AEW's Rob Van Dam Discusses Tense Situation With WCW Alum Scott Norton
During a recent episode of "One of a Kind," WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam discussed backstage conflicts in the pro wrestling industry in light of recent events. One story involved the time he had two intense encounters with former NWO member Scott Norton.
The first encounter was during WrestleMania 30 weekend in New Orleans as Van Dam went to a club for Diamond Dallas Page's birthday. He noted that Dan Masters was with him but they split up and Van Dam eventually encountered Norton at the bar.
"I had never met Scott before," Van Dam recalled. "I'm talking to Scott, shook his hand. 'Nice to meet you.' 'Yeah, dude, you were in New Japan when I was at All Japan.' 'That's cool, man, always respected you.' He's being cool, 'Yeah, I know you're friends with so and so.' All of a sudden, his wife, for some reason, starts being the biggest c*** to me. I have no idea why. And I'm using that word correctly here because she interrupts, me and Scott are talking, 'How's your wife? Did she die yet?' I'm like, 'Excuse me?' She goes, 'Did your wife die yet?' 'No.' 'Oh, I thought, okay.' I have no idea why."
Things Turned Physical
"I'm looking at him and I'm so confused," RVD continued. "I'm talking to him and I use my hands when I'm talking. I don't know what I'm saying, I'm like, 'Dude, I don't know where that came from,' whatever. But my hand bumped her shoulder and she took that as an excuse to defend herself as if she was assaulted. So she started going like this and pushing me and hitting me. I grab this b****'s wrist and I just turn it to the outside which twists her and brings her to a submissive fold, shall we say. Then all of a sudden, Scott starts screaming at her, whatever her name is, and he grabbed her and they left."
Van Dam went along with his night while still confused about the encounter. Unfortunately, their heat was far from over.
"Next day at WrestleCon, I'm at my table signing with fans and Norton from far away goes, 'Rob, you and me ain't finished yet.' I said, 'Anytime, Scott. I'm right here.' He comes up to me and goes, 'Let's take a walk. We gotta talk.' We go over there and he goes, 'That's f***** up what happened last night.' I said, 'I agree, that's f***** up what your wife did.' He said, 'My wife? She said you were being an a**hole.' 'When? When the f*** was I being an a**hole? I didn't even see her. What the f*** are you talking about?' 'She said you were an a**hole and she said your friend was being an a**hole.'"
Van Dam forgot he was with Dan Masters but didn't find out any more details. Norton remarked that they weren't done, while Van Dam opted to shake his hand to let him know he didn't have a problem. Norton walked away.
Another Confrontation Two Years Later
Two years later when WrestleMania 32 emanated from Dallas, Norton confronted Van Dam again at WrestleCon.
"He comes up to me again at WrestleCon and says, I'm paraphrasing, 'We've got some unfinished business to do.' I said, 'F****** let's do it.' It's face to face and we're talking and he's being aggressive. If I had matched his aggression, no question about it, it would've been physical," Van Dam said. "I could've considered myself under attack just by how close he was to my face. And I could tell he's used to being a bully. He's used to people being afraid of him. Let's just say I'm not afraid of him. It didn't seem like fighting was the right thing to do. It seemed like he was being a good husband and sticking up for his wife and believing her. I thought about that, but at the same time, what do you wanna do with this? I don't understand what's going on."
Van Dam isn't sure if anyone witnessed their exchange, but Norton was adamant that Van Dam's friend was once again rude to his wife. When Van Dam pressed for who the friend was, Norton put his sunglasses on top of his head as if to try and intimidate him. Van Dam stood his ground and Norton then told Van Dam to ask Bubba Ray Dudley about him. Van Dam shook his hand one more time and left it at that despite still being confused over the confrontation.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "One of a Kind" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.