RVD Info
Personal Details
Real Name:
Rob Szatkowski
Date of Birth:
12 - Dec - 1970
Place of Birth:
Battle Creek, Michigan
Height:
6'0"
Weight:
237 lbs.
Place of Residence:
San Pedro, California
Marital Status:
Married to Sonya
Pets:
A Chihuahua named Xena
Professional Details
Trademark Maneouvres:
Five-Star Frog Splash, Split-Legged Moonsault, Rolling Thunder, Van Daminator, Van Terminator
Pro Debut:
Defeated Tango Nguyen, 1990
ECW Debut:
Defeated Axl Rotten, 1996
WWF Debut:
With Tommy Dreamer, invaded WWF, July 2001
Singles Titles:
ECW TV Title, WWE Hardcore Title (3), WWE Intercontinental Title (3, unified with WWE European Title)
Doubles Titles:
ECW Tag Team Titles (2, w/Sabu), WWE World Tag Team Titles (current, w/Kane)
Note: I got information on RVD's career up until July 2001 from robvandam.com, the rest is from memory.
In the late 80's, the legend of Rob Van Dam's career began in the original Sheik's backyard, where he was tought to wrestle. Thanks to a connection through a friend, 18 year old Rob Szatkowski started training with the Sheik in Lansing, Michigan. Rob was like family to the Sheik and his wife, Rob ate meals with them and swam in their pool during his breaks. That was the prologue to one of the greatest success stories in the history of the business.
Before stepping into the ring, RVD was an accomplished kickboxer. Although he loved martial arts, it didn't pay well, so he transferred to Toughman contests. Then, in 1990, he finally set foot in a wrestling ring for his official debut, where he defeated Tango Nguyen, a man who he trained with during his days with the Sheik.
Rob competed on the independent circuit in the early 90's, where he gained most of his experience. His first real break came as Chris Candido's replacement on the USWA tour, where he faced Sabu in an official match for the first time. Sabu had also been trained to wrestle by the Sheik (Sabu's uncle) and, little did Rob and Sabu know it, they would form an exciting tandem over half a decade later in ECW, but not after a fued.
RVD made his ECW debut on January 5th 1996, when he defeated Axl Rotten with the Split-Legged Moonsault, a move that astounded the fans and RVD adopted as his finisher - for the time being. Having competed in WCW as Robbie V as a glorified jobber, Rob was in for one of the biggest pushes of his life in ECW. Soon after he debuted, he jobbed to Sabu in a spectacular match. When the bout was over, Sabu offered his hand to Rob. RVD bailed out of the ring and left Sabu there. Three weeks later, they squared off again in a Respect Match. RVD scored the pinfall with the Split-Legged Moonsault, and, as per the stipulation, Sabu offered his hand to Rob for a second time. This round, RVD grabbed a microphone and told Sabu off in the middle of the ring. Their third encounter soon followed, a Stretcher Match.
Rob's penchant for high-risk manouevres cost him this match. As Sabu was prone on the stretcher and about to be carted off, RVD attempted a somersault plancha, but Sabu moved and RVD landed on the stretcher. Sabu then rolled him out of the arena for the win. That victory earned Sabu Rob's respect and the two formed a tag-team.
Rob and Sabu spent the first four months of their tenure as a tag team faceing The Elimators on a regular basis, but only got one victory over Saturn and Kronus. Most of the time, it was Rob who jobbed to the team, as management wanted to appease the bigger star Sabu. Since RVD wasn't happy with his position in the company, the rumour mill was spinning that Rob would take Eric Bischoff up on his offer for another run in WCW. Then, in a move that no wrestling journalist was expecting, he showed up on WWF Raw is War on May 12th 1997 and defeated Jeff Hardy (some things never change) with the Split-Legged Moonsault. Three weeks later, he overturned Flash Funk (that gimick must have been the worst thing that ever happened to Too Cold Scorpio). But then, he started questioning management with his role in the company after teaming with Jerry Lawler twice consecutively, facing the Headbangers. Following a one month suspension from ECW, RVD returned to the Land of Extreme, and a very irate locker room. They were furious at the "sell-out" and wanted to exact revenge. At the head of the pack was Tommy Dreamer.
