Source: WWE.com
Rob Van Dam’s legendary career may be in jeopardy after he suffered another concusson following a brutal attack tonight at One Night Stand by Randy Orton.
RVD and his fans should have been basking the glow of a satisfying victory. He entered tonight’s Stretcher Match with Orton with a concussion. But somehow he eked out a win, bringing our fans to their feet. It should have been a glorious moment for RVD.
Instead, our fans in the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena stood stunned as RVD lay motionless, his neck in brace and his limp body loaded onto a stretcher. The Legend Killer lost the match but gave Van Dam a savage beating. He gave the ECW Superstar a running punt to the head that sent him flying onto fans’ laps in the first row. As RVD’s eyes went blank, Orton finished the ECW legend off when he spiked him with a DDT on the concrete floor. The third generation star stood over RVD lay motionless, with his eyes closed.
Orton was heavily favored to win at One Night Stand. In a challenge on Raw last week, Orton gave Van Dam a concussion and then subsequently vowed to make the ECW Original suffer the same fate as Shawn Michaels – leave One Night Stand on a stretcher. Orton may have ended HBK’s career last month at Judgment Day after taking advantage of his previous head injury.
The rules for a Stretcher Match called for the victor to beat his opponent senseless and leave him prone on a gurney until he could roll him past a marked finish line in the aisle leading to the locker room. RVD dominayed early in the match, targeting Orton’s head with repeated kicks. But Orton regained the advantage with one blow to Van Dam’s head, showing onlookers that the high flyer was not fully recovered from his concussion.
Van Dam was woozy and incapable of fully employing the aerial assault that’s been his trademark. But just as Orton appeared ready to finish off RVD, the master of the Five-Star Frog Splash – buoyed by his fans’ chants of “R-V-D, R-V-D” – somehow stunned the third-generation star with a blow to his face and left him motionless on the stretcher long enough for him to push him past the finish line.
Orton eyes bulged with rage as he brutalized Van Dam. He never expected to lose the Stretcher Match to Van Dam. Clearly frustrated, Orton gritted teeth as he unleashed a post-match assault on RVD from behind that silenced what had been a rabid crowd. In a scene eerily similar to the conclusion to their match last week on Raw, medics and WWE officials rushed to RVD’s side.
Van Dam has been taken from the arena for further care. Stay with WWE.com for further updates on RVD’s condition as they become available.
