Tag: rob van dam

Rob Van Dam gives post-injury update, addresses possible WWE return

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam is feeling great after getting back into the ring.

In February, Van Dam returned to action after being sidelined for nearly a year. He suffered two broken heels while taking part in the 2025 edition of MLW’s Battle Riot. And before that match, Van Dam had not wrestled since April 2024. His return bout was against Mick Moretti for indie promotion BCW in Australia last month.

“This was my first time back, singles match, 20 minutes, whatever,” Van Dam told TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast. “I know what I’m doing, man. My conditioning was on point. I felt great in the ring, actually enjoyed the match. And I actually look forward to wrestling in a little different, more motivated way now. I don’t know if the reasons have changed on why I do it, but they seemed to — at least on the fringes temporarily.”

That newfound motivation comes from Van Dam now being a father. He and his wife Katie Forbes welcomed twin girls into the world at the end of 2025.

Van Dam noted that he has some matches and appearances coming up during WrestleMania week in Las Vegas, which is an easy commute for him given that he and Forbes live in Vegas. Van Dam will be appearing at the WWE World and WrestleCon conventions along with competing for Juggalo Championship Wrestling and Big Time Wrestling.

Now that he’s recovered from his injury, Inside the Ring asked Van Dam if he would be interested in returning to WWE to finish his career in an in-ring capacity.

“I am open to consider anything, that’s part of being open-minded,” he responded. “I try not to shut anything out without at least considering it. And when it comes to something like that, they got my number. They can talk to me. As you know, I’ll be appearing at WWE World…

“We could definitely have that conversation. But as far as a retirement tour, unless I change my perspective — which always happens, you’re always looking at everything from a different place in life if you keep going. But the way I feel now, I don’t like the idea of labeling something ‘retirement’ or I don’t really want to know if I’m having my last match when I am.”

Rob Van Dam shares return update, considering wrestling more in 2026

Posted on by Ian Carey

Rob Van Dam says he’s feeling good after suffering an injury last April.

RVD hasn’t wrestled since he broke both his heels in the MLW Battle Riot match on April 5th, 2025. He was a surprise entrant in the match, entering in at number 40. He was eliminated when Matt Riddle pushed him off the top turnbuckle to the floor. RVD landed on his feet, breaking both of his heels.

During his recent podcast, RVD teased that he might wrestle more in 2026.

“I am right now just wondering, maybe I’ll wrestle a little more than I thought I would this year,” RVD said when mentioning he’s receiving a lot of booking requests.

When asked how he’s feeling, RVD responded, “I feel awesome. Yeah. Training really hard and training good, sleeping good.”

RVD says that the injury he suffered at last year’s Battle Riot is no longer preventing him from training.

“The last match I had was in April when I broke both of them for MLW. And so it’s been a bit of a comeback. I haven’t wrestled since then. I imagine my feet will be probably a little bit sore, but they’re not holding me back now from running, training, spinning, kicking.”

RVD talking about his return is available below:

Rob Van Dam on Juggalo Championship Wrestling: ‘They’re about to blow up’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Rob Van Dam sees good things in the future for Juggalo Championship Wrestling.

The promotion founded by Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J made headlines in late 2025 with the hiring of Vince Russo as both its head writer and an on-screen character. RVD recently told GamesHub that he’s spoken with Violent J about a possible role in the company.

RVD said:

“The clowns seem right now to be getting all the news, all the media. They’ve got Vince Russo writing their shows now and before Vince came along, I’ve been talking to some people and some of those are my friends who founded it, Violent J (Joe Bruce) from ICP. And he’s been asking if there’s anything I could do to help their company.”

RVD continued, saying he believes JCW is the most underrated promotion currently and that it’s “about to blow up.”

“So I’m gonna say right now, that’s probably the most underrated (promotion) because people don’t know that they’re about to blow up.”

“Just recently, all the comments that I’ve read are so positive. The fans are so excited about what they’re doing and you want to talk about a promoter who’s a hard worker that’s done everything himself, right from the bottom? That’s Violent J!”

