He has gone by many many monikers – “Mr. Monday Night,” “Mr. PPV,” “and “The Whole Dam Show,” to name a few – but the legendary career of Rob Van Dam can’t be understated. Now, his career will be immortalized among those of countless others in the business. It has just been confirmed, by FOX Sports, that RVD will enter the WWE Hall of Fame as the Class of 2021. In addition to RVD, the Class of 2021 consists of the following names:
- Molly Holly
- Eric Bischoff
- The Great Khali
- Kane
Having been trained by The Shiek, Rob Van Dam made his professional wrestling career in 1990. He worked across various promotions in his home state of Michigan, including the United States Wrestling Association. RVD would also see a brief stint in World Championship Wrestling as Robbie V. However, it wasn’t until he arrived in Extreme Championship Wrestling that “The Whole Dam Show” came into his own. As both a laidback babyface and cocky heel, RVD enjoyed ample success in ECW, working with the likes of Sabu and Bam Bam Bigelow during his time in “The Land of the Extreme.”
RVD became a two-time ECW World Tag Team Champion alongside Sabu. However, it was his run with the ECW World Television Championship, which he won from Bigelow in 1998, that most fans remember. From April of that year to March of 2000, RVD held the World Television Title for a record-setting 700 days. Among the opponents he defended it against were Chris Candido, Jerry Lynn, Tommy Dreamer, and Masato Tanaka. In fact, many fans consider this to be the most important reign of RVD’s career.
Following ECW’s closure in 2001, Rob Van Dam made the jump to the World Wrestling Federation during The Alliance angle. As a member of the villainous Alliance, which brought WCW and ECW stars together, RVD became popular with the WWF fans, making him something of a pseudo babyface during this time. In addition to winning the WWF Hardcore Championship, RVD challenged top stars “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock for world title gold. Once this storyline concluded, and The Alliance disbanded, RVD became an official fan favorite, going on to win the Intercontinental Championship six times.
Perhaps as monumental as his ECW World Television Championship victory, however, was his WWE Championship win at ECW One Night Stand 2006. Consider that, at the original One Night Stand, RVD was unable to compete due to injury. On this night, however, RVD took on the reigning WWE Champion, John Cena, who was treated as the villain in the Hammerstein Ballroom that night. Following interference from Edge, RVD defeated Cena to win his first, and only, WWE Championship. A few days later, on the first episode of WWE’s ECW show, RVD was awarded the ECW World Heavyweight Championship from Paul Heyman, making “Mr. Monday Night” a double champion for a brief period.
Once his contract with WWE ended in 2007, Rob Van Dam worked a variety of promotions, including the Inoki Genome Federation in Japan. RVD would also make a surprise appearance in the 2009 Royal Rumble. In 2010, however, he arrived at another prolific wrestling organization, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. During his initial run with the company, RVD won the TNA World Heavyweight and X-Division Championships. He would also compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling as a TNA star, even inadvertently granting the trickster Toru Yano his signature pose.
In June of 2013, RVD returned to World Wrestling Entertainment in that year’s WWE Championship Money in the Bank Match. However, his second major run in the company wasn’t nearly as prosperous. Though he feuded with Alberto Del Rio and competed for the Intercontinental Championship he had won numerous times in his previous run, RVD was more of a bit player in the company. The following year, RVD departed the company once again, wrestling across various independent promotions before returning to IMPACT Wrestling in 2019. His first match back with IMPACT took place at United We Stand, in April of that year, when he teamed with Sabu to face current AEW stars The Lucha Brothers in the main event. RVD would remain with IMPACT until September of 2020.
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