During the late 90s, while performing in ECW, many wrestling fans consider Rob Van Dam to be the sport's best-kept secret. In 2001, Van Dam would be introduced to the mainstream wrestling audience when he arrived in WWE as part of the Invasion angle. From there, Van Dam became one of WWE's most popular performers.

RELATED: 10 Pictures Of Rob Van Dam Like You've Never Seen Him Before

Backstage politics, coupled with Van Dam's aloof attitude likely prevented him from achieving more as a singles star in WWE. As a tag team competitor though, Van Dam enjoyed huge success in every promotion he worked in, even if his partners weren't always all winners.

10 Best: CM Punk

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In 2006, WWE decided to revive the ECW brand. Unfortunately, as many fans know, that experiment would end up being a total catastrophe. Despite that, a few positive things came out of the ECW revival. One of those things was the emergence of CM Punk.

Punk got his big break in WWE under the ECW banner. That's where WWE fans first began to rally behind him. As the biggest star in ECW at the time, Rob Van Dam found himself teaming with Punk on a couple of occasions. They'd also team up later in their WWE runs but their peak as partners came in ECW. In a perfect world, their team would've been a representation of ECW's past and future.

9 Worst: Goldberg

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By 2003, Rob Van Dam was undeniably one of WWE's most popular performers. Regrettably, though, Van Dam wasn't much of a backstage politician. This meant Van Dam was often passed over for big matches that he was likely more deserving of. Still, there's no denying that Van Dam was in an enviable spot around that time.

While part of the Monday Night Raw roster in that era, Van Dam would rub shoulders with some of the sport's biggest legends. This included teaming with Shawn Michaels and Goldberg on the 12/1/2003 episode of Raw. Teaming with Michaels was likely always a great experience for Van Dam. The less polished Goldberg on the other hand was likely less of a joy. Legendary status doesn't always mean a performer was necessarily a good wrestler.

8 Best: Booker T

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Rob Van Dam and Booker T had very similar experiences before and during their time in WWE. Like Van Dam, Booker T was huge before arriving in WWE. The only difference was Booker did it in WCW instead of ECW. Once they were both in WWE though, their journeys weren't too different.

Both men were extremely popular upper mid-card stars who eventually got World Title runs. Before reaching World Champion status though, both repeatedly found success in WWE'S Tag Team division. In 2004, Van Dam and Booker even had a run as World Tag Team Champions together. They would've certainly been more successful had they stayed together longer.

7 Worst: Spike Dudley

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During the 90s, in pro wrestling's underground, ECW was cultivating a smaller, more hardcore following of fans. As the head of ECW, Paul Heyman often made the best use of the limited performers he had. One particular overachiever that Heyman groomed was Spike Dudley.

Eventually, Spike would make it to WWE. While in WWE, Spike found surprising success as a tag team competitor. Still, Spike was nowhere near Van Dam's level. This is why it was a bit surprising that Van Dam and Spike found themselves on the same team several times in 2002. Van Dam was likely fond of Spike but he certainly couldn't have been his favorite partner ever.

6 Best: Rey Mysterio

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After WCW and ECW both went out of business in 2001, WWE suddenly had an influx of top-notch performers from both promotions. Rob Van Dam joined the promotion in 2001 and found immediate success. In 2002, Rey Mysterio finally arrived in WWE, with much fanfare. Despite both performers' popularity, they weren't viewed as main event stars at the time.

RELATED: 5 Best Tag Team Partners Of Rey Mysterio's Career (& The 5 Worst)

Both Van Dam and Mysterio still found plenty of success though. At one point, Van Dam and Mysterio were even the WWE Tag Team Champions together. Unfortunately, the team never achieved its full potential due to a Van Dam injury. It would've been interesting to see where this team could've gone had Van Dam not gotten injured.

5 Worst: The Sandman

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Today, over 20 years after going out of business, ECW still holds a special place in the hearts of many wrestling fans. In its heyday, the promotion was a refuge for discarded performers and disgruntled wrestling fans. In that chaos, one very unlikely superstar was born, The Sandman. Sandman embodied everything that ECW stood for. He was a beer-drinking brawler who defied authority.

Despite reaching a level of stardom in ECW though, the truth is, Sandman was a terrible worker. When WWE relaunched ECW in 2006, Sandman and Rob Van Dam were integral pieces of the brand. Unfortunately, by that time, Sandman was an even worse worker than in his prime. He and Van Dam would team several times during ECW's relaunch with less than flattering results

4 Best: Kane

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Some things in life, like peanut butter and jelly, are just made for each other. Then, there are other things like bacon and sweets, that shouldn't go together but somehow works for a lot of people. The team of Rob Van Dam and Kane was pro wrestling's version of bacon and sweets. No one knew why it worked, it just did.

In 2003, Kane's character was a far cry from his monstrous beginnings. At the time, Kane was as vulnerable and human as his character could get. That's when he formed a surprising partnership with Van Dam. The two worked great together. They'd go on to win the World Tag Team Championships as a unit and have some great backstage segments together. Unfortunately, the two partners became rivals after Kane was unmasked.

3 Worst: Torrie Wilson

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The early 2000s wasn't the greatest time to be a female performer in WWE. At least not a wrestler. At the time, WWE's creative team didn't see the women wrestlers as a priority. They were often booked without direction and were used more as time fillers than actual competitors. Unfortunately, those were the waters Torrie Wilson had to navigate during her time in WWE.

RELATED: 10 Things Fans Forget About Torrie Wilson

To be fair, Wilson was never a world-beater in terms of her in-ring work but she always gave maximum effort and it led to her being booked in some high-profile spots. At one point, Wilson teamed with some of SmackDown's top stars. This included Rey Mysterio and even Rob Van Dam. Wilson certainly wasn't one of Van Dam's better partners but luckily, she was never expected to be.

2 Best: Sabu

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In the early and mid-90s, much of ECW's roster was made up of outcasts from WWE and WCW. By the late 90s though, ECW had managed to cultivate and grow some in-house talent. This included the likes of Taz, Rob Van Dam, and Sabu. Despite Van Dam eventually becoming the biggest star to come out of ECW, a lot of the promotion's legacy was built around Taz and Sabu's rivalry.

Sabu, specifically, was an enigma, unlike anything that had been previously seen in wrestling. His unique look and in-ring style set him apart from any other performer. Sabu and Van Dam would eventually form a tag team in ECW. They'd enjoy great success as partners, winning the ECW Tag Team Championships twice. They'd remain close friends and allies throughout their careers.

1 Worst: Bill Alfonso

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Throughout the years, in various promotions, wrestling fans have witnessed some truly special wrestler/manger combinations. While ECW was never on par with WWE and WCW, they also had a couple of managerial names that carried a little clout. One of those names was Bill Alfonso.

Alfonso was a former referee turned manager. As a manager, he could get obnoxious but he was at Van Dam's side for most of "Mr. Monday Night's" greatest accomplishments in ECW. Unfortunately, he was also Van Dam's worst partner when they teamed up in 1997 at ECW: As Good As It Gets against Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty. Van Dam wouldn't mind carrying Alfonso through the match but they wouldn't team again going forward.