Rumor killer on Triple H and Shawn Michaels disliking a popular WWE Hall of Famer

Triple H and Shawn Michaels are arguably two of the most powerful executives in WWE today, and it's no secret that they had a massive backstage influence even when they were top active stars. Bruce Prichard recently shot down rumors of Triple H and HBK being against Rob Van Dam's push.

Rob Van Dam was one of the hottest main event prospects in the company when he entered a world heavyweight championship feud with Triple H in September 2002.

While RVD was earmarked as a future top guy, his program with The Game didn't end well for him as he unsuccessfully challenged for the world title before being moved to the tag team scene. There was speculation that Triple H and Shawn Michaels weren't fans of Mr. Monday Night's work, but that's far from the truth.

While reviewing Armageddon 2002 on his Something to Wrestle With podcast, Bruce Prichard revealed that HBK and Triple H were amongst the stars who pushed for WWE to add RVD to the world title picture nearly 20 years back.

Prichard issued a clarification on the long-standing rumor, as you can view below:

"No. They actually were both big fans of Rob and were two of the proponents that, you know, wanted to get Rob into the mix. So, hence the reason why we even did the match." [44:07 - 44:23]

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WWE veteran Bruce Prichard on RVD allegedly being a dangerous in-ring worker

While Rob Van Dam eventually became a WWE Champion in 2006, he could have achieved the feat much sooner had he not developed a reputation for being unsafe in the ring.

RVD accidentally injured Triple H during the first-ever Elimination Chamber Match at Survivor Series 2002, and Bruce Prichard felt the forgettable moment hurt Van Dam's momentum.

Prichard stated that what happened between RVD and Triple H wasn't anyone's fault. However, the former ECW star attracted all the heat in the aftermath.

"But I think that a lot of luster came off when Rob came off the top on Hunter's throat. Accident. Rob didn't mean to do that, and that was just a freak accident. It wasn't clumsy; it was just an accident. I think people looked at that, 'Oh, he's dangerous.' And that was the reputation that Van Dam had. 'He's dangerous.'" [44:24 - 44:28]

The WWE executive believed that Rob Van Dam was always reliable in the squared circle, unlike a few people's perceptions. Prichard, however, admitted that RVD was a little "snug" during his matches, as he added below:

"I never thought Rob was dangerous; I thought Rob was snug. You know, Rob would hit you. Okay? I don't think anything ever Rob did was dangerous to his opponents." [44:29 -45:00]

Despite the ups and downs, Rob Van Dam has had an incredible WWE career and was rightfully rewarded with a Hall of Fame induction in 2021.

What did you think about RVD's run in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.

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While using the quote from this article, please credit 'Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard' and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.