Rob Van Dam Explains How He And His Wife, Impact's Katie Forbes, Got Together
In late 2021, wrestling legend Rob Van Dam tied the knot with Impact Wrestling's Katie Forbes. Forbes and RVD had known each other since 2016 and had been engaged for a little less than a year.
On his "1 of a Kind" podcast, RVD talked about meeting Forbes and how they ended up together.
"Katie and I met at WrestleCon in Dallas in 2016. She was there at the Wildcats booth with Luke Hawkes, and I was just a few booths away from her," he said. "She wanted to meet me. I didn't know, but I was already on her radar. She already had her eye on me. She was training with Wildcats, and she had asked Luke to bring me in because Luke would bring in some guys and do wrestling seminars. Guys that aren't as expensive as RVD."
The Hall of Famer recalled jokingly asking Forbes for a hug, to which she not jokingly gave him one, and said that she had "amazing energy." From there, Forbes slipped her number into RVD's bag, but it took him a little time to find it. "She was kind of upset that I didn't call her, but I didn't even know that I had it," said RVD.
First Date and Love
Soon after WrestleMania that year, the pair went on their first date. RVD talked through the "rock bottom" experience of that weekend, and the blackout that came with it. But the upturn that came in the midst of all of it was meeting Forbes.
"I picked her up in the afternoon, and we [...] walked out on the beach. Pretty soon we were holding hands, it was like we had known each other a long time. We got along really well," he said. He went on to recount telling Forbes about his issues at the time, but that they didn't deter her: "She wanted a project, I guess."
RVD said that after a misunderstanding that prompted Forbes to believe "The Whole F'n Show" had children, they still spent most of that day together. He knew that she was special from the get-go.
"I always knew she was special. It did take her telling me that we were seeing each other, that it wasn't cool to be dating these other girls anymore. When she let it be known, I believe her that she was telling me how much she thought of me. I was like, 'Wow, people don't just say that stuff.' I thought that this girl's in love with me," said the Hall of Famer.