Rob Van Dam, on a recent episode of his podcast, “1 Of A Kind With RVD,” shared a fascinating two-of-a-kind story about how he almost came out with ring gear that said “TNA” during his 2013-2014 run with WWE. Yes, you read that right. He almost did that – twice – only to be stopped by Dean Malenko; both times.
RVD shared,
“My opponent’s already in the ring. It’s a commercial, and I’m standing at Gorilla waiting for my music to hit as soon as the commercial’s done. I remember two different times, but one specific — the last time. Dean Malenko’s like, ‘Hey, Rob.’ He goes, ‘You got another outfit in your bag?’ I’m like, ‘Um, yeah.’ And he goes, ‘You want to go put it on?’ And I’m like, ‘Um, are you serious? Why?’ And he goes, ‘You got one that doesn’t say TNA on it?’”
Luckily, Dean Malenko is now a backstage agent in All Elite Wrestling, so Tony Khan won’t have to worry about Rob Van Dam wearing tights with the name of a company that isn’t even called by that name anymore.