In June 1997, RVD returned to ECW, still tagging with Sabu. The two became associated with The Godfather of Referees, Bill Alfonso, the most successful manager in ECW history. A slightly miffed Tommy Dreamer (regarding RVD in the WWF) led to an on-screen fued between the two. At Born to be Wired, RVD and Dreamer clashed in a bout that ended when RVD exectued a Corkscrew Legdrop onto a trashcan that rested atop Dreamer, giving Rob the win. Our man bested Tommy Dreamer again in November to Remember later that year, connecting a picture perfect Frog Splash, again, onto a trashcan that Tommy's carcass lay beneath. RVD's fued with ECW was over.
The ECW TV Title is synonymous with Mr. Monday Night, and that dates back to April 4th 1998, when RVD dethroned Bam Bam Bigelow for the title. Executing two planchas off the top rope into the fifth row of the crowd, Rob was on fire. Weighing almost twice as much a Rob weighed back then wasn't a factor, the Beast from the East never stood a chance. Rob's days as a heel in ECW were over. When footage of the title change aired throughout the States, the fans bestowed Rob with the "Whole F'N Show" moniker. Still holding the TV Title, RVD and Sabu tore through the tag team division, defeating Lance Storm and Chris Candido for the Tag Team Titles on June 27th. RVD could now fend off opponents with ease in two divisions instead of one. On August 8th of that year, Rob proved himself a a true champion in both divisions. After busting up his nose before downing Jerry Lynn in a 20 minute scorcher, Rob, later that night, successfully retained the Tag team crown - on his own!
On October 24th, dem damned Dudleyz took RVD and Sabu's titles with help from The Triple Threat. ECW's most popular tandem got them back, but after Sabu was suspended in Spring 1999, D-Von and Bubba Ray regained the Tag Titles. Now just a singles champ, RVD was on his way to celebrating his first anniversary as TV Champ, having fended off opponents like Lance Storm, Chris Candido, Jerry Lynn, Balls Mahoney, Tommy Dreamer, Ulf Herman, Mikey Whipwreck and John Kronus - to name but a few. Due to the fact that he was undefeated at ECW PayPerViews, he earned the "Mr. PayPerView" moniker. On April 3rd, 1999 Too Cold Scorpio tasted the Five Star Frog Splash in a failed attempt to take the TV Title. With this victory, Rob celebrated his first 365 days as the TV Champion. Later, in what was voted ECW Match of the Year, RVD retained his title against Jerry Lynn. The New F'N Show broke his nose after being hit with a spinning kick, RVD busted his eye open halfway through, and it took two Five Stars to put away RVD's greatest opponent, but sure enough, Rob won the match.
Rob was roaring through the competition. The Dudleyz, the FBI, everyone wanted to take the title from Rob. At the November to Remember PayPerView, he defeated Taz for the first time, and two months later at Guilty as Charged, beat his former Tag Team partner Sabu. Then, something went wrong. In a title defense against Rhino on January 29th 2000, Rob broke his leg when a baseball slide went awry. Rob won the match, but was sidelined for three months. To add insult to injury, Rob was forced to relinquish his title to Rhino on March 4th, exactly one month before his second anniversary. That brought to an end Rob Van Dam's only ECW TV Title reign, a 23 month long title reign, a title that Rob was never defeated for.
Upon Rob's return at the Hardcore Heaven 2000 PayPerView, he faced a familiar opponent. For the third time in an ECW ring, RVD squared off with Jerry Lynn. It was on this night that Rob would suffer his first PPV loss. With Lynn prone on the mat, Rob went to the top rope to seal the victory with a Five Star, but then Scotty Anton turned heel on Rob and pushed him onto the stage. Anton dragged a limp RVD back to the ring, where Lynn scored the win with two Cradle Piledrivers. The following month at the HeatWave PPV, Rob gained revenge against his former best friend. It was in this match that RVD debuted the most unique finisher the grappling business has ever seen, also the most dangerous. With Scotty Anton lying in the corner of the ring and Fonzie holding a chair in front of his face, the crowd started chanting "Terminator, terminator, terminator!" Giving the fans what they wanted, Rob went to the opposite side of the ring, where he springboarded twenty feet through the air to dropkick th chair into Anton's face, sealing the win.
Following it's debut on July 16th, the Van Terminator twice victimised Rhino, who took credit for breaking RVD's leg. The last ever TV Champion was forced to defend the belt against RVD. After our main man connected with the Five Star, Rhino's accomplises hit the ring and assaulted Rob, causing a disqualification. In their rematch, the exact same thing happened. It looked like RVD finally had a fair shot at the Man Beast's title at the 2000 Anarchy Rulz PayPerView. Alas, Rob was denied the title by a fast count for Rhino, delivered by a heel referee. RVD's hunt for the TV ended in failure, but not without controversy.
