R.I.P. VADER

[Zakk_Sabbath]

Yo omg

 

 

[Rev Ray]

Vader's NJPW theme was part of Rainbow's Eyes of the World.  He'd use it again in All Japan with the "Vader Time" part stitched on to the front:

 

 

 

Sad to hear of his passing.  Just amazing when he held heavyweight titles simultaneously I think in Mexico, Europe and Japan.  If you're going to get an ideal working monster heel, I think it's Vader and Aja Kong who are 1 and 2.  Sad that he never got to murderlize Hogan and that he never got that great run in WWF, but when he got back to All Japan, it seemed like he found what he had lost in that WWF run when he and Hansen were running rough shot on an All Japan roster that really needed him to freshen things up.  I also remember back when he went from Baby Bull to Bull Power in the AWA because when he son was born, his son was now the Baby Bull.

[odessasteps]

Oh yeah, the "shoot Vader shoot" fund on rspw.

#oldman 

[Ziggy]

When I first started watching WWF in 96 he just started his run, as a kid it was a cool visual seeing him vs Yoko I didn't know about his WCW and Japan run till later. I know his WWF run has not indicative of his career at all but I remember his KoTR Qualifier match vs Ahmed Johnson on RAW that is one of my favorite matches from that era. He had a good match against Davey Boy in the European title tournament on Raw that was good too. Getting to watch his WCW and Japan stuff was no shock how good he was. Sure he ran into politics in WWF on top of having to water down his style. He also started that run with a screwed up shoulder too. Im sure Vince did see money in him but we all know the stories of Shawn.

Japan was the best place for him and Germany too because he didn't need to worry about politics 

[paintedbynumbers]

3 hours ago, L_W_P said:

Sting's best opponent. Yeah I said it.

They should have done so much more work together.

RIP Vader

I have a multi disc set of Sting VS Vader matches. They met up way more than even I thought.  Great David vs Goliath story where Goliath won a  few times.

[Phantom Lord]

I remember me and my father going to his American Legion post to watch GAB 92 on PPV since we didn't have cable at the time. I remember being genuinely shocked when Vader won the title from Sting that night. I really wish I had cable back then so I could have enjoyed his reign of terror. The best I got was seeing clips of it on WCW Worldwide on Ch.2.

His feud with Sting is by far probably my favorite 90's feud. I rented Superbrawl 3 a bunch of times from my video store just because I loved the strap match so much (the rest of the card was pretty good too). I thought he was turning the corner after surviving that massive heart surgery he just had. Godspeed bigman.

[worldcupfever]

12 hours ago, OSJ said:

Seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was watching Leon "Bull Power" White being introduced to AWA audiences. The man had tremendous presence even then, but no one would have guessed that he would become the best big man of my lifetime. RIP, big man; and thanks for all the great matches!

Exactly what I was thinking about this morning.  I remember watching him wrestling Zbyszko and Rose and Sommers in AWA and thinking that he was a roughneck but nothing amazing then reading about Vader in the Apter mags and wondering how he got from point to point.  One of the absolute best I've gotten to watch over the years, and I'm fortunate to have seen his career from beginning to end.

[BurningBeard]

12 hours ago, PetrolCB said:

What more can you say? Greatest big man of all time and it’s a damn shame he’ll never get the hall of fame moment he deserved. 

 

Man, this theme was the holy grail of wrestling themes about 14 years ago when we used to be able to post MP3s and stuff here. Such an epic theme that summed the mastadon to a tee. Thought this was lost forever, cheers

[The Natural]

19 hours ago, Smelly McUgly said:

Vader/Sting in the King of Cable match is one of my sharpest childhood wrestling memories and is still a great fucking match today.

Always felt that was the best Vader/Sting match from Starrcade 1992. Amazing match, ditto the Great American Bash 1992.

[The Natural]

15 hours ago, caley said:

Years later, on Smarkschoice, we had a Best of WCW poll so I ended up watching all these Vader matches I'd never had a chance to see when I was young and they were amazing: vs Foley, vs Sting, vs Flair, vs Rhodes and my favourite against Ray Traylor.  I love that match because it seems like Vader really wanted to make Traylor look good and he bumps all over and it's so nasty and stiff and sloppy and dangerous.  

