Early career (1990–1992) Szatkowski began training as a wrestler under
The Sheik in 1989. He wrestled in many independent promotions across
Michigan, including the
United States Wrestling Association (USWA) and
South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW). In SAPW, he won his first wrestling
championship, the
SAPW Tag Team Championship, in July 1992 with Chaz Rocco. He also wrestled in several independent promotions across America, and in
All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he challenged for the
World Junior Heavyweight Championship on several occasions. In the
World Wrestling Federation in 1992 he wrestled as an enhancement talent against
The Mountie under the ring name Matt Burn. Robbie V made his WCW debut on the January 23, 1993, episode of
WCW Saturday Night as a
fan favorite, defeating
enhancement talent Pat Rose. The following month, Robbie V entered a tournament for the vacant
WCW World Television Championship, defeating
Shanghai Pierce in the first round but losing to
Vinnie Vegas in the second round, which aired on the March 20 episode of
WCW WorldWide. His last televised match was on the May 22 episode of
Saturday Night, a
tag team loss with
Erik Watts against
Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger. In February and March 1993, Szatkowski wrestled in Japan for
All Japan Pro Wrestling; upon his return to WCW,
Ole Anderson had replaced Bill Watts as booker. Szatkowski left WCW in May 1993, feeling he was "lost in the shuffle". and being "
jobbed out".
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1993–1997) From 1993 to 1997, Van Dam made 10 tours of Japan with
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Van Dam's mannerisms were those of a
stoner, and he became a
face due to his laid-back attitude and unorthodox style. On March 30, he faced
2 Cold Scorpio in a match for the
World Television Championship. The match ended in a draw with 2 Cold Scorpio retaining the title. Van Dam gained attention following a series of matches with long-time rival
Sabu, which began with a match at
Hostile City Showdown, won by Sabu. After the match, Van Dam declined to show proper respect for his opponent, leading to a rematch at
A Matter of Respect, which was won by Van Dam. At
Hardcore Heaven, Van Dam faced his rival Sabu once again, in a match to prove who was the better man, but Sabu won the match. The two faced each other yet again in a
stretcher match at
The Doctor Is In. Van Dam lost the match after missing a
Plancha to the outside, hitting the railing and falling onto the stretcher. He was quickly rolled out. They feuded with Furnas and Kroffat defeating them at
When Worlds Collide II and
High Incident. Van Dam and Sabu next feuded with
The Eliminators,
John Kronus and
Perry Saturn. On November 1, the two teams fought to a draw. Van Dam then feuded with
Taz, to whom he lost at
Holiday Hell via knockout. Sabu and Van Dam continued to feud with The Eliminators for the
World Tag Team Championship into 1997. At
Crossing the Line Again and
Cyberslam, the teams faced off for the ECW World Tag Team Championship in a pair of matches, both of which were won by The Eliminators. At CyberSlam, the two teams faced each other for the title in a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, in which The Eliminators again retained their title. At ECW's first pay-per-view event
Barely Legal, Van Dam defeated
Lance Storm as a last-minute replacement for the injured
Chris Candido. Immediately following the match, Van Dam expressed his distaste for being chosen as a back-up for "some guy who couldn't even lace his boots." Van Dam delivered a speech directed towards Paul Heyman, and not being originally booked on the show was a point of contention between Van Dam and Heyman for a time. On the May 12 episode of
Monday Night Raw, Van Dam defeated
Jeff Hardy. On June 6, Van Dam defeated
Flash Funk on
Monday Night Raw and teamed with Lawler to defeat
the Headbangers on
Shotgun Saturday Night. On the June 16 episode of
Monday Night Raw, Van Dam and Lawler lost to the Headbangers in a tournament for the vacant
WWF World Tag Team Championship. Van Dam continued to team up with Sabu upon his return to ECW on June 13.
Taz's manager Bill Alfonso betrayed Taz and joined Sabu and Van Dam. Van Dam started a new rivalry with
Tommy Dreamer, who wanted to gain revenge on Van Dam for his betrayal of ECW. On June 21, Van Dam and Sabu earned a victory over Dreamer and
The Sandman. Van Dam and Sabu emerged victorious against Dreamer and Sandman again at
Orgy of Violence. At
Heat Wave, Van Dam, Sabu, and WWF's Jerry "The King" Lawler fought Dreamer, Sandman, and
Rick Rude to a no contest. Van Dam and Dreamer faced each other in a hardcore match at
Born to Be Wired, won by Van Dam after he performed a
leg drop on Dreamer with a trashcan. Van Dam and Sabu became partners while Dreamer teamed up with Taz. At
Ultimate Jeopardy, Van Dam and Sabu faced Dreamer and Taz, a match won by Taz and Dreamer after Dreamer pinned Van Dam. At
November to Remember, Van Dam faced Dreamer in another flag match which went to a no contest. At
Better Than Ever, Van Dam and Sabu faced Dreamer and Taz in a rematch. This time, Van Dam pinned Dreamer to give the victory to his team and to settle their rivalry. Van Dam's final encounter with Dreamer came on January 5, when Dreamer teamed up with Taz,
Al Snow, and Sandman to take on Van Dam, Sabu, Doug Furnas, and Phil Lafon. Van Dam's team lost the match. In 1998, Van Dam turned
