There was a period in professional wrestling when Rob Van Dam seemed determined to find out how many different ways a human being could land on another human being without either of them requiring immediate medical attention.
Sometimes he would jump from the top rope. Sometimes from a ladder. Occasionally, somebody would introduce a steel chair, and RVD would decide that the most sensible response was to kick it directly into their face.
Before becoming one of WWE’s most recognisable stars, Van Dam had developed his reputation in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where his combination of martial arts, extraordinary flexibility and apparent disregard for gravity made him something entirely different.
He wasn’t quite a traditional cruiserweight, nor was he a conventional heavyweight. His offence borrowed from Japanese wrestling, American hardcore wrestling and martial arts cinema, often producing sequences that looked physically impossible until he performed them.
But Van Dam’s appeal was never entirely dependent on championship victories.
And while his Five-Star Frog Splash became one of wrestling’s most recognisable finishing moves, his best matches reveal something more interesting: an athlete who could adapt his distinctive style to almost anybody.
Here are 11 matches and rivalries that explain why Rob Van Dam became the Whole F’n Show.
1. Rob Van Dam vs. Bam Bam Bigelow: The Beginning of 700 Days of Television (ECW Hardcore TV, April 4, 1998)
Before Rob Van Dam could become synonymous with the ECW World Television Championship, he needed to take it away from somebody considerably larger than himself.
Unfortunately, that somebody was Bam Bam Bigelow.
Bigelow was an intimidating opponent, combining heavyweight power with an agility that somebody of his size had little business possessing. Van Dam, meanwhile, represented an entirely different philosophy, relying on speed, flexibility and spectacular attacks to compensate for the physical disadvantage.
Their championship encounter also involved Bill Alfonso and Sabu, whose interference helped produce an outcome that would have enormous consequences for ECW.
Van Dam defeated Bigelow to become Television Champion, beginning a reign that lasted 700 days.
That number deserves consideration.
In a promotion celebrated for unpredictability, where tables broke, rivalries escalated and championships could change hands amid considerable disorder, Van Dam became remarkably consistent.
His championship reign survived numerous challengers before an injury eventually forced him to vacate the title in March 2000.
The victory over Bigelow was therefore more than another championship change.
It marked the beginning of Van Dam becoming one of ECW’s defining attractions.
2. Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki: Four Men, Several Tables and Very Little Self-Preservation (ECW Heat Wave, August 2, 1998)
The Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio, hosted something particularly extraordinary at Heat Wave 1998.
On one side stood Rob Van Dam and Sabu, ECW’s reigning World Tag Team Champions. Opposite them were Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki, two wrestlers whose reputations had been forged in Japan.
What followed was an exhibition of styles that ECW’s audience rarely had the opportunity to see combined quite so spectacularly.
Shinzaki attacked Van Dam’s legs with dragon screw leg whips, while Sabu attempted to slow Hayabusa through submissions. Hayabusa responded with the sort of aerial offence that made him one of Japan’s most captivating performers.
And naturally, everybody eventually became acquainted with some furniture.
The conclusion was magnificent in its absurdity.
With Hayabusa and Shinzaki positioned on separate tables, Van Dam and Sabu climbed the ropes and delivered simultaneous leg drops, crashing through both opponents.
Sabu secured the pinfall to retain the championships.
Beyond the spectacle, the match demonstrated how comfortably Van Dam’s wrestling translated between different traditions.
ECW’s particular brand of chaos had found an international language.
3. Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn: The Rivalry That Made Repetition Feel New (ECW Living Dangerously 1999 / Hardcore Heaven 1999 & 2000)
Some wrestling rivalries depend on personal hatred. Others require betrayals, elaborate storylines or somebody attacking another wrestler’s family.
Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn generally needed considerably less.
Put them in a ring together and something interesting would happen.
Their encounters throughout 1999 and 2000 became essential viewing because both wrestlers understood the other’s movements so intimately. A kick could be anticipated, a counter reversed, and a familiar sequence transformed into something entirely different.
At Living Dangerously 1999, their chemistry produced a fiercely competitive Television Championship encounter that helped establish Lynn as one of Van Dam’s most credible challengers.
Their subsequent meetings at Hardcore Heaven further developed that relationship.
Lynn’s technical precision complemented Van Dam’s athletic unpredictability. Neither man needed to abandon his identity to make the other look exceptional.
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of their rivalry was how the matches changed without fundamentally changing their approach.
For anybody wanting to understand Van Dam as a wrestler rather than simply a collection of spectacular moves, Jerry Lynn is probably the best place to begin.
4. Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy: The Invasion Finally Produces Something Worth Invading For (WWF InVasion, July 22, 2001)
The WWF’s Invasion storyline had a rather peculiar problem.
