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The wrestling world mourns the passing of the iconic Vader, who died on 18th June at the age of 63. Vader, a former NFL linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, will best be known for his athletic prowess and superhuman strength.
He was arguably one of the greatest wrestling big men of all time. Weighing in at more than 450 pounds, Vader was legendary for performing a top rope moonsault with the ease and grace of wrestlers half his size.
A former WCW World Champion, Vader also excelled in the AWA, NJPW, and the WWE. He also had a taste of television stardom with his 1990s appearances on the hit television show Boy Meets World.
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Vader had struggled with heart ailments in recent years, even to the extent of collapsing in the ring after a match in Japan. He endured open heart surgery and although his struggles with heart disease left the massive man vulnerable, he continued wrestling professionally up until the very end. After a month-long battle with pneumonia, his heart simply stopped beating and the wrestling world lost one of its true all-time greats.
Despite Vader's failing health being public knowledge and a push from former rival Mick Foley, the WWE failed to enshrine Big Van Vader into its Hall of Fame during his lifetime. As it often happens, the late legend will never live to see his own enshrinement.
This doesn't mean Vader isn't Hall of Fame worthy. His career accomplishments speak for themselves and he was involved in some of the most memorable and legendary pro wrestling matches of all time. We take a walk down memory lane and look back at Vader's legacy in professional wrestling, as we break down Vader's Top 5 Matches of All Time.
5. Vader vs Shawn Michaels - SummerSlam 1996
Vader's WWE tenure can only be described as somewhat disappointing. The WWE was reluctant to give the behemoth former WCW star a legitimate push. Vader, after all, was seen more as an NJPW/WCW creation than a Vince McMahon creation and that caused the WWE to pull back the reigns on Vader's usual dominant ways.
There were still some memorable bouts from Vader's WWE run. The Mastodon soon saw himself embroiled in a feud with WWE Champion Shawn Michaels, whom Vader was never going to beat, due to Michaels being a homegrown WWE Superstar. Still, that didn't prevent Vader from putting forth an outstanding effort in a feud that culminated at SummerSlam 1996. The two wrestlers actually had good in-ring chemistry, despite rumours of the men never having exactly gotten off on the right foot in the WWE.
Ultimately, the history books will show that Vader lost to Michaels at SummerSlam; but, that's not quite accurate. Vader actually beat Michaels by disqualification when Michaels began an assault on Vader with manager Jim Cornette's infamous tennis racket. Michaels was caught red-handed and as Vader's theme music hit, Cornette took to the mic coaxing Michaels in restarting the bout, "Michaels you got yourself disqualified on purpose just to try to save that stinking title of yours. Your a gutless no good coward. You knew you couldn't beat him. If you had any guts if you had any courage you'd get this thing started again." As the crowd cheered for the continuation of the match, Michaels obliged and then ultimately hit a fatigued Vader with a moonsault for the win.
4. Vader vs Stan Hansen - NJPW 1990
In one of the most brutal, physical bouts of all time, Vader took on Stan Hansen on NJPW soil. The two big men clashed with the utmost intensity in a back and forth affair for the ages. During the match, Hansen, who ironically had notoriously bad vision himself, put Vader in a headlock and accidentally poked Vader's eye out.
Although he was overcome with pain and blinded in one eye, his did not deter Vader, who was old school in every facet. Vader did not want to disappoint the paying Japanese audience who came to see the super match between him and Hansen.
Instead of quitting the and seeking medical attention, Vader simply popped his eyeball back into place and carried on with the match. That didn't mean Hansen would go easy on him either. The match's sheer brutality couldn't be contained inside the ring and ultimately spilt out into the terrified Japanese audience, as both men exchanged stiff blow after blow in one of wrestling's classic all-time brawls. Inevitably both icons were counted out ending the classic bout in a draw.
Luckily Vader's eye would be saved and his vision would return back to normal. Hansen still struggled with his own sight for much of his career. Afterwards, there were no hard feelings between the two men and in 2016, Vader even inducted Hansen into the WWE Hall of Fame.
