I came into ECW in Philadelphia in 1996 and left in 2001 - a much bigger, worldwide star than I arrived - and I thank ECW for that.

Professional wrestling was almost like a secret society when I started, like a Mafia, and it would destroy the Sheik to see how much that has changed.

Paul Heyman has always been the only guy from the office that ever really had my best interest and really understood me. The other agents and promoters seemed confused why the fans liked me so much, because I was so non-typical for their idea of a wrestler, so they just tried to capitalize on it without owning it.

Since Sabu was the first guy that I was in the ring with professionally, we have the longest history in my career, and also, we were like minded.

I don't think all the other wrestlers hear the same love from the fans that I do - they are extreme about it.

I came into ECW in Philadelphia in 1996 and left in 2001 - a much bigger, worldwide star than I arrived - and I thank ECW for that.

In Total Nonstop Action, individual wrestlers have a lot more freedom to artistically express themselves versus WWE.

I've never tried to be like anybody else. I'm a non-conformist in every way, and when it comes to wrestling, that's certainly true, too.

I've always been tough my whole life. I'm able to take a lot of punishment, and that might be an even greater asset than my offense. I'm the guy that can take your best shot, and I'm not going to go down.

What you see is what you get. I'm the real deal. That's why I can step into the ring after having many months off and not have any rust. I'm still working out, stretching.

Even when I'm not wrestling, I still appreciate all my fans. I take all the compliments to heart.

The more exciting, flying wrestlers are not going to be your 300-pound wrestlers.

In ECW, the fans would warm me up. I'd walk around the ring and slap hands with everyone and get ready for the match. I'd feed off that energy, I would use that to create positive energy. In WWE, it's different. It's a timed show; everything is timed. We know - when we get to the ring, we know when there's a commercial.

Obviously, I have a lot of respect for Curt Hennig, and I say 'obviously' because I just assumed that anybody would know that 'Mr. Perfect' Curt Hennig was a legend, and someone of that stature is someone that everybody looks up to.

I've been Intercontinental Champion lots of times, Television Champion. One of my favorites has been the Hardcore Championship because it reflected my favorite style, and I feel that the X Division belt does that, too.

You can't patent a move. It's challenging enough to come up with a move that nobody else does... I try and do things that I would want to see done that I haven't seen other people do. Most wrestlers obviously don't think that way, and instead they steal somebody's move as soon as they've gone on to the next company.

I've always taken care of myself, and I'm a non-conformist, so I don't accept the negativity that comes with birthdays.

When I hit that Five-Star Frogsplash, I'm pretty confident that if I can crawl over in time, I'm going to get the three-count. So that's kind of always in my back pocket; the fans always know it.

I prefer ECW's style as far as the actual matches I'm capable of having.

I'm so confusing to wrestling promoters, and I'm used to that, but because I stayed in ECW and learned how to express myself the way, ah, that I could connect with my fans, it made my strong Rob Van Dam character uncompromising... and I owe that to ECW.

ECW was the most fun for me artistically. And then, WWE, it was also very fun, but that was part of it. It was also a very stressful, monotonous schedule. There was a lot of politics, adjusting to that, and I am not a politician, and I don't play those games. So that was very frustrating for me as well.

Somebody like CM Punk, who stands up and says he's completely sober - he doesn't even take a drink of champagne in a toast because that's just not him - he's a man that's completely full of integrity; you've got to respect that.

I always hated when I had to do the promos, especially because I got to push their agenda and try to tell you that this championship match is more important than anything in the world to me. Come on. No, it's not.

Really, I didn't even want to go to WWE in 2001. I knew that it wasn't my favorite style, my favorite showcasing of my abilities, but it was definitely the best business move. At the time, there was nowhere else to go anyway - ECW was gone, WCW was gone. So, when I first came in, I was seriously frustrated trying to adapt.

I'm not afraid of fear tactics. They don't work on me.

In front of millions of people that paid to see you at your best, who expect you to be in action-figure shape and condition on that particular night for that moment, you've got to deliver.

I have an incredibly dry sense of humor.

When I was In high school, I became interested in Greek mythology. I had to know all about the exact dates of all the history.

I grew up really being a comic book geek, and that was a really big part of my childhood.

I was a very intelligent kid. I used my intelligence to support my passions. When it came to comic books, I became enthralled in the whole universe. I had to know all the facts and timelines. The whole fictional universe was real to me.

I am really thankful for my career.