By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Rob Van Dam
Host: JP John Poz
Twitter: @TwoManPowerTrip
Website: www.tmptempire.com
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com
On ECW favored nations: “At the time we were bringing Sid Vicious in, and I was thinking, ‘Hey, this protection might be a factor here.’ Pretty soon, what are we paying that guy? But yeah, that’s what it is. And it was contract negotiation. I had a guarantee whether it was annual and then broken down or whatever, I knew what I was going to get every two weeks or whatever. When we got our check, I think it was every two weeks, and I was getting that, so even when some of the money wasn’t coming in and the other guys had checks that were bouncing, I wasn’t getting some of the money…. I never got the pay-per-view bonuses, the revenue. I never got any royalties for the action figures or t-shirts. But even though I wasn’t getting that, I was still getting a guarantee that was comparable to what WCW was offering me. So I wasn’t complaining, although I was digging a bigger and bigger hole by letting the royalties build up. And eventually that did become a problem that I couldn’t get around.”
On Bam Bam Bigelow: “That match goes down as definitely one of the most, one of the very important moments in my career. And I didn’t understand it. Paul (Heyman) knew it was going to happen. I feel like I’ve said this many times, but the next night, after I beat Bam Bam, I was wrestling Mikey Whipwreck at the Queens Elks Lodge, and I had this idea. I was always trying to outdo myself. I want to crotch Mikey on the guardrail, but come across the whole walkway, the entranceway, and springboard off the other guardrail and clear the whole entrance way and kick him. What do you think, Paul? Do you think that would be…. He goes, ‘It doesn’t matter what you do, these people are going to love you.’ I was like, whatever weirdo. I had no idea what he was getting at, but, total different energy immediately from the crowd. And it never went back. So they definitely held me in a higher esteem instantly after that Bam Bam Bigelow match, no question about it. And the whole vibration of my relationship with the crowd was just like, boom, on a much higher level. So that was great. I loved it. I loved wrestling Bam Bam.”
On the WWE Hall of Fame: “Whenever I get the 203 on my phone, and I see that, I’m like oh, boy, what’s going on? And it was Johnny (Laurinaitis). And he said, ‘Vince, we’re all set to the table, wanted me to give you a call and find out if you’d be interested in being inducted into the hall of fame this year’. So of course, I was like, well, of course I’d be honored. And I was. And it was a really good experience. I wasn’t shocked. I don’t think anything shocks me anymore. You’re lucky even to get any emotion out of me.”
On his relationship with Vince McMahon: “We have a great relationship. I have nothing but respect for him from my personal interactions with him, he’s always been nothing but super respectful to me. And from watching so many of his interviews that he does, I find myself agreeing with him almost 100 percent of the time and I really learned to respect them. The more I understood about life and just the more I grew, I feel like I was really immature when I worked with them and got busted with the marijuana, dropped the ball and stuff. Not that I’m necessarily above something like that again, but I definitely dropped the ball and I feel bad about that, and he’s the most important man that I know.”
Other topics include business under The Sheik, Sabu, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Japan, AJPW, ECW, Paul Heyman, WWE, Vince McMahon, his WWE Hall of Fame induction, RVD CBD, RVDology on YouTube, and more.
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