Matt Cardona won the JCW World Championship on the January 1 episode of JCW Lunacy, the promotion’s weekly YouTube show. Following Cardona’s return to WWE on the January 2 episode of SmackDown, Russo released a statement on social media acknowledging the risk involved in putting the title on someone who could return to WWE at any time.

Russo wrote:

“Does anybody really believe that you don’t know the risk involved when you put your belt on a former @WWE WRESTLER? That you don’t understand that he/she could return to the company at any time?”

The January 8 episode of JCW Lunacy, available below, features a number one contender match for the JCW World Championship between Mr. Anderson and James Storm. Cagematch lists the show having been taped at Harpos Concert Theatre in Detroit on November 22, 2025.

Daily Update: Kelani Jordan, RVD, Andrade

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is now available and covers the following topics:

  • Polls on Worlds End plus Continental Classic MVP and best match polls.
  • The story of the WWE/UFC merger and Vince McMahon’s resignation, how real was it, the big unanswered question about the WWE Board of Directors, lots of Discovery information in the shareholders lawsuit against WWE, McMahon, TKO, Nick Khan and others, things behind the scenes about the merger, and the change in plans prior to the 2023 WrestleMania in more detail than ever before.
  • Full coverage of AEW Worlds End and business notes on the show
  • The retirement of Hiroshi Tanahashi and the Tokyo Dome show
  • The record setting 2025 at Arena Mexico and biggest attendance week in the 92 years of CMLL, a look at the last week as well as how many Americans are at the shows.
  • The few times in history that a company sold out a major arena three times in the same week.
  • A look at the Stardom Dream Queendom show
  • Pro Wrestling NOAH hosts the first major show of 2026
  • Weekly odds
  • 2026 Observer award ballot
  • Most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week.
  • Weddings and engagements in pro wrestling this past week
  • All Japan has its best match of 2025
  • William Regal and others talk about neck injuries in pro wrestling and our thoughts on it as well as the reaction of some
  • Who had the most great matches in 2025
  • How Eric Bischoff’s new promotion is similar to Sam Muchnick starting out as a promoter
  • Company does a Vince McMahon/Janel Grant angle on its TV show
  • AEW business partner delisted
  • Tony Khan talks a ton of different subjects
  • Top merch sellers in US outside of WWE
  • Tom Aspinall update
  • Don Frye talks health issues
  • Lots of injury updates

