Rob Van Dam Reveals Why He Didn't Want To Join WWE

When ECW and WCW folded within a two-month period in early 2001, WWE were pretty much the only game in town for wrestlers looking to earn a full-time living from wrestling in North America. 

Despite this, Rob Van Dam had some reservations about joining the company. 

Speaking about his apprehension during a recent edition of his 1 Of A Kind With RVD podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer said: 

"That's why I didn't want to go to WWE in 2001. I was afraid that they would give me some lame character and change everything about me. That really bothered me because, obviously, it's always been important for me to be myself, and I really thought that was going to be up for battle. I thought they were going to come up with some lame, who knows what. That's why I was even upset...I didn't tell them that I kissed Ted DiBiase's foot because I didn't want them to make an angle out of it".

Van Dam noted that his former ECW boss, Paul Heyman, was trying to explain his character to people who didn't understand it backstage: 

"Paul [Heyman] was, I think, trying to explain me to the office, and certain guys in the office who might have power now would've rather just passed on me".

The 53-year-old last wrestled for WWE in August 2014. He most recently wrestled for AEW, losing to Swerve Strickland on the January 31 edition of Dynamite. 

As well as being wary of WWE changing his character, RVD previously recalled feeling intimidated when working with Steve Austin early in his WWE career.

H/T Wrestling Inc.