Rob Van Dam Comments on Dark Side of the Ring Controversy

By Connor Casey

Former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam was one of the multiple wrestlers interviewed for the "Plane Ride From Hell" episode of Dark Side of the Ring that aired last week. Several big controversies have sprung from the episode, including a flight attendant accusing Ric Flair of sexual assault after stripping naked, parading around in his robe and cornering her, as well as Tommy Dreamer's defense of Flair's actions. Van Dam took to Twitter on Monday night and gave his own statement on the episode, then responded to a few fans about his comments and how the episode was edited. 

"Just watched DSOTR. Heavy. Some insight for those who can handle it- 1) I haven't seen Ric Flair's dick. My comment about fans shouldn't see him doing the helicopter was a response to DSOTR telling me that's what they were told. They shouldn't. I don't want to see it either," Van Dam wrote. "2) I said 'trying to make her touch him' referring to his body crowding her space and her backing up like bad breath was in her face. I thought maybe they were playing (from seeing a similar scene at the hotel bar) but I wasn't interested in naked Ric. Still ain't. I tried to sleep."

Flair has since released two statements regarding the accusations, both of which fully denied he ever sexually assaulted anyone. 

"Every person that I've worked with, from my lawyer to my publicist to my wife has said to not post a response; but I've never from past behaviors before and I'm not going to start now. I want to clarify a few things: About four years ago, I gave ESPN full access to my life for a '30 for 30' special," Flair wrote. "They covered taxes, financial issues, adultery, divorces, the passing of my child and drinking/partying AT LENGTH. Rory Kamp, desperate to matter for another 15 minutes, did an interview about it this morning. When Rory's lips are moving, he's typically lying, but one part of what he said was the God's honest truth: 'I'd never heard that he had forced someone to touch his genitals,' Karpf admitted. 'Everything with Ric that was construed as negative I tried to address in the 30 for 30. His drinking, his philandering, his adultery, his money problems, there's quite a bit, but never, at least in the people that I spoke to, no one ever brought up that he would force himself on somebody.'

"I allowed my personal life and the lives of my wife and children to be turned upside down for one reason: Whether it's good or bad, even the really bad, the truth has to matter. Even in wrestling," he continued. "My issues have been well documented over my 40+ year career. The impact of drinking too much (which nearly killed me 5 years ago) has been told time and time and time again. The reason Rory (or anyone else for that matter) never heard stories of me forcing myself on ANYONE is simple: it never happened."

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