God bless Big Van Vader.  

Yeah, I took part in that smarkschoice greatest WCW matches and it was great seeing Vader matches for the first time vs. Sting, Traylor and Rhodes. What an athletic monster man.

[sevendaughters]

used to make me shit my pants as a kid. he and Hansen were what got me into wrestling after initially seeing Hogan and thinking him cheesy.

some great stuff in DAVE's obit, the stuff about him "getting stabbed all over his body by the Yakuza" and - a classic of Meltzprose

Quote

"He was in a terrible auto accident in 2016 which left his face badly contorted although it went back to its usual shape."

 

[The Natural]

A match not yet mentioned...Vader vs. Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker vs. Steve Austin at In Your House 13: Final Four, February 1997. Vader was the Man of the Match in a match loaded with talent.

[The Natural]

[The Natural]

Mick Foley on Vader:

https://m.facebook.com/RealMickFoley/photos/pb.126269440736536.-2207520000.1529536170./2161335410563252/?type=3&theater

[The Natural]

Sting on Vader:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Sting/status/1009529114594856961

[PetrolCB]

1 hour ago, CreativeControl said:

Man, this theme was the holy grail of wrestling themes about 14 years ago when we used to be able to post MP3s and stuff here. Such an epic theme that summed the mastadon to a tee. Thought this was lost forever, cheers

Oh yes. The others that were posted are good, but in my eyes, THIS is THE Vader theme. 

[J.T.]

14 hours ago, PetrolCB said:

What more can you say? Greatest big man of all time and it’s a damn shame he’ll never get the hall of fame moment he deserved. 

 

The unofficial beloved title of this track was The Jobber's Funeral March.

[Dolfan in NYC]

So, in honor of Vader, I've decided - for all of your reading pleasure - to make @RIPPA slog through the hell that is Starrcade 92 and review it all to get to the amazing Vader-Sting match.   (And also that awesome tag in there.)   

Vader Time indeed. 

[supremebve]

36 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

So, in honor of Vader, I've decided - for all of your reading pleasure - to make @RIPPA slog through the hell that is Starrcade 92 and review it all to get to the amazing Vader-Sting match.   (And also that awesome tag in there.)   

Vader Time indeed. 

An idea...instead of just these R.I.P. threads, why don't we do tribute threads where people watch their favorite matches and write reviews?  I know it will be hard with some of the older/less well known wrestlers, because of lack of footage, but we pretty much have Vader's entire career on tape.  We don't have to go full Dave Meltzer obituary, but it would be cool to go through and read everyone's thoughts on these guys best matches.

[Pete]

22 hours ago, Pete said:

 

Oh man - I just realized Porky is the only one still alive. Let THAT one sink in.

[Phantom Lord]

Vader vs. The Boss/Guardian Angel in 94 is such an underrated HOSS feud. If that match happened today, everyone would be going crazy over it.

[RIPPA]

I reviewed three Vader/Dustin Rhodes matches in DVDVR #181

http://deathvalleydriver.com/dvdvr181/

(They are right after Dean's Spring Stampede review)

Let me see what other reviews I can find

[RIPPA]

Quote

KEN SHAMROCK vs. VADER – No Holds Barred (Win by Submission or Knockout)
After lamenting what a waste Flash Funk was in the WWE, this show doubles down by also having Vader on it who is not only a bigger favorite of my all time over 2 Cold Scorpio (who I love dearly) but also had a much more frustrating WWF career (and this is coming from someone – the only one – who enjoyed Vader’s time working for Vince McMahon.)

This impending disaster is thanks to the WWF suddenly being all LET’S HOP ON THE MMA TRAIN! THE UFC IS OUR FRIEND PROMOTE THEIR PPV!!! WWFi BABY!!! That means putting in Ken Shamrock in the ring with the only person who could quasi reasonably do a work shoot in Vader. So – yes it is as much of a train wreck as you would expect it to be for 75% of the time. The arbitrarily use rope breaks and Vader goes to the outside A LOT. If you ever wondered what a Larry Zybysko UFC fight might look like – wonder no more. It would have also helped if they had established at some point in the proceeding weeks that Vader knew submissions. But hey – it was more important to have Vader and Mankind keep jumping Shamrock. Though, Shamrock is a dumb as a bag of rocks so he keeps putting himself in situations to get jump. I can’t really fault Vader for taking advantage of opportunities put in front of him.