face and started a feud with
The Triple Threat (
Shane Douglas,
Bam Bam Bigelow, and
Chris Candido). At
House Party, Van Dam defeated Bam Bam Bigelow. At
Hostile City Showdown, Van Dam and Sabu defeated Axl Rotten and
Balls Mahoney by disqualification. The two went on to win a
fatal four-way elimination tag team match later that night. Van Dam's popularity increased when he got his first taste of ECW gold, on April 4 when he defeated Bam Bam Bigelow to win the World Television Championship. Van Dam retained the belt in his first title defense on April 10 against Doug Furnas. Sabu also expressed interest in Van Dam's championship, leading to a title match between the two at
Wrestlepalooza. Van Dam retained the title as the match ended in a time limit draw. At
A Matter of Respect, Van Dam and Sabu were forced to face each other in a tag team match as they both teamed up with World Tag Team Champions. Van Dam teamed with the one half of the champions, Lance Storm, while Sabu teamed with the other half, Chris Candido. Van Dam and Sabu reconciled and instead took out Storm and Candido making it a no contest. Van Dam and Sabu started a feud with Storm and Candido in the next month for the tag team title. which made Van Dam a double champion. Van Dam sought revenge and at
November to Remember, Van Dam and Sabu teamed with Taz to defeat Triple Threat. On December 13, Van Dam and Sabu won the World Tag Team Championship for a second time by beating the Dudley Boyz in
Japan at a
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ECW/FMW Supershow. Lance Storm at
Guilty as Charged,
Jerry Lynn at
Crossing the Line '99, Balls Mahoney at
Anarchy Rulz, and 2 Cold Scorpio at
CyberSlam. Van Dam and Sabu were scheduled to make a title defense on April 17, but Sabu was suspended by ECW before the match occurred. After losing the tag team titles, Van Dam focused on defending the Television title. Van Dam retained the title, and the match was deemed so good that
Paul Heyman aired it on
ECW's debut on
TNN in place of a
shoot promo about TNN that he was planning, but was not allowed to air. Van Dam got a victory during a title defense against Sabu at
Guilty as Charged which was Sabu's last match in the promotion. Van Dam was scheduled to perform in a "champion vs. champion" pay-per-view main event against the ECW World Heavyweight Champion
Mike Awesome. This match potentially could have been ECW's most lucrative pay-per-view main event, and Heyman was depending on it to bring an influx of badly needed finances, but the match never occurred because Van Dam suffered a broken ankle during a successful title defense against Rhino on January 29. The injury also forced Van Dam to vacate the ECW World Television Championship.
Final appearances (2000–2001) Van Dam returned to ECW at
Hardcore Heaven on May 14 and faced long-time rival Jerry Lynn. Van Dam was supported by his
real-life friend
Scotty Anton who eventually
turned on him when Van Dam was going to perform a
Five-Star Frog Splash on Lynn. Anton pushed him from the top rope, which helped Lynn win the match. Van Dam feuded with Anton and took his revenge at
Heat Wave on July 16 by defeating Anton after debuting his new finisher called the "
Van Terminator". Van Dam then attempted to exact revenge on Rhino for forcing his injury. He received many opportunities to win the ECW World Television Championship back from Rhino, but Rhino's allies usually attacked Van Dam, causing disqualifications and allowing Rhino to retain the title. Van Dam was not advertised and did not show for a large number of ECW events due to the large sum of money owed to him. This was Van Dam's last appearance in ECW, as ECW only held two more shows after the pay-per-view.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2001) In February and March 2001, Van Dam returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling for an eleventh tour as part of its "Excite Series". During the tour, Van Dam primarily wrestled in tag team matches, teaming with partners including
Danny Kroffat and
Gran Naniwa. His opponents during the tour included Giant Kimala and Sabu.
World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–2007) The Invasion (2001) Several months after the closure of ECW, Van Dam was signed to a short-term contract by the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Along with fellow ECW alumnus Tommy Dreamer, Van Dam returned to WWF television on the July 9, 2001, episode of
Raw is War in
Atlanta, Georgia as a
heel, and attacking WWF wrestlers
Kane and
Chris Jericho. Later that night, five wrestlers from WWF and five wrestlers from WCW took on ten ECW wrestlers, including Van Dam. The match never took place as instead the WCW wrestlers aligned themselves with the ECW wrestlers. Van Dam lost the Hardcore Championship to Hardy on the August 13 episode of
Raw is War, but regained it at
SummerSlam on August 19 in a ladder match. During this time Van Dam had defeated wrestlers such as Kane,
The Undertaker,
Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho,
The Rock and even Alliance leader
Stone Cold Steve Austin in singles and tag team matches. At
Survivor Series on November 18, Van Dam and four other Alliance members faced five WWF wrestlers in a
Winner Take All match. Team WWF won, and the members of the Alliance were fired; however, as Van Dam held the
Hardcore Championship, he was able to retain his job.
