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R.I.P. VADER


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Not only the greatest male monster heel of all time, but a guy with a brilliantly diverse career (despite never needing to change the character) who was able to create true in-ring magic with so many great babyfaces over the years and continents.

At least we were able to brace for this one. RIP

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Awww, shit.  Vader is my favorite wrestler of all time and one of two wrestlers who legit terrified me as a little kid.  This sucks.

3 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

HeTwF2I.gif

You do not fuck with the mastodon helmet.  I'd be running, too.

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10 minutes ago, CreativeControl said:

Man, I was one of those cynical people who thought all that stuff was 'boy who cried wolf' cries for attention. RIP to my fave heel from 92-94.

I should really go and revisit his AJPW/NOAH stuff

Same here.  He told some whoppers on social media and generally seemed to be trying to stay relevant, so I was kinda skeptical he was that sick and only paid mild attention.  Feel a little bad about that now.

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This one hurts.  Vader was my favorite during my teenage years, and he got me to like Sting because of how Sting was able to hang with him.  

I'd say in terms of wrestler deaths that hurt me the most- Eddie comes first because he was so young, but this comes right after Eddie.

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Fuck.  I am sad.

41 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

Vader coming out with that steam helmet is one of the indelible moments of my young wrestling fandom. 

This.

Vader_Debut_1.jpg

How scary was that?  By far the most intimidating ring entrance ever.

RIP, big man. :(

tumblr_mziv2gm2Ak1s1uj0qo1_250.gif

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Just now, Greggulator said:

Vader coming out with that steam helmet is one of the indelible moments of my young wrestling fandom. 

I wish I had memories of Vader like this. My first memory of Vader is watching his match with Goldust at Royal Rumble 1998. Fortunately for me, when I hit my teens, the internet was around, so I could find his work in (mainly) NOAH. I'm ashamed to admit it's taken me this long, but I just now got around to watching the Austin/Taker/Hart/Vader fatal four way match from 1997.

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Watching WCW Saturday Night on the network, I was intrigued to know who pushed for and gave the nod to Vader to be this dominant heel in WCW as he had no stroke, he wasn't tight with any power players. He goes from occasional appearance for the company to this unstoppable monster when Luger leaves, and it seems at odds to anything WCW ever did

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His biggest runs were right between boom periods, but I think there's an argument he was one of the most recognizable faces in North American wrestling at that time behind guys like Hogan and Savage who were still around from the 80s. 

He also really should have had a second career in Hollywood at the very least in the mold of Funk's acting career. He's absolutely perfect in Boy Meets World, and you can tell they liked him as they brought him back multiple times. 

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My favorite series of Vader matches was his shoot style stuff against Takada.  It got me to love and appreciate shoot style in a way I didn't before and now it's one of my favorite styles to watch.

 

I got to meet him and it was awesome.  How many people can say they got to step into the ring with Vader and lived to tell the tale?

Vader is really tied into my love for Firepro.  Holy shit man, he WAS Firepro.  Walking goddamned critical machine that would absolutely wreck your shit.  Fun to play as or against.  Someone that is just such a staple of that series that he's synonymous with it for me and it wasn't even an officially licensed version of him.

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

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