I know his WWF career kind of bombed but him attacking Gorilla was tremendous.

It was cool, in as far that Gorilla in his heyday in the ring could be seen as a 60's-70's version of Vader. A big guy but technically sound.

 

This may not be a popular opinion, especially now, but I think what happened to him in the WWF was as much his own doing as it was theirs. He was getting older, and their repeated requests to him to lose weight weren't without merit. That said, they could have done a better job of protecting him and using him better in some instances. Overall, it's just really weird that he was there in the first place. He couldn't have lost as much face in Japan for doing jobs to Hogan and the Orndorff incident, then he might have when he signed with WCW's competition.

Vader said on Austins Podcast that he was injured. The suspension bought him recovery time but he still wasnt healed by Wrestlemania XII.

That's interesting because I seem to remember in his RF shoot he complained that they took him off TV right after the hottest angle he was in (being the Monsoon attack)

He truly worked his gimmick about as well as anyone. He also seemed like a very warm person in real life. RIP

This was mentioned back in the Vader description for the Best Wrestler Ever project, but Vader is one of those guys who could work in the US, Japan, Mexico, basically anywhere, not change anything in his act, and it would always work and be awesome. And that is a very very unique trait, that hardly anyone can pull. He was an other worldly monster heel, a presence that I feel like will never be duplicated. This sucks.

He's pretty much to the 90's what Andre was to the 70's or Hansen to the 80's in terms of being a special attraction that could be plugged into the main event virtually anywhere. Maybe the last great special attraction wrestler ever after the 2000's WWE monopoly and the Japan scene collapse made it much harder for guys to have careers like that.

Gutted. Vader is a top ten favorite guy for me. Nothing can ease depression better than watching Vader potatoing some jobber in the head. I'm really wished I went to see him when he faced Will Ospreay at a Rev Pro show a few years back.

Absolutely one of a kind. Had an aura of true unhinged violence that almost nobody else in wrestling has captured. THE best big man of all. RIP Big Van.

This was mentioned back in the Vader description for the Best Wrestler Ever project, but Vader is one of those guys who could work in the US, Japan, Mexico, basically anywhere, not change anything in his act, and it would always work and be awesome.

 

Except WWE/F, the land of teaching great workers how to work. It's a pretty interesting case in that matter. He also worked Europe and was awesome there from what I know.

I wonder if McMahon had a better relationship with Inoki, if he could have been used more during the late 80's/early 90's, when they really knew how to use big guys. Put him in the Earthquake spot, and he could have fared well I imagine.

 

The two best announcers who put over his awesomeness I think were Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan. Ross could put over a glorified ring boy and make it sound believable, so putting across how dangerous this guy was was easy I'm sure. And though Heenan was hit-or-miss in WCW, without saying it he gave you the impression that if he were still a manager he'd give up everything short of the clothes on his back to manage him.

So, by my count Vader worked AWA, New Japan, UWA, WCW, UWFI, WWF, All Japan and NOAH. I cant think of anyone else who worked so many of the major promotions in the world. Anyone?

Hansen had main event level runs in nearly every major promotion in the world during the 80's-early 90s. NJPW, AJPW, UWA, WWC, WWF, MACW, AWA, WCW, ECW

Probably not post-territorial era. Even in WCW that he had won titles in the U.S., Japan, Mexico AND Europe was a major talking point.

He also worked NJPW (the Inoki suplex from hell), FMW (fucking up Ken Shamrock in a cage) and AJPW (first ever Dome) shows while on his WWF contract, which seems insane today.

I've seen so many times that Vader didn't get a HOF induction, and was confused all day because I remembered him going in. It turns out that I remembered his induction of Stan Hansen.

It's funny cause I remember his speech more than Hansen's. Shame that the WWE waited and didn't induct Vader sooner. His WCW run is the model to book a monster heel in the modern era. He was flat out amazing and will truly be missed.

Let's go in a slightly different direction with this. I say his guest appearance on Boy Meets World is one of the best a wrestler ever did.

On 6/21/2018 at 12:34 AM, Dooley said:

That's interesting because I seem to remember in his RF shoot he complained that they took him off TV right after the hottest angle he was in (being the Monsoon attack)

They brought him back early according to Cornette. Good cast with Bix in the beginning and Cornette goes over his WWF run in the last segment. The Vince-Mastodon impression is killer.

http://605pod.com/2018/06/21/vader-special/

WWE Network added a Vader collection today.

The bio in the Observer was excellent, as expected. Reading about how badly he wanted to be inducted into the WWE HOF while he was still alive was heartbreaking.

The collection I mentioned above has two AWA matches with him vs Hanson and vs Brody. 

I met him at a Legends of the Ring event and he couldnt have been nicer. My son was about 9 at the time and in his soccer uniform and Vader took the time to talk to talk to him for a while about his game.  With his rep and the disinterest alot of the other guys took, I was pleasantly surprised and will remember that interaction.  

I watched the G-1 with Vader/Mutoh for the first time in years today. It's insane seeing Mutoh just get absolutely buried in pillows after he wins.

Today I saw on reddit that Vader was the one who actually came up with the GHC names for NOAH during the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast tribute to Vader, pretty cool tidbit i'd never heard before.

Another one from the podcast was that besides Sid and Ultimate Warrior being considered for the Big Van Vader gimmick which was told a lot, Crush Brian Adams was also considered for the role. I never heard him be included before so that was neat to hear also.

http://www.tmz.com/2018/06/24/vader-sting-jesse-white-comfort-final-days/

That's genuinely touching. I'm not Christian but I'm not made of stone either, I'm glad that someone who he shared so many professional highs with had that deep a personal connection with just before the light dimmed out.

On 6/21/2018 at 5:23 AM, El-P said:

 

Except WWE/F, the land of teaching great workers how to work. It's a pretty interesting case in that matter. He also worked Europe and was awesome there from what I know.

I think there's something to how McMahon, at least pre-Attitude Era, almost always wanted heels to backpedal, cheat, and act cowardly that didn't suit Vader's act.

Watch  Watched Vader vs. Hansen last night. It was the NJPW World Freebie of the Week (not sure if it still is). Think it was the one where Vader's eye popped out of its socket. His eye certainly looked fucked-up in any case. Sloppy Stan seemed to take liberty after liberty. I know he's blind as a bat, but damn! Not sure how he doesn't have more of a rep of being an unsafe worker, between this Vader incident and fucking up Bruno's neck. Even though it was 30 years ago and Vader is no longer with us, I still felt worried for the big guy.

And yeah, Vince really fucked up what could have been. One of the most frustrating missed opportunities in WWE history. For all the shit Trips got about holding guys back (and rightfully so), at least we eventually got token reigns from RVD, Booker, etc.