WWE Hall of Famer and former world champion Rob Van Dam was a recent guest on Ryan Satin’s Out of Character podcast to discuss his legacy in the pro-wrestling business, where the ECW legend admits he was always expecting to be inducted into the Hall of Fame due to the amount of love he receives everywhere he goes. He also looks back on his shoot promo from the ECW One Night Stand event in 2005. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says he always thought he’d make it into the Hall of Fame:
I thought that it might and I also thought that there’s a pretty good chance that it might not happen. I’m not very committing to assumptions and I could see it happening maybe either way, you know? I thought that maybe eventually, but I figured there was probably a decent chance. I mean I know that I’ve had an impact on the business. I know that I’m appreciated because I get a lot of love everywhere I go so I thought there was a really good chance but to be honest, I’m not even sure what all the criteria is to qualify. I don’t really know how all those decisions are made. I’m just — I’m glad for me and for all the fans. I feel like them being behind me and wanting to see this happen is a way for them as well.
On his shoot promo at ECW One Night Stand back in 2005:
I was [frustrated]. That venting was a complete shoot about how I felt at the time. Now, looking back at the big picture, you know, I look at it a little different because the more I’m alive, the more I learn about life and I still appreciate the perspective I came from and everything and that was integrity and that was what the fans enjoyed. But, I can look at the overall business a little bit with a bigger picture now because when I’m in that mindset, so competitive, I’m thinking, you know, ‘This position should be mine, I should be the guy. Shouldn’t bump me off a match for Coors Miller Lite girls’ or something like that. Just all that stuff in my mind was like, ‘Hey, if they wanna get their investment out of me, then why aren’t they doing this with me and why are those –’ a lot of those frustrations are — I guess it’s just part of the job but looking at it where I’m at now and knowing how everything turned out and how I probably wasted time on negative energy thoughts and being stubborn in certain areas, you know, when I look at it overall now. I’m glad that everything had its place. I’m glad that everybody, whether I looked up to them or thought that they were stealing some of my TV time or whatever, I looked at everybody and everything all different now.
(H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling
)