Rob Van Dam Talks Meeting Tony Khan, AEW Using Pantera’s ‘Walk’ For His Debut On 8/2 AEW Dynamite

Rob Van Dam talks walking out to Pantera on AEW TV and his first impressions of meeting Tony Khan. 

Rob Van Dam was Mr. Wednesday Night on August 2, 2023, as he debuted in All Elite Wrestling and confronted Jack Perry on behalf of his ECW rival Jerry Lynn. 

When Van Dam walked out in the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida, his ECW theme song, “Walk” by Pantera, played through the arena. In a preview clip of his next 1 Of A Kind podcast, due out Monday, August 7, RVD explained to Dominic DeAngelo of Inside The Ropes that it put him in a different vibe when he found out he was going to be walking out to the Pantera song. 

“That was awesome. Yeah, when I found out that he was gonna have the rights to ‘Walk,’ it just like put me in a different vibe. You know what I mean? Just knowing the reaction that was going to get and how the fans would be emotionally connected to that, let it play for a few seconds.” 

Regarding his first time meeting Tony Khan in person, RVD says he and Tony bonded over Tony being in the crowd for Rob’s Stretcher Match against Sabu in ECW in 1996. 

“I had only talked to him on the phone before, so last night I met him and, obviously, he was cool, respectful and he reminded me that he had told me this on the phone a long time ago, that as a fan, he was at the stretcher match of RVD and Sabu in Philadelphia. He said he was there, and he said that he felt like that night was a big vehicle moment that catapulted me,” said RVD. “At the time, it was like my favorite match at the time. I loved it. I remember the match really well, certain spots of it. At that time, every match for me was the next one would be my favorite, you know, the next one, especially with Sabu. He was there, and that was a real special night for him as a fan too. So pretty cool.” 

Rob Van Dam will now face Jack Perry for the FTW Championship on the July 9 episode of Dynamite. Rob even teased retiring the title. Learn more here. 

Fans can also learn what Rob had to say about Jack Perry being a heel here.