Vader named to the WWE Hall of Fame
If only they did this when he was alive.
The WWE has announced that Vader will enter the WWE Hall of Fame as the second name inducted this year. The Undertaker was announced last week.
Vader debuted in 1987 and with his size and agility, the former football player was a natural for the ring. Signing with New Japan in 1989, Vader (then known as Big Van Vader), destroyed Antonio Inoki in his debut, causing the Sumo Hall fans to riot. He would win their version of the World Heavyweight Title multiple times, and he would sign with WCW in the early 90s, becoming their top heel.
Vader would main event multiple pay per views, including classic bouts with Sting. With WCW, he won the World Heavyweight Title three times, and could have potentially won more had he not been fired in 1995 following an altercation with wrestler/agent, Paul Orndorff.
Vader signed with the WWE in 1996, and debuted at the Royal Rumble with Jim Cornette as his manager. His high-water mark was a WWE World Heavyweight title shot against Shawn Michaels at Summer Slam 1996, but he was politically handcuffed and he would slide down the card, leaving the company three years later.
He passed away in 2018 and the age of 62 following a battle with cancer.
Vader is currently ranked on our WWE Hall of Fame list, and will be removed following an overhaul after Wrestlemania weekend.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the fans and family of the late Leon White.
RIP: Vader
It is another sad day in the world of Professional Wrestling as Leon White “Vader” passed away due to congestive heart failure at the age of 63.
White got into professional wrestling after a brief career in the National Football League where he most notably appeared for the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl. A patella injury forced him out of the game but like so many football players at the time he moved to the world of professional wrestling.
Trained by Brad Rheingans, White would be given the name of “Baby Bull” Leon White, which would later morph into “Bull Power”. He was not a top of the card guy but his size made him an instant attraction and an asset coveted by other promotions. The first to take advantage of that was New Japan Pro Wrestling and they did not waste anytime making him an instant star.
Directly following a successful win over Riki Choshu, the now named Big Van Vader challenged and soundly thrashed a tired Antonio Inoki, which led to a riot at the Sumo Hall. The promotion was subsequently banned from the facility for nearly two years but Vader instantly became a major star in Japan.
This would usher in the best period of Vader’s career. He would win an eight-man tournament where he would win the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Title and in the process would become the first gaijin to win the belt. During his second reign with the championship (beating Choshu for the belt) he would make wrestling history by becoming a World Champion on three different continents at the same time. He beat El Canek in Mexico to win the UWA Title and Otto Wanz to capture the Catch Wrestling belt.
With continued success in Japan and Europe Vader would be also used by World Championship Wrestling albeit sparingly for the first two years. He would defeat Sting for the WCW Heavyweight Title in 1992 and his series of matches with him were among the best in the company. The big man would win the championship three times and would also have notable feuds with Ric Flair and Cactus Jack. He would be fired from the company following a backstage confrontation with Paul Orndorff, but by that time the WWF was calling.
His first match for the WWF was a performance at the Royal Rumble where he was introduced with Jim Cornette as his manager. Vader was positioned as a monster heel and top contender and after he went through former champion Yokozuna it was expected that he would have a long run against WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Shawn Michaels. The two would fight at Summer Slam 1996 but the two did not mesh and Michael’s political stroke would push him slowly down the card. He would have later title matches against the Undertaker but his last year in the company (1998) would see him losing match after match and essentially being regulated to a “jobber to the stars”.
While Vader was not the same physical specimen he was earlier in the decade he was still a name and he was rejuvenated. He won the All-Japan Triple Crown twice, the Tag Title with “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and would also later win the Pro Wrestling NOAH Tag Titles with Scorpio.
Throughout the 2000’s and early 2010’s Vader would compete independently.
Vader announced through Social Media that due to his heart issues his doctor had given him only two weeks to live though despite his announced illness, Vader continued to work independents with his most notable performance being a win over Will Ospreay that took place over a Twitter war.
In recent months, Mick Foley had mentioned on his Facebook page that he would like to see Vader enter the WWE Hall of Fame while he was still alive. Obviously any induction now would be posthumous. We had him ranked at #24 on our Notinhalloffame list.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Leon White at this time.
Mick Foley wants to see Vader in the WWE HOF
From Mick Foley:
“IT'S TIME...TO PUT VADER IN THE HALL OF FAME
I have been talking with Leon White the past few weeks, so I knew the news might be coming. But seeing it in print this morning was a shock nonetheless. Leon is dying. He has been told by doctors that he may have less than two years left to live. His legacy is so important to him, and he has told me that being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame would mean so much on both a personal and professional level. On a global level, Vader was one of the greatest attractions the pro wrestling business has ever seen. I have talked with people at the highest levels at WWE, and hope and pray that Leon's name will be included in the class of 2017 Hall of Fame inductees.”
From our take, Vader, who while he succeeded more in the WCW and in Japan, is a WWE Hall of Famer through and through. He is currently ranked #24 on our Notinhalloffame.com list.
In our eyes, this is not a case of Vader getting fast tracked to the WWE Hall because he may not be with us in two years, rather it is a scenario where this is a performer who deserves to be in period.
We are hoping that Leon White will get to see this wish come true.
Interesting inductors for the WWE HOF
It was strongly speculated and for the most part assumed that Kevin Von Erich would be inducting the Fabulous Freebirds into the WWE Hall of Fame. It was announced today that this would not be the case.
Current WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E. and Xavier Woods will have that honor, and for us this is a bit of a head scratcher.
The Von Erich/Freebirds feud set the World Class territory on fire and it seemed fitting that the last surviving member of the Von Erichs, Kerry, would be the one to induct the Freebirds, and based on comments made from other wrestlers and fans, that was the belief too, although a case (though much weaker) could be made for the current WWE Tag Team Champions.
Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts instituted what is still referred to as the “Freebird Rule”, in which the trio would choose which two members would defend the Tag Team Championship, a rule that has been used by groups after and is currently utilized by the New Day. Both groups were charismatic and featured members whose wrestling styles were vastly different from one another.
Still there is no existing link between the groups, other than the fact that Hayes has worked with the company for the past twenty-one years. It is also curious (or maybe we are reaching) that three African Americans have been asked to induct a group who flew the Confederate Flag, and does have a member (Hayes) who has had past racial insensitivities in the company as the inductors.
With all due respect to the New Day, is there really a more fitting inductor than Kevin Von Erich?
Moving on, it was also reported that Vader will be the inductor of Stan Hansen.
This is also a little bit of a surprise as barring a match the two had in Japan which involved Hansen nearly blinding “the Mastadon” and the two are not exactly synonymous with another, though who are we kidding?
We are going to watch this regardless!
Vader
Generally, Vince McMahon has been known to make professional wrestlers bigger stars than his competitors in the South. This wasn’t the case Vader who may have been kicking ass in WCW but was remembered by some in his WWE stint for declaring himself “a fat piece of shit”.