Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970), better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a Legends contract. He is also known for his tenures in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Total Nonstop Action (TNA), Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Major League Wrestling (MLW). Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movements—and flexibility, Van Dam gained mainstream popularity in ECW during the latter half of the 1990s. During his time in ECW, he was managed by Bill Alfonso and had feuds with Jerry Lynn and Sabu, also forming a tag team with the latter. They won the ECW World Tag Team Championship twice. On April 4, 1998, Van Dam defeated Bam Bam Bigelow to win the ECW Television Championship, a title he held for 700 days until he vacated the championship due to an injury on March 4, 2000. When ECW closed in 2001, Van Dam signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and was involved in the Invasion storyline, where several former World Championship Wrestling and ECW wrestlers joined forces against WWF wrestlers. After the Invasion ended, Van Dam wrestled the following years as singles and tag team wrestler, winning the WWE Hardcore Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE European Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championships. At WrestleMania 22, Rob Van Dam won the Money in the Bank ladder match. After this victory, he challenged WWE Champion John Cena to a title match at One Night Stand, an ECW-themed PPV. At the event, Van Dam defeated Cena and won his first world championship. Two days later, Paul Heyman awarded Van Dam with the reactivated ECW World Heavyweight Championship making him the only man to hold both titles at the same time. After leaving WWE in 2007, Van Dam worked on the independent circuit until he signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) - in 2010. A few months after his debut, he defeated AJ Styles to win the TNA World Championship. He would also appear for Lucha Libre AAA World Wide and challenged Dr. Wagner Jr. for the newly created AAA Latin American Championship at Triplemania XIX, albeit in a losing effort. He remained under contract with TNA until 2013, leaving the company after a run with the TNA X Division Championship. After departing TNA, he returned to WWE, where he worked for one year. Then, he would stay in the independent circuit, also wrestling from 2019 to 2020 with TNA (at the time known as Impact Wrestling). In 2021, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and the following year he was inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame. Between ECW, WWE and TNA, Van Dam won 21 total championships, including three world championships, and is only one of two wrestlers in history (alongside Bobby Lashley) to have held the WWE, ECW, and TNA world championships. In addition, he headlined many pay-per-view events throughout three decades between the 1990s and 2010s, including the 1998 edition of November to Remember (ECW's flagship event) and the 2011 edition of TripleMania (AAA's flagship event). In 2002, Van Dam was ranked the number one pro wrestler in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He was voted "Most Popular Wrestler" by readers of the magazine in 2001 and again in 2002. WWE named him the greatest star in ECW history in 2014.