Rob Van Dam was a recent guest on the IMPACT Wrestling Press Pass podcast, and talked about his return to the company being a good business decision.
Following his appearance at IMPACT’s United We Stand event in Rahway, New Jersey, RVD will return to the promotion on a regular basis. RVD was asked about previously considering himself ‘semi-retired’ and if were there any other major factors besides good business that affected his decision to sign with IMPACT. RVD says the business aspect shouldn’t be discounted, and this will allow him to reach a larger audience domestically,
“Any other factors? As long as you don’t try and push that aside, because that’s really what it is all about—it’s about business for me. As I’ve mentioned, semi-retirement for me meant I wasn’t wrestling nearly as much, and at least the last ten years or so, I’ve been geared towards making it mean more. After being in a monotonous schedule that I was with WWE, I got totally burnt out and I’ve never shaken that off.
Most of my peers and people that I know hate to be at home. They can’t stand being on the couch, they’ve got to find something to do, they go nuts. They retire and go and get another job—I’m the opposite. I love being home, and every time I leave it has to be worth it. On the business end of IMPACT Wrestling alone, that was worth it, and the schedule isn’t that much more than I was doing. Even if I just do IMPACT and I don’t do some of the other shows—because I won’t be able to—my schedule might be filled up as far as how much I want to work with IMPACT. Over the last several years I’ve been wrestling mostly overseas—Australia, Italy, Scotland, all over the UK, England—that’s really where you could find me the last two or three years. Now with IMPACT I’m going to be just as busy—a little busier than I have been, most of it’s going to be domestic—it’s going to be on TV and the fans are going to be able to see me again. There’s really not a reason not to do it. A lot of fans really want to believe in their hearts that I’m holding off and want to go to one of the other companies, but I don’t. I don’t have the same values that the fans have. I’m not as excited as they are about the other things going on in wrestling. Right now it’s great that IMPACT is bringing me in and making big news while everyone else is trying to make news, and the wrestling business right now is good.
All of the other groups outside of the monopoly have all come up, and wrestlers have places they can go all over and work. All of the different organizations have a great support team from the fans that want to see their group succeed. The business is hot right now, and it’s time to bring RVD in.”
Read More: Rob Van On Examining His Health And Comedy In ‘Headstrong’, How Stand-Up Compares To Wrestling
