Rob Van Dam Shares Memories Of Mike Awesome

On the latest episode of 1 Of A Kind, Rob Van Dam shared fond memories of his close friend and former travel partner, the late Mike Awesome. You can check out some highlights below:

On Awesome: “I loved Mike Awesome. He was — next to Sabu, probably the closest guy in the business to me. We were road wives, which is what we call it when we travel together. Well, actually it was 2001, it was Mike and I.”

On their connection: “Sabu wasn’t even in the company at that time. but Mike was a friend of Sabu’s from FMW. So that’s how I connected with him. You know, ‘If you’re a friend of Sabu’s, you’re a friend of mine,’ you know? And it was like that same thing with Louis Spiccoli, anybody. But he was in Sabu’s clique if he was on the road with Sabu. And so he and I became travel partners. And actually it was at 9/11, the OG experience when we were stuck in Houston and all the airplanes are grounded, that we picked up Sean Stasiak because him and Sean were good friends. And then it became the three of us, and then Mike was out, and then it was me and Sean for quite a while, until I think they let Sean go or whatever.”

On his other travel partners: “And besides that, you know, Booker T and I. And Booker T and Nick Patrick and I were travel partners. Me and Sabu always will be. And I don’t think anybody else. I think besides that, I’m always been by myself.”

On Awesome being a germaphobe: “You get to know somebody when you travel on the road with them. And Mike was a germaphobe. I found that hilarious because he’s a big f**king gladiator that’ll f**ing squeeze you through the guard rail but with his power. But afterwards, he was just so funny at how particular his habits were of cleanliness when we would go to eat. And it made sense. But I mean, most of us would go and wash our hands come back to the table. He would wait, because he’s like, ‘Why wash your hands and then handle the ketchup bottle?’ That’s a good point. How dirty is that fucking ketchup bottle? You take the cap off of it, and you’re going to pour that ketchup on your hamburger and then you’re going to be — everyone that touched that ketchup bottle all day is now holding your hamburger.

“And so Mike would wait until the food came, and everybody that wanted to come by and shake their hand that we could see, anybody that wanted to come and meet us was all gone. He waited [for] everything and be like, ‘Okay, I think I’m safe.’ And this is after he put the salt and pepper, ketchup and mustard — which is really smart. A-1 sauce, whatever, you get the point. But then before he actually touches his food, then he would use the hand sanitizer. And I thought it was smart, but also so peculiar. And I thought it was funny at the same time and then, and I thought it was even funnier when, right when he would get ready to eat, someone would come by and say, ‘RVD, oh my god! Mike Awesome, I love you guys.’ He’d be like, ‘God damn it. I’ll shake your hand, but can I do it after this hamburger?’ And him getting mad would make it even funnier. And he wasn’t joking about it, he was like perturbed at the issue. Not at the guy, but just at the issue. And it was, yeah, it was very funny.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 1 Of A Kind an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.