The supposed villains were occasionally considerably more popular than the people defending the company.
Rob Van Dam was perhaps the clearest example.
Arriving from ECW, he possessed the novelty of a new performer without looking remotely out of place alongside WWF’s established stars.
Jeff Hardy was an ideal opponent.
Both men approached wrestling with an enthusiasm for dangerous heights, although Hardy’s willingness to fall from them was arguably even more alarming.
Their Hardcore Championship encounter at InVasion consequently became an athletic contest disguised as a weapons match.
Van Dam delivered a Van Daminator on the entrance ramp, sending Hardy tumbling towards the stage gap. Ladders appeared, bodies crashed and the championship itself eventually became part of the finish.
After Hardy missed a Swanton Bomb, Van Dam placed the title belt across his opponent’s chest and delivered a Five-Star Frog Splash directly onto it.
The victory gave him his first WWF championship.
More importantly, it demonstrated that his ECW popularity could survive the transition to a much larger audience.
In fact, the audience appeared rather pleased to have him.
5. Rob Van Dam vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle: The Invader Who Everybody Wanted to Win (WWF No Mercy, October 21, 2001)
There was something wonderfully inconvenient about Rob Van Dam’s popularity during the Invasion.
The WWF wanted audiences to support its established heroes against the invading Alliance.
Unfortunately, audiences had developed an inconvenient habit of cheering Van Dam.
At No Mercy 2001, that enthusiasm placed him in a WWF Championship match against Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle.
Consider the company.
Austin was arguably the defining star of the Attitude Era, while Angle had developed into one of the company’s most accomplished technical wrestlers.
Van Dam had arrived only months earlier.
Yet his presence in the main event didn’t feel particularly strange.
The triple threat allowed him to introduce his distinctive offence into a contest involving two very different opponents. Austin supplied the brawling intensity, Angle the technical precision, and Van Dam the athletic unpredictability.
Although Austin retained the championship, Van Dam emerged with something arguably more valuable.
He had demonstrated that he belonged at the top of the card.
The audience already seemed convinced.
WWE’s creative direction would take rather longer to reach the same conclusion.
6. Rob Van Dam vs. Eddie Guerrero: A Ladder Match With a Particularly Unfortunate Volunteer (WWE Raw, May 27, 2002)
A ladder match between Rob Van Dam and Eddie Guerrero was always likely to be entertaining.
Both were extraordinarily gifted wrestlers, capable of combining intricate technical exchanges with moments of considerable athletic invention.
Their Intercontinental Championship encounter on Raw in May 2002 delivered precisely that.
Guerrero entered as champion, having defeated Van Dam at Backlash the previous month.
This time, however, the championship was suspended above the ring.
The ladder introduced a different dimension to their rivalry, encouraging both men to incorporate its awkward geometry into an already inventive contest.
There was also an unscheduled contribution from a spectator who entered the ring and attempted to interfere with the action.
Guerrero dealt with the intrusion, and the match continued.
Professional wrestling occasionally requires considerable improvisation.
Despite the interruption, the two maintained the contest’s intensity, with Van Dam eventually knocking Guerrero from the ladder and retrieving the championship.
It was his second Intercontinental title victory.
The match remains an excellent example of how WWE’s weekly television programming could occasionally produce something genuinely exceptional.
No elaborate stipulation beyond the ladder was necessary.
Two outstanding wrestlers were sufficient.
7. Rob Van Dam vs. Christian: Chicago Gets a Ladder Match Worth Remembering (WWE Raw, September 29, 2003)
By September 2003, ladder matches had become familiar territory for WWE audiences.
This presented an obvious challenge.
How could Rob Van Dam and Christian make another one feel distinctive?
Their answer involved an impressive assortment of painful-looking ideas.
Christian defended the Intercontinental Championship against Van Dam in the main event of Raw, with both men exploiting the ladders in increasingly inventive ways.
Van Dam performed Rolling Thunder onto Christian while his opponent lay across a ladder. Christian retaliated with a reverse DDT from the equipment, while a missed frog splash left Van Dam landing painfully across another ladder.
The final sequence was particularly memorable.
As both men climbed, their ladder toppled. Christian fell toward the ropes, but Van Dam caught himself on another ladder nearby.
From there, he climbed into position and delivered a Five-Star Frog Splash from the ladder onto Christian.
Only then did he retrieve the championship.
It was a wonderfully unnecessary degree of difficulty, which rather neatly summarises Van Dam’s appeal.
The easiest route to victory was rarely his preferred option.
8. Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T vs. Randy Orton: One Frog Splash, Somebody Else’s Championship Celebration (WWE Raw, February 9, 2004)
Rob Van Dam did almost everything right.
