Ngl all his stuff in Japan, even his short NOAH run, along with his wcw stuff is must watch. It's insane how Vince couldn't get him over when he got over everywhere else
Vince probably could have got him over, but there were a few guys that were bigger names that didnt wanna wrestle with him cause of different reasons one being he wrestled stiff, brett hart said in his podcast he had bad hygiene and he rarely washed his gear which made him smell like vomit. Also was started it was a success people reacted well but they had to "suspend" him because he needed shoulder surgery, and it was rushed to quickly to get him back and he wasnt rehabbed properly and his shoulder was stiff and he gained weight from being off and didnt have the same stamina he did. If wwf would have waited have surgery rehab shoulder right got back in shape from not fighting other issues wouldnt have been as important. HBKs issues were some of the dickheaded things Vader would do pulling hair and shit. Same thing thats not as big a deal dont do that. But Vince also didn't like having long heel runs. Look at wwf you have people go back and forth face and heel and they will have a good reign or you have straight heels that win from one face and hold it for a little while before the next face wins it to have their long reign. Vader's a heel and as such vince wasnt gonna give him a long run like the faces get or the people that go back and forth they can have be a face during a longer reign. Its the good guy bad guy thing for the most part people like the good guys, obviously good guy vs good guy is boring soyou have the bad guy cheat or whatever and win have it a little while and they next good guy is screwed or cheated against while going after the bad guy to build up people wanting to see the good guy win the pay per view comes and the good guy wins its Vince's main theme and he sticks with it and he won the monday night wars and ended up buying his competition so it worked for him
His brawls with Cactus Jack were fascinating for me in my young years. Vader will always be one of my favorites, made him in every wrestling video game where character creation was possible. As you said: he had a great moveset!
Great summary! Leon was incredible and his legend will live on. I think one honourable mention (there are many) should go to the 2 matches he had with Cactus Jack on Saturday's Night's main event. He powerbombed Cacti on the unprotected concrete, causing the initial concussion that sent Jack to the streets!
Even though Shawn Michaels was a twat at the time by refusing to lose the WWF Championship to him, I loved Shawn Michaels vs Vader from Summerslam 1996.
I was 8 years old when the Eyepopping match between Stan Hansen & Vader took place, cringed pretty heavily at the time and all these years later it's still pretty cringe worthy.
imo Good vid on a guy who truly deserves it. Vader was really all that. His legacy is great because his in-ring skills were great and he was always ready and willing to leave it all in the ring. One of the good things about being a geezer is having watched people like Vader from the beginnings of their careers. imo
I need to find those Vader matches. They sound like a great thing to watch, I really was born a little too late to appreciate the stuff that Vader could bring to the table.
Gr8 list. Could also have Vader vs Bret Hart & Stone Cold (both from seperate episodes of Raw) & also vs Arachnaman (Brad Armstrong) on some random WCW show early 90's, where he power-bombed Arachnaman on the concrete arena steps. Big Van Vader was 1 of my favourite wrestlers of all time.
I recommend Vader fans watch his match with Hulk Hogan at Superbrawl 5. I was genuinely surprised at how dominant he was in that match and how much Hogan was willing to sell for him.
Thanks for the recommendation. Just watched it. Brilliant match. Makes sense Hogan sold it so well... as it made Vader out to be considerable Hogan worthy threat.
To this day, it's still amazing that a man as large as Vader was (billed at 450 lbs) could do a moonsault. It's a shame he isn't in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Another Legend WWF/E botched... He should of been a legit top guy in wwf... After watching his Japan and WCW run it's crazy he was a midcarder in wwf. As a kid I thought he was a nobody... Holy shit was I wrong. His matches with Flair, Cactus Jack and Sting are legendary. Still holds up today. I am very happy I went back and watched every wcw ppv. The first few were brutal to watch they were so boring lol. But towards the late 80s it was really good and had some cool stage designs which I was shocked about bc they were before their time. Early 90s wcw is hit or miss but tbh I loved it. Idk if it was the nostalgia or me just loving all the surprise legends poping up I was having a great time. Hogan era pre nwo was even good. Yes it was cringe with actual horrible moments but overall it was a good cringe and cheesy 90s feel to it. 96 -99 is peak wcw and I watched this era multiple times in my life and have most of this era in wcw and wwf on vhs. 10/10. 2000- 2001 has some highlights (like Scott Steiner and Booker T) but overall this is the time period most people think of when they say wcw sucked. Overall I loved wcw and its hilarious that if you never watched it but only heard about it on wwe tv you would think it is garbage but it really isn't quite the opposite actually. Early wcw standouts - Flair, Sting, Vader, Luger, Sid (yeah ino lol), Ron Simmons, Rick Rude, Cactus Jack, The Steiners and Ricky Steamboat Mid to late 90s standouts- honestly too many to name nWo, Goldberg, DDP, Booker T, Sting, Flair, Macho Man, Benoit, Jericho, Eddie, Mysterio, The Giant, Luger Btw I hate Jeff Jarrett in wcw lol. To his shitty attire and overall look in his 97 run and his title run of terror in 2000... OMG people say this or that killed wcw but what killed wcw in my opinion is the extent they over used Jarrett... He was Triple H at his worst ×10. He thought he was the shit with his construction worker shades, shitty catch phrase, horrible finisher and I can go on and on lol but I think we can all agree he was terrible. (I actually like JJ but not as the top guy and not in every scene). Also I think the Natural Born Thrillers got more tv time in 3 months than 80 percent of stars in the history of wcw had in their career lol. Holy shit if it was a 12 segment show they would show up 9 to 10 times lol
JST ABOUT ANYTHING FROM Vader in NJPW like him and Bam Bam vs Stieners . ANYTHING from AJPW . Singles , tags , six man matches . BEAST in Japan !!! Plus WCW 89 through 93 if i remember correct was great . But ANYTHING in Japan ive seen was killer . And ive seen A LOT !!!! RIP BIG VAN VADER !!!!
Vader , Mike Awesome , Taker , Bruiser Brody , BamBam and of course ANDRE are my best big dudes in the biz !!! Ernie Ladd , John Studd and Don Leo Jonathon should be in there too
The trouble with Stan Hansen was that he had a very bad eye sight. In fact he was almost blind havin roughly 30 % vision. So working with him always posed some danger to both wrestlers. Thats how the eye pop happend.
Thats something that would have been one hell of a match if one or the other were from another time vader was a beast, fast forward they call brock lesner a beast and have it he's tearing through people. I would love to see brock vs vader in his prime that would be a hell of a match
The hulkster shoulda sat down and watched and listened to the pop from the flair v vader main event of starrcade 93...possibly my fav starrcade main event...i wonder if he woulda still swerved everyone and went in business for himself at starrcade 97 in the hottest angle wcw ever produced??? I kinda doubt it...prolly woulda still been "that dont work for me brother"...see unlike hogan....flair...he put people over...even when he won he made the opponent look very strong even if they sucked....not saying vader sucked cause he did not....wwe was stupid for not pushing him....well thats cause of another prima donna backstage back then....HBK....least he seemed to turn it around and put a ton of people over in his comeback run....even the hulkster in the most hilarious match....he showed oh hulk that hulk wasnt the only 1 who can be a top notch prima donna backstage....except he did it to him in front of the whole crowd....i loved it!!! Lol...
Vader was such an incredible talent, and an incredibly wasted talent. A man of that size, experience and excitement that can move the way he does? Absolutely wasted!
Morgan Nunley lol coz hes a dead man lol in celtic mythology heros dont die they just chooce to not live anymore lol. i could could help u with ur list every match hes ever done ima big mark for mark more irony
