Could Vince McMahon have ties to the mob which led to the Chairman's dominance in New York City for decades? Rob Van Dam believes so.

During the territory days, McMahon's World Wrestling Federation was based in New York. It was from the Big Apple that McMahon launched his 'aggressive expansion' that resulted in McMahon domination of the United States and subsequently the world of professional wrestling.

With Madison Square Garden in the heart of the city, McMahon could not have picked a better home for his base of operations than NYC. On a recent edition of his 1 of a Kind podcast, however, Rob Van Dam had a theory as to how McMahon was allowed to operate in the city that never sleeps.

"I am expecting to hear something about Vince and the mafia eventually, you know. Yeah, you know he’s got to be tied up in the mafia.

"There were certain years you couldn’t do anything in New York without working with them, his dad worked with them they ran the Arenas and the and the entertainment business pretty much everything you know at one point, so I know there’s some stories there yeah.”

Van Dam also referenced the alleged text messages sent by McMahon, which he believes were referencing the mafia instead of lawyers.

"When he was like, ‘Hey you can’t give me any problems on this. I have phone numbers on speed dial, I have contacts on speed dial in my phone, they solve problems instantly.

"Things of that nature and at the time I was thinking it read like I thought he met like big ass High powerful lawyers but now I’m thinking [imitates gun] someone will knock her off.”