WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam shared a story about going off-script during a match after becoming genuinely angry.
The WWE production team had been pushing RVD to portray anger, believing it would make him more marketable, but RVD resisted, explaining that he felt disappointment, not anger, when he lost control.
After constant pressure to act mad during a spot with Chris Jericho, Jericho made an offhand remark suggesting RVD pretend he was angry as if Jericho had hit on his wife. This pushed RVD over the edge, and he entered the ring, delivering several strikes and his Frog Splash. He forgot the script and instead of covering Jericho, grabbed the title, threw it at him, and stormed out.
RVD was so furious he left the arena in his wrestling gear and didn’t calm down until the next day.
Here’s what the former WWE Champion said during an interview with Inside The Ropes:
“They really, really wanted to see an angry, pi$$ed-off RVD. That was so important to them—they really thought that’s where the money was. But I would push back against it because I’m not angry.
Here’s a story: I actually did get angry one time during that period. They kept saying, ‘There’s got to be a time where you just lose your cool, where you’re like—’ and I told them, ‘Dude, you have every other wrestler that does that. Literally every other wrestler sticks their tongue out and loses their temper. That’s not me.’
I explained, ‘If I get mad—and this is the truth straight to the heart—when I get mad, I’m so disappointed in myself because it means I’ve lost control. It’s a flaw I have to fix.’ But they kept pushing me.
One time, I was wrestling Jericho. Jericho was out there, and I was supposed to run in and drop him. All day, they were trying to get me pi$$ed off. They’d say, ‘Just think of something that makes you really mad.’ It was like they didn’t think I could go out there and pretend to be mad, and honestly, it started getting on my nerves.
Right before Jericho went out there, we were at the curtain. I know now they’d told him to rile me up. We talked about it afterward. So, right before he goes out, he turns to me and says, ‘Dude, just get really mad.’ I said, ‘I know. I got it. Go.’ But then he adds, ‘Just act like I hit on your wife.’
Looking back, I wish he had taken my ex — it would’ve saved me years of pain. But at that moment, his comment felt so unnecessary. I got so pi$$ed, which is not normal for me.
So, I ran out there, and bam — I punched him in the face, hard. Bam, bam, bam, bam. He went down, and I hit the Frog Splash. Boom. They wanted me to cover him and make my own count — one, two, three — and take the belt. He was the champion at the time.
But I was so mad I forgot to cover him. Instead, I just grabbed the belt, threw it at him, or something like that, and stormed out. I was so furious that I grabbed my bag, shoved everything into it, and left in my wrestling gear. I didn’t cool down until the next evening.”
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