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Vince McMahon has had a love-hate relationship with many top guys in WWE, including Rob Van Dam. The Hall of Famer recently opened up about how he had once decided to attack McMahon during a meeting.
The issues between WWE and RVD boiled down to the superstar's refusal to travel for the Tribute to the Troops show in 2005. Van Dam received heat for his decision and recalled speaking to Vince McMahon about the entire situation.
An infuriated RVD was made to wait a long time to talk to Vince McMahon, making him angrier and leading him to believe that he needed to do something drastic to gain McMahon's respect.
Rob Van Dam revealed on his 1 of a Kind podcast that "he'd worked himself up" to the point where he planned on asking Vince McMahon to "pick a hand" before smacking him in the face.
"That's what I really thought. Yeah. Yeah. I had myself worked up into this state of mind where I was going to go in there. And I was going to say, 'Vince, pick a hand,' smack him on his face and see what happens then! I figured there was no way I'm going to get fired for it. He might respect me for it." (H/T Wrestling Writing)
RVD mentioned he was in regular contact with Paul Levesque while waiting to meet Vince McMahon. The star told The Game he would pull off the "pick a hand" stunt with Vince McMahon.
Triple H, who was calmer and more well-informed about the situation, urged Rob Van Dam to get rid of the idea.
"I kept seeing Paul like every 15, 20 minutes. And I said, 'Does he know that I'm here waiting to talk to him?' "And I told Paul, 'I'm gonna ask him to pick a hand,' and Paul's like, 'Don't do that. That is not a good idea.' I was like, no. What do you know?"
As things panned out, Van Dam never got to meet Vince McMahon. RVD believes he was deliberately kept away from the Executive Chairman as the superstar was just too distraught to have a conversation.
Rob Van Dam on why he didn't want to attend WWE Tribute to the Troops
It should be noted that RVD was one of WWE's most popular superstars at the time, and the company expected him to be a part of their yearly Tribute to the Troops.
Unlike other members of the roster, Van Dam wasn't too hyped about the overseas show. The former WWE Champion turned down the chance to compete as he was "burnt out" from the excessive traveling.
Rob Van Dam clarified that there were no altercations with WWE management, and it was simply his choice to skip an event that talents had the option to miss.
"It wasn't that big of a situation to where he would even have a clue that it almost happened. It wasn't like there was a half altercation or anything like that. It's just that the wrestlers were going to be going overseas to visit the troops, and I didn't want to go, and it wasn't political or anything. It was like, 'Dude, I'm so burnt out from traveling.'"
Did you check out what RVD had to say about potentially taking up a new role? Here's more on that story.
