Rob Van Dam bears an uncanny resemblance to Jean-Claude Van Damme but didn’t come up with his wrestling name
Rob Szatkowski, better known as Rob Van Dam, is one of the greatest wrestlers ever to have graced the squared circle.
The 48-year-old is still going strong at Impact Wrestling and has featured in several top promotions throughout his career.
RVD made a name for himself at ECW before moving to WWE and picking up the WWE and ECW titles at the same time.
The 48-year-old is known for his unique move set, but also has an uncanny resemblance to action star Jean-Claude Van Damme.
RVD is not related to the action star from the 80s and 90s, but was recently asked how the name came about.
The 48-year-old claimed the name wasn’t his idea despite the resemblance to Jean-Claude.
RVD went on to say that Ron Slinker, a wrestling promoter came up with the name in 1991.
The former ECW champion also added that Jean-Claude wasn’t upset over RVD using the name. However, the 48-year-old wasn’t allowed to use that name in WCW and was billed as Robbie V.
The wrestler picked up many titles during his run in WWE too. Van Dam won the tag titles with Booker T, Rey Mysterio and Kane. The 48-year-old also was the Hardcore and Intercontinental champion and won the Money in the Bank match in 2006.
Van Dam doing his bit outside the ring too
The American trained in several martial arts while growing up in Michigan. The 48-year-old has brought some of that into the ring with a range of kicks and flips.
Van Dam has featured in several movies and provided voices to characters in the Saints Row video games series.
The former WWE champion also invented a weightlifting technique called the ‘Van Dam lift’.
The IAWA (International All-Around Weightlifting Association) and the USAWA (United States All-Round Weightlifting Association) recognise this technique.
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