Has Rob Van Dam Had AEW Talks?

Is the Whole F'n Show destined to become All Elite?

by Andrew Pollard
Rob Van Dam
WWE

With any and all wrestling free agents these days forever posed with the question of whether they’ve had talks with either WWE or AEW, it’s now been the turn of Rob Van Dam to be asked whether he’s had an offer to become All Elite.

Speaking to Thibaud Choplin, Van Dam confirmed that he has NOT had talks with anyone in AEW as of yet.

As the Whole F’n Show put it:

Advertisement
“I’m not in talks with Chris Jericho or anyone in AEW. I’m all about the money. You know, people don’t understand. Some fans are ignorant. They don’t understand it’s a business. Some people think that when I had the WWE belt and the ECW belt, I was in my prime, and they probably think that I wish I was still there. But now, I make 20 to 30 times in one match what WWE was paying me at the lowest.
I could make that much more money in one match [now] than in 20 matches [then]. Why would you want to work 30 matches to make the same money that you can [for] work[ing] one match and make [the same] money? That’s something fans can’t understand ‘cos they think we just love to be in the ring 24/7.”

It certainly sounds like Van Dam is more than happy to work one-shot independent dates for good money rather than tie himself down to one company and work a busier schedule for potentially less money – which means if any WWE return or AEW debut was to take place, it would likely be as a one-off.

Given how Van Dam has been doing this for 30 years now, nobody can hold it against Mr. Monday Night for wanting to work less and be more focussed on what pays better.

Advertisement

RVD has been a free agent since departing IMPACT Wrestling earlier this year. At the time of that IMPACT exit, it was said that Van Dam and IMPACT are on good terms and open to working together again down the line.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.