This Week’s Back Issue

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Thursday Update

WWE

  • On No-Contest Wrestling, Kelani Jordan opened up about how proud she is of her fiance Carmelo Hayes for becoming United States Champion:
    • Oh, I’m so proud of him. Not only because, of course, you know, I don’t want to say, like, I’m biased, but really, honestly, like, he’s such a great person. He works really hard. I’ve never seen someone more passionate about this business and what he does. He studies all the time. He works hard.
    • He’s in the gym. He sometimes even does extra ring [work] with me, not only to help me, but just to make sure he’s in shape for his matches when he doesn’t really need to be. Like, he’s in great shape.
    • So I’m just super proud of him because I want to say he never, like – it wasn’t handed to him. He definitely earned it. And I feel like he definitely paid his dues. And of course, his talent speaks for himself, but he has a genuine heart. And so I’m super proud of him.
  • The Toronto Sun’s No Holds Barred podcast has an interview with Hayes.
  • Games Hub asked RVD if he feels like there is anyone in WWE who was particularly underutilized in 2025:
    • I mean that it seems like that’s always their job, they’re over obligated, they got so much TV time and they gotta figure out how to use everybody. Nobody really comes to mind. I feel like I prefer watching the ladies actually a lot more because they’ve really stepped it up.
    • If you go back to like 2001, when I came into WWE, the girls weren’t the best workers and a lot of wrestling fans would say that when the girls are on, that was their break to run to the kitchen or whatever, watching it. I didn’t know that girls could even move like they were fighting because they seemed so unnatural before, but they were hot, they get really hot girls. That’s not the same thing as someone that’s a tomboy that fought with their brothers and grew up that way. So now they have so many girls that qualify that I don’t see how they’re gonna use all of them because they gotta beat each other. And the NXT too, watching the girls that are coming up, I’m so impressed with them and they seem like they’ve closed the gap and lady wrestling might be just as popular as men wrestling someday.
  • WWE and ESPN partnered together to make a custom title belt themed after the College Football Playoffs:
    • The two sides have teamed up to create a custom WWE x ESPN CFP National Championship Title Belt, a one-of-one piece inspired by host city Miami and featuring the outline of Hard Rock Stadium, palm trees, and College Football–inspired design elements, including 136 diamonds representing each Division I FBS program. The belt will be on display for fans to take photos and interact with at the ESPN CFP x WWE activation at Playoff Fan Central in Miami from January 16–18, and one lucky fan will also have the chance to win it through an official ESPN sweepstakes.
    • The title belt will make its first public appearance with WWE Superstar Nikki Bella on the sideline of the CFP Semifinals on Jan. 8 at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Bella’s home state.
  • The WWE Vault YouTube account asked fans for 2026 content suggestions: “You have Vault requests… we want ‘em! Let’s start 2026 right. Lay your WWE Vault suggestions on us in the comments below!”
  • Amazon Prime Video released the trailer for “The Wrecking Crew,” a movie starring Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa that’s set to premiere on January 28.

Other Wrestling

  • AEW shared a look at its new stage setup that debuted on Dynamite last night.
  • Andrade El Idolo thanked Tony Khan for bringing him back to AEW: “Once again, thank you very much, Sir!!! @AEW vamos a romperla!!”
  • House of Glory announced that Amazing Red will be Andrade’s opponent at their City of Angels show in Los Angeles on January 30. It’s a first-time-ever matchup.
  • AEW acknowledged its wins in ESPN’s 2025 Pro Wrestling Awards:
    • Tag Team of the Year: FTR
    • Breakthrough Wrestler of the Year: Kyle Fletcher
    • Best Event of the Year: AEW Revolution
    • Best Storyline: Toni Storm & Mariah May
  • Raven told Insight with Chris Van Vliet that he feels like he was under-pushed in WWE:
    • They should have pushed me. They didn’t really push me at all. I should have been used, at least as a strong mid-carder, if not a main eventer. But that’s me. I mean, I could be biased, and I’m sure I am, but looking at it objectively, I think I could have drawn money for them.
  • Ikuro Kwon is set to compete in MLW Battle Riot VIII on January 29.
  • Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling announced a new competition series named Prospe-X:
    • Reality of Wrestling proudly introduces PROSPE-X — a brand-new, high-stakes competition series searching for the next breakout star in professional wrestling.
    • Created by Booker T and Sharmell Huffman, PROSPE-X will spotlight 10 of the top independent prospects from across the U.S. (9 singles competitors + 1 tag team), selected through an open nationwide submission process.
    • What’s on the line? One standout competitor will earn an official ROW roster spot and compete at a major ROW ‘Big Four’ event: Last Stand Rumble • Summer of Champions • SubZero • Battle to the Bell

Rob Van Dam, Katie Forbes announce birth of twin girls

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam and his wife Katie Forbes have announced the births of their twin daughters on social media. 

“12/26/2025-Karma and Saba have officially left the womb,” Van Dam posted on social media. When asked by fans, Van Dam confirmed that Saba was named after his late friend Sabu.

The couple had originally announced in June that they were expecting twin girls to arrive in 2026, but unfortunately complications set in. Forbes spent time in the hospital with preeclampsia, a condition in which placental issues disrupt blood flow, leading to high blood pressure. He told TMZ earlier this month that doctors planned to deliver the babies at 34 weeks, which would make them Christmas babies. 

