Rob Van Dam was a guest on a recent episode of X-Pac's podcast. In the interview, RVD discussed wrestlers taking chairshots to the head. Fightful was sent the following highlights.
You can listen to the entire podcast in the video above.
Rob Van Dam Shares His Thoughts On Wrestlers Taking Chair Shots/Bumps to the Head
So I have mixed feelings about that, cause one, it’s an art form. And for me I’ve always appreciated being able to express myself as an artist. I feel that they should know-young guys getting in the business, if they know that hitting their heads is dangerous and could lead to stuff and they choose to do it anyway I wouldn’t necessarily agree with their choices but at the same time I don’t think that I would necessarily hate them for it or try to ban them if they want to take shots to the head. It seems unnecessary now but I mean I don’t wanna stop...I mean I don’t even want to wrestle {laughs} But when I do, I better give it all I’ve got you know, because that’s the worker that I am. The moves that I am gonna do are still gonna be dangerous, they are still gonna be moves that people in the crowd wouldn’t be able to survive, otherwise what’s the point? But I do believe it’s smart to learn to protect the health and I don’t know exactly where the lines are drawn on responsibility.
Rob Van Dam On Taking Bumps, The Difference Between A Wrestler and a Normal Person
It’s gonna happen sometime when you take a bump, I think the thing is to be educated, and be aware of it. Honestly, I am not for nurturing the world up, and making it super soft and taking it away from what it is, I think pro wrestlers should be the toughest guys in society that are out there taking that abuse. Normal people; you bump into somebody’s bumper in the parking lot, they get whiplash, they’re out of work for 6 weeks, they got a neck brace. How many car crashes do we go through in one night? You know what I mean? I don't think pro wrestlers should be treated like normal people because we’re not and that’s the whole draw of watching wrestling. We’re a bunch of freaks that are in there.Some guys are 300 pounds of muscle, other guys are doing 4 flips, whatever, but that's the entertainment part of it. They’re not just normal people, although they look more and more normal as the smaller guys are overpopulating the business {laughs}.
