Name: Rob Van Dam
Real Name: Rob Zakowski
Age: 27 (12-18-70)
Nicknames: "Mr. Monday Night"
Has also wrestled as...: Robbie V
Height: 5"10
Weight: 225
Hometown: Battle Creek, MI
Experience: 7 years
Typical Interview or quote: "...I looooove to work Mondays!"
Background: Undoubtedly garnered the name for his unusual resemblance to the famous movie star Jean Claude Van Damme. Is a movie star, who has appeared in HBO/Cinemax movies Bloodmoon (I saw that one. He got his neck snapped. Cool!), and Superfights.
Has wrestled in....: WCW, All-Japan, New Japan, USWA, WWF, Michigan, ECW
Style: A high-flyer with exceptional skills in the martial arts.
Managers/valets: Bill Alfonso
My Favorite "Mr. Monday Night" Gesture: The thumb-pointing thing he does immediately after The Vandaminator.
I'll always remember when.....: The lights went out after the Tommy Dreamer-Raven match, then, when they came on.....BOOM! The Vandaminator.
Most courageous Act: Interestingly enough, although he didn't really fare well in the win-loss column, gained a lot of respect.
Finishing Hold: Split-legged moonsault.
Other favorite holds: standing moonsault, Vandaminator.
Holds susc. to: Suplexes.
Peak: If Van Dam has reached it, it would definitely have to be right now. He's fresh off a win against Tommy Dreamer at November to Remember.
Biggest PPV/major card: ECW Barely Legal. Defeated Lance Storm, then aligned himself with Sabu and Bill Alfonso.
Greatest Match: November 30, 1997. Defeated Tommy Dreamer in a flag match.
Most exciting match: His respect re-match against Sabu in which both men were carried out on stretchers. In Sabu's case, was not a work.
Favorite Interview of all time? Following the Taz-Sabu match at Barely Legal
My favorite R.V.D. Moments: Honestly, only one sticks out for me: After the Dreamer-Raven match, and the beginning of that feud.
World titles held: none
Other major titles won: none to the best of my knowledge
Unsuccessful World title challenges: none to the best of my knowledge. Are you listening Paul E.?
PWI Awards: none
Megagroups: none. Has always been a loner (somewhat).
Ideal Tag Team Partner: Chris Jericho or Alex Wright.
Wrestler I'd like to see him wrestle against, but never happened: How bout Rob Van Dam vs. Rick Steamboat? or Rob Van Dam vs. Alex Wright.
Has teamed with: Sabu, Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Most Successful Partner: Sabu
Has injured: Sabu.
Has been injured by: Injury free, but has done stretcher jobs for Sabu, Doug Furnas, and Taz among others.
Has feuded with: Dan Kroffat, Doug Furnas, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman.
Most Hated Opponent: Tommy Dreamer
Toughest Opponent: Dan Kroffat.
Toughest type of match ever involved in: ANY ECW MATCH with Van Dam defines the word tough!
Strengths:
All-around skills. Can brawl. Can wrestle. can fight. A tremendous high-flyer.
Stamina: Can go for 15-20---60 minutes if necessary.
Sabu & Alfonso: You can be sure that no one will get the jump on Mr. Monday Night!
Weaknesses:
Being Mr. Monday Night.. Tends to become marked, and his being labelled a sellout has made him an even bigger target.
Size. Despite his abitity, is one of the smaller men in the sport.
No career goals. Needs to focus on a title.
My opinion? One of my all-time favorite ECW guys. Is actually pretty funny.
Now? Currently feuding (along with Sabu) against Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman.
I hope I never again see....Van Dam wrestling as anyone except Rob Van Dam.
No matter how hard he tried...Doug Furnas just couldn't get the job done against Mr. Monday Night.
Has beaten: Doug Furnas, Chris Jericho, Tommy Dreamer, (world champions) Sabu, Chris Candido.
Key losses (jobs): To Sabu and Taz.
Face/Heel: Heel. Definitely as ECW's most annoying wrestler, he has a bright future.
Future: He figures to be stuck in the ECW-WWF thing for a while, so the best he could hope for is some type of working agreement where he can be seen more and be worth more $$$.
It would be cool if: He and Sabu won the ECW world tag team titles.
Hall Of Fame? Possible, but he has a long way to go..
How could he have improved his status? With his youth, it's more like what he can do with the rest of his career.
To see him, Click here!.