Prior to pro wrestling legend Rob Van Dam making a name for himself in ECW, he had a brief run in WCW as Robbie V. He had a somewhat decent run in the company when Bill Watts was in charge. However, that all changed after Arn Anderson took over as they simply had nothing planned for Rob Van Dam.
RVD recently spoke on the TC Martin Show, where he talked about his WWE Icons documentary and how he had a full-circle moment regarding him leaving WCW and also taking a break from WWE.
A lot of questions they asked me brought up deep answers and I was realizing patterns in my life. Some full circles are supportive of the narrative in my life and it blew me away. They’d be asking about me when I left WWE even though they wanted me to re-sign. I just knew I needed a break and it would be indefinite. They asked me about the same moment when I walked out of WCW in 93. I was just a young, green kid but I had experienced better outside of WCW. I was making more money and I didn’t like the direction I was going because Ole Anderson didn’t see in me what Bill Watts did, who hired me. I was looking up at the lights, my pay wasn’t great. I never turned my contract in, I just said I lost it. I was there five months and I left,”
He then revealed a confrontation he had with Chris Benoit just before he left WCW.
“I’ll tell this story, I couldn’t say who it was, but it was Chris Benoit. He comes up to me and is like, ‘Are you leaving? To do what? Go to the Independents? I think you’re stupid. Do you know how many wrestlers would break their leg to be where you are? You’re on TV and in WCW, where you going?’ This guy was making a guarantee of $800 a week compared to my $100 a match — It $150 for the house shows and they’d dock you $50 to do TV. Years later, we’re in WWE and he comes up to me and is like, ‘I hear you’re leaving.’ This time, Chris said, ‘We all respect you for knowing when it’s time for you to go. You know what is right for you.'”
