Van Dam felt like he was “indestructible” while working in “ECW,” taking the attitude that Angle was walking into his house. As a result, he was up to the challenge of facing someone like the former Olympic gold medalist.

“I was glad that I was a really strong, credible opponent, and Kurt and didn’t have to, like, create an opponent out of somebody else and then try to make him mean as much when it comes to selling tickets,” Van Dam said. “Because that’s not easy to do, no matter how good of a match you give somebody.”

Van Dam and Angle shared the squared circle several times in their careers in WWE from 2001 to 2006. Most notably, they worked two matches early in the “WWE ECW” era, as they successfully teamed together on the second episode of the show before going one-on-one during the third episode, a match Van Dam won.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “1 Of A Kind With RVD” with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.