Both Van Dam and Forbes are still wrestling, though neither has been active much as of late—Van Dam broke both his heels in MLW’s Battle Riot in April, while Forbes has not wrestled since March for obvious reasons.

Rob Van Dam explains what set John Cena apart from other WWE stars

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Rob Van Dam believes John Cena’s “amazing” work ethic is one thing that set him apart from other WWE stars.

While appearing on the Toronto Sun’s No Holds Barred podcast, Van Dam opened up about the respect he has for Cena. The WWE schedule was grueling for everyone back when they worked together, but Cena took on additional responsibilities that gave him even less time off. Van Dam credited Cena for being both the face of the company and the hardest worker in the entire promotion.

“The more I watched and looked at him, the more I realized this guy is the hardest worker in the company,” Van Dam said. “It’s one thing to be able to kind of picture yourself in a better position and say, ‘Man, I wish I was making the money this guy was.’ But when you think about it, he works every day. You know? He was. I was working almost every day it felt like, and I was getting some days of sleep, but it wasn’t enough. And this guy was going and doing Make-A-Wish meetings on those days off. Just being the face of the company, he was always the guy they were pushing forward to do everything to promote the company. And that is goals for wrestlers, to get up to that point. But, honestly, not everyone could do it. The guy’s work ethic is amazing.”

Cena wrapped up his in-ring career by losing to Gunther at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13. Van Dam was among the former WWE stars who attended the show. The ECW legend was the opponent for one of Cena’s most memorable matches, with the two facing off at One Night Stand 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

Another Cena vs. Van Dam match could have potentially happened during Cena’s retirement tour this year, but Van Dam suffered two broken heels that forced him out of action. He has now recovered from the injury and has an indie match in Australia coming up in February 2026.

Daily Update: Rob Van Dam, John Cena, Rezar

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • We’ve got a giant new issue of the Observer out today covering the Cena and Santo retirements as well as all the big events from the past week:
  • John Cena and El Hijo del  Santo’s retirement shows and how they are so different
  • A look back at both’s careers and places in history
  • Where Santo went wrong
  • Key people who saved John Cena’s career
  • Why he never turned heel years ago
  • Marketing of Cena as The GOAT
  • How Cena ranks with the biggest draws in wrestling history
  • Update on WBD’s potential sales to Netflix or Paramount, what the deals entail and how this  all affects AEW
  • Dwayne Johnson and his Golden Globe nomination
  • Odds for upcoming pro wrestling bouts
  • 1,000,000th fan attends CMLL pro wrestling at Arena Mexico alone.  Why this has never happened before, and the absolutely staggering part of the story that nobody talks about
  • UFC 323 coverage of the last UFC show on PPV for at least seven years
  • A look at NXT Deadline
  • A look at ROH Final Battle
  • A look at TNA Final Resolution
  • A look at the career of Steve “Mr. Electricity” Regal, death of territories, the shocking win over the Road Warriors and holding world titles in the AWA and NWA in the 80s.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over this past week
  • A look at major promotions joining together for different shows in 2026
  • A look at last week’s big shows at Arena Mexico, both a hell of a Friday and a big Tuesday with Bad Bunny under a Mistico mask in the front row
  • Key CMLL talent banged up
  • All Japan tag team tournament ends with a former rugby star from New Zealand and former member of the Harlem Globetrotters against each other.
  • NOAH’s big start of the year show
  • New wrestlers starting at NOAH including the brother of a UFC fighter
  • New Japan tag team tournament final standings and results
  • Big awards being announced this week
  • Actress who played Hall of Fame pro wrestler on a Netflix series wins major award for her performance
  • Where did the original star ratings in Mexico rating matches come from
  • Hulk Hogan album being re-released
  • Notes on AEW Worlds End
  • Andrade makes claims about what happened with AEW and WWE
  • Advance ticket sales for all the AEW and WWE upcoming shows
  • Lots more on Trump UFC event at the White House
  • UFC schedule
  • More on the Ali Act and attempting to change and subvert it
  • Dana White talks Francis Ngannou now that he wants to return
  • The most interest in buying tickets to a pro wrestling or UFC show in history took place this past week
  • Lots more on the two lawsuits going against Vince McMahon and WWE
  • The WWE TV schedule for this coming week
  • Big PPV main event match that fell through from earlier this year

