10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Sept 2)

3. Rob Van Dam Felt WWE Success Came In Spite Of Triple H

Paul Heyman Rob Van Dam ECW One Night Stand 2006
WWE.com

In 2006, Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena at the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view to capture the WWE Title. Less than a full month later, he dropped the belt to Edge in a Triple Threat encounter that also involved Cena. Aside from holding the ECW Title, that was Van Dam's only World Championship run in WWE.

Speaking at a recent spoken word event, RVD told The Buzzards Wrestling Podcast about his true motivation when working for the company. As great an inspiration as someone like Paul Heyman was to his career, Rob actually credits Triple H for pushing him to succeed.

Far from positive, the reasons for this are entirely negative. In fact, RVD believes any success he achieved in WWE actually came in spite of Triple H. Never viewing the former ECW man as a genuine top guy, 'The Game' was also blamed for holding Van Dam down when the pair worked together in a feud over the World Heavyweight Championship in late 2002.

It appears that RVD sees things the same way as his hardcore fans, and thinks he could have gone higher had Triple H not stood in his way.

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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.