Rob Van Dam On Iron Sheik, Paul Heyman, Talks With WCW & Looking Back At ECW One Night Stand 2006

RVD celebrates 17 years since he won the WWE Title from John Cena

The fourth episode “1 Of A Kind With RVD” released everywhere this Monday at 4:20 PM ET. I’ve included some quotes where RVD talks about Iron Sheik and goes in-depth about his ECW days with Paul Heyman before we look back at him winning the WWE Championship from John Cena. (If you use any of the quotes please backlink it to the episode)

On rolling joints with The Iron Sheik

“He was telling me that he had smoke, you know, wanted me to roll something and I didn't know how to roll back then.

“I was what? 24, 25, 26, whatever, 26 I think. And I was just like, 'I don't wanna waste your weed.' He is like, ‘No, it's okay.' And he was guaranteeing me I'd do better than him. And it was a big pregnant joint in the middle and I spilled half of his weed doing it.”

On Iron Sheik paying people with autographed 8x10s instead of money

"He would be offended if you try and whip out your money. And he did it at drive-throughs, he did it at nice restaurants, he did it at strip clubs. Whenever a bill comes, if we whip out our wallet, he would actually get mad at us and tell us to put it away.

"And then he'd say, ‘Ah, maybe you take care of our bill? You know, “American charity!”’ That was his deal and he did it everywhere. Everywhere.”

On when Iron Sheik tipped a maid with an autographed 8x10

“When I went to leave the room, he had signed an 8x10 and left it on the dresser and he signed it, ‘To Maid - Iron Sheik.’”

On being approached to sign with WCW

"Eric Bischoff stepped aside with me and personally offered me a job. So somehow that got out online instantly, and then the industry knew that I was gonna be leaving ECW for WCW because that's what you do.

“That's what everyone does. They use it as a stepping ground to get up to more exposure, more money. A bigger job. So everyone knew that's where I was gonna go. And then I'm not on the pay-per-view anyway, so it doesn't seem like Paul's offering me much to get me to stick around.

“So Paul brought me in and we had a big meeting where Paul said, ‘Is there anything I can do to make you wanna stay?' And so that's not a bad way to start negotiations, especially since I really didn't want to go. I really didn't. I loved the ECW style. It was my favorite and the most fun that I'd had and I appreciated very much how my efforts were making a difference, not just in ECW but [in] the whole industry. Cause everyone's watching ECW.

“And the company's growing so much right now. Like, we're hot and the crowds are doubling. And it's like, ‘Man, I really would rather stay there and be the “Whole F’n Show" then be a cog in the wheel, so to speak.’ And so Paul and I worked it out  and he put me on a guarantee. I had favorite nations, which I've heard, a few of us did, I've heard recently.

On if he was really slated to be Glacier in WCW

"Eric Bischoff recently, well, a year or two ago, I saw him in an interview respond to that situation, and he was like, ‘What? Rob Van Dam was gonna be Glacier? Where did this come from? And he had no idea. So when I saw him, I brought it up. It must have just been DDP in the middle. They got that confusion because that's definitely where I got all my info from DDP.

“And he acted like he was talking to Eric every day, like he was sitting with him at his desk or something. So I don't know how far up the plans went for that to happen in the big picture.”

On thinking he was getting buried by Vince McMahon during his first WWE in 1997, but Paul Heyman was causing self-sabotage.

"That was the first time that I'd actually had a face-to-face meeting with Vince and I was telling him, ‘What is this doing for ECW if we go this route and we're on your TV? Saying what? That we're inferior to you?. That's not why I'm here.’ And [Vince] was like, ‘Well Rob, obviously I wouldn't have  had you on my TV unless I saw you staying here and being one of my talents. I see you as a babyface, an aggressive babyface, but in the long [run].' And I was just like, ‘What?' And I'm turning to look at Paul and he's like, as far away as you can be by still being in the same room.  And then when I was like, 'Paul, this doesn't seem right.’ (As Paul) 'You wanna go? Let's go. Let's go.' You know? And he is just ready to go instead of trying to work anything out or explain anything, you know?

On when he figured out Paul’s agenda with ECW and WWE.

“Years later... I think it was after 2001. 2002 after I went to WWE and was the first ECW version during the Alliance? Yes, it was. It wasn't before that.”

On if he considers Paul Heyman the greatest booker of all time.

“I think you know that as far as booking goes, in my opinion, I think he's the best. And that's also because I like his stuff in particular.

“He got a lot of pushback from the WWE office in 2001 during the Alliance. A lot of his ideas got opposed. Same thing when we brought ECW back for the Sci-Fi network. A lot of his ideas were opposed. There were other bookers in the office that think completely different. They would think it's ridiculous.

“I think Paul's got the best ideas cause they thought the exact opposite and tried to stop all of his ideas. But I agree with that sentence that he's the best that I know of.”

On if John Cena knew he was going to get the major heel reaction for ECW One Night Stand 2006.

"John knew he knew what he was in for. Like, he knew that that crowd was gonna be roasting him. I don't think either of us could have known how hot it would get in there to that level. 

“He knew that they were all gonna be against him and wanna see him get his ass beat and I just remember him being so cool with it, being such a good sport about it.”

On wrestling that night at One Night Stand.

“That's what it felt like, like I was back. It's amazing how your mind and body and spirit are all connected. When you really feel good about something, boom. You feel good all the way through everything like follows it.

“And that's always so true. And at that point it was, I just felt like I was absolutely at my best fighting for all the right reasons. The most passionate and the most I could possibly care about the business. It was my business, you know? And it was my fans and it was going down the way I thought it should go down.

“Although I never really felt like until the very end that I knew what was gonna happen.”

On reflecting back in the moment when he won the WWE Title.

“So what I remember about that like '1, 2, 3!’ Like, ‘Oh my God, that really just happened.’ That’s how I felt. Like just, ‘Boom,' like 'I'm on top of the world right now.’ It’s the coveted top seat in the industry and I did it my way, which meant so much more to me than winning it 20 times doing it their way.”

"I remember dropping down to my knees, you know, and just like soaking up the crowd and like taking all that energy in and [I] guess that's the only time I felt that particular energy.

“Maybe that's why it's hit me so hard."