RIP Vader

[KawadaSmile]

It was confirmed in his twitter page.

 

May he rest in peace. One of the greatest bigs in wrestling history.

[SPS]

Really Sad to hear, I loved his work and he was such a traveled and decorated monster champion in his various Japan,WCW,Mexico, and Europe runs. His AJPW resurgence after his disastrous WWF run will always be some of my favorite stuff along with his UWFi run and Sting feud. Vader was awesome and it's sad to see him go and especially that he never got his WWE HOF moment.

 

EDIT: Also wanted to add, the most kick ass fun character to play as in VPW 2.

[gordi]

Genuinely sad news. A lot of people (very much including me) got a lot of enjoyment out of watching his matches. I got the sense, watching his 2016 WWE HoF induction speech for Stan Hansen, that Vader understood how much we, the fans, loved him.

[NintendoLogic]

I thought I had become pretty well desensitized to wrestler deaths at this point, but this one hit me pretty hard. More so than anyone since Eddie. RIP.

[C.S.]

The best 400+ pounder ever?

 

It still upsets me that he was so badly damaged during the end of his WCW stint by Hogan and for his entire WWE run.

[gordi]

I just went and squashed Hollywood Hogan with Vader in Fire Pro. Made me feel a bit better.

[flyonthewall2983]

His run as WCW champion might be the most impressive heel champ run of the 90's.

 

He had some good moments in his WWF run, most notably the 4-way with Austin, Bret and Undertaker.

 

Very sad news, as it looked like he was recovering well from his surgeries. Rest In Power.

[dawho5]

We lost a legend and easily one of the top 3 400+ pound workers ever. RIP Vader.

[Cap]

I wrote on twitter that he absolutely fascinated me as a kid. His size, his presence, that big mask that shot smoke. He was truly larger than life, like no one else in the business. As an adult I came to really appreciate his athleticism and his talent. Vader was a unique talent. He will be greatly missed.

 

This is indeed another sad day for wrestling.

[C.S.]

I just went and squashed Hollywood Hogan with Vader in Fire Pro. Made me feel a bit better.

 

I so wish the "like" button worked here, because I jammed on it as soon as I saw this post.

[Strummer]

This one really hurts. One of my favorites. RIP

[El-P]

Wow. The greatest monster worker ever. His health had been pretty poor the last few years apparently. He was one of a kind, always loved his WCW and Japan work. One of my favorite worker, for sure, I can always pop a Vader match and have a good time. A true legend. Bye Leon.

[NintendoLogic]

We lost a legend and easily one of the top 3 400+ pound workers ever. RIP Vader.

 

Not trying to start an argument, but this is like calling Michael Jordan one of the top 3 shooting guards ever.

[KawadaSmile]

Very sad news, as it looked like he was recovering well from his surgeries. Rest In Power.

From what his son said on his twitter account, he was diagnosed with pneumonia not long ago. That made things much worse.

[Strummer]

Think it should be pointed out what an underrated awesome talker he was. He never really had that rep but I loved his promos

[Richeyedwards]

The best monster worker ever his WCW, UWFI, AJPW and even Noah stuff has great stuff in it. There is plenty more good things in between all those and some before.

 

I'm Gonna go watch Vader vs Kobashi 2000 the Vader vs Takada trilogy and some Vader vs sting.

 

Rest in peace Mastodon.

...

[Matt D]

I feel kind of bad because I didn't believe him when he kept saying he was dying in the last year.

[flyonthewall2983]

Think it should be pointed out what an underrated awesome talker he was. He never really had that rep but I loved his promos

 

Him and John Tenta don't get enough credit for being good promos. They weren't erudite by any means, but could put over who they were and what their agenda straight enough and still come across as intimidating.

[SirEdger]

I often saw that Bam Bam Bigelow was the most agile big man in wrestling history but I'd make the argument that Vader was. I don't know a whole lot of 400 lbs guys who could do a moonsault like Vader did. Arguably the top heel in WCW in the mid-90s and I often get so mad to see that WWF completely screwed him up after his program with Shawn Michaels. Vader should've had beaten HBK for the title at Summerslam and run with it, even if it meant for Shawn to regain it.

 

What saddens me the most is that Vader wanted a HOF induction so bad while he could still attend it and he never got his wish to come true. RIP Vader.

[William Bologna]

Watching the Fujinami matches, it really struck how fast he got good. He wasn't terrible when he showed up in New Japan in 1987, but he was obviously green. By the time he won the IWGP belt in the tournament in 1989, though, he was damn good, and he'd only started in 85.

 

He was still effective, diminished but dangerous, in his All Japan run, and that gives him 20 years of solid work. Remarkable longevity for a man that size working a rough style.

 

Update: I'm so stricken by grief that I got mixed up about the difference between 10 and 20. Let's just all pretend it was 20 years.

[Microstatistics]

Greatest superheavyweight ever, by a margin of light years. Excellent in every setting and promotion. RIP.

[Coffey]

Tremendous pro-wrestler. Robust & appreciated career full of great matches. Wish WWF had done more with him, but his Japan and WCW runs are good enough. I'll never forget when he splashed Flair off the top rope. I thought Flair was straight-up dust. Clash of the Champions XXXI.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

One of the best there has ever been. R.I.P.

[Childs]

During GWE, we talked a lot about how he represented a different kind of versatility. He thrived in disparate promotions not because he adapted his style to each but because his style worked in every setting. I find his career as rewatchable as any. RIP

[Tenese Sarwieh]

Easily one of if not the best big men in wrestling. Shame he didn't get his full just dues in the us dealing with Hogan and friends in WCW then the atrocious booking of him in WWF.RIP good sir.