RVD explains why WWE Hall of Famer received two lifetime bans from New York City (Exclusive)

Rob Van Dam (RVD) recently recalled how The Sheik’s villainous antics during matches landed him with two lifetime bans from New York City.

The Sheik, also known as The Original Sheik to avoid confusion with The Iron Sheik, wrestled between 1949 and 1998. He worked for various promotions around the world, including the WWWF (now known as WWE). In 2007, he was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

RVD, an expert panelist for the Sportskeeda Wrestling Awards, spoke to Riju Dasgupta about the greatest bad guys in the wrestling business. Reflecting on The Sheik’s heel tactics, he said his former trainer used to start riots with fans:

“I was trained by, I think, maybe the best heel of all time, The Original Sheik. That guy started riots, literally. He was kicked out of New York City, he told me twice, lifetime bans, for starting riots. The movie ‘I Like to Hurt People’ captured some of it in a documentary. They [fans] would, after the matches, want to go out and attack The Sheik’s car. They hated him.” [15:48-16:27]

Watch the video above to hear Rob Van Dam’s selections in the Sportskeeda Wrestling Awards, including his pick for Heel of the Year.

You can cast your own votes by clicking on the following link: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wrestling-awards.

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RVD also liked Eddie Guerrero’s heel work

Eddie Guerrero was one of the most creative in-ring performers in wrestling history. During his time as a heel, the former WWE Champion endeared himself to fans by thinking of unique ways to cheat his way to victory.

RVD enjoyed Guerrero’s unusual approach, which allowed him to remain popular with fans despite being a bad guy:

“I always think of Eddie Guerrero because he was so creative in the way that he cheated. It was so entertaining to see him do it in a way that the fans enjoyed seeing cheating, which is kind of the opposite of what you would expect.” [15:27-15:50]

RVD added that some heel wrestlers used to purposely take bad photos when fans asked them for a picture using digital cameras. Fans would not know that their heads had been cut off until the photos had been developed.

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