10 Things We Learned From Bruce Prichard’s Rob Van Dam Podcast
8. Van Dam Felt Like The Third Wheel In Late-2001
It didn't take long for RVD to feel expendable.
Following stunning matches against Jeff Hardy at Invasion and SummerSlam, Rob was thrust into the middle of a WWF Title feud between Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. This resulted in a fresh-feeling Triple Threat at No Mercy 2001, and (surprisingly) it was one Rob wasn't keen on.
To Van Dam, being shoved hastily into the middle of an already pre-existing rivalry made him look like a third wheel. He wasn't the main attraction, but instead another tool the writers could use as an excuse to extend what Austin and Angle had been doing all summer.
From a fan's perspective, it was refreshing to see someone like RVD, who hadn't been created by Vince McMahon and didn't wrestle like a typical WWF/WWE star, in the main event scene. Rob didn't exactly agree, and he viewed it as a throwaway spot at the time.