Former WWE Champion on his arrest, suspension, and what he'd have done differently

Speaking to ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin on The Steve Austin Show, former WWE Champion and ECW legend Rob Van Dam aka RVD opened up on a myriad of topics.

Most prominently, Van Dam weighed in on his arrest and suspension from the WWE which transpired back in 2006, besides also opining what he’d have done differently to avoid it.

Van Dam and fellow ECW icon Sabu were arrested in early July 2006 on U.S. Route 52 in Hanging Rock, Ohio after initially having been stopped by a police officer for speeding.

The officer went on to discover that Van Dam and Sabu were in possession of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia, following which they were arrested, and released fairly swiftly after posting bail.

At the time of his arrest, Van Dam was the reigning WWE Champion as well as ECW Champion. RVD touched upon the same, and stated –

"The reason it made such big news was because I had the WWE Championship and the ECW Championship. So there was a lot riding on me at the moment, because ECW just came back as a third brand, (ECW was) trying to get momentum, and I'm the champion." (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

Van Dam explained that if given the chance to rectify his error, he’d have slowed down going through Ohio. He added that he was careless at the time, and didn’t even know that there were speed limits.

Furthermore, RVD expounded that he needed to experience real-life emotion in order to gain a new perspective in life.

The high-flying stalwart emphasized that he made several mistakes in the WWE, and when he finally got the WWE Championship, he made a critical error – case in point being his 2006 arrest and suspension.

One ought to note that Van Dam dropped the WWE Championship and ECW Title, and was handed a 30-day suspension from the promotion.

He returned to WWE after his suspension, and worked for the organization till 2007, after which he’s competed in several other promotions, with sporadic returns to WWE as well.