Intercontinental Champion and Championship Unifications (2001–2002) Van Dam became a face, but lost the Hardcore Championship to The Undertaker at
Vengeance on December 9. Van Dam then entered into a rivalry with
William Regal over Regal's
WWF Intercontinental Championship. On the February 25, 2002, episode of
Raw, Van Dam defeated Lance Storm and
Big Show in a triple threat match to become the #1 contender to the Intercontinental Championship. At
WrestleMania X8 on March 17, Van Dam faced Regal for the Intercontinental Championship and won the match after he hit Regal with a Five-Star Frog Splash. at
WrestleMania X8 When the WWF was divided into two "
brands",
Raw and
SmackDown! in 2002, Van Dam was
drafted to the Raw brand as the fourth pick, thus bringing the Intercontinental Championship to
Raw. On the April 1 episode of
Raw, after Van Dam defended his title successfully against
Booker T,
Eddie Guerrero returned to the WWF and attacked Van Dam. Van Dam started a feud with Guerrero over the Intercontinental Championship. At
Backlash on April 21, Van Dam lost the Intercontinental Championship to Guerrero. At
Insurrextion on May 4, Van Dam and Guerrero had a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship. Guerrero was disqualified after hitting the referee with the Intercontinental Championship; as a result, Van Dam won the match but not the title because a title cannot change hands by disqualification. At
Judgment Day on May 19, Van Dam failed to win the Intercontinental Championship from Guerrero in another rematch. The following night on
Raw, Van Dam defeated The Undertaker for the
WWE Undisputed Championship but Raw owner
Ric Flair restarted the match (due to The Undertaker's foot being on the bottom rope), which Van Dam then lost negating the title win. On the May 27 episode of
Raw, Van Dam defeated Guerrero in a
ladder match for his second Intercontinental Championship. After Van Dam faced
Brock Lesnar in the final round of the
2002 King of the Ring tournament (which he lost), Van Dam and Lesnar began feuding with each other. Van Dam defended his Intercontinental Championship against Lesnar twice and retained his title both times by disqualification on the June 24 episode of
Raw and at
Vengeance on July 21. On the July 22 episode of
Raw, Van Dam won the
WWE European Championship for the first and only time after he defeated then-European Champion Jeff Hardy in a
championship unification ladder match. As a result, the European Championship was deactivated upon being unified with the Intercontinental Championship. On the July 29 episode of
Raw, Van Dam lost the Intercontinental Championship to
Chris Benoit. At
SummerSlam on August 25, Van Dam won his third Intercontinental Championship by defeating Benoit in a rematch for the title. As Benoit brought the title to
SmackDown! when he switched brands shortly after winning it, Van Dam brought the title back to
Raw. On the September 9 episode of
Raw, Van Dam became the number one contender to the
World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Chris Jericho,
Jeff Hardy, and
Big Show in a
fatal four-way elimination match. Van Dam started feuding with the World Heavyweight Champion
Triple H. On the September 16 episode of
Raw, Van Dam lost the Intercontinental Championship to Chris Jericho after interference by Triple H. At
Unforgiven on September 22, Van Dam faced Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Due to
Ric Flair's interference, Van Dam lost the match. At
No Mercy on October 20, Van Dam got his revenge on Flair by defeating him. At
Survivor Series on November 17, Van Dam participated in the first-ever
Elimination Chamber match for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship, but it was won by
Shawn Michaels. During the match, Van Dam performed a Five-Star Frog Splash off of one of the pods/chambers onto Triple H, and accidentally landed his knee onto Triple H's throat.
Teaming and feuding with Kane (2002–2003) Van Dam appeared on the World Heavyweight Championship scene and also formed a tag team with Kane in October. On the November 25 episode of
Raw, Van Dam faced Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship. Michaels was disqualified after Triple H hit Van Dam with a
Pedigree. On the December 2 episode of
Raw, Van Dam lost to Triple H in a #1 contender's match with World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels acting as the
special guest referee. Van Dam continued to team up with Kane. Van Dam participated in the
Royal Rumble on January 19, 2003, and was one of the final five participants before being tricked and eliminated by Kane. The two faced Lance Storm and William Regal at
No Way Out on February 23 for the
World Tag Team Championship but failed to win the titles when Kane mistakenly
chokeslammed Van Dam. On the March 31 episode of
Raw, Van Dam and Kane defeated World Tag Team Champions Lance Storm and
Chief Morley and The Dudley Boyz in a
3-way elimination tag team match to win the World Tag Team Championship. At
Backlash on April 27, Van Dam and Kane retained the titles against The Dudley Boyz with Morley as the special guest referee. At
Insurrextion on June 7, Van Dam and Kane defended the World Tag Team Championship successfully against La Résistance, before losing the titles to La Résistance at
Bad Blood on June 15. After Kane was forced to take his mask off when he lost a World Heavyweight Championship match to Triple H on the June 23 episode of
Raw, he
turned heel by chokeslamming Van Dam, and the team dissolved. The two then started feuding with each other. Their rivalry led to a
No Holds Barred match at
SummerSlam on August 24, which Kane won. On the September 8 episode of
Raw, the rivalry ended when Kane defeated Van Dam in a
steel cage match. Kane threw Van Dam through the steel cage by mistake (causing Van Dam to win), but
Eric Bischoff came out and restarted the match, saying Van Dam did not escape through the door or climb out of the cage and ordered the referees to put Van Dam back inside the cage where Kane eventually hit a chokeslam from the side of the cage to pick up the victory.
