, besides it, even being a business, just being able to help all these people and getting all the feedback that I get that I'm making their lives better, it's awesome. So just like everything else, good energy, karma is real.

that's what I would say to the people that would be a lesson for me or anybody at any age. You know, karma's real. So treat it with respect. RVD CBD. Where's the best way for people to get in touch with it? RVD CBD.com is the best way. And we're growing. We're getting in different stores.

CBDs are a small percentage of what marijuana dispensaries actually sell. But it's a bigger percentage outside of the marijuana shops. You know, for people that don't want. want to actually use marijuana. CBD, you know, it doesn't get you high. It affects your endocannabinoid system, much like marijuana does, except for not in the negative ways that a lot of people want to avoid. So there's over 100 cannabinoids in the plant.

It's always been illegal for us to study it ever since Mayor LaGuardia blocked it in, I think, 1941, I think, because he tested it and said everything's bullshit. It's not dangerous. It's not addictive. There's no kids aren't doing this in a menacing, right? So they blocked all future testing from it until now that it's quasi-legal. We're looking at it. Now we're able to use CBN and THCA1 and all these other cannabinoids and finding out that a lot of people

don't need the pharmaceuticals that they've been hooked up on for years. I love how passionate you are about this. it's a good cause i mean it's it's something that i i've always paid a lot of attention to so i know that a lot of people don't they're paying attention to shit i don't part of being one of a kind is that i don't pay attention to half of the stuff that normal people do which doesn't make me like i said doesn't make me popular in in that i never care about that at this point you know other things make me popular now you know i absolutely i can't have a conversation with you about any sport because i don't watch any um i only watch m ms

sometimes, but I don't give a fuck about football. And not that I hate it or I'm not saying anything bad. I know nothing. And it would be torturous for me to sit in front of a game with you. Even if we're passing a joint back and forth, watching like a football or a baseball game, it's just it's not my thing. Race cars, any cars, any cars.

I can't tell you there's between a Ford and a Honda, Dodge. I don't know. You know? I mean, there's so many, many things. You want to talk about music? Forget it. I don't, who you know that doesn't listen to music?

You don't listen to any music? The only music I listen to is what Katie listens to. So it's usually hip-hop. Sometimes I will put reggae on because I like the vibration. So sometimes just for background energy, I will do that. But that's as far as I go and I don't subscribe to it. I don't dance to it. To me, that would be so weird.

I never feel music and want to make those weird faces that people. people make when they're dancing, you know, like, ooh, like, what is that? It's like, or they're like, oh, oh, what is that? You're like, I mean, it's performing. If you're RVD and you look at dancing, it's performing, whether people realize they're not, they're performing and they're having fun doing that. I get enough performing the way that I do it, you know. And some people will dance on their own and listen to music in their apartment by themselves, but still, if I think they're performing, I mean, they're practicing performing. All right, I will get to the final question.

And again, it's been such a pleasure to have you on here. I start and end every day with gratitude. I say out loud three things that I'm grateful for. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for today? I'm so grateful for Katie Forbes. And I'm so grateful that the universe has worked out for me the way that it has and that it takes care of me. My relationship with the universe is something that I'm constantly growing and making stronger. you know, I'm not perfect. I find my faults. My faults to me might not be my faults to you. Again,

different set of values. You might think something's a fault that I'm actually proud of, but I'm always working on myself. And it's been very rewarding. And I'm thankful that the universe has brought me somebody that is my very best friend, an incredible bond that I've never had with anybody. that just is so real that I know I'm never going to allow anybody in between us. And boom, I'm thankful because we are getting married in like eight days. Congrats. Thanks, dude. You know, the internet thinks you're already married, I feel.

Yeah, honestly, it's something that's so personal to me that I don't, that I'm not out there, like, trying to promote it. But since you asked me, it came up because that's honestly what I'm thankful for. But it's so personal to me that, um, that, you know, for me, like, to have a wedding in the ring would be like the opposite of being really close to my heart. You might have to wear that ring all the time. I don't know.

It's up to you. Yeah, well, we'll see. It won't be a, we won't be conformist, and the wedding is not going to be your average, you know, wedding that you're used to because we are both, you know, nonconformists in our own way. But we're also going to say something about the ring, no, something about. about the wedding, something about personal, what was it? Damn it, we were closing, and I was,

the real RVD on Instagram. We'll go with that. We'll go with that. RVD, CBD.com. RVD. Always so good to hang out with you. Cool. Thank you so much.

Good to hang out with you. Sorry, I didn't give you the WWE Hall of Fame imprint on your knuckles. Next time. That I usually give, but yeah. Cool, man. Good luck with the show. This is an awesome studio. Thank you, brother.

I'm sure you'll do well with it. Let me know when you're in Vegas. I'll let you know. Thank you, brother. Oh. What a guy. Thank you to RVD for joining us in the Blue Wire Studios in the Win, Las Vegas.

And thank you for being there with us as well. Check out the photos and the videos on my Instagram or my Twitter at Chris Van Vleet. Also check out Chris Dot VanVleet on TikTok, and you can see what we're talking about with this unreal studio space. Also, give RVD a follow if you don't already. He's at the real RVD.

Take a screenshot. Tag us. Let us know that you're listening. And head to RVD-CbD.com to find out more info on RVD-CBD. I tweeted this quote out. It seemed to resonate with a lot of you. So I will share it here and I will leave you with this. Albert Schweitzer said,

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you're doing, you will be successful. Be great. Be grateful. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes.

So I don't want to hear from you, Lava Pig. on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack.

Take advantage of it, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What should be? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.