Editing Rob Van Dam (section)

==== WWE Champion and ECW Champion (2005–2006) ====
[[File:Rob Van Dam RVD thumbs.jpg|thumb|Van Dam during his ring entrance at [[WrestleMania 23]]]]

While recuperating, Van Dam made an appearance at the ECW reunion pay-per-view [[ECW One Night Stand (2005)|ECW One Night Stand]] on June 12. Accompanied by his former manager Bill Alfonso and sporting a knee brace, Van Dam delivered a [[Shoot (professional wrestling)#Worked shoots|worked shoot]] [[List of professional wrestling terms#P|promo]], standing up for ECW and criticizing the way he had been [[List of professional wrestling terms#B|booked]] in WWE, until he was attacked by [[Terry Gerin|Rhyno]]. He was saved by Sabu, who defeated Rhyno in an impromptu match. Despite his injury, Van Dam got physically involved in the match, hitting Rhyno with a chairshot and giving him a [[#In wrestling|Chair Surf]].<ref name="raw05">{{cite web|url=http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/bios/vandam.html#raw3|title=RVD's Raw Career (2005)|publisher=Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster|access-date=February 18, 2008}}</ref> On the June 27 episode of ''Raw'', Van Dam, while still healing, was drafted to the Raw brand in the [[2005 WWE draft lottery|2005 draft lottery]]. He was introduced to ''Raw'' by [[Carly Colón|Carlito]], who insulted Van Dam before attacking him and assaulting his knee. Van Dam made his return to the ring over seven months later at the [[Royal Rumble (2006)|Royal Rumble]] on January 29, 2006. He gained revenge on Carlito by eliminating him, but was in turn inadvertently eliminated by Rey Mysterio in the final moments. On the February 6 episode of ''Raw'', Van Dam defeated Carlito in the first round of the Road to WrestleMania Tournament to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship, but lost in the final round to Triple H, in a triple threat match, which also featured Big Show. Later, Van Dam defeated [[Trevor Murdoch]] to qualify for the [[Money in the Bank ladder match]] at [[WrestleMania 22]] on April 2. Van Dam went on to win the match, thus earning himself a guaranteed shot at either the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship at any time within the subsequent year.<ref name= MitB>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/wrestlemania22/matches/2220322/results/|date=February 4, 2006|title=RVD wins the "Money in the Bank" Ladder Match|publisher=WWE}}</ref>

Following the ladder match, [[Shelton Benjamin]] challenged Van Dam to put his Money in the Bank opportunity on the line in a match. Van Dam countered by requesting a match for Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship. One week later, both Van Dam and Benjamin picked mystery opponents for one another, with the loser placing their respective prize on the line in a bout at [[Backlash (2006)|Backlash]] on April 30. Benjamin lost to the returning [[Charlie Haas]], while Van Dam was defeated by all five members of the [[Spirit Squad]]. As a result, both the Intercontinental Championship and the Money in the Bank title shot were contested at Backlash. Van Dam went on to win the former, before dropping the Intercontinental Championship back to Benjamin on the May 15 episode of ''Raw''.

[[File:RobVD5.jpg|thumb|left|Van Dam facing Hardcore Holly in the [[Elimination Chamber#Variations|Extreme Elimination Chamber]] at [[December to Dismember (2006)|December to Dismember]]]]
On May 29, Van Dam was selected by Paul Heyman to be [[2006 WWE brand extension draft|drafted]] to WWE's new [[ECW (WWE brand)|ECW]] brand. At [[ECW One Night Stand (2006)|ECW One Night Stand]] on June 11, Van Dam cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship. After two referees were knocked out, [[Adam Copeland|Edge]] appeared from underneath the ring to attack Cena, [[Professional wrestling attacks#Spear|spearing]] him through a table. Van Dam then hit a [[Professional wrestling aerial techniques#Frog splash|Five Star Frog Splash]] and the pinfall was counted by Paul Heyman, who suddenly ran down the aisle. On the following episode of ''Raw'', [[Vince McMahon]] confirmed that the title change was official due to the match being held under "extreme rules". For the past few weeks, Heyman had hinted that the WWE Championship would be "rechristened" the ECW World Heavyweight Championship when Van Dam won. On the debut of ''[[WWE ECW|ECW]]'', Van Dam was awarded the reinstated [[ECW World Heavyweight Championship]] by Heyman and decided to defend the WWE Championship separately and simultaneously, joking that "this one spins", becoming the first wrestler in history to hold both the WWE Championship and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship as well as the only one to hold them at the same time, making him a double world champion. He would become the 15th WWE [[Triple Crown (professional wrestling)#WWE|Triple Crown Champion]] as a result of his WWE Championship win.

At [[Vengeance (2006)|Vengeance]] on June 25, Van Dam defeated Edge to retain the WWE Championship. Two nights later on ''ECW'', Van Dam defeated Kurt Angle to retain the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/ecw-wwe/060627.html|title=Online World of Wrestling|website=www.onlineworldofwrestling.com}}</ref> On the July 3 episode of ''Raw'', Van Dam lost the WWE Championship to Edge in a triple threat match that also featured John Cena. The next night on the July 4 episode of ''ECW'', he lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show after Heyman [[List of professional wrestling terms#T|turned]] on him. Later on WWE.com, Heyman suspended Van Dam for 30 days without giving a reason ([[Legit (professional wrestling)|in reality]], WWE suspended Van Dam for 30 days as a result of [[#2006 arrest|his recent drug possession arrest]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/news/rvdsuspended|title=RVD Suspended|publisher=WWE|access-date=July 4, 2006}}</ref>

He returned to television on the August 8 episode of ''ECW'', attacking both Sabu and [[Kurt Angle]] during a match. His return to the ring came a week later, in a losing effort to Sabu in a [[ladder match]] for number one contendership to the now renamed ECW World Championship. Van Dam slowly worked his way back into the championship picture. In October, Van Dam defeated Big Show in a non-title match to regain the number one contendership. Having the option to pick a date for the title, Van Dam announced the title match would occur at [[December to Dismember (2006)|December to Dismember]] on December 3. However, Heyman had the option of picking the match type and announced that the main event would be a six-man [[Elimination Chamber#Variations|Extreme Elimination Chamber]] match. At December to Dismember, Van Dam was the third participant eliminated. Later in December, Van Dam once again earned the number one contendership to the ECW World Championship, but this time by a fan poll. Van Dam got three matches against ECW World Champion [[Bobby Lashley]], coming up short each time.