Rob Van Dam believes he was able to elevate the status of the Hardcore Championship beyond what WWE wanted for the championship.
The Hardcore title was introduced in 1998 and retired in 2002 with RVD being the final champion. Van Dam held the title four times for a total of 134 days.
On a recent edition of his “1 Of A Kind” podcast, Van Dam reflected on his time as champion and how he elevated the gold. He said,
“I made that belt mean way more than they ever wanted it to. That’s why they got rid of it.”
RVD’s first reign came at InVasion 2001 where he defeated Jeff Hardy, an opponent Van Dam was pleased to share the ring with. He said,
“I love wrestling him, but it seems like every single match it seemed like I always won. Like, over and over, and I always wondered, ‘Is that the right way to do things? Like, should we throw him a bone? I mean, he’s Jeff Hardy. He’s not like,’ you know.
“I mean we had great matches, but I don’t remember it ever being the other way around. And I was — I don’t know, [I] start getting personal thoughts, like, wondering how Jeff feels about that and this and that.”
