Kemo
04-20-2022, 08:17 PM
WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam joined SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio to celebrate 4/20 and delved into how his induction into the Class of 2021 came about.
The former WWE Champion noted that he was told Vince McMahon thought he was already in the Hall of Fame after he received the call from John Laurinaitis.
“You know, whenever that 203 area code shows up on my cellphone, I try not to identify my feelings about it, you know,” RVD said. “It was Johnny Ace [John Laurinaitis] and he just said, ‘hey, Vince wanted me to call you and see if you’d be interested in being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year?’ Of course, I was like, ‘yeah, it’d be an honor. Absolutely.’
“And I learned that – I think it was Michael Hayes that told me, that they were sitting around the table, like they do, when it came up, and I guess Vince said something to the effect of, ‘too bad RVD is already in the Hall of Fame, or he’d be a good candidate for this year.’ And someone said, and I think it was Michael Hayes, ‘Vince, RVD is not in the Hall of Fame.’ He thought I was.”
Rob Van Dam also disclosed that his unprepared speech went over the allocated time and lasted 26 minutes, which in turn hurt Molly Holly‘s speech, as she had a long speech fully prepared.
“They kept coming by me, saying, ‘let me know if you need help or whatever,'” Rob said. “‘OK, yeah, yeah, I’m still trying to put my thoughts together.’ I always plan on planning, but I never really make it to the planned spot. I’m gonna spend a couple of minutes later, but I don’t. So finally, I said, you know what, I’m just going to go out there and just say what comes to my mind.
“Everyone seemed to like the speech, but I didn’t realize until later, they had said go three to five minutes, and Molly Holly was really upset because she had taken this – she had a really long speech prepared, you know, with help, and she was like really hurt. For me, I was like, ‘well, I don’t know what I’m gonna say anyway. It sucks, though, three to five minutes.
“My whole life I’ve learned and stayed and listened to these great, long speeches by all these legends, and now I’m going to be in front of an empty arena and in three minutes I’m gonna say thanks.’ But I figured I was gonna go a little bit longer, you know, maybe five or six minutes and give them stuff to edit.
“I went 26 minutes. Didn’t even realize it, I think because there was nobody there, it was weird. I would say something, and they would turn up the applause and turn it down, so I’d have an idea. Then I’d say something else. I had no idea I went that long.”
Marking the celebration of 4/20 Day, Rob was asked who he would love to share the day with, if he could choose any wrestler past or present.
“The first person that comes to my mind is The Sheik,” RVD said. “The Original Sheik, my mentor. You know, his book is just coming out that Brian Solomon wrote, I did the foreword for it. It’s so good. I haven’t read the whole book, but what I’ve read of it, it’s everything that I love in a non-fiction book.
“All the information, and if it’s more than one source, more than one story, he’ll tell like it could happen this way, or else it could happen this way, and I just love that. I realized, by reading what I read in the book, I really didn’t get to know him that well.”
The former WWE Champion noted that he was told Vince McMahon thought he was already in the Hall of Fame after he received the call from John Laurinaitis.
“You know, whenever that 203 area code shows up on my cellphone, I try not to identify my feelings about it, you know,” RVD said. “It was Johnny Ace [John Laurinaitis] and he just said, ‘hey, Vince wanted me to call you and see if you’d be interested in being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year?’ Of course, I was like, ‘yeah, it’d be an honor. Absolutely.’
“And I learned that – I think it was Michael Hayes that told me, that they were sitting around the table, like they do, when it came up, and I guess Vince said something to the effect of, ‘too bad RVD is already in the Hall of Fame, or he’d be a good candidate for this year.’ And someone said, and I think it was Michael Hayes, ‘Vince, RVD is not in the Hall of Fame.’ He thought I was.”
Rob Van Dam also disclosed that his unprepared speech went over the allocated time and lasted 26 minutes, which in turn hurt Molly Holly‘s speech, as she had a long speech fully prepared.
“They kept coming by me, saying, ‘let me know if you need help or whatever,'” Rob said. “‘OK, yeah, yeah, I’m still trying to put my thoughts together.’ I always plan on planning, but I never really make it to the planned spot. I’m gonna spend a couple of minutes later, but I don’t. So finally, I said, you know what, I’m just going to go out there and just say what comes to my mind.
“Everyone seemed to like the speech, but I didn’t realize until later, they had said go three to five minutes, and Molly Holly was really upset because she had taken this – she had a really long speech prepared, you know, with help, and she was like really hurt. For me, I was like, ‘well, I don’t know what I’m gonna say anyway. It sucks, though, three to five minutes.
“My whole life I’ve learned and stayed and listened to these great, long speeches by all these legends, and now I’m going to be in front of an empty arena and in three minutes I’m gonna say thanks.’ But I figured I was gonna go a little bit longer, you know, maybe five or six minutes and give them stuff to edit.
“I went 26 minutes. Didn’t even realize it, I think because there was nobody there, it was weird. I would say something, and they would turn up the applause and turn it down, so I’d have an idea. Then I’d say something else. I had no idea I went that long.”
Marking the celebration of 4/20 Day, Rob was asked who he would love to share the day with, if he could choose any wrestler past or present.
“The first person that comes to my mind is The Sheik,” RVD said. “The Original Sheik, my mentor. You know, his book is just coming out that Brian Solomon wrote, I did the foreword for it. It’s so good. I haven’t read the whole book, but what I’ve read of it, it’s everything that I love in a non-fiction book.
“All the information, and if it’s more than one source, more than one story, he’ll tell like it could happen this way, or else it could happen this way, and I just love that. I realized, by reading what I read in the book, I really didn’t get to know him that well.”