Championship reigns (2003–2005) In September, Van Dam started feuding with both Christian and Chris Jericho over Christian's Intercontinental Championship. On the September 15 episode of
Raw, Van Dam faced Jericho in a number one contender's match for the title. The match ended in a double disqualification when Intercontinental Champion Christian interfered and hit both men with the title belt. At
Unforgiven on September 21 in a triple threat match between Jericho, Christian, and Van Dam, Christian retained his title. Van Dam, however, defeated Christian in a ladder match on the September 29 episode of
Raw to win the Intercontinental Championship for a fourth time. Van Dam entered into a rivalry with Chris Jericho in October, and the two faced each other in several tag team matches. Raw Co-General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin came out and immediately ordered Jericho to face Van Dam in a rematch inside the Steel Cage for the title. Van Dam won the rematch and his fifth Intercontinental Championship. At
Survivor Series on November 16, Van Dam was pinned by
Randy Orton during the traditional elimination match between Team Austin and Team Bischoff that Van Dam's team would lose. As a result, Orton and Van Dam started feuding with each other over Van Dam's Intercontinental title. Van Dam went on to feud with both Orton and Evolution. On the January 12, 2004, episode of
Raw, Van Dam faced Orton in a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship but lost the match. Van Dam formed a tag team with
Booker T. The two teamed for the first time on the January 19 episode of
Raw when they defeated Christian and
Matt Hardy to qualify for a battle royal where the winner of the Battle Royal would get the #30 spot in the
2004 Royal Rumble match on January 25. On the February 16 episode of
Raw, Booker T and Van Dam defeated
Evolution members Ric Flair and
Batista to win the World Tag Team Championship. At
WrestleMania XX on March 14, Booker T and Van Dam defended the World Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way elimination tag team match against the Dudley Boyz, La Résistance, and the team of
Mark Jindrak and
Garrison Cade. On the March 22 episode of
Raw, Booker T and Van Dam lost the World Tag Team Championship back to Flair and Batista. On March 22, Van Dam was
drafted to the SmackDown! brand. He made his
SmackDown! debut on March 25 defeating
Charlie Haas. Van Dam and
Rey Mysterio began a feud with the Dudley Boyz, defeating them at
Judgment Day on May 16. In June, Van Dam left the tag team division and began a pursuit for the
United States Championship. At
The Great American Bash on June 27,
John Cena defended the title against Van Dam, Booker T, and
René Duprée in a Fatal Four-Way match and retained his championship. On the July 1 episode of
SmackDown!, Van Dam and Duprée lost to Booker T in a number one contender's Triple Threat match. Four weeks later, Van Dam participated in an
8-way elimination match for the vacant United States Championship, and was the last man to be eliminated by eventual winner Booker T. Van Dam began teaming up with Mysterio again in the summer and feuded with René Duprée and
Kenzo Suzuki. At
No Mercy on October 3, Van Dam and Mysterio failed to win the
WWE Tag Team Championship from Dupree and Suzuki. On the December 9 episode of
SmackDown!, Van Dam and Mysterio defeated Duprée and Suzuki to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, and retained the title in a rematch at
Armageddon on December 12. In January 2005, Van Dam suffered a knee injury. To explain his absence, the
Basham Brothers (
Doug and
Danny) defeated Mysterio and Van Dam for the WWE Tag Team Championship, in a Fatal Four-Way elimination tag team match on the January 13 episode of
SmackDown!, "injuring" Van Dam in the process. On January 27, Van Dam underwent reconstructive knee surgery under Dr. James Andrews to repair a torn
anterior cruciate ligament and
meniscus. On the June 27 episode of
Raw, Van Dam, while still healing, was drafted to the Raw brand in the
2005 draft lottery. He was introduced to
Raw by
Carlito, who insulted Van Dam before attacking him and assaulting his knee. Van Dam made his return to the ring over seven months later at the
Royal Rumble on January 29, 2006. He gained revenge on Carlito by eliminating him, but was in turn inadvertently eliminated by Rey Mysterio in the final moments. On the February 6 episode of
Raw, Van Dam defeated Carlito in the first round of the Road to WrestleMania Tournament to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship, but lost in the final round to Triple H, in a triple threat match, which also featured Big Show. Later, Van Dam defeated
Trevor Murdoch to qualify for the
Money in the Bank ladder match at
WrestleMania 22 on April 2. Van Dam went on to win the match, thus earning himself a guaranteed shot at either the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship at any time within the subsequent year. Following the ladder match,
Shelton Benjamin challenged Van Dam to put his Money in the Bank opportunity on the line in a match. Van Dam countered by requesting a match for Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship. One week later, both Van Dam and Benjamin picked mystery opponents for one another, with the loser placing their respective prize on the line in a bout at
Backlash on April 30. Benjamin lost to the returning
Charlie Haas, while Van Dam was defeated by all five members of the
Spirit Squad. As a result, both the Intercontinental Championship and the Money in the Bank title shot were contested at Backlash. Van Dam went on to win the former, before dropping the Intercontinental Championship back to Benjamin on the May 15 episode of
Raw. in the
Extreme Elimination Chamber at
December to Dismember On May 29, Van Dam was selected by Paul Heyman to be
drafted to WWE's new
ECW brand. At
ECW One Night Stand on June 11, Van Dam cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship. After two referees were knocked out,
Edge appeared from underneath the ring to attack Cena,
spearing him through a table. Van Dam then hit a
Five Star Frog Splash and the pinfall was counted by Paul Heyman, who suddenly ran down the aisle. On the following episode of
Raw,
Vince McMahon confirmed that the title change was official due to the match being held under "extreme rules". For the past few weeks, Heyman had hinted that the WWE Championship would be "rechristened" the ECW World Heavyweight Championship when Van Dam won. On the debut of
ECW, Van Dam was awarded the reinstated
ECW World Heavyweight Championship by Heyman and decided to defend the WWE Championship separately and simultaneously, joking that "this one spins", becoming the first wrestler in history to hold both the WWE Championship and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship as well as the only one to hold them at the same time, making him a double world champion. He would become the 15th WWE
Triple Crown Champion as a result of his WWE Championship win. At
Vengeance on June 25, Van Dam defeated Edge to retain the WWE Championship. Two nights later on
ECW, Van Dam defeated Kurt Angle to retain the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 3 episode of
Raw, Van Dam lost the WWE Championship to Edge in a triple threat match that also featured John Cena. The next night on the July 4 episode of
ECW, he lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show after Heyman
turned on him. Later on WWE.com, Heyman suspended Van Dam for 30 days without giving a reason (
in reality, WWE suspended Van Dam for 30 days as a result of
his recent drug possession arrest). He returned to television on the August 8 episode of
ECW, attacking both Sabu and
Kurt Angle during a match. His return to the ring came a week later, in a losing effort to Sabu in a
ladder match for number one contendership to the now renamed ECW World Championship. Van Dam slowly worked his way back into the championship picture. On the October 24 episode of
ECW, Van Dam defeated Big Show in a non-title ladder match to regain the number one contendership. Having the option to pick a date for the title, Van Dam announced the title match would occur at
December to Dismember on December 3. However, Heyman had the option of picking the match type and announced that the main event would be a six-man
Extreme Elimination Chamber match. At December to Dismember, Van Dam was the third participant eliminated. Later in December, Van Dam once again earned the number one contendership to the ECW World Championship, but this time by a fan poll. Van Dam got three matches against ECW World Champion
Bobby Lashley, coming up short each time.
