WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has provided a new update on his recovery from the double heel fracture he suffered earlier this year, stating that the healing process has taken “a lot longer than I thought” and that he is “nowhere near ready to wrestle.”
RVD suffered the severe injury at an independent wrestling event on April 5, 2025, in his first match back after a year-long hiatus. The injury has kept the legendary high-flyer grounded for the past five months, and while he is seeing improvement, he still has a long road to recovery ahead of him.
On a recent episode of the TMZ Inside The Ring podcast, RVD said, “I feel like I’m between the middle and the end of it. So, you know, it’s been a while, a lot longer than I thought it would take to heal. And from what I’ve learned, every calcaneus fracture is different depending on how the bones are fragmented, and if you have surgery, this was April 5 for me, so it’s been quite a while. I thought I was looking at like eight, nine weeks, and I’d be back. And I’m at a point now where, I mean, I can see improvement all the time, but I’m nowhere near ready to wrestle. I’m not jumping or even running yet.”
He also discussed the mental aspect of the recovery, noting that the time off has been “great” and “wonderful” as he does not enjoy the travel that comes with being a full-time wrestler. When asked if a return to the ring is in his future, he was non-committal.
“Sure, it’s possible. I think anything’s possible. And I’m not ruling anything out personally, as far as whether I want to continue or not, after my heels are completely 100% I changed my mind like every few days about it… For me personally, I feel like, sometimes I feel like, yeah, you know, I could go, feel great. I could go show the people that, you know, I can still do what I could do. Hopefully, it’ll motivate and inspire some people, maybe. And then at other times, I feel like, yeah, maybe I’d rather just be attached to the old school wrestling and remembered for that.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
