John Cena Discusses Wild Crowd When Facing Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand 2006

– During a Q&A panel at the Philadelphia Fan Expo, WWE Undisputed Champion John Cena spoke about his iconic matchup against Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand 2006. Cena noted the wild crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, along with the sign that said, “If Cena Wins We Riot.” Additionally, Cena also revealed that he convinced RVD during the match to go out into the audience, just because Cena wanted to see what would happen with the rabid crowd. Thankfully, the pro-ECW and RVD fans were good about not trying to get physical with him and were very professional about. Below are some highlights from the panel (via Fightful):

John Cena on the experience at ECW One Night Stand 2006: “Man, it was awesome. I’ll give you a tidbit that I haven’t told anybody. There was a sign, which was actually brought to this convention today, that said, ‘If Cena Wins We Riot.’ It’s a very famous sign that has been meme’d and knocked off. Also, the audience was pretty mad. The event started at 7 o’clock and we weren’t on until last. At about 7 o’clock, they were so audibly chanting ‘F You Cena,’ so I knew by the time we went out at 10 o’clock it was going to be pretty gnarly.”

On telling RVD that they should go into the crowd during the match: “We get out there and I have a wrestling match with my t-shirt before I have a wrestling match with Rob. I look at the sign and I heard the crowd. I would never do this again, and it was the most stupid decision of my life, but I told Rob, ‘Let’s go out into the audience.’ I just wanted to see what would happen.”

On the fans being great about not trying to get physical with him: “Thank you everyone in the Hammerstein Ballroom that night for being professional and great fans and letting me know how you feel here [points to head] but not letting me know how you feel here [makes fist]. I thought I was going to get my ass kicked but everyone was real nice. It was something where I was like, ‘Hey man, let’s go out and see what the audience is all about.’ What a stupid choice. I should’ve never done that, but everyone treated me with kindness.”

The match saw Rob Van Dam defeat John Cena to win the WWE Championship.