7 Overdue inductions into the WWE Hall of Fame

#5 Vader

Vader: Not yet a WWE Hall of Famer

There is a simple reason that the late, Leon "Vader" White has not yet been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. That is that Vince McMahon did not rate the big man.

While it is true that Vader wasn't at his peak in WWE, that he did it elsewhere in WCW and Japan, that assessment of his worth is unfortunate.

Vader needed shoulder surgery when he signed for WWE in late 1995 and McMahon rushed his new signing back at least six months earlier than he should have. As a result, the Mastadon failed to hit the ground running in the company. Add to that, the fact that Vader was outmanoeuvred politically by the backstage Kliq faction of Shawn Michaels, Triple H et al and the big man never had a chance in WWE.

Prior to his 1996-98 WWE run, Vader was one of the highest paid stars in wrestling in the early-nineties when he reigned as WCW World Champion. Vader contested sterling matches with the likes of Sting, Ric Flair, Cactus Jack and Hulk Hogan.

Vader also enjoyed a career resurgence in Japan post-WWE wherein he won the All Japan Triple Crown in March 1999, with hard hitting victories over Kenta Kobashi and Akira Taue.. He would lose the Triple Crown to Mitsuhara Misawa and regain it from Misawa later in 1999. March 6, 1999.

As Vader’s success was mainly outside WWE, it may be sometime before he is enshrined into the WWE Hall of Fame. However, this induction is long, long overdue.