On a recent edition of his “1 Of A Kind” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam discussed signing with WWE in 2001 and his Hardcore Championship reign.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his run as Hardcore Champion in 2001: “That was one of my favorite championships to defend, and it helped me adjusting to WWE, because when I was the hardcore representative, I was able to be myself within limitations. You know, within their guidelines and their time limit and whatever, but I was able to express myself in the way that RVD needs to be showcased, so that was really cool.”
On making the title mean something: “I started making the belt mean something, adding prestige to it, credibility, which it didn’t have before. I mean, it was a joke. It was a joke. I mean, a hardcore match before was going to the hotdog stand and squirting mustard all over each other. And pretty soon I’m main eventing the live events, and so they had to get rid of that belt.”
