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On the June 27, 2005 episode of RAW, Van Dam (still healing) was drafted back to RAW in the 2005 draft lottery. He was introduced to RAW by Carlito, who insulted Van Dam before attacking him and assaulting his knee. Van Dam made his return to the ring over six months later at the 2006 Royal Rumble on January 29. He gained revenge on Carlito by eliminating him, but was in turn, and inadvertently, eliminated by Rey Mysterio. On the February 6, episode of RAW, Van Dam defeated Carlito in the first round of the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament. One week later, he defeated Chris Masters in the tournament semi-finals. On the February 20, 2006 episode of RAW, Van Dam and Big Show were defeated by Triple H in a triple threat match to determine the winner of the tournament and number one contender to the WWE Championship.
The following week, now out of the WrestleMania main event, Van Dam defeated Trevor Murdoch to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. Van Dam went on to win the match, thus earning himself a guaranteed shot at either the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship at any time within the subsequent year.
Following the ladder match, Shelton Benjamin challenged Van Dam to put his Money in the Bank opportunity on the line in a match. Van Dam countered by requesting a match for Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship. One week later, both Van Dam and Benjamin picked mystery opponents for one another, with the loser placing their respective prize on the line in a bout at Backlash on April 30, 2006. Benjamin lost to the returning Charlie Haas, while Van Dam was defeated by all five members of the Spirit Squad. As a result, both the Intercontinental Championship and the Money in the Bank title shot were contested at Backlash. Van Dam went on to win both prizes, before dropping the Intercontinental title back to Benjamin on the May 15, 2006 edition of RAW.
On the May 22, 2006 episode of RAW, Van Dam informed WWE Champion John Cena that he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank contract at ECW One Night Stand 2006 on June 11, 2006 for a WWE Championship match.
ECW brand
On May 29, 2006, Van Dam was selected by Paul Heyman to be drafted from RAW to the newly formed ECW brand of WWE. Upon being drafted, Van Dam became the new brand's flagship, mostly due to his prior history in ECW and his title-shot against John Cena at One Night Stand.
At ECW One Night Stand, the pay-per-view used to kick off the ECW brand, Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship (his first World Title in his career). Throughout the match the ECW fans verbally abused Cena. Fans had hung a banner that said "If Cena Wins, We Riot" over the rafters, and ECW announcer Joey Styles said, "Here comes the riot!" when Cena appeared to have the match won. After two referees were knocked out Edge appeared from under the ring and interfered on behalf of Van Dam, spearing Cena through a table. Van Dam then hit a Five Star Frog Splash and the pinfall was counted by Paul Heyman,not a real ref, who suddenly ran down the aisle. On the following episode of RAW, Heyman confirmed that the title change was official (due to the match being held under ECW rules) and hinted that the WWE Championship would be renamed the ECW Championship at the debut of ECW on the Sci Fi Channel. However, on the first episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Van Dam was awarded the re-instated ECW World Championship by Heyman and subsequently announced that he would be keeping both titles, thus making him the first wrestler in history to have held both the WWE Championship and the ECW World Championship, and the only one to hold them at the same time. He was also the first ECW World Heavyweight Champion in five years since the revival.
On the July 3, 2006 episode of RAW, Van Dam lost the WWE Championship to Edge in a triple threat match that also featured John Cena. The next night, on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, he lost the ECW World Championship to The Big Show after Heyman turned on him; this incident would later be referred to as the South Philly Screwjob. Later on WWE.com, Heyman suspended Van Dam for 30 days without giving a reason. The same day, WWE.com announced that Van Dam had been (legitimately) suspended for 30 days as a result of his recent drug possession arrest (see below) [1]. He returned to house shows on August 5, 2006, and returned to television on August 8, attacking both Sabu and Kurt Angle during a match. His return to the ring came a week later, in a losing effort to Sabu in a ladder match for number one contendership to the ECW World Championship. On the October 17, 2006 episode of ECW, Van Dam defeated the Big Show in a non-title match to regain the number one contendership. On December 3, 2006, Van Dam was in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship at December to Dismember 2006. He was eliminated 3rd from the chamber. Later in December, Van Dam would once again earn No.1 contendership to the ECW World Championship, but this time by a fan poll. Van Dam would go on to get three matches for the ECW World title against Bobby Lashley, the third being a triple threat match featuring Test, the first two going to a no-contest for injury and interference respectively, and the third being won by Lashley, who pinned Van Dam.
Rob Van Dam would later join the ECW Originals along with Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and Sandman. The ECW Originals would then begin a feud with the New Breed (Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker. The two teams would face off at Wrestlemania 23 in which the ECW Originals won.