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Joe Hendry vs. Leon Slater vs. Dion Lennox vs. Myles Borne main event from NXT last night. Slater won the match, earning a title shot against NXT Champion Oba Femi at New Year’s Evil.
  • Cody Rhodes announced that a new episode of his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast will premiere tomorrow with John Cena joining him as the guest: “For the FIRST TIME since retiring from the ring…@JohnCena joins us on #WhatDoYouWannaTalkAbout TOMORROW.”
  • Cena acknowledged Kevin Owens by sharing a photo of them shaking hands while Owens was in the crowd for Cena’s last match.
  • Mark Hendry joined Undertaker & Michelle McCool on a new episode of Six Feet Under.
  • Esquire shared a first look at Dave Bautista’s next movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which Bautista stars in alongside Jason Momoa. Here is the description for the film:
    • Estranged half-brothers Jonny and James reunite after their father’s mysterious death. As they search for the truth, buried secrets reveal a conspiracy threatening to tear their family apart.
  • Jake Paul unveiled the Hulk Hogan-inspired gear he’s wearing for his boxing match against Anthony Joshua on Netflix this Friday.

Other Wrestling

  • Kazuchika Okada, who supports Manchester City in the Premier League, visited their Etihad Stadium while AEW is in the United Kingdom.
  • Ortiz will compete for Limitless Wrestling at their Limitless Rumble event in Lewiston, Maine on Friday, January 16. His tag team partner Eddie Kingston has also been announced for the show.
  • The Wrestling Classic interviewed Wheeler Yuta.
  • Megan Bayne & Joey Janela vs. JetSpeed (Kevin Knight & Mike Bailey) has been announced for Superpower Slam in New York City on Sunday, February 1. The event is being put on by Orange Crush magazine, Game Changer Wrestling, and Jersey Championship Wrestling to benefit the neurodivergent community.
  • Rob Van Dam told TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast that he has recovered from the broken heels he suffered in April:
    • I’m good now. I’m good. It’s been like – I was just figuring out, it’s been, I guess, six months or so. I haven’t wrestled yet. I do have a match in Australia in February. That’ll be the test. But yeah, I’m much better.
  • Paul London is the latest entrant confirmed for MLW Battle Riot VIII in Florida on Thursday, January 29.
  • Gzim Selmani (former WWE wrestler Rezar of The Authors of Pain) has signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. His first fight for the promotion is expected to take place in February.
  • Braun Strowman and comedian Brad Williams appeared on a new episode of Something’s Burning with Bert Kreischer.

RVD says there were talks for John Cena WWE retirement tour match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena’s WWE retirement tour could have included a match against Rob Van Dam if things went differently.

On TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast, RVD revealed that there were talks for him to face Cena at some point this year. RVD feels like the match was going to happen, but the possibility was derailed when he broke both of his heels in April.

“Let me tell you this, I wanted to be one of the return matches for John Cena on his retirement tour,” RVD said. “I was talking to them. There was a lot of interest. Without giving away too many details, you know, we were probably going to do it. And then I broke my heels.”

RVD is a famous opponent from Cena’s past, with their WWE Championship match from ECW One Night Stand 2006 being among the most memorable moments of Cena’s career.

The double heel fracture RVD suffered happened at MLW Battle Riot 2025. Before that, he had not wrestled since competing for AEW in April 2024. TMZ asked RVD if he still feels like he has a small WWE return run in him.

“Sure, it’s possible. I think anything’s possible,” the 54-year-old WWE Hall of Famer responded. “And I’m not ruling anything out. Personally, as far as whether I want to continue or not after my heels are completely 100 percent, I change my mind like every few days about it.

