10 Things We Learned From Bruce Prichard’s Rob Van Dam Podcast

9. There Were Never Talks About Changing His Name

Rob Van Dam Hardcore Title
WWE.com

WWE have a weird history with name changes. Some, like Colt Cabana, are hit with dreadful rebrands like "Scotty Goldman". Others such as CM Punk, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe get to keep their names. A lot of that has to do with merchandise and WWE's need to own their star's copyright.

It wasn't ever an issue with Rob Van Dam.

There was one simple reason: the timing. WWE never discussed changing Van Dam's name because he was coming in as part of a failing WCW/ECW invasion in the summer of 2001. Without the luxury of big-name stars filling up the Alliance ranks, WWE felt some name recognition was sorely needed.

Van Dam ticked a lot of boxes. He was known for his time in ECW, had a marketable look and would (theoretically) help boost a storyline McMahon was quickly losing faith in. Though it didn't work as WWE might have liked, Rob had a foot in the door on his own terms.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.