Rumours were flying when RVD took a sabbatical from ECW. Word was that Van Dam was unhappy with his role in ECW. Rob confirmed that when he talked about the thousands of dollars that ECW owed him. The upcoming Guilty as Charged 2001 PayPerView would be the last, and Paul Heyman knew it. He advertised a huge surprise to take place on the card, on which TV Titlist Rhino captured the World Title from the Sandman. In the main event, the surprise was revealed. The man who had not wrestled for the company in three months, Rob Van Dam, hit the ring for a match with Jerry Lynn in front of a ballistic crowd. In the last ever ECW match, RVD came out victorious over his nemesis, The New F'N Show, Jerry Lynn.
On July 9th 2001, during the first ever WWF vs. WCW match, Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer hit the ring while Kane and Chris Jericho battled Lance Storm and Mike Awesome. The heel quartet assaulted Kane and Y2J, but that was before WWF Superstars Tazz, the Dudley Boyz, Justin Credible, Raven and RVD's old friend Rhyno hit the ring to stop them. but wait... the six grapplers sided with the heels. Paul Heyman then left commentary to announce that ECW was invading the WWF. ECW sided with WCW as the Alliance in the botched testament to Vince McMahon's ego, the invasion angle. Despite being pushed as a mid-card heel, come October, Hardcore Champion RVD found himself being pushed as a babyface main eventer, yet he remained with the Alliance. In his first WWF World Title shot at No Mercy 2001, RVD was pinned by Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Triple Threat match that also featured Kurt Angle. Sure, he did the job, but he was in the main event, anyway. The following month at Survivor Series, RVD participated in the main event again, this time to determine the future of the WWF. He teamed with Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, Booker T and Shane McMahon to take on The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kane, Undertaker and Big Show (substituting for Vince) in an elimination ten-man tag match. When it was down to Stone Cold and The Rock, Kurt turned on the Alliance and cost them the match. That meant that all Alliance members were fired. Luckily for Hardcore Champion Rob Van Dam, that excluded WWF Titlists.
On December 9th at Vengeance 2001, Rob faced Undertaker with the Hardcore Title on the line. RVD kicked out of everything that the Deadman had to offer, but that was just postponing the inevitable, as 'Taker walked out of this match with the win, and the Hardcore strap. The following month at the Royal Rumble, Rob did a little better for himself. He outlasted Undertaker, anyway. the only people who outlasted the mellow master were Mr. Perfect, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle and winner Triple H. But then, his push abruptly stopped.
At No Way Out 2002, he was saddled up in a fued with Dustin "Goldust" Runnels in a dire match. Oh dear. And the following month at WrestleMania X8, he faced the bumbling Brit William Regal in the opening match. Usually, if a dazzling established performer is put in the opening match, it is to warm up the crowd with a sterling performance. This obviously wasn't the case, his opponent was Regal. RVD won his WM debut in a forgettable match. At least he left with the Intercontinental Title. Unfortunately, his reign would be short lived. The following month at Backlash, he lost the belt to Eddie Guerrero. The rematch the following month at Judgment Day didn't go his way, either. Eddie got the pin with assistance from the ropes. But then, things started to look up from there. The following night, the got a shot at the Undisputed Title against Undertaker, who won the title the night before. In the match, Rob pinned the Deadman with the Rolling Thunder. Just as he was celebrating his Undisputed title victory, the owner of Raw Ric Flair came out and started the match again because Undertaker's foot was on the ropes. The Deadman hit a Last Ride to retain his title.
The following month, before entering in the last ever King of the Ring tournament, RVD faced Eddie Guerrero in a ladder match for the Intercontinental title, which Mr. Monday Night won on a Monday Night. He defeated Latino Heat again in the KOTR qualifying match, where he progressed to the quarter-finals, where he downed X-Pac with help from Booker T. That led to the KOTR PPV, where he squared off with SmackDown! Superstar Chris Jericho, and narrowly defeated him. He progressed to the finals where he faced fellow Raw Superstar Brock Lesnar, and lost due to the interference of Paul Heyman.Brock lesnar had won both the King of the Ring tournament and a shot at the Undisputed title at Summerslam. The following night, RVD interrupted the award ceremony and attacked Brock. Heyman then went to Vince McMahon'a office and demanded that Brock Lesnar be given a shot at RVD's IC title. Vince made the match and RVD was set to face the rookie monster. RVD had Brock down and looked to seal the win with his old finisher, the Split-Legged Moonsault. Just before the three-count, however, Heyman attacked RVD, giving Van Dam the DQ win over Brock. That led to a rematch at Vengeance 2002 for the IC title where, again, RVD won by DQ. For the third time, Paul Heyman had avoided a pinfall loss on Brock's behalf. The following night, IC champion RVD faced European champion Jeff Hardy in a unification ladder match. RVD won, of course. He has never been beaten by the younger of the two Hardyz.