The ECW Originals (2006–2007) ,
Tommy Dreamer, Van Dam and
The Sandman (
ECW Originals) performing their signature poses Van Dam later joined the
ECW Originals along with Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and
The Sandman. The ECW Originals began a feud with the
New Breed (
Elijah Burke,
Kevin Thorn,
Marcus Cor Von, and
Matt Striker). The two teams faced off at
WrestleMania 23 on April 1, 2007 in a match which the ECW Originals won. After Vince McMahon won the ECW World Championship at
Backlash on April 29, Van Dam and the other ECW Originals made statements on WWE.com about McMahon killing ECW. On the May 1 episode of
ECW, the ECW Originals all competed in a fatal four-way match to decide who would take on McMahon the next week in a title match, which Van Dam won after a five-star frog splash on Sandman. Van Dam, however, had to face McMahon,
Shane McMahon, and
Umaga in a 3-on-1 handicap match, which Van Dam was unable to win. Van Dam received a concussion during a match with
Randy Orton on the May 28 episode of
Raw. Orton further attacked Van Dam after the match due to the comments Van Dam made on WWE.com about the lack of respect Orton displayed towards
Shawn Michaels, who also suffered a concussion at the hands of Orton. Van Dam once again faced Orton at
One Night Stand on June 3, this time in a
Stretcher match. Although it looked as if Orton was going to win again, Van Dam gave him a
roundhouse kick to the head and was able to push the stretcher across the line for the win. Despite winning the match, Orton continued to attack Van Dam, ending with an
elevated DDT off the barricade and onto the concrete floor, in which Van Dam was carried out on a stretcher. After the match, Van Dam left WWE due to being burnt out and needing time away.
Return to the independent circuit (2007–2010) The day after Van Dam's WWE contract expired, he was in the United Kingdom on a promotional tour and to record scenes for the wrestling documentary,
Bloodstained Memoirs. He also took part in interviews for the
BBC. Van Dam defeated
Booker T at Pro Wrestling Alliance Christmas Chaos on December 28, 2007, in Pasadena, Texas. In an interview with the
Baltimore Sun, Van Dam stated that while WWE would be the first choice and that he would definitely talk to them, he would definitely consider
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) if he returned full-time to pro wrestling. While not under contract, Van Dam made an unannounced return on WWE's
15th Anniversary Raw in December 2007,
squashing Santino Marella with a Five-Star Frog Splash. He made a similarly unannounced appearance as a participant in the
2009 Royal Rumble, which he failed to win as he was eliminated by
Chris Jericho. He returned to the
independent circuit by competing for Associação Portuguesa de Wrestling (APW) in February 2008. He then also appeared for Nu-Wrestling Evolution (NWE) throughout countries such as
Spain. On August 14, 2008, he won a triple threat match at the
Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) in
Japan after defeating
Kendo Kashin and
Necro Butcher. On March 9, 2009, it was announced that Van Dam would be competing in American Wrestling Rampage (AWR) on their European Tour, during which he won the promotion's No Limits Wrestling (NLW) Championship in a three way bout versus Sabu and former champion Shawn Maxer. He lost the title to
René Duprée after three successful defenses. In November he regained the title, renamed the AWR World Heavyweight Championship at this point, from Duprée on November 29 winning two decisions in a Two Out of Three Falls match. On September 11, 2009, in the World Stars of Wrestling (WSW) European Championship events in
Portimão, Portugal, Van Dam won the WSW World Championship, by defeating
Joe E. Legend. On the following night he defended his newly won title against
Lance Cade. On January 30, 2010, Van Dam made his debut for
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) as part of
WrestleReunion 4, defeating
Chris Hero and
Roderick Strong in a "Sky High" three-way match.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–2013) TNA World Heavyweight Champion and EV 2.0 (2010–2011) On March 8, 2010, Van Dam made his debut for
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the promotion's
Monday night episode of
Impact!, defeating
Sting. Then just seconds after his debut victory Sting attacked him and later
Hulk Hogan with his signature baseball bat. Van Dam got his revenge on Sting the following week by attacking him during his entrance. Van Dam teamed with
Jeff Hardy in a tag team match, where they defeated
Beer Money, Inc. (
Robert Roode and
James Storm) on the March 22 episode of
Impact!. The following week the two of them teamed with
Eric Young and defeated
The Band (
Kevin Nash,
Scott Hall and
Syxx-Pac) in a six-man tag team steel cage match. At
Lockdown on April 18, both Van Dam and Hardy became members of Team Hogan (joining
Abyss and
Jeff Jarrett) for the annual
Lethal Lockdown match, where they defeated Team Flair (Sting,
Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode and James Storm). The night after Lockdown he first defeated Jeff Hardy in a number one contender's match and then, in the main event of the evening,
A.J. Styles to become the new
TNA World Heavyweight Champion. After succeeding in his first televised title defense against Desmond Wolfe, Styles attacked Van Dam, announcing the invocation of the rematch clause for
Sacrifice on May 16. At Sacrifice Van Dam defeated Styles in a rematch. The following month at
Slammiversary VIII on June 13 Van Dam retained his title against Sting in a rematch of his TNA debut. Van Dam defeated Abyss, Jeff Hardy and
Mr. Anderson in a four-way match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at
Victory Road on July 11. On the following episode of
Impact! Van Dam aligned himself with fellow ECW alumni Tommy Dreamer,
Raven,
Stevie Richards,
Rhino,
Brother Devon,
Pat Kenney,
Al Snow and
Mick Foley, who saved him from a beating at the hands of Abyss. The following week, TNA president
Dixie Carter agreed to give the ECW alumni their own reunion pay–per–view event,
Hardcore Justice on August 8. At Hardcore Justice, Van Dam defeated former tag team partner and rival Sabu in a non-title Hardcore Rules match, after his originally planned match with Jerry Lynn was scrapped due to Lynn suffering a back injury. After successfully defending the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Abyss in a
Stairway to Janice match on the following special edition of
Impact!, named ''
