The Money in the Bank win by Rob Van Dam at WrestleMania 22 was something that a lot of us expected. He had been a very popular guy in WWE from the moment he debuted five years earlier, so it was expected that WWE would push him to the top at some point. He was always loved by the fans. It had to happen. They did a cool thing with his cash-in because instead of seeing him do a surprise attack on somebody, he challenged WWE Champion John Cena at the ECW One Night Stand 2006 event where the fans were strongly behind RVD and they hated Cena so much. The atmosphere for it was incredible. "If Cena Wins We Riot" is the sign that we'll always remember. RVD ended up getting the win due to interference by Edge, who was in disguise at ringside. When RVD capitalized with a Five Star Frog Splash for the win the NYC fans erupted because they knew how much RVD deserved it. The reason RVD's name is listed here is because his reign only lasted 22 days. That's because he got pulled over by cops that found marijuana and other drug paraphernalia in his car (Sabu was with him) after he was pulled over for speeding. RVD is known as one of the biggest supporters of marijuana use in wrestling. Due to the arrest, WWE had him drop the WWE Title to Edge and RVD was suspended for 30 days. It's not known how long of a reign he would have had without the drug arrest, but it probably would have been three months or more. They could have done a lot with him. Instead, it didn't happen and he was never pushed to that level again.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
