Rob Van Dam Reflects On His AEW Debut, Recalls How AEW Kept It A Surprise

Rob Van Dam discusses his AEW debut.

Rob Van Dam discusses his AEW debut.

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam made his first appearance on AEW TV on the August 2 episode of AEW Dynamite. There, he confronted FTW Champion Jack Perry and later challenged him to a match for the title.

Speaking on his 1 Of A Kind podcast, Rob Van Dam discussed his AEW debut and the lengths the company went to in an attempt to keep it a secret. He noted that he was concerned that the surprise would get out, but AEW kept the lid on it.

“It was a pretty good reaction from the crowd. I was concerned that the surprise would be blown because it usually is, and it didn’t get too far out. Even a lot of the boys were surprised, and they went through so much trouble to hide me. Even after we pulled into the garage, they put me in a wheelchair and put a black curtain over the top of me and pushed me all the way back to this room and I just had my own room, so I was like, ‘I’m not gonna fuck it up after they went through all that trouble’ and so I just stayed into my room until after my appearance. I was still seeing guys at the end of the night, Jeff Hardy and Matt and Brian Cage and they were still surprised. Everyone kept the lid on it pretty good,” Van Dam said.

Click here to see what Rob Van Dam said about meeting Tony Khan and using Pantera’s “Walk” in AEW.

Check out Van Dam’s comments about Jack Perry’s promo skills here.

Van Dam will challenge Jack Perry for the FTW Championship on the August 9 episode of AEW Dynamite. Check out the card here.

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