The Whole F'n Show, Van Dam and the other former ECW wrestlers were assaulted by Abyss and . In the attack Van Dam suffered multiple serious storyline injuries at the hands of Abyss including the need for stitches, spinal trauma and possible acute brain damage, which would force him to vacate the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on August 10 at the taping of the August 19 episode of Impact!''. In reality, Van Dam was running out of dates per year on his contract and was therefore taken off television. in 2011 Van Dam returned via telephone interview on the September 16 episode of
Impact! and announced that he would return to the Impact! Zone the following week, against his doctor's orders. Van Dam returned the following week, confronting Abyss and demanding a match against him at
Bound for Glory on October 10, which Eric Bischoff agreed to give him. At Bound for Glory Van Dam defeated Abyss in a
Monster's Ball match. At the end of Bound for Glory it was revealed that
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff had sent Abyss after Van Dam in order to get the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on their own representative, Jeff Hardy. Van Dam confronted the group, later named
Immortal, after Hardy had won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, only to get hit with the title belt. On the October 21 episode of
Impact! Bischoff claimed that someone from EV 2.0 had been calling him, trying to get to be a part of Immortal, which led to Van Dam getting paranoid about his stablemates, first accusing Raven of being the traitor. Later, he and Sabu were defeated in a tag team match by Beer Money, Inc., after Sabu accidentally hit him with a chair. After the match Van Dam and Sabu began shoving each other and had to be separated from each other by the rest of EV 2.0. After two more weeks of dissension between Van Dam and the rest of EV 2.0, Tommy Dreamer challenged him to a match at
Turning Point on November 7. At Turning Point Van Dam defeated Dreamer and afterwards made peace with him. On the following episode of
Impact! Rhino turned heel by attacking Van Dam and Dreamer, revealing himself as the traitor Van Dam had been looking for. At
Final Resolution on December 5 Van Dam defeated Rhino in a
First Blood match.
Championship pursuits (2011–2012) On January 4, 2011, Van Dam traveled to Japan with other TNA wrestlers to take part
New Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) fifth annual
Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome, where he defeated
Toru Yano in a hardcore match. At
Genesis on January 9, Van Dam was defeated by Immortal's surprise opponent, the debuting Matt Hardy, when referee
Jackson James missed Van Dam's foot under the ropes, thus failing to earn a shot at his brother Jeff's TNA World Heavyweight Championship. During the main event Van Dam prevented Matt from interfering in Jeff's match with Mr. Anderson, which led to Jeff losing the title. The following month at
Against All Odds on February 13, Van Dam defeated Matt Hardy in a rematch. On the following episode of
Impact!, Van Dam finally received his shot at Jeff Hardy and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was unable to regain the title. On March 13 at
Victory Road, Van Dam wrestled Mr. Anderson to a double countout in a TNA World Heavyweight Championship number one contender's match. On April 17 at
Lockdown, Van Dam failed in his attempt to regain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Sting in a three–way steel cage match, which also included Anderson. The following month at
Sacrifice on May 15, Van Dam again failed to regain the title, this time in a singles match with Sting. Van Dam represented TNA at Mexican promotion
AAA's
Triplemanía XIX pay-per-view on June 18, 2011. In the main event of the show, Van Dam was defeated by
Dr. Wagner, Jr. in a match to determine the first ever
AAA Latin American Champion. At
Destination X on July 10, Van Dam defeated longtime rival Jerry Lynn in a singles match. On August 7 at
Hardcore Justice, Van Dam, at the time ranked number two in the
Bound for Glory Series, faced
Crimson, ranked number one, in a tournament match. Van Dam lost the match via disqualification, when Jerry Lynn entered the ring, costing him not only the match, but also several places in the tournament's standings. Lynn cost Van Dam another Bound for Glory Series match against A.J. Styles in similar fashion on the August 18
Impact Wrestling. Lynn turned on Van Dam on the September 1
Impact Wrestling, costing him his match with
Gunner and, in the process, eliminating him from the finals of the Bound for Glory Series. The following week Lynn explained his turn by claiming that he was tired of being in Van Dam's shadow. Van Dam defeated Lynn in a
Full Metal Mayhem match at
Bound for Glory on October 16. On the October 27 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Van Dam defeated
Christopher Daniels by disqualification after Daniels hit him with a toolbox. Two weeks later, Van Dam prevented Daniels from using a screwdriver to illegally defeat A.J. Styles in a singles match which would cost Daniels the match. At
Turning Point on November 13, Van Dam defeated Daniels in a No Disqualification match. In retaliation, Daniels cost him his match for the
TNA Television Championship against
Robbie E on the December 1 episode of
Impact Wrestling. Van Dam defeated Daniels at
Final Resolution on December 11 again to end their feud. After wrestling to a double countout on the January 5, 2012, edition of
Impact Wrestling, Gunner made a failed attempt to piledrive Van Dam into the concrete floor after Van Dam back body dropped him onto it. On January 8 at
Genesis, Van Dam was defeated by Gunner and was afterwards stretchered backstage, after taking a DDT onto the concrete floor. After a near three-month absence Van Dam resumed working live events in late March. Van Dam returned to
Impact Wrestling on April 12, being revealed as the fifth member of
Garett Bischoff's team at
Lockdown on April 15. At Lockdown, Team Garett defeated a team led by Eric Bischoff. On the following episode of
Impact Wrestling, Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson in a three-way match to become the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Van Dam received his title opportunity in a ladder match on May 13 at
Sacrifice, but was defeated by the defending champion, Bobby Roode. At
Slammiversary on June 10, Van Dam was defeated by Mr. Anderson in a three-way number one contender's match, also involving Jeff Hardy. Later that week on
Impact Wrestling, Van Dam entered the
2012 Bound for Glory Series. At
Hardcore Justice on August 12, Van Dam defeated
Magnus and
Mr. Anderson in a Falls Count Anywhere match. He wrestled his final match in the tournament on the September 6
Impact Wrestling, losing to
Bully Ray, thus finishing fifth and narrowly missing the semifinals of the tournament. On the October 4 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Van Dam unsuccessfully challenged
Samoa Joe for the TNA Television Championship.
