Rob Van Dam Discusses Pressure He Faced At WWE Money In The Bank 2013
The 2013 Money in the Bank pay-per-view was a memorable one for WWE fans, as it saw the return of Rob Van Dam to a WWE ring. The former WWE Champion left the company in 2007 to pursue his own journey, which included cameos in smaller promotions, setting up his own website, and a three-year stint in TNA Wrestling.
On his "1 Of A Kind" podcast, RVD revealed one of the biggest challenges he had to face when he returned to WWE. After discussing the recent incident in AEW that saw Sammy Guevara get suspended, RVD said that when he returned, WWE had concussion protocols in place that never existed before, which he understood as the business had changed. However, shortly before he made his return, he was told about one change that took him by surprise.
"Before I went out there, someone told me 'you can't get busted open, they've changed that, things are different. If there's any blood, you've got to roll out and the doctor is at ringside now, which he didn't use to be, he will check you and stop your bleeding. If he can stop your bleeding and you're good to go, you roll in to the match and continue otherwise they will stop the match.' I was like 'oh my god what?' Like going into my big return, it's all built up, I've got all these guys, going to be doing all these amazing things with, and if I just get busted open earlier, boom I'm done? That was a lot of pressure." RVD did bleed during his return match after getting hit in the head with a ladder, but he rolled out of the ring, was checked on by the doctor, and was allowed to continue.
Please credit "1 Of A Kind" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.