Rob Van Dam makes surprise AEW Dynamite appearance

Rob Van Dam made a surprise appearance in the main event of this week’s AEW Dynamite. 

On an episode where Hangman Page & Swerve Strickland selected opponents for each other in Dealer’s Choice bouts, Page chose RVD to face Swerve in a hardcore match in the Dynamite main event. 

Strickland defeated Van Dam in the contest, plus Page defeated Toa Liona earlier in the show to set up a number one contender’s match between the two for next week’s Dynamite. The winner of that bout will face Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at the Revolution pay-per-view on Sunday, March 3. 

Wednesday’s match with Swerve was the fourth career AEW match for RVD, and his first since the October 25, 2023 Dynamite where he teamed with Hook to defeat The Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds & John Silver in tag team action. 

Prior to that, RVD & Hook defeated Matt Menard & Angelo Parker on the September 23, 2023 Collision episode, plus Jack Perry defeated RVD in a singles match on the August 9, 2023 Dynamite in RVD’s other AEW matches.