Anyway – out of nowhere the match suddenly becomes hella fun as Shamrock takes an INSANE bump to the floor. (It was kinda like Vader gave him a front face suplex over the top rope but honestly it was more Vader seeing how far he could chuck Shamrock.) Then Vader just starts blasting the hell out of Shamrock and I no longer am upset by watching this. And then in the awesome yet comical stupid part – they use a missed Vader moonsault as a transition… well it SHOULD have been a missed moonsault by Shamrock is slow and takes all of Vader’s weight on his head. Vader then ANNIHALATES Shamrock with a clothesline which was aces and then Shamrock is magically healed and turns it into the ankle lock for the win and that wasn’t aces.

DVDVR #176

(That is from IYH: Cold Day in Hell - the match that the Vader/Shamrock gif comes from)

[RIPPA]

Quote

VADER VS. MARK HENRY - WWE FULLY LOADED (1998)

(I tried multiple times to link to this video but it keeps getting yanked. I assume you can find it on the Network)

So after the next two year break, we can do an issue totally dedicated to forgotten PPV matches. My being a giant Vader mark isn't a secret. Fuck - I seem to be one of the few people on the planet who likes a lot of his WWE work. And I like Mark Henry. And this being from 98 just reminds you that Mark Henry has been around for a long fucking time and we are all really really fucking old. Young, spry Mark Henry is here representing the Nation of Domination and if there is anyone you are going to learn how be a big man from – that person is Vader. That is assuming of course you ignore the first 90 seconds or so which are something you would send directly to Botchamania. A blow body slam, two repeated spots and Vader openly swearing on camera. Yup. But then you have Vader stiffing the fuck out Henry for a few minutes and Henry taking unnecessary bumps for no other reason than It being all "I AM YOUNG AND FEARLESS!!! CLEARLY THIS FORWARD ROLL INTO THE RING STEPS IS A SMART IDEA!" It's a fun way to spend 7 minutes (when you count ring entrances and such). Should it have been on a PPV… probably not. I mean the feud had been all over Shotgun Saturday Night but the live crowd liked Vader so No Harm No Foul. A full Shotgun Saturday Night point.

 

Quote

DUSTY RHODES/VADER vs. HARRIS BROTHERS - TNA 2/26/03
(RIPPA)
Lord - has it really been that long ago that TNA was doing weekly PPVs? Good Christ we are all wasting our fucking lives. Oh early TNA and your strippers in a cage. I mean, honestly, when are we all going to accept that Vince Russo is Rob Black minus the prison time and with extra Hail Marys said? This is as terrible as one would except for these four in 200fucking3. Poor poor broken down Vader. I love you so. And y'all need to not sleep on the fatboyness of the Harris Brothers. Ron and Don always had their height to mask their pudge but the ravages of time can't be stonewalled forever. There are a whole lotta T-shirts being worn. I guess because it's a PPV, Dusty decides he needs to blade about three minutes in. Eventually there is some nonsense with Sonny Siaki who is either managing the Harris Brothers or scouting them or servicing them. Then Dusty spanks someone who my notes from the first time I watched this describe as "the Turnbuckle whore".  You know how we all like to joke about how Ishikawa books himself in that mixed tag matches so he can be all sorts of creepy old man on the ladies? Well Dusty sure ain't afraid to do the spanking spot in like 90% of his matches. I pity his wife. Anyhoo – back to the matters at hand, after Dusty is done with the touching of the junk in the truck portion of the program, Nikita Koloff shows up… well… because… gee…. he was available. Good fucking Christ – TNA was doing the same shit then as it is now. Mercifully this match is lost somewhere in the YouTube ether.

DVDVR #171

 

[Tromatagon]

16 year old me fucking loved that Shamrock/Vader match.