In an interview with High Times that also featured former WWE wrestlers Matt Sydal and Paul London, Rob Van Dam opened up about his marijuana use during his wrestling career. It was a lifestyle that he lived more boldly throughout his time in ECW, but once he got into WWE, he got a warning from Stephanie McMahon.

“She said, ‘look if you’re going to get high, at least be discreet about it,'” RVD recalled. She had also told him to change his shirt because of its odor.

On July Fourth weekend, RVD was arrested with 18 grams of marijuana and five Vicodin while he was both WWE Champion and ECW Champion. RVD was forced to vacant both titles and was given a 30-day suspension.

RVD has said before that, in retrospect, he would have tried to do everything he could to avoid that arrest. He noted that after his suspension, the revived version of ECW in WWE did not achieve the same highs it did when he was champion.

“No trial, no nothing,” RVD said. “It was way better before I got busted. When I came back, it was going downhill fast to its ultimate destruction.”