At WrestleMania 22, Rob Van Dam became the second person in history to win the Money in the Bank contract, and he decided to announce his cash-in ahead of time when he challenged John Cena to a WWE Championship match at ECW One Night Stand in 2006. The ECW fans made it clear that they weren’t fond of John Cena which led to some obscene chants being directed at the champion.
Rob Van Dam talked a little bit about John Cena’s mindset heading into the match on his 1 Of A Kind podcast, and he revealed that Cena not only knew what to expect, but was also a good sport about the reaction he received.
John knew he knew what he was in for. Like, he knew that that crowd was gonna be roasting him. I don’t think either of us could have known how hot it would get in there to that level. He knew that they were all gonna be against him and wanna see him get his ass beat and I just remember him being so cool with it, being such a good sport about it.”
In the end it was Rob Van Dam who defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship that night, and the Hall of Famer noted that it meant a lot to him to win the title his own way.
“It’s the coveted top seat in the industry and I did it my way, which meant so much more to me than winning it 20 times doing it their way. I remember dropping down to my knees, you know, and just like soaking up the crowd and like taking all that energy in and [I] guess that’s the only time I felt that particular energy…maybe that’s why it’s hit me so hard.”
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