In a recent episode of his “1 Of A Kind” podcast, Rob Van Dam talked about his experience being interviewed for the 2021 “Plane Ride From Hell” episode of Vice TV’s Dark Side Of The Ring. The discussion revolved around the infamous 2002 plane ride during which flight attendant Heidi Doyle accused wrestler Ric Flair of sexual misconduct.
Van Dam confirmed that Flair did coerce Doyle into touching his private parts. The podcast below highlights key points from the discussion:
On his comments being misconstrued: Van Dam explains, “They edited it, making me seem as if I saw Ric forcing a girl to touch his privates. I never said I saw that, rather I felt like my words were manipulated into that context. I only said, ‘He was close to her, invading her space.’ The interviewer then suggested, ‘Like trying to make her touch him?’ I agreed to this, not realizing the implications. I only saw Ric crowding her space, nothing more explicit.”
On his silence until now: Van Dam shares, “I’ve never told this before. I believe I’m responsible for what I said. I don’t want to blame them for my naivety in reiterating their words. It did fit into my narrative of him crowding her. I saw him trying to make her touch him, he had her cornered, but I never saw anything explicit. I wasn’t sure if she was going along with it or resisting. It was unexpected for them to suggest that I saw more than I did.”