Vader was one of a kind
When Leon White, known in the pro wrestling world as Vader, passed away on June 18, it made waves in the pro wrestling world.
But, the unfortunate thing with his passing, is that a generation of fans don’t understand, or can’t fully appreciate, the one-of-a-kind talent that Vader was.
He stood at 6-5 and weighed 375 pounds in his prime, although by his later years in the ring, such as his tainted run in TNA, he weighed well over 400 pounds.
A college football standout at the University of Colorado and a former Los Angeles Ram who played against the Steelers in Super Bowl XIV, Vader transitioned to pro wrestling in the mid-1980s and was a star all over the world by the early 1990s.
Debuting as Baby Bull and also known as Big Van Vader, he was a big man whose agility was unparalleled.
A man his size should not have been able to do moonsaults, but he did. In fact, he would do moonsaults and land on his feet.
People of his size should not have been able to do that, yet he made it look easy.
The pro wrestling world is different today than it was when Vader literally was dominating the world.
Yes, it can be said that WWE and its revisionist history will make people believe that the business has always revolved around the company, but a feat that Vader accomplished says otherwise.
At one time, he was recognized as world champion in four different countries.
That isn’t a typo.
He was the WCW champion here in the United States, the CWA champion in Germany, the New Japan Pro Wrestling champion in Japan and the UWA champion in Mexico.
Next week, we will look at some of his legendary matches and feuds that he will be remembered for.
Bryan looking for reduced schedule?
It was reported Friday that Daniel Bryan is looking for a more limited in-ring schedule for his new WWE contract.
He explained that he just missed his daughter’s first birthday and had to hear her say dada for the first time over Facetime instead of in person, because of always being on the road.
Ticket special for Extreme Rules
Tickets remain for Extreme Rules, WWE’s July PPV, which will take place in Pittsburgh a week from today.
Ticketmaster has been emailing WWE fans about a “Me-Plus Three” bundle where if you buy three tickets to the event, you get a fourth for free.
Go to www.ticketmaster.com for more details.
Rousey at Extreme Rules
Ronda Rousey, who was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame a few days ago, has stated that she has bought a ticket to Extreme Rules and will sit ringside.
Suspended from appearing on Raw for 30 days for attacking Kurt Angle, she was to wrestle last night at Madison Square Garden in New York City and her appearance at Extreme Rules will tie into the storyline of her wanting to face Alexa Bliss, as well as set up a rematch with Nia Jax.
Look for Rousey, whether she wins the Raw women’s title before then or not, to feud with Natalya this fall once she turns on Rousey.
WWE injuries
Shinsuke Nakamura has been out of action since being bit by a dog backstage at a show recently.
He meets with a doctor tomorrow and the hope is that he will be cleared to wrestle Sunday at Extreme Rules against Jeff Hardy for the United States title.
Bray Wyatt missed Raw last week after getting into a car wreck. He has been cleared and wrestled over the weekend.
Ruby Riott recently sprained her MCL and will be revaluated in a few weeks.
GLOW review next week
The goal last week was to do a spoiler-free review on the second season of the Netflix hit pro wrestling show GLOW, but I still have two episodes to go so I will look at it next week.
McMahon “misses out” on over $140 million
When Vince McMahon sold 3.34 million shares of WWE this past December at $28.68 per share, it generated $95.8 million to help restart the XFL.
Had he held onto the shares and sold them this past week, when the stock rose to over $77 a share, he would have raised over $236 million by selling the same number of stock shares.
Oh, the problems that billionaires face!
On this date:
In 1988, the NWA ran a house show at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
Of the 10 matches on the card, six of them were tag team matches, including the last four bouts.
The main event saw Lex Luger and Dusty Rhodes defeat Ric Fic Flair and Barry Windham. Other legendary teams on the show included the Road Warriors, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, The Midnight Express and the Rock & Roll Express.
At a time when the NWA was losing money, it made no sense for them to run a house show with 34 wrestlers on the card.
At that time, wrestlers were paid per appearance and there was no fiscal reason for it to put that many wrestlers on the card, especially on a show that was held in a WWE town.
No wonder the NWA was sold and morphed into WCW.