Several sources are confirming that Rob Van Dam has turned down his latest contract offer to remain with World Wrestling Entertainment. As of now, his deal is set to expire over the summer (I believe but can not confirm late July) but until the deal has expired, there's always a chance that the two sides will come to terms. As of right now, I've heard that creative has been instructed to focus on CM Punk and Elijah Burke as the major players for the ECW brand so that if Van Dam does depart, it's not as strong of a blow to the ECW storylines.
Van Dam has been with WWE since July 2001 when he was brought in as part of the ECW end of the ill-fated Alliance contingent during the Invasion storyline. Van Dam has held just about every major WWE championship belt, although he was never pushed as a top performer for any extended period of time despite a large contingent of fan support, especially early in his tenure.
Should he leave the company, Van Dam's true legacy would be that he was the primary motivating factor in convincing Vince McMahon to revive Extreme Championship Wrestling for the 2005 ECW One Night Stand PPV event, which ironically, Van Dam missed due to a knee injury, although he did give the best promo of his career during the show.
When WWE decided to re-launch ECW as a third brand for the company in June 2006, Van Dam captured the WWE championship from John Cena and was then awarded the resurrected ECW World championship. The original plan was for Van Dam to have a long run with the ECW belt while dropping the WWE title, but those plans were tossed aside when he and Sabu were pulled over for speeding and later charged with possession of a controlled substance. Van Dam quickly dropped both belts and was suspended by the company. Upon his return, he remained a top-tier ECW player but the brand was no longer built around him.
Prior to his WWE run, Van Dam worked for the original Extreme Championship Wrestling from January 1996 through the end of the company's existence, although there were times towards the end of ECW that he took extended breaks from wrestling when the company wasn't able to pay him to perform. During his ECW run, he gradually graduated from undercard heel feuding with Sabu to the top babyface attraction of the latter years of the company. Van Dam also worked briefly for WCW under the moniker "Robby V" when Bills Watts was overseeing that company for Turner Broadcasting and toured All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Considered to be an extremely popular performer among die hard fans, Van Dam would be highly prized on the independent scene should he leave the company, particularly since he's had usage of the Rob Van Dam ring name from 1992 on and likely wouldn't be prevented from using it by World Wrestling Entertainment, as the former Dudley Boys, Team 3D have.
