July 13, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Rob Van Dam, Royce Gracie vs. Matt Hughes

In wrestling's history, there have been plenty of colorful behind-the-scenes reasons for world title changes. But this week may have been a first.

Rob Van Dam, holding both the WWE and ECW titles after five years of largely being in mid-card limbo, had both titles taken from him due to a change of plans stemming from his being pulled over and charged with possession of marijuana on 7/2 after a show in Huntington, WV. After dropping both titles, he was then suspended for 30 days, joining Kurt Angle as the two top ECW stars serving suspension time. Van Dam's suspension is without pay, which will cost him more than $20,800 minimum, based on his down side guarantee. It is not known if Angle's suspension is without pay, although the strong presumption is it would be, and his downside is considerably larger.

In a story that made the national wires and was covered in many newspapers and on several radio stations throughout the country, Robert Alex Szatkowski and Terry Michael Brunk (Sabu) were pulled over for speeding at about 10:15 p.m. that night in Hanging Rock, OH, traveling from the house show that night, presumably to Columbus, OH, where they would likely fly to Philadelphia. 

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