Rob Van Dam Recalls Wrestling While Injured in ECW

On the latest episode of 1 Of A Kind, Rob Van Dam discussed the physical toll of wrestling in ECW. The WWE Hall of Famer was a mainstay in ECW and, like many of his fellow wrestling stars, committed to the old-school mentality of working through injuries. ECW was notorious for its hardcore matches, and RVD weighed in on how there weren’t talent who were out every night due to injuries.

You can check out some highlights below:

On how there weren’t injuries every night in ECW:

“Well I mean, we were all tough guys, obviously. And we were there to show off our endurance. Sometimes there was. We were a bunch of guys, and it was a time where you don’t tell anybody if you’re injured. So like Sabu, and anyone who was within earshot of him would just — if it it up to him, get super glued if you got split open. And at first, some people thought he was crazy.

“Then the medics ended up telling us that was the same thing basically that they would do. Except you would get stitches too. And so like, whenever we’d get busted open? Squeeze it together, you super glue it [for a] few seconds. And when you let go, you’re good to go. And I’ve done that so many times I don’t even see the scars. Sabu taught me that. Here’s the rule I was taught, and this was my self-policy. ‘If I can work, then I’m not hurt.’ So that’s the answer.”

On always trying to give the fans what they paid for:

“I showed up a lot of times with maybe a hyperextended knee, or sore ankle or back or ribs or whatever. My shoulder. A lot of times I was really banged up, but I would never want the people to know. They bought a ticket to see RVD. And even if it was Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, maybe they’ve been waiting two months for this show since they bought their ticket. Maybe RVD is their favorite wrestler. Maybe they don’t want to see a compromised version. They want to see the Whole F-in Show.

“So I did what was necessary to suck it up and turn it on. There’s a time to turn it off, and a lot of times that would be off time. When I’m home, a lot of times I would walk very slowly, or spend time icing or recuperating. When it’s time to turn it on, boom, it’s 100% go or nothing.”

On Randy Orton being knocked out during one of their last matches together:

“I don’t know if I feel comfortable really talking about it or not. But one time in — well, this is on my way out from WWE. I guess it’s okay to talk about. But Randy got heat for going on Twitter or something and saying, ‘Thank goodness for Rob carrying me through that match. I was out the whole time.’

“It was one of the very last ones. It was either a stretcher match or the one right before that. But boom, he hit the corner post towards the beginning and was just out. And sometimes that happens. And you know, we would never even think about stopping the match.”

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.