WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has made his stance crystal clear on celebrities stepping into the wrestling ring — and it’s not a positive one. On the latest episode of his 1 of a Kind podcast, the ECW legend shared his strong, old-school view on celebrity involvement in wrestling, calling it “offensive” and “insulting” to those who have dedicated their lives to the craft.
Asked about the upcoming celebrity tag team match at WWE SummerSlam, RVD didn’t mince words, expressing frustration that non-wrestlers are given spots on the card despite lacking the physical toll and skillset that real wrestlers endure daily.
“You have to be an athlete to be able to do it. And so, like for me, it’s always offensive, because I take the perspective that in order to have a celebrity take a spot on a wrestling card, everyone else has to work around them to make it look like just anybody could do it. And I don’t like that.”
RVD went on to defend the profession’s integrity, pointing to the physical punishment and skill required to succeed in wrestling.
“It’s always insulting, though, for me, like when people feel like it’s easy, like we’re just playing, or like just anybody can do it… My career took an incredible amount of physicality, an amazing amount of durability to take punishment on a nightly basis, besides having the talent to even pick up the timing and have cool moves. A lot of that gets thrown out the window to make this work.”
The former WWE and ECW Champion also recalled a real-life example from his days with Extreme Championship Wrestling, when he and Sabu wrestled the Insane Clown Posse.
“Before you even finish your question, it sounds like you’re talking about when ICP came… me and Sabu beat the s–t out of them. I broke Shaggy 2 Dope’s eardrum. He wrote about it in his book. Everyone knows I didn’t go exceptionally hard on him, but I didn’t hold back either. They even had wrestling training, but we looked at them like they weren’t us, because they’re not… If they didn’t respect what we’re doing before, they’re going to respect it afterwards.”
WWE SummerSlam is set to feature a high-profile celebrity tag team match, with country music star Jelly Roll teaming up with Randy Orton to take on Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul. The event goes down live on Saturday, August 2, from Cleveland, Ohio — but don’t expect RVD to be cheering from the sidelines.