At the start of August, RVD lost his coveted Intercontinental Title to Chris Benoit, who, after using the ropes for leverage to win, defected to SmackDown! with the title and his running buddy, Eddie Guerrero. Thanks to a defecting Stacy Keibler, Rob got a rematch at Summerslam, where he beat the Rabid Wolverine. Two weeks later, when Triple H gave himself the World Heavyweight Title, RVD was set to defend the IC title against Y2J in the main event. Instead, after pushing HHH out of the way, Hunter demanded a match with RVD later that night. Jericho was adamant that HE face RVD, as he was scheduled to. Instead, Bischoff made a tag team match: RVD and Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho and Triple H. During the match, RVD kicked out of a chair shot, a Lionsault, didn't submit to the Walls of Jericho and didn't tag in Flair. Yet he managed to over come those obstacles to pin the World Heavyweight Champion Triple H. The following week, RVD won an elimination fatal four way over Big Show, Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho for a shot at the World strap at Unforgiven as a nervous Triple H looked on. Six nights before Unforgiven, Y2J finally got a shot at RVD's Intercontinental Title. Just as Rob was set to hit the Five Star, Triple H ran down to ringside, where RVD hit him with the cross body. Because of that distraction, Jericho managed to slap on the Walls of Jericho to bag his fourth Intercontinental Title. Then, at Unforgiven, the most predictable ref bump and heel turn in the history of the business occured when Ric Flair "shockingly" turned on RVD by drilling him with a sledgehammer, allowing the Game to retain the title.
RVD gained a measure of revenge against Flair the following month at No Mercy when he pinned him clean. That was after he participated in a breathtaking TLC match, in which he teamed up with longtime rival/suitable tag team partner Jeff Hardy to take on Kane, Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley and Chris Jericho and Christian. Kane singlehandedly retained the tag team titles. In November, RVD entered the main event picture again. He participated in the first ever Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Title. In the match, he made the biggest mistake of his career, he injured the Almighty Triple H. In what I believe was punishment, he was eliminated first by Booker T with a missile dropkick. Shawn Michaels won the match. The following night on Raw, RVD challenged HBK to a World Title shot. Bischoff said that RVD would have to earn his place, first. So, RVD faced Y2J and Booker T in a Triple Threat for a shot at the belt the following week. Thanks to Steiner interfering, Jericho was hit with a Five Star Frog Splash, giving RVD the title shot the next week. That match went to a no decision when Triple H SHOCKINGLY ran in and destroyed everyone. HBK no-sold the Five Star in that match, he kicked out before RVD was attacked. That incident led to a No. 1 contenders match for Armageddon. Triple H vs. RVD with Shawn Michaels as the referee. That RVD couldn't win with a biased babyface referee tells you all you need to know about WWE's thoughts on RVD's top line suitablility. RVD wasn't even on the card at Armageddon.
RVD did exactly the same in the 2003 Royal Rumble as the 2002 one. Ony 4 men outlasted him: Batista, Kane, Undertaker and winner Brock Lesnar. The following month at No Way Out, oh dear. He was pinned by William Regal after his tag team partner Kane accidentally Chokeslammed him. The following month at WrestleMania XIX, RVD wasn't even on the card. Disgraceful. Instead, he was pinned on a special edition of Heat minutes before WM began by Lance Storm. The following night, he teamed up with Kane ot take on the Dudley Boyz and Lance Storm and Chief Morley in an extremely heated elimination Thriple Threat for the tag titles. RVD eliminated D-Von with a Van Daminator. Later, after Kane Chokeslammed Storm and Morley simultaneously, RVD hit the Five Star for the one-two-three... and the World Tag Team Titles. At the time of writing, they were set to defend the titles against "French" duo La Resistance. It looks like Kane will turn heel on Rob, giving Grenier and Dupree the titles.
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