“I don’t really get [what] the product is becoming. And here’s one thing too, I feel like the fans that grew up watching my era felt like they knew how it worked in a certain way. And now they’re the ones running it, so they’ve changed it to actually how they think that it was run. And now we got the next fans that have been watching them that are coming up that are going to be running it

“It’s changing so much into something that seems so far away from the competitive — and maybe it’s for the best. Maybe they’re fixing things about the business, I don’t know. But for me personally, sometimes I feel like, ‘Yeah, you know, I could go. I feel great. I could go show the people that, you know, I can still do what I could do, hopefully it’ll motivate, inspire some people, maybe.’ And then at other times, I feel like maybe I’d rather just be attached to the old-school wrestling and remembered for that.”

RVD is under a Legends contract with WWE and made a couple of on-screen appearances for the company in 2024.

Cena has eight WWE appearances remaining on his retirement tour. It will conclude with him competing in his final match on Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13.

Rob Van Dam & Katie Forbes expecting twin girls

Posted on by Josh Nason

A week after announcing they were pregnant, Rob Van Dam and wife Katie Forbes made another big announcement Thursday: they are having twin girls.

During their 1 of a Kind podcast, Forbes revealed the news, showing off the ultrasound they got Thursday and that they are “two of a kind.” She said both heartbeats are strong and that she felt like the happiest woman in the world.

She slipped in saying they were twin girls which podcast host Dominic Deangelo followed up on, leading to her confirming. She joked Van Dam’s sister named them the “Van Terminators.”

The twins will be born in 2026, but they have yet to specify what month.

It will be the first children for both the 54-year-old Van Dam and the 34-year-old Forbes who have been married since 2021.

Van Dam has remained semi-active on the national wrestling scene with appearances for AEW as recently as 2024. He also appeared for MLW as part of their Battle Riot VII match, suffering a double heel fracture in the process.

Rob Van Dam, Katie Forbes announce pregnancy

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

With Father’s Day just a few days away, Rob Van Dam will soon join the club.

Announced on his podcast Thursday night, he and wife Katie Forbes revealed they are expected their first child.

The 54-year-old Van Dam was talking about the passing of Sabu and that the universe has a way of balancing things out. He then asked the 34-year-old Forbes for a tag and she said, “We’re pregnant!” and that the baby will be born in 2026. She didn’t specify the month.

The couple has been married since 2021.

Van Dam has still remained notable on the national wrestling scene with appearances for AEW as recently as 2024. He also appeared for MLW as part of their Battle Riot VII match, suffering a double heel fracture in the process. In a March 2025 interview, he said he isn’t retired but is only going to take bookings that make sense for him financially.

Rob Van Dam pays tribute to Sabu following his passing

Posted on by Ian Carey

Rob Van Dam has commented on the passing of his longtime friend, Sabu.

On Monday, RVD wrote:

“Here we were just a few weeks ago at Wrestlecon. You never know when it’s the last time you’ll be together when it comes to this. Sabu was as irreplaceable in my life as he was in the industry. You all know how important he was to my career, and you know how much he meant to me personally. He’s been a tremendous influence since I was 18 years old , when I met him. Learning to be an adult, while you’re in the crazy environment of this business can go several different ways. I’m proud to have been able to carry on so many of Sheik and Sabu’s values, both in and out of the ring. Sabu helped make me the wrestler I am, the person I am, and I’ll always be proud of that and grateful. and because he loved the business more than anyone I know… wRESTle IN PEACE.”

Sabu’s passing at age 60 was revealed Sunday. A cause of death has not been disclosed. Tributes from around the wrestling world have poured in online since the news broke.

RVD and Sabu were both trained by Sabu’s uncle, WON Hall of Famer The Sheik. In addition to being rivals, they were also frequent tag partners and twice held the ECW World Tag Team Championships together.

