RVD is best known for his time in WWE. He became popular during his time in ECW where he became known for his high flying moves and became one of the most famous wrestlers.
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Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970, Battle Creek, Michigan, United States) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam. He is best known for his time in WWE. He has also had stints with ECW and TNA. RVD became popular during his time in ECW where he became known for his high flying moves and daredevilry and became one of the most famous wrestlers in the industry. Van Dam is one of the only two wrestlers in history to have held the WWE, ECW, and TNA world championships, alongside Bobby Lashley.
RVD has also headlined many pay-per-view events for three decades between the 1990s and 2010s, including the 1998 edition of November to Remember and the 2011 edition of TripleMania. He was ranked as the best wrestler by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 2002 and also was voted “Most Popular Wrestler” by readers of the magazine in 2001 and again in 2002. WWE named him the greatest star in ECW history in 2014. Outside of professional wrestling, Van Dam has performed as an actor in a number of TV shows, including an episode of The X-Files. He also performed in the 2010 movie Wrong Side of Town and the 2015 movie 3-Headed Shark Attack.
| Name | Robert Alexander Szatkowski |
| DOB | 18 December 1970, 51 years |
| Height | 183 cm |
| Weight | 107 kg |
| Occupation | Professional wrestler, Actor |
| Professional Debut | 1990 |
| Wife | Katie Forbes |
| Professional Name | Rob Van Dam |
Van Dam was signed to a short-term contract by the World Wrestling Federation. Along with fellow ECW wrestler Tommy Dreamer, he returned to WWF television on July 9, 2001, in Atlanta, Georgia as a heel, and attacked Kane and Chris Jericho. He then defeated Jeff Hardy to become the ‘WWF Hardcore Champion’ at ‘The Invasion.’ On August 13, 2001, he lost the title. However, he regained it 6 days later. On November 18, after his team lost, its members, excluding him, were fired from the company. However, he was allowed to stay, as he was the Hardcore Champion. Before this event, he had challenged The Rock for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on several occasions but had failed.
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RVD lost the Harcore championship to The Undertaker in 2001 but success soon followed him as he became the Intercontinental champion in 2002 by defeating William Regal. In 2002, the WWF was divided into two brands, RAW and SmackDown and Rob was drafted to RAW. His attempt to earn the WWE Undisputed title from The Undertaker was foiled after Ric Flair’s intervention. Rob lost the Intercontinental title to Eddie Guerrero on April 21, 2002. After many failed attempts to regain the title, he clinched it back from Guerrero on May 27, 2002. He then unified the WWE European Championship with the WWE Intercontinental Championship after defeating Jeff Hardy.
In early 2003, Van Dam formed a tag team with Kane. However, their attempt to win the World Tag Team Championship was unsuccessful. Two months later, they won the title and defended it, until they lost to ‘La Resistance’ on June 15, 2003, although they had defended the title against the latter in an earlier match. Later, Rob and Kane feuded with each other. Later, he once again won the Intercontinental title after defeating Christian. Within a month, he lost the title to Jericho. However, he won it back after a rematch with Jericho.
On May 29, RVD was chosen to represent ECW and within a short time, he won the WWE Championship after defeating John Cena. He was also awarded the reinstated ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Thus, he became the first wrestler to hold the WWE Championship and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at the same time. He also became the 15th WWE Triple Crown Champion. On July 3, 2004, he lost the WWE Championship and the following day, he lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE Championship (1 time)
ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
WWE European Championship (1 time)
WWE Hardcore Championship (4 times)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (6 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Rey Mysterio
World Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Kane and Booker T
Money in the Bank (2006)
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2021)
Seventh Grand Slam Champion
Fifteenth Triple Crown Champion
In 2016, Van Dam began dating fellow professional wrestler Katie Forbes. In 2021 Forbes and RVD got married. This is his second marriage. Van Dam was first married to Sonia Delbeck on September 6, 1998, the couple separated in December 2015. In July 2016, Delbeck filed for divorce from RVD. The divorce was finalized two years later.
Van Dam is known for his unique move set, but also has an uncanny resemblance to action star Jean-Claude Van Damme. RVD is not related to the action star from the 80s and 90s but was recently asked how the name came about. The 48-year-old claimed the name wasn’t his idea despite the resemblance to Jean-Claude.
