Rob Van Dam Explains How He Wound Up On First ECW PPV

Nowadays, Paul Heyman only answers to the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. But back in 1997, he was scrambling to keep Rob Van Dam — who would eventually go on to become a WWE Hall of Famer — with Extreme Championship Wrestling. He ultimately ended up on ECW's first-ever pay-per-view, Barely Legal, in a match against Lance Storm on April 13, 1997. On a recent episode of "1 Of A Kind," RVD explained how the rumor of an offer from a rival more or less forced Heyman's hand.

"Eric Bischoff famously offered me a job that night when I was there [in Savannah, Georgia] visiting my friends," he said. "Said 'I'd love to have you here...' And I think that was before Paul decided to throw me on the pay-per-view. That's the way I remember it anyway."

Initially, Van Dam wasn't slated to be on the card that night at all. And even with Heyman catching wind of the WCW contract offer, the timing was such that RVD would be a last-minute replacement that night for an injured Chris Candido anyway. So, even though the former ECW World Television Champion is relatively certain his leverage was what helped him get on the card, he's not ready to declare it as the sole reason.

"If that happened, that happened either way, and Chris wasn't going to be able to wrestle," Van Dam added. "I'm just saying, you know? Don't know for sure that that's the reason Paul put me on the pay-per-view, but, probably."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "1 Of A Kind" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.