They last teamed in 2019 for Impact Wrestling, where they were defeated by The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander). Their final singles match took place at TNA Hardcore Justice in 2010. According to Cagematch, 37 RVD vs. Sabu singles matches have taken place throughout their careers. RVD leads the series 19–13, with 5 matches ending in a draw or no contest.

Rob Van Dam suffered double heel fracture at MLW Battle Riot VII

Posted on by Ian Carey

Rob Van Dam is injured.

The 54-year-old says he broke both of his heels when he was eliminated from the Battle Riot match earlier this month. RVD was the last competitor to be eliminated in the match, having been tossed from the turnbuckle to the floor by MLW World Champion and Battle Riot VII winner, Matt Riddle.

During an episode of his 1 of a Kind podcast, RVD revealed that he suffered the injuries upon landing outside the ring.

RVD said:

“A couple weeks ago, I had a match with MLW. A lot of people saw that. A lot of people don’t know that I got hurt because it was the very last move of the night. I went up to the top rope and Matt Riddle pushed me off, and the way I landed on my feet — normally, I kind of hug the guardrail and my weight goes into it. This time, I must have misjudged it a little bit, and I just landed on my feet. Both heels blew. I thought that my ankles were sprained. I crawled out of there. I haven’t been able to walk since. I got the X-rays, both heels broke.”

“It definitely made me cancel a lot of plans that I had for the next few months,” he continued, noting that he still managed to fulfill all of his scheduled WrestleCon and WrestleMania appearances.

RVD’s appearance in Battle Riot VII marked his MLW debut. For the first time in history, the MLW World Championship was on the line in the match, with Riddle retaining the title after winning Battle Riot for the second year in a row. The event took place at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. MLW’s next show is Azteca Lucha at Cicero Stadium just outside of Chicago on May 10.

The full episode of 1 Of A Kind with RVD is available below:

Rob Van Dam, Raj Dhesi among surprise debuts at MLW Battle Riot VII

Posted on by Ian Carey

Major League Wrestling’s Battle Riot VII on Saturday night marked the first time the MLW World Championship was defended in the match.

Entering at number 25, champion Matt Riddle successfully defended his title in the 40-person Rumble-style gauntlet. The story going into the match was that Riddle was dealing with broken ribs following an earlier attack by Dijak and the debuting Bishop Dyer (formerly known as Baron Corbin).

Rob Van Dam made his MLW debut, entering at number 40. He and Riddle briefly worked together to eliminate Dyer and Dijak, leaving them as the final two. After hitting a Rolling Thunder, RVD climbed to the top rope for the Five Star Frog Splash, but Riddle recovered and shoved him off the turnbuckle and to the floor.

Riddle is now the first two-time winner and the first to win in back-to-back years.

Also making their MLW debuts in the match were former WWE Champion Raj Dhesi (fka Jinder Mahal) and Chris Adonis.

Former MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone returned to the promotion, entering at number one. His last MLW appearance was a loss to Jacob Fatu in December 2023.

Other notes from the show:

  • Mistico vacated the MLW Middleweight Championship. He was originally scheduled to wrestle on the show but was pulled from the card last week due to injury. Moments after he handed the title to Cesar Duran, Ikuro Kwon misted Duran and stole the belt.
  • TJPW’s Shoko Nakajima defeated Delmi Exo to become the new MLW Featherweight Champion.
  • Austin Aries returned to the company as part of the commentary team.

The full show is available via YouTube:

MLW Battle Riot VII results:

  • Atlantis, Atlantis Jr. & Star Jr. defeated Barbaro Cavernario, Magnus & Ultimo Guerrero
  • Janai Kai defeated HIMAWARI
  • Templario defeated Hechicero, Esfinge in a three-way match
  • Shoko Nakajima defeated Delmi Exo to win the MLW World Featherweight Championship
  • Matt Riddle won the 40-person Battle Riot to retain the MLW World Championship

RVD says he would rather be associated with WWE than AEW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

ECW legend Rob Van Dam wasn’t a fan of a recent hardcore spot on AEW Dynamite.

