Few matches in wrestling history have generated the kind of atmosphere that surrounded Rob Van Dam’s WWE Championship victory over John Cena at ECW One Night Stand 2006.
During a new WWE Retrospective special on WWE Vault (see video below), Van Dam looked back on the unforgettable main event at the Hammerstein Ballroom and admitted that even he and Cena were caught off guard by just how hostile the crowd became toward the WWE poster boy that night.
“I think that John and myself both expected the crowd to hate him and to be really strongly behind me,” Van Dam stated. “They far exceeded our expectations. We couldn’t have predicted that they would take it that far. And it was a once in a career kind of experience that them throwing his shirt back. That’s John Cena’s shirt. Do you know how many fans on the planet would love to go home with his shirt? But if anybody kept that shirt, the rest of the fans would’ve probably pummeled him.”
That reaction became one of the defining moments of the event and helped cement the pay-per-view as one of the most memorable shows of the era.
Van Dam also opened up about sharing the ring with Cena and revealed that the future WWE legend brought a physical edge to the contest that fans may not have fully realized.
“And I don’t know if a lot of people will say this, but, and this might be the pothead calling the kettle black, but he’s a little stiff when he put….I don’t mind saying that. When he put his submission on me, where he’s got you in the headlock and he’s got your feet and on your stomach down there going, ah! There’s not even room to scream because there’s no air left. Because he was like folding my body in half.”
Van Dam said he entered the match carrying more than just the goal of winning the WWE Championship. He also wanted to prove that ECW talent could stand toe-to-toe with WWE’s top stars and did not need validation from the company’s established brands.
“I wanted to prove we could handle it, we could hold it, ECW. You don’t need the SmackDown guy sitting up there and this and that. But now I understand what a heel that makes Edge against WWE. We just helped put Cena down, which is great for them too, for their rivalry.”
Looking back nearly two decades later, Van Dam said the match remains the defining moment of his career because it represented everything he had worked toward on his own terms.
A career-defining night.
“I was here because I ignored the right people, because I stuck to my guns and because I connected with the fans my way, and all of that was just so fulfilling,” he continued. “I’m grateful. That was definitely the match out of my career that everybody wants to talk about. And that’s because it put me at my highest position.”
Van Dam defeated Cena in the main event of ECW One Night Stand 2006 to capture the WWE Championship for the first time, a victory that remains one of the most celebrated moments in both his career and ECW history.