X Division Champion (2012–2013) The following week, Van Dam was allowed to pick his opponent for
Bound for Glory on October 14 and opted to challenge
Zema Ion for the
TNA X Division Championship. Van Dam defeated Ion to win the X Division Championship for the first time at Bound for Glory. On the October 25
Impact Wrestling, Van Dam made his first successful title defense, defeating Ion in a rematch. Following the win, he would be attacked by
Matt Morgan and
Joey Ryan. The following week, Van Dam was defeated by Ryan in a non-title match after an interference from Matt Morgan. Afterwards, he would again be attacked by Morgan. On November 11 at
Turning Point, Van Dam defeated Ryan to retain the X Division Championship, after which, he would be attacked by Matt Morgan for the third consecutive time. Four days later on
Impact Wrestling, he successfully defended the title against
Kid Kash. Van Dam retained the X Division Championship against
Austin Aries on November 29 after losing to him via disqualification, following interference from Bully Ray. Van Dam made another successful title defense on December 9 at
Final Resolution, defeating
Kenny King. On the following episode of
Impact Wrestling, Van Dam lost a non-title match to King, when King pinned him with his feet on the ropes. On January 13, 2013, at
Genesis, Van Dam defeated
Christian York to retain the X Division Championship. On the February 7 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Van Dam successfully defended the X Division Championship against Kenny King and Zema Ion in a three-way match. Two weeks later, Van Dam defeated King again to retain his title. Van Dam lost the X Division Championship to King on the February 28
Impact Wrestling, ending Van Dam's reign at 137 days. In March 2013, Van Dam's TNA contract expired and he did an interview about his future with TNA, stating that he would return to television in WWE or TNA, saying that he was negotiating with both companies. According to Van Dam, he lost his passion for professional wrestling during his work in TNA due to the attitude of his coworkers.
Return to WWE (2013-2014) On June 16, 2013, at
Payback, it was announced that Van Dam would be returning at
Money in the Bank as one of the participants in the
WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match along with Christian,
CM Punk,
Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and
Sheamus, however, the match was ultimately won by Orton on July 14. In his first singles match for the company since 2007, Van Dam defeated
Chris Jericho the following night on
Raw. He would then go on a short winning streak defeating the likes of
Darren Young,
Fandango and
Wade Barrett which would lead to a United States Championship opportunity against
Dean Ambrose on the
SummerSlam pre-show on August 18 which Van Dam would win via disqualification which meant Ambrose retained the title. Van Dam was then put in a feud with the then-
World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio, including Del Rio's personal announcer Ricardo Rodriguez becoming Van Dam's announcer, facing Del Rio at
Night of Champions on September 15 (winning via disqualification) and
Battleground on October 6, but he could not win the title. After this match, Van Dam took a sabbatical from television. Van Dam returned to WWE on the April 7, 2014, episode of
Raw, defeating
Damien Sandow and would later defeat him once more in a rematch on the following
SmackDown. Shortly after, he entered into a
WWE Intercontinental Championship tournament, defeating
Alberto Del Rio in the first round and
Cesaro in the semifinals but lost in the final round to
Bad News Barrett. Following this he entered into a feud with Cesaro and Jack Swagger, having gained pinfall victories over both men in the lead up to
Extreme Rules on May 4, where Van Dam would go on to lose to Cesaro and
Jack Swagger in a
Triple Threat Elimination match, which was won by Cesaro after pinning Van Dam last, who had pinned Swagger first. Following Extreme Rules, Van Dam would once more go on to defeat Cesaro and Jack Swagger on separate occasions in rematches on both
Raw and
SmackDown. On the May 19 edition of
Raw, Van Dam won a
Beat the Clock challenge match by defeating Alberto Del Rio in the fastest time, to become the top contender for the Intercontinental Championship at
Payback on June 1, although he lost to Barrett at Payback. On the June 16 episode of
Raw, Van Dam competed in a Battle Royal with the winner gaining a WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity, the match was won by
Roman Reigns. At
Money in the Bank on June 29, Van Dam took part in the Money in the Bank Ladder match for the briefcase, but was won by Seth Rollins. At
SummerSlam on August 17, Van Dam defeated Cesaro during the pre-show. Following SummerSlam, Van Dam would go on to team with Roman Reigns and Sheamus in a six-man tag team match in a winning effort against
Randy Orton,
Ryback and
Curtis Axel on the August 18 episode of
Raw. After defeating Seth Rollins by countout on the August 26 edition of
Main Event, Van Dam's final match with WWE was on the August 29 episode of
SmackDown, where he faced Rollins in a losing effort. He made an appearance at the
