Episode five of Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1,2,360 with special guest Rob Van Dam is on iTunes and YouTube now. In this rare interview RVD reveals his current WWE deal, talks about watching Ancient Aliens with Action Bronson and tells the story of Taz and Sandman costing Sabu $30,000. You can watch here: https://youtu.be/1-3ixoGCKTI, or listen here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/x-pac-1-2-360-afterbuzz-tv/id1150124693?mt=2&i=374822005, with highlights below.
On his current run with WWE:
I have a deal now with them, just like [Chris] Jericho, where I can do short term deals. I did a three-month deal and still did sixty-six matches in ninety days, and then the traveling. So then the next time I went back I spread it out a little more, was doing mostly just TVs and that was over five months. It was like eighty matches, or eighty-eight. Me and Jericho have the same deal but I don’t have the ambition that he does. He likes being there a lot. I mean, I really like not being on the road. A lot of celebrities are afraid of being out of sight, out of mind. I’m the complete opposite. I’ve always been trying to do as little as possible and I’m getting better at it all the time.
Did WWE contact him for the brand extension?
No, I haven’t heard from them since, it’s almost been a year actually. It was last October when we talked, and it really wasn’t a good time for me to go out on the road. I had personal stuff that I was going through. But there’s always a dollar amount that makes it worthwhile, you know what I mean? But the amount that would’ve made it worth it for me to go out and work wouldn’t have been worth it for them and what they were thinking, and so that just didn’t work out, which was good because I really wasn’t wanting to do it then. And also I might’ve scared them away with the number it would’ve taken to make it worth my while. So no, I really haven’t even talked to them.
About appearing on Action Bronson and Friends Watch Ancient Aliens:
That was the craziest thing we filmed. There was never an ‘action’ or a ‘cut.’ We never really knew what we were doing. It was just hanging out and they must’ve filmed for five hours. We were there for at least three and then they just keep the best moments. I had it figured out after awhile. Sabu never did. He was still like, ‘Are they still filming?’
What happened when RVD tried to take a picture with Jean-Claude Van Damme:
When he came in my manager went up to his entourage because he was walking through and he said, hey you know, could we get a picture of him and Rob for the web site or something? He said, oh he doesn’t have time. Alright. Whatever. So I was like, we tried, whatever. While I’m walking around I saw up onstage he was answering questions to a crowd in the auditorium and at the same time taking pictures with a line of fans one at a time. And so I said, well sure I’ll just get in line and get a picture, that’d be cool. And I get in line and all the fans got excited and they’re like, oh oh oh, and so they pushed me right up to the front of the line so that I’m next. I’m standing onstage and Jean-Claude was talking, answering a question, and when he saw me he totally lost his train of thought and he was just like, ‘I was very lucky to have a father who…’ and he just saw me and if looks could kill. He said something to his handler and they guy goes, OK no more pictures, this was the last one. And they’re like, no, no, one more, and he’s saying, no more. And then he’s trying to answer the question, he’s trying to talk and they started going, ‘RVD! RVD!’ which was rattling him and they guy came over and he dispersed the line.
Who he could trust to catch him on a high-flying move:
There was only, like, three guys that I would dive from the top rope over the guard rail to and trust to be a good base. That was Bam Bam Bigelow, for sure, Balls Mahoney and Bubba Ray Dudley. Those are the only guys that I would trust to catch me. And the other guys, like I would do a hielo to the floor, inside the guard rail and certain guys I would know for sure that they’re not going to catch me. Like Lance Storm every single time he would act like he’s going to catch me and then his arms would just kind of go limp, and if anything, I would bump his shoulder.
On taking risks in the ring:
When you’re an entertainer you’re looking to entertain. You know what I mean? I really want to pop the crowd. I want to show off. That is the one thing that I’ve always loved about my career is I just want to show off. I always hated the storylines. I always hated when I had to do the promos, especially because I got to push their agenda and try to tell you that this championship match is more important than anything in the world to me. Come on. No, it’s not. But I like getting in the ring and showing off and that feels real to me, that connection with the crowd, even when the office is trying to do stupid things with me and turn me heel, or try to make it so fans don’t like me. That connection, that real connection is the fans saying, no, we dig what he’s doing.
Talking about Sabu’s generosity, and his much needed hip surgery:
He’s always been extremely over-generous and that’s why he can’t just write a check to the hospital, because ever since my first road trips with him he’s always insisted on taking the bill, paying everyone’s dinner at the table, always has all the wrestlers stay in his hotel room. When he had the Winnebago, driving everybody around. He always wants everyone to be together like a family, he wants to take care. He got that from The Sheik, because The Sheik was like that.
How Sabu’s kindness ended up costing him tens of thousands of dollars:
We all showed up into town and we were at the car place. I took off in a car that I rented and Sabu went with me and Sandman and Taz were in a car and for some reason they didn’t have a license or something. So Shelly Martinez put the car on her credit card, I think, and Sabu said, if you did this then if anything happens to the car I’ll pay for it. We’re heading down the road and Sandman calls, ‘Oh ****, **** ****! Oh my God, there’s blood everywhere! **** I gotta call you back!’ Sabu’s freaking out, and I’m like, dude he’s ribbing you because the car that they’re driving is your responsibility, you told Shelly you’d pay for it, he’s ribbing you. [Sabu] goes, OK, thank God. They call back a few minutes later, ‘Oh my God dude, we hit a ******* deer. [Expletives] The car is ******. Where you at?’ And I tried to tell Sabu, dude he’s ribbing. There’s no way. And they were ahead of us. So pretty soon we pulled up and there’s blood everywhere and the car was ******. And Sabu had to pay, like, thirty thousand dollars out of his pocket or something for the car, and explain that to his wife, that he gave Shelly Martinez thirty thousand dollars. I might be wrong. He said thirty at the time but I think recently I think he’s lowered it to twenty when he tells the story.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