3. Vader vs Sting - Starrcade 1992
In 1992, Vader was WCW's top heel & Sting the company's top face. The two were intertwined; selected by destiny to feud and they had some incredibly memorable bouts. Their very best; however, was at Starrcade 1992.
The two legendary wrestling icons met in the finals of the King of Cable tournament. Vader defeated Tony Atlas and Dustin Rhodes (Goldust) to get there; but, standing directly in his path to victory was none other than the Man Called Sting.
The two wrestled brilliantly in WCW's version of Andre the Giant vs Hulk Hogan. Both men had fantastic pace and excelled in chemistry. In the end, Sting caught Vader off the top rope for a body slam and the pinfall victory; but, Vader proved that he could stand toe to toe with even the most athletically gifted wrestlers in the world.
2. Vader vs Cactus Jack - Halloween Havoc 1993
When Mick Foley gets to heaven, Vader will be waiting with a huge bear hug followed by a moonsault for the ages. The two will battle outside the pearly gates and the wrestling gods, in their infinite wisdom, will lure both men in with golden barbed wire & shiny thumbtacks. It is with the utmost certainty that if there are indeed wrestling gods, they would have no qualms about these two fighting forever. Foley, as Cactus Jack, was Vader's quintessential rival; the Batman to Vader's Joker.
It was a feud forged in blood and flesh. Vader once legitimately ripped Foley's ear from his head in a WCW match. The incident caused Foley to battle with chronic vertigo that could have derailed his own wrestling career. The incident added to the intensity of this feud and these two men would beat each other in breathtakingly believable fashion.
It all came to a head at WCW's Halloween Havoc 1993. That's when the Spin the Wheel Make a Deal concept would point these two men to their destiny. Vader would fight Foley on Cactus Jack's turf: a Texas Death Match.
The match would be a best of three falls bout and featured all one would expect from a Texas Death Match; tables, steel chairs, brawling outside the ring, and plenty of blood. Foley would endure a brutal bump as the 450 pound plus Vader levelled him onto unforgiving concrete. Th sound of his body hitting the floor was absolutely sickening and enough to invoke fear of those watching. Both men would exchange stiff blows that would make many MMA fighters cringe in pain, in what many consider to be one of wrestling's greatest all-time brawls. In the end, Vader would ultimately go on to best Cactus Jack two falls to one.
1.Vader vs Ric Flair - Starrcade 1993
Vader had never wrestled someone with the in-ring capabilities of a Ric Flair, a technician of the highest degree. The two men would meet at Starrcade 1993, in what would go down in wrestling lore as one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time.
Vader was seen by many to be as unbeatable a world champion as anyone in history. Not many prognosticators gave Ric Flair much of a chance. Flair was a great in-ring wrestler; but, was older than Vader and vastly undersized. He would also have difficulty matching & withstanding Vader's in-ring brutality.
Flair; however, didn't doubt himself and with the utmost confidence, put his own career on the line. The premise behind the feud only added to the intrigue of the match. This could have been Flair's last hurrah and Flair fans, knowing what lay ahead for their wrestling idol, were anxious heading into Starrcade 1993.
As the match got off to a start, Vader quickly took advantage of his superior size and strength and early on, it looked like he would be the clear winner; but, Flair hung around refusing to give up. Vader grew more and more fatigued and even outside interference from Harley Race couldn't help defeat a motivated Flair, who was determined to not die easy.
Fatigued from taking chop after chop, Vader would eventually let his guard down and ever the opportunist, Flair would capitalize. Eventually, Vader would miss a high-risk moonsault and Flair would begin to work on Vader's knee.
Inevitably Vader would end up in Flair's famous figure four leglock, causing the 460-pound big man to favour his knee for the rest of the match. Eventually, Flair rolled Vader up for the pinfall victory and an inspirational 11th world championship.
The match is considered to be one of the greatest for both men & we rank it as Vader's very best. Even the notoriously fastidious Dave Meltzer gave the bout 4.5 stars and called the bout Flair's most memorable world title win.
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