Rob Van Dam News

Sad news today from the world of Rob Van Dam. He's announced on his MySpace page that his wife, Sonya, is battling colon cancer.

Our thoughts go out to her as we post RVD's blog entry:

One good thing about spreading positive energy and encouraging an optimistic approach to life- when it comes time to get a taste of my own medicine, it's good. Still, it may not be fun to be put to the test. It may be quite unpleasant.

After thinking of several ways to put this, I decided to give it to you straight- just like we got it. After months of chasing down the origin of stomach cramps, we got the news that Sonya has cancer in her colon. Obviously, this was not something we wanted to hear, and were not at all prepared for it. This is the kind of thing that we hear about happening to other people. Us? Really?

I'm sure that a lot of you realize that cancer is way too common. In fact, I know that many of you are all too familiar with what we are experiencing.

This is very personal and I understand if you would choose to keep it on the down-low. One of Sonya's first thoughts was that if she could have colon cancer (being a 32 year old, lean, active, and healthy eating female that barely hits 3 digits on the weight scale), "We need to tell everyone it could be them!"

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Would Rob Van Dam ever join TNA Wrestling?

That question was asked of the former WWE star in a recent long chat with The Baltimore Sun. Here is RVD's reply:

I definitely would consider them. I would weigh out everything and decide what really is the best thing to do. When I knew that I wasn’t going to re-sign with WWE, which was around WrestleMania time when I knew for sure that I was going to stick to that plan, my first thoughts were, “OK, well there’s this TNA. I could go there to continue my career, still on television, but with a much-lighter schedule.”

Towards the end I was so burned out on wrestling that I didn’t even want to do that. So, I said, “Well, I’ll travel around and sign autographs,” because I’ve always enjoyed doing that. I do that at comic conventions, sporting conventions, gaming conventions, celebrity signing conventions, whatever. I can always keep busy doing that, but towards the end, I was so burned out on travel that I didn’t want to do that either.

I just wanted to stay home in California and not fly, with the exception of a few dates. I went to England, Australia and New Zealand because they were good trips and I was able to bring my wife, and they were good financial deals.

Read the full interview with RVD now.

The UK's Power Slam magazine recently interviewed Rob Van Dam. Here's what the former ECW and WWE star had to say regarding his relationship with Triple H:

Is it true you had problems with Triple H when you worked for WWE?
Problems? I had problems liking him. I had problems feeling compatible with him on any other level other than the fact that we're both wrestlers. He would be one of the last guys you would see sharing a car with me. If we weren't both wrestlers, I doubt I'd have anything in common with him.

Over on his official website (robvandam.com), Rob Van Dam added a new blog entry over the weekend talking about the rumors on the internet about his contract status with WWE. RVD had the following to say about the situation:

"About the internet rumors- one thing I have to know. How can "reporters" put their name on reports that continually end up being bull sh** and maintain any credibility? Always wondered that. As for how it feels reading about yourself? Sometimes it's flattering, sometimes it's offensive, sometimes it's funny and sometimes it's just silly but too lame to be funny."

We'll keep you updated on what exactly all this means.

As previously reported, Rob Van Dam recently turned down WWE’s apparent final contract offer.

Unless things change, he will be gone from the company when his contract runs out in late June. Because the contract is expiring, it doesn’t look like there will be a non-compete clause in effect, so he could work wherever he wants immediately. There has been no serious talk within TNA Wrestling about signing RVD, but the company likely would if it had the chance.

One of the ramifications of RVD leaving is how it may affect Sabu and Sandman, who both have a lot of backstage heat on them from WWE management. For a while now it's been said that their days with the company are numbered. RVD and Heyman keeping them in line and out of trouble is viewed as the only thing that kept them from either quitting or being fired.

The Pro Wrestling Torch is reporting that Rob Van Dam has decided NOT to accept WWE's renewal offer, so the assumption is that he will be leaving WWE when his contract expires at the end of August.

According to reports, the breaking point came when WWE began to re-think how much time off they would be giving him. Based on what is known, RVD wanted a chunk of time off this year - an estimated six months or more - and a more limited schedule.

The Pro Wrestling Torch is reporting that Rob Van Dam's contract with WWE will be expiring at the end of this summer. The six month mark came last week where he had to indicate to the company if he wanted the contract to automatically renew.

According to sources, RVD opted to stop the auto-rollover, meaning he has to renegotiate his deal and renew or else he will become a free agent starting in September of 2007.

The current deal with WWE is estimated as being under a downside guarantee of around $400,000 a year. He earned that much while sitting out with an injury (which was said to be around $7,500 per week). When he returned from injury, RVD changed his payment method based on the shows he worked, thinking he would earn more per week that way. Instead, a wide range of payments followed.

With ECW not drawing well by itself for House Show and PPV events, RVD's weekly paychecks saw a dramatic decrease. In the end, however, it didn't really matter; at the end of the contract year he will end up receiving a "make-good" check for however short his combined weekly pay was.

As far as jumping to TNA Wrestling goes: With top stars such as Sting earning around $500,000 per year, it is believed that TNA could offer RVD a deal for around $250,000.

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rob Van Dam’s recent ECW television loss to Hardcore Holly was likely the result of his giving notice to WWE management.

While sources have not confirmed that RVD informed WWE of his decision not to renew his contract, the belief for some time has been that Van Dam had no plans to remain with the company. Because he only had until the end of last week to give such notice (otherwise, his contract would automatically be rolled over), the assumption that he did so appears strong.

RVD giving notice would also explain his absence from the ECW Originals angle that was launched on the same telecast.

WWE was reportedly hoping to lock Van Dam into a new contract due to fear that he plans to sign with TNA Wrestling, but the present belief is that the company was unsuccessful in doing so. The wrestler’s contract officially expires this summer.