RIP Vader

[Lust Hogan]

RIP Vader

 

Totally captivated me as a kid. My first exposure to him was in AWA (I noticed him and was impressed) but I didnt really pay attention to him until WCW when they sent over the hype videos of him in New Japan. It was like discovering Big Foot was real....and DANGEROUS as HELL!!

 

Loved his series with Sting and just the level of realism he brought to wrestling. Truly one of a kind.

[Jmare007]

Such a talented dude in the ring, no question one of the to ever do it. He had been sick for a long time it seems, rest in peace.

[victory]

Definitely sad to hear. He's part of my favorite trilogy of matches with Sting. I just love those matches at Bash 92, Starrcade 92 and Superbrawl 3. Just so fun to watch.

 

RIP

[sek69]

A lot of folks using qualifiers like "one of the best big men", and I get wanting to stay grounded in the moment, but I honestly can't think of anyone his size that was a better worker (certainly not for as long a period of time).

[World's Worst Man]

Vader is one of the few guys I experienced both as a marky kid and as a workrate fan adult. Fond, nostalgic memories of seeing him in WCW and an appreciation for his ability when I watched him during the late 90's/early 2000's in AJPW and NOAH. I think Keiji Mutoh and Jushin Liger are the only other wrestlers that I've had that experience with (both thanks to early 90's WCW).

 

Who else comes close to the combination of Vader's achievements/popularity in the US and Japan? Mutoh, Hansen, Terry Funk, Hogan, Road Warriors? It's not a long list in any case.

[The Thread Killer]

I enjoyed his matches with Sting and especially with Cactus Jack in WCW, but what put me over the top in my Vader fandom was his trilogy of matches with Takada in UWF-I. I loved those fights. He really could work with just about anybody. One of the things that has always struck me about Vader is that you can go back and watch his classic matches and they hold up just as well now - which you can't say for a lot of people. I remember being really pleased when he ranked #14 in the GWE, to me it showed the high regard everybody here at PWO held him in. Anybody who only saw Vader in the WWF didn't really see him at all. All I could say to those fans is seek out his entire body of work. It is so rare to find a Pro Wrestler who actually changed the entire business, but Vader really did it. It's not hyperbole it's true. Vader made the whole concept of plodding super-heavyweights obsolete. He changed the game. An all time great, and his death is a huge loss to the sport. On top of that, from what I've read, seen and heard he was also a really nice guy. I have to admit that sometimes I have become desensitized to Pro Wrestler deaths, but this has really gotten me down today. 63 is too young to go, and I am so sad for his family and loved ones.

Rest in peace, big guy.

[sek69]

I think I'm going to turn on my Nintendo 64 when I get home and Vader Bomb fools in Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 in his honor.

[Mad Dog]

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

[Stiva]

Man, this sucks. Not just one of the best big men ever, one of the best ever full stop. Loss put together a great list of matches on Twitter that I'm going to spend an hour or so bouncing around. RIP

[flyonthewall2983]

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.

[Maciej]

Vader was one of my favorite wrestlers ever, for sure. The way he was able to look extremely dangerous at all times while selling in a way that made his potential defeat by the hero actually convincing was unparalleled, and honestly sort of inspiring as far as performances of masculinity go.

 

I'm starting off with the Mutoh G1 handheld (one of the first matches I have a memory of downloading (or maybe like trying to watch on Real Player?) from the internet; I don't think I ever had it on video tape) and I'm sure I'll be revisiting a bunch of favs and trying to find stuff I've never seen tonite.

[Al]

 

 

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.

[sek69]

Probably wouldn't have mattered since it seems like he was on the bad side of the clique, since he was the cause of an all time HBK tantrum for the sin of being out of position on an elbow drop.

[Coffey]

A lot of folks using qualifiers like "one of the best big men", and I get wanting to stay grounded in the moment, but I honestly can't think of anyone his size that was a better worker (certainly not for as long a period of time).

 

For me, it mostly comes down to defining what big man means. If we're going by weight, height, or both & how much of both. Vader is one of the best to do it but if he's the best "big" or not, to me, depends on if he's in the same category as Stan Hansen or not. If Hansen is too small & gets excluded, then Vader is the best big man to me.

 

I had Big Van Vader at #11 on my GWE ballot.

 

Vader: 6'4", 375lbs

Hansen: 6'4", 321lbs.

[Loss]

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.

[Boss Rock]

Very sad news but I know he had been dealing with heart issues for a while. Haven't seen nearly as much stuff of his as other folks here have, but what I did see him in he was almost always great. Loved the way he would just club people with his massive arms simply because he could.

[Mad Dog]

Yeah, he had congestive heart failure and you're usually on borrowed time when you have that.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Rest in power, big man.

[fxnj]

Well that's some pretty shitty news to wake up to. He's always been one of my favorites. He was great pretty much everywhere he went. Even the WWF run has some gems.

[DG9]

Although my watching started past his main years, going back and seeing what he was capable of was truly something special. His personality also seemed so lovable, R.I.P Vader.

[sek69]

There hasn't been enough mention of his time in Mexio, so here's a pic of him with the Brazos.

 

 

[SPS]

There hasn't been enough mention of his time in Mexio, so here's a pic of him with the Brazos.

 

 

 

Cool pic, his Mexico work is my biggest blind spot of his career, I've seen his all his his work elsewhere work but never his UWA run. Anything good there worth watching?

[sek69]

Another "worlds colliding" moment for me and an example of how famous he was, I just saw Yoshinori Ono (producer for Capcom who works on the Street Fighter series) offering his condoloences on Twitter.

[KawadaSmile]

Well, no wonder. Vader was incredibly influential when it comes to videogames - he did inspire Sheep the Royal/Alexander the Grater from Saturday Night Slam Masters and Raiden/Big Bear from Fatal Fury.

 

Pretty sure he also had some characters in Fist of the North Star designed after his iconic appearance, too.

[El Dragon]

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.