Last week's "WWE Smackdown" was the season premiere of the show, where Rob Van Dam made a brief on-screen appearance, who was sitting in the front row among several other former WWE personas such as Vickie Guerrero and Teddy Long. This was RVD's first appearance on WWE television since the 2024 Hall Of Fame Ceremony earlier this April. 

Speaking on his "1 Of A Kind" podcast, Van Dam went into detail about returning to "Smackdown" with his wife Katie Forbes, while also describing when he found out that WWE wanted him to appear on the blue brand. 

"RVD just pops up wherever he feels like. That's part of being the whole effing show. It was an invite that happened not with a lot of notice at all. It was awesome to be there, 25-year anniversary I believe for 'Smackdown.' Katie came because one, she loves WWE, and two, she loves RVD. So it was cool to have her by my side as well, otherwise I would have had my arm around Teddy Long or something," said Van Dam. "It was cool to see everybody. Talked to Mr. Paul Heyman for quite a while, got to hang out, and always good to see him. He's obviously one of my closer friends there, but, yeah, it was a good vibe." 

Van Dam continued to explain that WWE gave him a day's notice when they invited him to "Smackdown" and apologized for the last-minute call. He also revealed that many people thanked him for showing up backstage and complimented him on his podcast, which he really appreciated.