2014 Slammy Awards to present the Slammy Award for Extreme Moment of the Year.
Second return to the independent circuit (2015–present) In 2015, Van Dam appeared at many circuit shows including one night appearances at
House of Hardcore. On June 7, 2015, Van Dam performed at
Citi Field for the Legends of Wrestling and defeated
Scott Steiner by pinfall. During a post match attacked by Steiner and
Doc Gallows,
Goldberg would come to his aid and spear Steiner. Van Dam faced
John Morrison at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey, on October 24, 2015, in a losing effort. After the match, Morrison shook hands with Van Dam and led the crowd in an "RVD" chant. Van Dam would compete for
Pro Wrestling Pride (PWP) in June 2016, defeating then
PWP Catch Division Champion Scotty Essex in
Taunton,
England. Van Dam faced
Pentagón Jr. for PCW Heavyweight Championship at
PCW Ultra in Torrance, California, on November 11, 2016, in a winning effort, it was his first championship after he left WWE in 2014. Van Dam was scheduled to compete in a 128-man tournament starting from June 10, 2017, hosted by
5 Star Wrestling, which was later postponed to February 2018. On July 30, Van Dam was announced to compete at
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) Fear & Loathing X against
Lionheart.
Return to Impact Wrestling (2019–2020) On February 8, 2019, it was revealed that Van Dam would return to TNA, now named
Impact Wrestling at their
WrestleMania 35-weekend show,
United We Stand. At United We Stand on April 4, 2019, he teamed with Sabu and faced
Lucha Bros (Pentagón Jr. and
Fénix) in a hardcore match. After indicating in interviews that he would be working with the company more, on April 3, Van Dam announced that he had signed a short-term deal with Impact and would be appearing on their programming following United We Stand. His contract initially ran through
Bound for Glory in October. His return to Impact television occurred in late-April, where he defeated
Ethan Page. Van Dam then formed an alliance with ECW alumni
Tommy Dreamer and
Sabu to feud with Page,
Josh Alexander and
Moose. The trio would defeat Moose, Page and Alexander in a six-man tag. At
Bash at the Brewery in July, Van Dam defeated
Sami Callihan in an Extreme Rules match. A few days later, the storyline between Moose and Van Dam came to a close, as Moose defeated Van Dam at
Slammiversary XVII. On October 20, 2019, on
Bound for Glory, Van Dam teamed with
Rhino where they challenged for the
Impact World Tag Team Championship. At the climax of the match, Van Dam turned heel for the first time in his Impact Wrestling career, as well as his first heel turn since being a member of the Alliance during his WWF/E career, by attacking Rhino,
Willie Mack, and
Rich Swann, losing the match in the process. During early 2020, Van Dam was part of a censorious heel stable called "Cancel Culture" along with
Joey Ryan and
Jake Crist. However, this story abruptly ended when Ryan's contract was terminated amid over a dozen allegations of sexual assault. His last storyline with Impact Wrestling was with Sami Callihan, whom Van Dam defeated in his final match for the promotion which aired on September 22, 2020, edition of
Impact! before leaving the promotion in September 2020.
Second return to WWE and sporadic appearances (2019–present) Despite his association with Impact Wrestling, Van Dam made a one-night return to WWE for the special
Raw Reunion episode of
Raw on July 22, 2019. Following heavy speculation, it was announced by WWE and
Fox Sports on March 29 that Van Dam would be an inductee into the
2021 WWE Hall of Fame class. He later made an appearance at the 2022 Hall of Fame ceremony. On April 28, 2023, Van Dam appeared on Friday Night SmackDown to announce second round WWE draft picks for RAW. He would appear the next week on RAW, May 1, to announce the fourth round draft picks for Friday Night SmackDown. On September 13, 2024, Van Dam was shown in attendance for SmackDown's return to the
USA Network. Van Dam appeared on the October 29, 2024 episode of
NXT to say that he would be appearing at
NXT 2300.
Pro Wrestling Noah (2022) On April 30, 2022, it was announced that Van Dam would make his in-ring debut in
CyberFight's
Pro Wrestling Noah on June 12, at the
CyberFight Festival 2022. He was scheduled to team with the
Stinger duo of
Hayata and
Yoshinari Ogawa to face
Kaito Kiyomiya,
Daisuke Harada and
Yo-Hey.
All Elite Wrestling (2023–2024) On August 2, 2023, Van Dam made his debut in
All Elite Wrestling (AEW), appearing on
AEW Dynamite to challenge
FTW Champion Jack Perry on behalf of longtime rival
Jerry Lynn. On the following week's
Dynamite, Van Dam unsuccessfully challenged Perry for his championship title in an
FTW Rules match. Van Dam then made several further appearances teaming with
Hook. On the January 31, 2024, episode of
Dynamite, Van Dam returned to AEW in a losing effort against
Swerve Strickland in a
hardcore match. Van Dam would later slate fans who had questioned whether or not he could "still go" at his age against Strickland. On the February 21 episode of
Dynamite, Van Dam teamed with Hook and
"Hangman" Adam Page in a losing effort against
AEW World Champion Samoa Joe and
Mogul Embassy (Strickland and
Brian Cage). On the April 20 episode of
AEW Rampage, Van Dam picked up his first singles victory in AEW, defeating
Isiah Kassidy,
Komander, and
Lee Johnson in a "High Flying
4/20"
four-way elimination match.
Major League Wrestling (2025) At
Battle Riot VII on April 5, 2025, Van Dam competed in the traditional 40-man
Battle Riot match for the
MLW World Heavyweight Championship won by
Matt Riddle and also involving various other notable opponents such as
Donovan Dijak,
Bishop Dyer,
Mads Krule Krügger,
Tom Lawlor, and many others. ==Professional wrestling style, persona and reception==