The following interview recap is from F4WOnline.com:
Rob Van Dam was a guest on The LAW Sunday night with Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski and Jason Agnew on Sirius 98 Hardcore Sports Radio.
Van Dam was promoting his DVD "The Best of RVD TV Vol. 1" and explained that it was a reality show but wasn’t contrived or manipulated but rather just turning the camera off and letting it go with Van Dam and his friends. He felt he was trapped creatively in the WWE and began the reality show after leaving the company as a creative outlet that was shut down in WWE. They have done 75 episodes thus far and features other wrestlers, comedians and celebrities discussing topics such as religion, censorship and more.
Lovranski asks about his good friend Chris Masters and reports that he is on his way back to the WWE. Van Dam says he isn’t 100% sure if he has officially signed but is stoked to return and definitely wants to get back on the road. Van Dam says this run will be different for Masters because last time he was released for a Wellness Policy violation and this time around he is clean and got good exposure his last time. He says people don’t know the real Chris Masters from his time in WWE but on RVD TV he comes across much differently.
Van Dam says when he left in June 2007 he was so burned out on the schedule and wanted time off but was never given it. He says when he left he didn’t care if he ever wrestled again. He finally was interested in March 2008 when a promoter in Portugal offered to fly Rob and his wife and allow them to stay a few extra days for a vacation and that set his standard for doing dates. He says he wants to keep doors open domestically but not walk through them.
Van Dam says TNA has been in constant contact with him as recently as this past week and WWE calls him every few months. He says he doesn’t have the passion as it was beat out of him and it’s a tough job if you don’t love it.
He discusses the film "The Wrong Side of Town", which is a big action flick that also features Batista and Van Dam says he is shocked WWE allowed him to do it and Viscera (Nelson Frazier) is also in the movie. He said it’s a four picture deal through Grindstone (a subsidiary of Lion’s Gate) and could be filming the sequel as soon as July. The first film is set for a DVD release and also has a TV deal.
He said he used to play around with roles and now wants to focus more on acting as "The Wrong Side of Town" was written for him and given the starring role.
A caller asks Van Dam about current guys he could put together a good match with as well as Shane McMahon using the Van Terminator. Van Dam wasn’t happy about the Shane deal but says guys always get moves stolen and it’s not a huge deal and more people saw Shane do the move at WrestleMania than when he did it in ECW. Van Dam says it was Paul Heyman who showed Shane a tape and gave the Van Terminator to Shane before Van Dam came into the company. He says he doesn’t watch a lot of the current product but never got a chance to work with CM Punk when they were in ECW.
On the current ECW product he was turned off after Vince McMahon told him he didn’t want the new product to be like the old ECW and it killed his motivation. McMahon told Van Dam that the fans chant "ECW" because he trained them to chant that.
The next caller asks if Van Dam was aware that Tommy Dreamer won the ECW Title and his thoughts. Van Dam says he got a text message from a mutual friend that Dreamer won the title tonight and he’s happy for Dreamer as regardless of what the ECW Title means today it is still the top title on that brand he’s in a good position now and everyone loves Tommy.
Lovranski remarks how so many wrestlers always have the mindset of coming back and Van Dam’s head is in a completely different place. Van Dam says he has always walked away from promotions when he was ready to. He said in 1993 he was Robbie V in WCW and Ole Anderson had just taken over for Bill Watts and started to job him and he decided to leave. He said in 1993 Chris Benoit confronted him and asked what his problem was and how many people want his job and Van Dam said he was making $100 and Benoit was on contract. He said he also walked away from All Japan Pro Wrestling and walked away from ECW when they owed him too much money. He also brought up a story in 1997 when the WWE was working with ECW and Van Dam started working on "Raw" and walked out when they wanted him to lose to Road Dogg and has always known what was best for his career.
He said the last thing Chris Benoit said to him in early June 2007 was that he has a lot of respect for leaving and that he has enough sense to walk away and some of us don’t have that same sense. Van Dam brought up the 1993 incident and Benoit said he didn’t know what he was talking about in 1993 and then weeks later was the Benoit murders.
