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

3. RVD Had Quite The Ordeal With Tribute To The Troops

tribute to the troops
WWE.com

One of the other top-notch stories in this particular episode came when Prichard talked about Rob's desire to take some much-needed time off from WWE rather than attend the ("completely voluntary") Tribute To The Troops tour in December, 2004.

Having been told by everyone, including John Laurinaitis and Vince McMahon, that the tour wasn't essential to his contract, Van Dam was left confused when everyone kept telling him how much of a great time he'd have out in Iraq. As he'd already spoken up, booked a holiday and cleared it with WWE, RVD was dumbfounded.

When he queries McMahon, Rob was told he should really think about going, because he'd have a blast entertaining the armed forces.

Eventually, WWE gave up on trying to convince RVD he should fly into a war zone against his will instead of taking 10 days off to recuperate and relax. Meanwhile, Prichard was frustrated that nobody asked him if he wanted to go.

Advertisement
Contributor

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.