Former WWE Star Rob Van Dam Reacts To “Disturbing” Allegations Against Vince McMahon, Reveals He Was Warned About McMahon’s Right Hand Man Years Before Signing With The Company
JB Augustine
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Just about everybody who has passed through a WWE locker room is weighing in on the inconvenient truths – or allegations – of former Chairman and promoter Vince McMahon that have come to light. One-time Superstar and true ECW Original Rob Van Dam can be added to that list.
Van Dam appeared on Cafe De Rene, the podcast of fellow ex-WWE Superstar and second-generation grappler Rene DuPree, where he revealed that he read the 67-page indictment in the lawsuit filed by against McMahon and others in WWE.
A man known for his signature reaction of “Dude…” to astounding matters, RVD calls the content of the indictment “very disturbing.”
“It’s crazy. I read the whole 67-page indictment so I could have my own perspective of everything. I feel like even if everything was consensual I still find it very disturbing and I almost feel like I don’t want to know about,” he said. Van Dam is, however, invested enough in the case to hear the defense’s side.
“I can’t wait to hear what the defense says, right? Like, give us something come on,” he added. “But I also can imagine the defense coming up with some amazing move that either debunks a lot of stuff that we just assumed were facts or at least puts a lot of leverage on their side.”
The contents of the indictment are disturbing as well as lurid given the graphic sexual nature of practically every detail. McMahon’s side hit back briefly, claiming the indictment was full of fabrications, but there might be validity to the accusations within it.
As the saying goes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. However, this situation is generating a lot more than smoke. Misdeeds and accusations lodged against McMahon and those in his inner circle decades ago are resurfacing and being reevaluated every day.
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One name caught up in the chaos is the late Pat Patterson who had been McMahon’s right hand and closest confidant for years. Patterson was an agent/producer who scouted many talents in his career and invented groundbreaking concepts such as the Royal Rumble.
He was also one of the most prominently open homosexuals in the industry, and while many of his contemporaries vouch for him as a stand-up guy, he has been accused of misconduct and predatory behavior a few times during his career as an official.
WWE’s “ring boy scandal” is perhaps the most notorious incident, but Van Dam recalls another that was conveyed to him as he was breaking into the industry by journeyman wrestler Brickhouse Brown.
Brown, who wrestled mostly in promotions down South, crossed paths with Van Dam and a few others who would make their name in ECW when they came to the small Tennessee promotion of USWA (United States Wrestling Association), which served as a proving ground for WWE.
Van Dam recalled on his podcast (1 0f A Kind with RVD) that Brown visited his hotel and warned the young budding talent to avoid Patterson. Brown recounted his experience with the Quebecer on an elevator where he told Brown “he could make a lot of money” depending on what he was willing to do to make it.
Brown’s story took a dark turn when he claimed Patterson stopped the elevator and made a move for the wrestler’s pants. Brown rebuffed him, opened the doors, and bolted out. RVD said Brown was trying to “smarten” him and the others up about this and similar occurrences – including the ring boy incident.
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The account stuck with Van Dam and would portend a similar run-in he had with Patterson in a bathroom years later. Catching him at a urinal, Patterson thought that was the appropriate time to discuss Van Dam’s pay and potential.
“I’m in the bathroom standing in the urinal, and Pat Patterson’s in there, and me, we’re the only ones in the bathroom. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I was trying to roll a doobie or something,” Van Dam began via Ewrestlingnews.
“Anyway, he says, ‘Hey, kid, you’re going to make a lot of money here in this business.’ And I said to him, ‘If you say so.’ And he didn’t like the response. He said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘No, if you say so. Sounds good. I’ll believe it when I see it,’” Van Dam continued.
“He goes, ‘I don’t like that answer. You’re telling me you don’t believe in yourself?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I believe in me, but I don’t know if that’s going to equate to making a lot of money, based on what I’ve been making here so far. I got paid a lot more before I came here,’” he recalled.
Largely respected by his peers, Pat Patterson died of liver failure in 2020. Brickhouse Brown also passed away years before in 2018 from cancer. Rob Van Dam is semi-inactive as an in-ring competitor but made a few brief appearances recently in AEW.