The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 13

Rob Van Dam (June 11, 2006 - July 3, 2006)

RVD: Finally won a World title in his own back yard

The WWE Championship went "extreme" in the summer of 2006.

Rob Van Dam, who had been ECW's biggest star during the last couple of years of its existence, joined WWE in July 2001 to much fanfare and was one of the Invasion storyline's few success stories.

RVD flirted with the main event in 2001 and 2002 while he collected all of the mid-card title prizes such as the Intercontinental, European, Hardcore and Tag Team title belts.

However, the World title continued to remain out of reach for "Mr. Monday Night."

When RVD approached Vince McMahon backstage in 2005 and queried why he hadn't hosted an ECW Reunion event, the wheels were set in motion for Van Dam to be reheated as a superstar. Although RVD was injured for the first ECW One Night Stand show, held on June 12, 2005, he cut an electrifying promo in which he mocked WWE, Vince McMahon and the direction of his character under WWE's creative team.

When "The Whole F'N Show" returned to WWE at the 2006 Royal Rumble, the company was behind him once again.

Van Dam won the 2006 Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 22 and elected to challenge WWE Champion John Cena in his "home" of ECW. That came at the second One Night Stand show on June 11, 2006.

In a superheated battle, RVD defeated Cena to the delight of the anti-WWE crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.

It was an unforgettable spectacle and the pinnacle of RVD's career. He would successfully defend the belt versus Edge at Vengeance two weeks later and versus Cena on Raw before he dropped the bout to Edge in a triple threat bout, also including Cena on the July 3, 2006 edition of Raw.

That title change was necessitated by RVD being pulled over for speeding the previous evening and being charged for drug possession when the attending officer could smell marijuana smoke emanating from Van Dam's vehicle. The incident made national news and RVD was immediately booked to drop the WWE belt and the ECW World title the subsequent evening before he was suspended for 30 days.

He would never hold a World title in WWE again and left the company one year later before returning for short runs in 2013 and 2014.