The March 19 edition of Dynamite featured a street fight where Jon Moxley retained his AEW World Championship against Cope. During the match, there was a spot where Cope used a board of nails as a weapon and slammed Moxley onto it. The match generated a lot of differing opinions on social media, and TMZ Sports even posted an article about the weapons spot.

RVD shared his thoughts on the latest episode of his 1 Of A Kind podcast, saying spots like this make him feel he would rather be associated with WWE than AEW.

“I thought, you know, it’s not my thing. Not my kind of thing,” RVD said. “That’s not wrestling to me, but, obviously, it’s sacrificing a lot for the business. I mean, that could be said about it. But the more AEW has been doing stuff like that, the more personally I feel like I would rather be associated with WWE than AEW.

“A couple years ago it was like, man, they’re growing, they’re trying things, you know, to get up there. And then there’s a feel that like the inmates are running the prison, which there always has been, for better or worse. I mean, that was used as a good point at first — you know, like hey, the boys are running it, cool. But for me, [this was] an example of why that might not be a good idea. But it is a style of wrestling. I mean, I put that with the light bulb matches, the death matches where two people grab each other and jump off the back of a semi-truck and land on a pile of light bulbs. That’s not my kind of wrestling, and it’s something that I personally look at as being lower than the standard — substandard. Because it’s going to draw only a certain niche crowd that’s into that kind of stuff.”

RVD believes spots like this separate WWE from AEW, and maybe AEW will be known more as a hardcore promotion like FMW of Japan used to be. When he was in ECW, RVD felt like they had a superior form of entertainment compared to the other wrestling promotions, but he now understands that ECW was never going to draw the mainstream audience that WWE had.

“I didn’t like it, it’s really crazy dangerous,” RVD said about the Moxley vs. Cope spot. “I don’t want to knock their freedom of expression. I think, you know, that’s probably cool to them, I guess. Or else they would turn it down when it was at the idea phase if it didn’t sound cool, right? So congratulations [on] pulling off a crazy stunt, death-defying stunt — for better or worse.”

In 2023-2024, RVD worked several matches for AEW when he was brought in as a legend for sporadic appearances. He’s since made a couple of cameo appearances for WWE on SmackDown and NXT.

RVD was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 and is under a Legends contract with the company, though the Legends deal does not prevent him from wrestling for AEW.

Rob Van Dam gives update on in-ring status

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It’s been nearly a year since Rob Van Dam last competed in the ring, but he does not consider himself retired.

The most recent match for RVD took place on the 4/20 edition of AEW Rampage in 2024, where he won a four-way over Komander, Isiah Kassidy, and Lee Johnson. On a new episode of Insight, RVD told Chris Van Vliet that — despite the 11-month absence — he feels great physically and is still taking wrestling bookings. He’s willing to discuss anything but is only going to take matches that make sense for him financially.

“It’s been a minute, it’s been almost a year since I’ve had a match,” RVD said. “And I do have some matches that are in conversation in the near future, like over the next — people are talking about even a year from now. And I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t even know if I’m going to wrestle a year from now.’ You know what I mean? But stuff coming up that I can’t talk about yet. And stuff like bookings throughout all of 2026. For me, it’s something that it’s still like, if you want to discuss it, it’s a numbers issue for me. I feel great.”

Because wrestling retirements have so little credibility, RVD doubts that he’ll ever officially declare that he’s retired. He wants to maintain his value and avoid being in a place where he wrestles himself into the grave working his last match for five dollars.

“I just see me as just going with the flow and someday when you say, ‘Are you still wrestling?’ I might say, ‘Oh, it’s been six years. I might have a match,'” RVD said.

RVD is under a Legends contract with WWE and made appearances on a SmackDown episode and NXT episode in the latter half of 2024. He told Van Vliet that it’s a great time to be a WWE Legend right now because of how much the company is growing.

The full episode of Insight can be watched below: