Rob Van Dam was born in 1970 in Battle Creek, Michigan as Robert Szatkowski. In 1987, he made his first appearance in the WWF, about 10 years before he’d make his first wrestling appearance there. Before arriving in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), he wrestled for various independent promotions, the most notable being Jerry “The King” Lawler’s USWA. In 1992 he also had a few under-the-radar appearances in WCW before he was released. It was during this time (his early career that is) that Szatkowski received the name we all know him by, Rob Van Dam. It wouldn’t be until 1996, however, when RVD would make a huge splash (literally) in the world of Professional Wrestling.
In January of 1996, Rob Van Dam debuted in ECW under the gimmick of a stoner and as a face. His first title opportunity came in March of that year, when he faced 2 Cold Scorpio for the ECW Television Championship, which he later held for nearly two years, but he couldn’t win the title this time. Rob Van Dam’s first big-feud was with long-time rival Sabu. After Sabu one a match between the two, RVD refused to shake his hand. The same thing happened next time they faced, even though Van Dam won. This was the beginning of a heel turn for Rob Van Dam (and he was managed by Bill Alfonso at this time). The next match between these two rivals was at Hardcore Heaven, which was to prove who the better man was, and Sabu became victorious. The next time these two faced was in a stretcher match. Sabu won yet again after Rob Van Dam missed a move outside the ring, and Sabu quickly capitalized and won. After they’re many bouts against each other, RVD and Sabu united as a team. The duo’s first big feud was against Perry Saturn and John Kronus, The Eliminators. At ECW’s CyberSlam PPV, the Eliminators retained their ECW World Tag Team Titles over Van Dam and Sabu in a TLC match (Tables, Ladders and Chairs). In May of 1997, RVD made appearances on Monday Night Raw with Jerry “The King” Lawler and his anti-ECW movement. Rob even said: “ECW is nothing but low-budgeted, very low-talented wannabes that can not hold on to someone with the extreme talents of Rob Van Dam”. After returning to ECW in June, Van Dam continued to team with Sabu, and also began a feud with Tommy Dreamer, who was angry at RVD for betraying ECW and going on RAW. Sabu and RVD faced off several times against the team of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. RVD and Tommy Dreamer faced off Mano a Mano in a Hardcore match, and RVD came out as the winner. Rob Van Dam and Sabu would team up several times in the not to distant future from that point on, and RVD faced Dreamer in singles competition several times as well. The final match between the two was a four-on-four match, in which Dreamer’s team defeated Van Dam’s team. In early 1998, Rob began a feud with the stable Triple Threat as a face. Members of the stable and Rob exchanged wins for a few months. In April of that year, Rob Van Dam won his first championship in ECW, the World Television Championship from Bam Bam Bigelow. Sabu earned a title match against his partner, but RVD retained via No Contest. In late June, Rob Van Dam and Sabu defeated Lance Storm and Chris Candido to win the ECW World Tag Team Championships, which gave RVD 2 Titles. The team lost their titles to the Dudleyz, but won them back later in the year. In 2001, WWF purchased ECW and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), leading to RVD signing a contract with WWF. On July 9 edition of Raw is War, RVD re-debuted in WWF as a heel. He was a part of ECW invaders. Later that night, RVD competed in his first match. RVD, as a part of Team ECW, consisting of Mike Awesome, Tazz, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Justin Credible, Rhyno, Lance Storm and Dudley Boyz competed against Team WWF, consisting of Big Show, Billy Gunn, Hardcore Holly and Acolytes Protection Agency and Team WCW, consisting of Kanyon, Shawn Stasiak, Mark Jindrak, Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo to a no contest when WCW turned on WWF as WCW and ECW double-teamed WWF. ECW wrestlers formed an alliance with WCW wrestlers to from a faction called The Alliance. Alliance feuded with WWF wrestlers in attempt to take over WWF.
At Invasion, RVD made his WWF pay-per-view debut. He represented Alliance and defeated WWF's Jeff Hardy in a Hardcore match to win the WWF Hardcore Championship, thus winning his first championship in WWF. On August 13 edition of Raw is War, RVD defended the championship against Kurt Angle, during which Hardy used the 24/7 Rule and pinned RVD to win the championship after Angle delivered an Olympic Slam to RVD. RVD's reign ended at 22 days. At SummerSlam, RVD defeated Hardy in a Ladder match to win his second WWF Hardcore Championship. On August 23 edition of SmackDown!, RVD defeated Hardy to retain the championship, thus ending the rivalry.
On September 10 edition of Raw is War, RVD lost the WWF Hardcore Championship to Kurt Angle. RVD's reign ended at 22 days. After the match, Stone Cold Steve Austin attacked Angle and RVD by pushing Angle off the stage and pushing RVD onto Angle. RVD used the 24/7 Rule and pinned Angle to win his third WWF Hardcore Championship. At Unforgiven, RVD successfully defended the championship against Chris Jericho after Stephanie McMahon distracted Jericho.
The following night, on October 24 edition of Raw is War, RVD received his first opportunity for the WCW Championship as he unsuccessfully challenged The Rock for the championship. At No Mercy, RVD received his first opportunity for the WWF Championship. He competed against Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match for the championship. Austin retained the championship. Despite being an Alliance member, RVD's popularity increased within the fans and the WWF audiences supported him because of his impressive kicks and high-flying maneuvers as well as his popularity from ECW.
Despite not being a world heavyweight champion, RVD quickly rose as one of the top WWF wrestlers. On October 25 edition of SmackDown!, RVD participated in a Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender for the WCW Championship. Booker T won the Battle Royal. At Survivor Series, RVD was on Stone Cold Steve Austin's Team Alliance, consisting of Kurt Angle, Booker T and Shane McMahon against Team WWF, consisting of The Rock, Chris Jericho, Big Show and Brothers of Destruction in a Winner Takes All Survivor Series match. RVD was eliminated by Jericho. Team WWF won. Rock survived the match. Alliance was forced to disband due to losing the match. As a result, Alliance members were fired by WWF but RVD saved his job because he was a champion.
Following the disbanding of Alliance, RVD turned babyface. At Vengeance, RVD lost the WWF Hardcore Championship to Undertaker. RVD's reign ended at 90 days. Entering 2002, RVD participated in his first Royal Rumble match as the #29 entrant at Royal Rumble. He lasted two minutes until he was eliminated by Booker T. Triple H won the Royal Rumble. RVD began a rivalry with Goldust, which culminated at No Way Out, which RVD won. At WrestleMania X8, RVD made his WrestleMania debut as he defeated William Regal to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. On March 25 edition of Raw, the WWF roster was divided into two separate brands, Raw and SmackDown!, the top two television programs of WWF. RVD was drafted to the Raw brand.
On March 25 edition of SmackDown!, RVD competed in his first match as part of the SmackDown! roster, defeating Charlie Haas. On April 8 edition of SmackDown!, Booker T turned on RVD by abandoning him during a tag team match against Big Show and Charlie Haas. RVD formed a tag team with Rey Mysterio and began a rivalry with Dudley Boyz. At Judgment Day, RVD and Mysterio defeated Dudley Boyz. On May 27 edition of SmackDown!, RVD and Mysterio lost to Dudley Boyz in a rematch after interference by Paul Heyman.
At The Great American Bash, RVD competed against John Cena, Booker T and Rene Dupree in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match for the WWE United States Championship. Cena retained the championship. On July 1 edition of SmackDown!, RVD competed against Booker T and Rene Dupree in a Triple Threat match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE United States Championship. Booker retained the championship. On July 29 edition of SmackDown!, RVD competed against Billy Gunn, Booker T, John Cena, Charlie Haas, Rene Dupree, Luther Reigns and Kenzo Suzuki in an Elimination match for the vacated WWE United States Championship. RVD was eliminated by Booker for the win. Booker won the vacated championship. The following week, on August 5 edition of SmackDown!, RVD lost to John Cena in a #1 contender's match for the championship.
RVD and Rey Mysterio began pursuing the WWE Tag Team Championship. At No Mercy, RVD and Mysterio unsuccessfully challenged Rene Dupree and Kenzo Suzuki for the championship. On October 14 edition of SmackDown!, RVD participated in a Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender for the WWE United States Championship. RVD was eliminated by Dudley Boyz. Rey Mysterio won the Battle Royal. At Survivor Series, RVD was on Eddie Guerrero's Team Guerrero, consisting of Big Show and John Cena, against Kurt Angle's Team Angle, consisting of Carlito Caribbean Cool, Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns in a Survivor Series match. RVD was eliminated by Angle. Team Guerrero won. Guerrero, Show and Cena survived the match.
On December 9 (taped December 7) edition of SmackDown!, RVD and Rey Mysterio defeated Rene Dupree and Kenzo Suzuki to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. At Armageddon, RVD and Mysterio successfully defended the championship against Dupree and Suzuki. Entering 2005, RVD and Rey Mysterio defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against Basham Brothers, Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio and Team Angle in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match on January 13 (taped January 11) edition of SmackDown!. Basham Brothers won the championship. During the match, RVD suffered a knee injury and put him out of action for one year.
At ECW reunion pay-per-view ECW One Night Stand, RVD returned to WWE television and represented his original promotion ECW. He reunited with Bill Alphonso and managed former tag team partner Sabu in a match against Rhyno. After the ECW reunion, RVD disappeared from WWE television to recover from injury. On June 27 edition of Raw, RVD was drafted to the Raw brand.
After an inactivity of six years, RVD signed a new contract with WWE. At Money in the Bank, RVD returned to WWE television as a babyface and competed in his first WWE match in four years. RVD competed against Randy Orton, CM Punk, Sheamus, Christian and Daniel Bryan in the 2013 All-Stars WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder match. Orton won the match. On August 12 edition of Raw, RVD participated in a Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender for the WWE United States Championship. He last eliminated Mark Henry to win the Battle Royal.
At the pre-show of SummerSlam, RVD competed against Dean Ambrose for the WWE United States Championship. Ambrose retained the championship by disqualification after Roman Reigns delivered a Spear to RVD. RVD began a rivalry with Alberto Del Rio after ADR's former ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez became RVD's ring announcer and manager. At Night of Champions, RVD competed against ADR for the World Heavyweight Champioship. ADR retained the championship through intentional disqualification. On September 23 edition of Raw, RVD, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Justin Gabriel, The Usos and Prime Time Players defeated The Shield in a Handicap Elimination match. Bryan survived the match. At Battleground, RVD unsuccessfully challenged Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Battleground Hardcore Rules match. RVD suffered an injury and was out of action.
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