The legendary wrestler, Big Van Vader passed away today from complications from pneumonia.
Vader was considered one of the greatest super-heavyweight wrestlers of all times. It was amazing to watch him use his size and weight to make his moves look more painful than when performed by someone half his size.
I first saw Vader at WCW's Great American Bash in 1990. He came out to the ring wearing the mastodon mask that spouted smoke once he took it off. I was scared of him. He wasn't like the big, lovable El Gigante. Vader was a massive man that scared the crap out of me.
Watching Vader in the ring, I was amazed at what he could do. His speed was that of a man half of his weight. Watching him do a moonsault off the top rope, my jaw dropped. I never thought a man of his size could be able to do a move like that.
I was never lucky enough to watch Vader in New Japan, except for the WCW/New Japan Supershow cards. So I missed out on his matches with Antonio Inoki and Riki Choshu. I also missed out on the legendary match with Stan Hansen, when Vader's eye popped out of it's socket after Hansen accidentally poked his thumb in Vader's eye.
However, I was lucky enough to see Vader have amazing matches in WCW with Sting and Ric Flair. But it was his matches with Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) that I remember the most. Those matches were so physical and makes me cringe just thinking about them. Especially the match in Germany, where Cactus Jack lost his ear when he got tangled up in the ropes.
Most fans will remember him for his run in WWF, but I try to forget it. When he came to WWF, he was paired up with Jim Cornette, and to me it never worked. WCW paired him up with Harley Race and it worked. Harley had that rough voice and was known for being a tough man himself. Cornette had the high pitched voice and looked like he was he was AWOL from an accounting firm.
I don't remember Vader having any memorable matches in his WWF run. While he did have matches against people like Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Goldust and Kane, it made me sick at my stomach to see Vince McMahon turn the man I once feared, into a glorified jobber.
I will always remember Big Van Vader as the power house monster that made a kid want to cry as he squashed his heroes.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. He was 63 years old.
