WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has offered a glimpse into his relationship with marijuana and WWE’s substance policies during his brief returns to the company in the 2010s, revealing he ultimately decided paying fines was preferable to abstaining.
During the latest episode of his “1 Of A Kind” podcast, Rob Van Dam detailed how he approached WWE’s marijuana policy differently during his two separate runs with the company in 2013 and 2014.
When I went to WWE for my return in 2013, it was a $1,000 fine at that time if you got busted for smoking marijuana. I decided on my own, ‘You know what? I’ll take a break from smoking.’ Because I hadn’t taken a break in a long time, it looked like a good idea.
The former WWE and ECW Champion, who has been an outspoken advocate for marijuana use throughout his career, revealed that despite stopping a month before his WWE return, he still failed his initial drug test.
I stopped a month before starting with WWE. And when I gave my first piss test, I did fail it still a month later because that’s how dirty my system was. But then I did the 90 days without smoking and just thought, ‘Eh, why not?’
However, when Rob Van Dam returned for a five-month stint the following year, he took a completely different approach to the company’s policy.
And then I left and I came back the next year and I did a five-month deal… And this time I was like, ‘Eh, I could quit again or whatever.’ And I was like, ‘Nah, you know what? I’ll just smoke my way through it to pay the fines.’
The result was a few violations during his 2014 run. When asked if he had difficulties stopping his marijuana use when he chose to, Rob Van Dam dismissed the notion of addiction playing any role.
They say some people have an addictive gene and some don’t. I don’t think I have… I smoke because I love it, and then if I choose not to, it’s always that easy.
RVD also shared insights into how abstaining affected him during his 2013 WWE tenure.
I was surprised that I didn’t feel a lot more different, not smoking… my amount of energy, I was amazed to realise I didn’t feel like I had a lot more energy. I didn’t feel like I stressed out a whole lot either, which I thought that I would. It seemed like I could hold on to more information at a time. I didn’t feel any more energetic… instead I felt just as tired.
Former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam Says He Will Be Back In The Ring “In The Near Future”
In a recent interview, WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has confirmed he is not retired and plans to return to the ring soon. When asked if he had quietly stepped away from the sport, he dismissed the idea and confirmed that multiple promotions have expressed interest in booking him, including events as far ahead as 2026.
H/t to 411mania.com