Finishing moves
Five-Star Frog Splash (High elevation frog splash with theatrics, turning in midair if target is not perpendicular to flight path)
Van Daminator (Spinning heel-kick, driving a steel chair into the face of the opponent)
Van Terminator (Corner-to-corner missile dropkick, driving a steel chair or other foreign object into the face of the opponent)
One of a kind....
The following week, now out of the WrestleMania main event, Van Dam defeated Trevor Murdoch to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. Van Dam went on to win the match, thus earning himself a guaranteed shot at either the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship at any time within the subsequent year.
Following the ladder match, Shelton Benjamin challenged Van Dam to put his Money in the Bank opportunity on the line in a match. Van Dam countered by requesting a match for Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship. One week later, both Van Dam and Benjamin picked mystery opponents for one another, with the loser placing their respective prize on the line in a bout at Backlash on April 30, 2006. Benjamin lost to the returning Charlie Haas, while Van Dam was defeated by all five members of the Spirit Squad. As a result, both the Intercontinental Championship and the Money in the Bank title shot were contested at Backlash. Van Dam went on to win both prizes, before dropping the Intercontinental title back to Benjamin on the May 15, 2006 edition of RAW.
On the May 22, 2006 episode of RAW, Van Dam informed WWE Champion John Cena that he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank contract at ECW One Night Stand 2006 on June 11, 2006 for a WWE Championship match.
ECW brand
On May 29, 2006, Van Dam was selected by Paul Heyman to be drafted from RAW to the newly formed ECW brand of WWE. Upon being drafted, Van Dam became the new brand's flagship, mostly due to his prior history in ECW and his title-shot against John Cena at One Night Stand.
At ECW One Night Stand, the pay-per-view used to kick off the ECW brand, Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship (his first World Title in his career). Throughout the match the ECW fans verbally abused Cena. Fans had hung a banner that said "If Cena Wins, We Riot" over the rafters, and ECW announcer Joey Styles said, "Here comes the riot!" when Cena appeared to have the match won. After two referees were knocked out Edge appeared from under the ring and interfered on behalf of Van Dam, spearing Cena through a table. Van Dam then hit a Five Star Frog Splash and the pinfall was counted by Paul Heyman,not a real ref, who suddenly ran down the aisle. On the following episode of RAW, Heyman confirmed that the title change was official (due to the match being held under ECW rules) and hinted that the WWE Championship would be renamed the ECW Championship at the debut of ECW on the Sci Fi Channel. However, on the first episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Van Dam was awarded the re-instated ECW World Championship by Heyman and subsequently announced that he would be keeping both titles, thus making him the first wrestler in history to have held both the WWE Championship and the ECW World Championship, and the only one to hold them at the same time. He was also the first ECW World Heavyweight Champion in five years since the revival.
On the July 3, 2006 episode of RAW, Van Dam lost the WWE Championship to Edge in a triple threat match that also featured John Cena. The next night, on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, he lost the ECW World Championship to The Big Show after Heyman turned on him; this incident would later be referred to as the South Philly Screwjob. Later on WWE.com, Heyman suspended Van Dam for 30 days without giving a reason. The same day, WWE.com announced that Van Dam had been (legitimately) suspended for 30 days as a result of his recent drug possession arrest (see below) [1]. He returned to house shows on August 5, 2006, and returned to television on August 8, attacking both Sabu and Kurt Angle during a match. His return to the ring came a week later, in a losing effort to Sabu in a ladder match for number one contendership to the ECW World Championship. On the October 17, 2006 episode of ECW, Van Dam defeated the Big Show in a non-title match to regain the number one contendership. On December 3, 2006, Van Dam was in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship at December to Dismember 2006. He was eliminated 3rd from the chamber. Later in December, Van Dam would once again earn No.1 contendership to the ECW World Championship, but this time by a fan poll. Van Dam would go on to get three matches for the ECW World title against Bobby Lashley, the third being a triple threat match featuring Test, the first two going to a no-contest for injury and interference respectively, and the third being won by Lashley, who pinned Van Dam.
Rob Van Dam would later join the ECW Originals along with Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and Sandman. The ECW Originals would then begin a feud with the New Breed (Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker. The two teams would face off at Wrestlemania 23 in which the ECW Originals won.
Finishing moves
Five-Star Frog Splash (High elevation frog splash with theatrics, turning in midair if target is not perpendicular to flight path)
Van Daminator (Spinning heel-kick, driving a steel chair into the face of the opponent)
Van Terminator (Corner-to-corner missile dropkick, driving a steel chair or other foreign object into the face of the opponent)
One of a kind....
