WWE Hall Of Famer RVD Recalls Missing 12 Months Due To Injury

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has been fortunate enough to have only ever had one major surgery throughout his career, which happened when he tore his ACL and meniscus and was out of action for a year, returning at the Royal Rumble in 2006. 

Some people who have had to rehab injuries have described the process as mentally taxing and for others the lowest point of their careers. However, RVD is the complete opposite, as he revealed on his "1 of a Kind" podcast that 2005 was one of his favorite years of his career.

"I took the whole 12 months off. You know they say 6 to 12 months, so at 6 months they brought me back into WWE to have a look at me, I was like, 'F**k no, I'm not ready,' and to be honest, I loved 2005. That was like one of my favorite years of my career because I got paid to be at home, and smoke weed, and watch TV for the whole year and do therapy," he said.

RVD explained that WWE did try and bring him back earlier as the company didn't want him milking the idea of getting paid to do nothing. However, RVD had a legitimate reason for not wanting to rush his return.

"So many people like Rey Mysterio had got the knee surgery, come back too early, f**ked their knee up again, then had to do the whole thing all over again," he added. 

RVD thought he would have to wrestle the final year of his contract for free after being paid to sit at home for a year, but once he found out he would still get paid, he was more than happy to wrestle every week.

Please credit "1 of a Kind" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.