Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movements—and flexibility, Van Dam is one of the most popular wrestlers in the world. He is also known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Van Dam gained mainstream popularity in ECW during the latter half of the 1990s. During his time in ECW, he was managed by Bill Alfonso and had feuds with Jerry Lynn and Sabu, also forming a tag team with the latter. They won the ECW World Tag Team Championship twice. On April 4, 1998, Van Dam defeated Bam Bam Bigelow to win the ECW Television Championship, a title he held for 700 days until he vacated the championship due to an injury on March 4, 2000.
When ECW closed in 2001, Van Dam signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and was involved in the Invasion storyline, where several former World Championship Wrestling and ECW wrestlers joined forces against WWF wrestlers. After the Invasion ended, Van Dam wrestled the following years as singles and tag team wrestler, winning the WWE Hardcore Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE European Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championships. At WrestleMania 22, Rob Van Dam won the Money in the Bank ladder match. After this victory, he challenged WWE Champion John Cena to a title match at One Night Stand, an ECW-themed PPV. At the event, Van Dam defeated Cena and won his first world championship. Two days later, Paul Heyman awarded Van Dam with the reactivated ECW World Heavyweight Championship making him the only man to hold both titles at the same time.
After leaving WWE in 2007, Van Dam worked on the independent circuit until he signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) - in 2010. A few months after his debut, he defeated AJ Styles to win the TNA World Championship. He would also appear for Lucha Libre AAA World Wide and challenged Dr. Wagner Jr. for the newly created AAA Latin American Championship at Triplemania XIX, albeit in a losing effort. He remained under contract with TNA until 2013, leaving the company after a run with the TNA X Division Championship. After departing TNA, he returned to WWE, where he worked for one year. Then, he would stay in the independent circuit, also wrestling from 2019 to 2020 with TNA (at the time known as Impact Wrestling). In 2021, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and the following year he was inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame. Between ECW, WWE and TNA, Van Dam won 21 total championships, including three world championships, and is only one of two wrestlers in history (alongside Bobby Lashley) to have held the WWE, ECW, and TNA world championships.
In addition, he headlined many pay-per-view events throughout three decades between the 1990s and 2010s, including the 1998 edition of November to Remember (ECW's flagship event) and the 2011 edition of TripleMania (AAA's flagship event). In 2002, Van Dam was ranked the number one pro wrestler in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He was voted "Most Popular Wrestler" by readers of the magazine in 2001 and again in 2002. WWE named him the greatest star in ECW history in 2014.
Preberite več...18. december 1970 je bil petek pod znakom zvezdice ♐. Bil je 351 dan v letu. Predsednik Združenih držav je bil Richard M. Nixon.
Če ste rojeni na ta dan, ste stari 54 let. Vaš zadnji rojstni dan je bil sreda, 18. december 2024, pred 320 dnevi. Vaš naslednji rojstni dan je četrtek, 18. december 2025, čez 44 dni. Živeli ste 20.044 dni ali približno 481.067 ur, ali približno 28.864.053 minut ali približno 1.731.843.180 sekund.
Date: 19 December 1970
By DAMON STETSON
Damon STETSON
Times gets Fed ct temporary restraining order enjoining drivers union from refusing to perform normal duties; Pressmen's Union local pres Kennedy says union will abide by contract; restraining order continued against pressmen; union seeks to remand case to Fed ct
Date: 18 December 1970
By DAMON STETSON
Damon STETSON
NY Times gets temporary restraining order from NYS Sup Ct barring pressmen from interfering with newspaper production; action is result of pressroom slowdown following Times announcement of new schedule for printing Sunday help-wanted classified sec that would reduce overtime costs; earlier Times publisher A O Sulzberger warned that slowdown could have harmful econ effect on paper and employes and stressed that paper 'was determined to maintain its right to reduce costs in all legitimate ways to meet the pressures of adverse economic conditions'; text of memo; under new schedule help-wanted sec would be printed Saturday morning by day-shift pressmen at regular pay rates
Date: 18 December 1970
By EDWARD COWAN Special to The New York Times
Edward Special
Montreal Police Dept adviser, noting that dept does not oppose sale of Scanlan's Monthly, says Jan copies will be released once formal regis requirement is satisfied
Date: 18 December 1970
By VARTANIG G. VARTAN
Vartanig VARTAN
stock falls 5 3/4 points; SEC has reptdly started inquiry into recent trading activity
Date: 19 December 1970
By LEONARD SLOANE
Leonard SLOANE
Date: 18 December 1970
By JULIUS EPSTEIN
Julius EPSTEIN
J Epstein recounts unsuccessful efforts to have collection of documents dealing with forcible repatriation of millions of displaced Soviet citizens to USSR during and after World War II de-classified and released; repatriation, code-named Operation Keelhaul, was carried out by Amer and Brit mil authorities
Date: 18 December 1970
By GEORGE GENT
George GENT
M F Keating, who has been dismissed as WCBS-TV news dir, says WCBS will go ahead with news program format changes he initiated; WCBS vp R L Hosking says changes will not be as drastic 'as some people think'; denies they are in response to rating pressure; E Joyce, who will replace Keating, says he has no immediate plans for news programs
Date: 18 December 1970
By The Associated Press
Soviet Govt threat to crack down on small group of pol dissidents who have attracted internatl attention includes Solzhenitsyn, Amalrik and Bukovsky; warning issued in article in Pravda under pseudonym used by ed bd on major pronouncements; charges detailed; in connection with article, hard-line author A Perventsev broadcasts 5-min TV statement scoring Solzhenitsyn and others; protest movement, apparently stemming from Sinyavsky-Daniel trials, revd
Date: 18 December 1970
By JAMES RESTON
James RESTON
Reston, querying why Pravda is so upset about Solzhenitsyn, concludes that Pravda's staff are not really newsmen but are disseminators of Govt propaganda