Randy Orton defended his Intercontinental Championship against Van Dam and Booker T on Raw, and the match reached a point where RVD looked perfectly positioned to win.
He climbed the ropes and delivered a Five-Star Frog Splash to Booker T.
Unfortunately, Orton was still involved.
The champion promptly rolled Van Dam out of the ring, covered Booker himself and retained the championship.
It was efficient opportunism.
Van Dam had supplied the spectacular finishing move. Orton collected the reward.
The aftermath proved almost as important as the match.
Batista and Ric Flair joined Orton in celebrating before Mick Foley appeared and Evolution attacked him. Van Dam and Booker T also took a beating.
Yet the encounter helped establish a new direction for both challengers.
Rather than continuing to pursue Orton individually, Van Dam and Booker T formed a partnership that would eventually defeat Batista and Flair for the World Tag Team Championship.
Sometimes the most important part of a match is what happens after the bell.
Van Dam probably would have preferred Orton to stay outside the ring for three more seconds.
9. Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena: The Night WWE Entered Somebody Else’s Territory (ECW One Night Stand, June 11, 2006)
John Cena throwing his shirt into the crowd and having it returned clearly signalled what awaited him.
The Hammerstein Ballroom was not particularly interested in welcoming WWE’s champion.
Its audience had gathered to celebrate ECW, and Rob Van Dam represented something far more meaningful than just another challenger for the championship.
He was their wrestler.
After winning Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 22, Van Dam announced he would challenge Cena for the WWE Championship at One Night Stand.
The decision turned an ordinary title opportunity into a clash of two wrestling identities.
Cena represented WWE’s mainstream success. Van Dam embodied ECW’s rebellious appeal, even though both worked for the same company.
The crowd made its preference unmistakable.
The match itself became increasingly chaotic, eventually involving Edge, who speared Cena through a table while wearing a motorcycle helmet.
Van Dam capitalised with the Five-Star Frog Splash, and Paul Heyman counted the decisive pinfall.
For the first time, Rob Van Dam was WWE Champion.
Two days later, he was also awarded the reinstated ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
It should have been the beginning of a lengthy reign at the top.
Instead, his reign with both titles proved brief.
But for one extraordinary evening in New York, Van Dam was exactly where his supporters had always believed he belonged.
10. Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly: A Match That Became Difficult to Watch for Entirely Different Reasons (ECW on Sci-Fi, September 26, 2006)
Hardcore Holly’s back told much of the story.
During an Extreme Rules Match against Rob Van Dam on ECW television, Holly tried to suplex his opponent from the ring apron through an outside table.
The impact went badly.
A section of the table’s metal frame opened a substantial wound across Holly’s back, leaving him bleeding heavily.
It was the kind of injury that should have ended the match immediately.
Instead, Holly continued.
For more than ten more minutes, he absorbed punishment and took part in increasingly uncomfortable sequences, including an impact with an upright steel chair.
Van Dam eventually secured victory with the Five-Star Frog Splash.
Yet the audience’s reaction belonged largely to Holly, whose determination earned him a standing ovation.
The match occupies an unusual position in Van Dam’s catalogue.
It wasn’t necessarily his most technically impressive or inventive performance.
Its reputation comes from the extraordinary circumstances surrounding it.
Watching today, the injury also raises uncomfortable questions about wrestling’s historical expectations of toughness.
Holly’s resilience was undeniable.
Whether he should have been allowed to demonstrate quite so much of it is another matter.
11. Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho: Two Veterans Remind Everybody That They Can Still Go (WWE Raw, July 15, 2013)
Rob Van Dam returned to WWE in July 2013 looking remarkably familiar.
The hair was longer, the wrestling landscape had changed, and several generations of performers had arrived since his original ECW breakthrough.
Yet his offence remained immediately recognisable.
Following his participation in Money in the Bank the previous evening, Van Dam faced Chris Jericho in the main event of Raw at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
The match lasted approximately 21 minutes.
For two wrestlers whose careers began decades earlier, there was little indication either intended to take things gently.
Jericho attacked with his familiar combination of strikes, counters and submissions, eventually trapping Van Dam in the Walls of Jericho.
Van Dam survived, responded with his own trademark offence, and kept trading momentum with an opponent who knew exactly how to make him look dangerous.
A head wound suffered the previous night also reopened during the contest.
Eventually, Van Dam connected with a kick and followed it with the Five-Star Frog Splash to secure victory.
It was an excellent reminder that nostalgia works best when the performers can still justify the audience’s affection.
Van Dam wasn’t simply returning to demonstrate what he used to do.
He could still do it.
