WWE Ruthless Aggression Era star describes how stars used to handle getting sick on the road

Former WWE Superstar and Ruthless Aggression Era pillar Rob Van Dam recently tweeted about how superstars in his day used to handle getting sick on tours and on the road.

RVD was a top name in both ECW and WWE throughout his prime years. After a career spanning three decades, the WWE Hall of Famer revealed in November last year that he'd been diagnosed with CTE after suffering several concussions throughout his time in the ring.

Working through sickness and injury has long been an unfortunate staple of the wrestling business, as Van Dam illustrated in response to a fan today. The fan took to social media to ask the former Intercontinental Champion how wrestling stars handled getting sick on the road. RVD replied that they simply went to work:

"There was no time for compromising our health. We shut up and went to work." - wrote Rob Van Dam.

Historically, wrestlers are known to work through tremendous hardship and pain. For example, when Kurt Angle was not cleared to wrestle in the main event of WrestleMania 19 but ended up doing it anyway.

Other examples include Finn Balor finishing his match against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016 with a dislocated shoulder and The Undertaker entering his famous Hell in a Cell match against Mankind with a broken ankle.

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Safety and health precautions for wrestlers have vastly improved since the Ruthless Aggression Era

The Ruthless Aggression Era (observed roughly between 2002-08) was a time many fans romanticize today. The period marked the ascensions of John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, and Brock Lesner while veterans like Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Rob Van Dam hit their stride.

By the Ruthless Aggression Era, the WWE and the wrestling industry as a whole had long built a reputation of not taking care of wrestlers. The horror stories of superstars wrestling over 200 days a year through chronic pain, concussions, and sickness are abundant.

However, it was during this time that the company started its concussion program to prevent superstars from wrestling after suffering brain damage. Many moves that caused head injuries were banned as well.

WWE has also become more lenient in giving its performers time off for flu and sickness, something which the company has now enforced in the Covid era and beyond.

What are your thoughts on this story? Do you agree with the "put up and shut up" mentality of many wrestlers? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!