The Spotlight: Big Van Vader

Posted on December 12, 2023 by bdamage1

Robert Segedy

Big men come and go in pro-wrestling, but understandably there never was anyone that could match the sheer size and brutality of Leon Allen White (May 14,1955-June 18, 2018). A notable athlete in high school, he played football and threw the shot put. Growing up in Compton, White grew up quickly. White’s father was a marine and an underwater welder for the US Navy; he invented a automobile hoist that allowed the family to move to a better neighborhood and while there White attended Bell High school.

White was a nationally ranked center and was recruited by forty colleges and ultimately, he played offensive line at the University of Colorado, where he received a business administration degree. Afterwards he was a participant in the 1978 NFL draft where White was recruited by the LA Rams. However due to a ruptured patella White was forced into retirement. 

Working out at a gym White was spotted by a man who recalled him from his college football days; the man suggested that White should investigate a career in the squared circle. White  was trained by Brad Rheingans and thereafter he joined Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1985-1987. White was known as Baby Bull, which later was modified into Bull Power. White’s skill level increased dramatically and ultimately, he was booked in a match with Stan Hansen for the AWA Heavyweight Championship, where he was defeated. 

In May 1986, White travelled to Europe to compete for Otto Wanz and his Catch Wrestling Association, going by the name of Bull Power. On March 22, 1987, he won his first championship, the CWA Heavyweight Championship by defeating Otto  Wanz in Colorado, thus ending Wanz’s reign of almost nine years. White held onto the title for nearly four months before finally dropping the title back to Wanz on July 11 in Graz, Austria. In December 1987, White won his second tournament, the Bremen Catch Cup by defeating Rambo in the finals.

In 1989, White returned to CWA to challenge Otto Wanz for the CWA World Heavyweight Championship. On August 21st in Vienna, Austria, White won his second CWA World Title. He then lost the title back to Wanz four months later on December 22nd in Bremen, Germany. A year later Wanz retired, and the CWA title was held up. Bull Power defeated old foe Rambo yet again to win the vacant title for the third and final time. White later lost the title six months later back to Rambo on July 6, 1991. Four months later White defeated Tatsumi Fujunami to become the inaugural FWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion. White vacated the title in 1992 after signing with World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1987-1992)

Although White was originally signed to compete in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Giant Baba, the owner, traded White’s contract over to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 1987. Upon joining the ranks of NJPW, White underwent a ring name change to Big Van Vader, at which time he started wearing a black wrestling mask. This new identity was based on a fierce warrior of the same name taken from Japanese folklore. Introduced to the fans as being the newest member of the Takeshi Poroesu faction which was managed by Takeshi Kitano. Vader challenged Antonio Inoki and readily defeated him. The audience, which was largely pro-Inoki immediately rioted, setting the seats on fire; this resulted in NJPW being banned from Sumo Hall. The ban was in effect until 1989 when NJPW finally returned to its former home.  

After winning the final match of an eight-man tournament against Shinya Hashimoto at Battle Satellite in the Tokyo Dome. Vader was declared the new IWPG Heavyweight Champion. It is notable that Vader was the first gaijin (non-Japanese) wrestler to hold the title. Vader then dropped the title to Russian  Salman Hashimkov. In turn Hashimkov lost the title to Vader’s old rival, Riki Choshu, on July 12. However, Vader regained the title by defeating Choshu to become a two-time IWPG Heavyweight Champion. 

On February 10, 1990, Vader faced Stan “the Lariat” Hansen at an AJPW versus NJPW super card entitled Super Fight in Tokyo Dome. Prior to the initial hookup, Hansen accidentally broke Vader’s nose with the bull rope Hansen carried to the ring. Nonetheless Vader continued with the match despite the injury and the two men exchanged a flurry of stiff punches. Hansen unintentionally poked Vader’s left eye with his thumb causing it to pop out of its socket. After removing his mask, Vader pushed the eye back into it socket where it was held in place by his eyelid. The match continued until the match was rendered a no contest. Consequently, Vader was required to have a metal plate surgically inserted under the eye to hold it in place. Vader’s reputation preceded him, and he was eventually signed by WCW who convinced Vader to work for them while still reigning as the active IWGP Heavyweight Champion. 

In January 1991, Vader defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to earn a third IWPG Heavyweight Title reign. During the forementioned match, Vader suffered an injury to his eye, and he required surgery for which he was forced to return to the states. Vader unfortunately lost the title to Fujinami on March 4. At this point in time WCW and NJPW were working on a tentative working agreement. This was beneficial to Vader as it allowed him to coordinate his complicated work schedule more easily. 

Big, Bad and Dangerous-1992

On March 1, 1992, Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow joined forces to form the team of “Big, Bad and Dangerous.” The team went on to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh. In May, Vader faced Mutoh, now known as The Great Muta, one on one, however Vader suffered a legitimate knee injury; this was a major factor that allowed Vader and Bigelow to drop the WCW tag titles to the team of the Steiner Brothers.

Universal Wrestling Association-1989-1990

Vader made his debut in Mexico for the Universal Wrestling Association. On November 12, he defeated El Canek to win the UWA World Heavyweight Championship. He held the UWA World title for over a year before losing it to El Canek on December 9.

World Championship Wrestling (1990-1995)

Vader was signed with WCW in 1990, but he was used sparingly until 1991. His first match was July 7, 1990, at The Great American Bash, where he destroyed Tom Zenk in a little over two minutes. Several months later he returned to Wrestlewar, where he battled old rival Stan Hansen to a double disqualification. Eight months later, Vader returned to participate in Halloween Havoc, in the Chamber of Horrors match. A match that was universally despised by the fans. Two months later, he participated in Starrcade’s Lethal Lottery, where he was paired with Mr. Hughes, and they defeated Rick Steiner and The Nightstalker (Bryan Emmett Clark). Subsequently he was eliminated from the Battle Royal. 

Vader was later paired with a manager, Handsome Harley Race, and he received a title shot for Sting’s World Heavyweight Championship on April 12, 1992, however he was disqualified. Sting suffered a pair of cracked ribs and a ruptured spleen after taking a Vader Bomb. He was awarded a rematch with Sting on July 12 at The Great American Bash where he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Vader dropped the belt three weeks later and he re-injured his knee while battling Ron Simmons. Returning from yet another knee surgery, Vader appeared at Halloween Havoc where he sent Nikita Koloff into retirement. It was during this time that he legitimately broke the back of jobber Joe Thurman, resulting in Thurman’s hospitalization. At Starrcade, Vader lost to Sting in the finals of the King of Cable tournament. Two days later he defeated Ron Simmons by taking advantage of Simmon’s shoulder injury to regain the World Heavyweight Championship yet again. On March 11, 1993, Vader lost the belt to Sting but then regained it six days later.

If Sting was Vader’s most well-known rival, next on that list would be Mick Foley. Vader was so disliked that he was able to turn Cactus Jack into a babyface. The duo had several unbelievable matches on WCW Saturday night that required serious editing due to the amount of blood shed during the matches. In the first match Cactus won that one due to a count out. In the second meeting, Vader decimated Cactus by power bombing him on exposed concrete floor; Foley was sent to the hospital by ambulance. Next up the storyline became more of a joke than a serious competition with the two meeting in a Texas Death Match at Halloween Havoc ’93; Cactus earned the fan’s admiration, but Vader retained the title. Then came the incident in Germany that left Cactus maimed for life as he lost an ear due to being caught in the ropes. Due to a miscommunication, the ropes were adjusted too tightly and as a consequence, Cactus lost an ear. This incident only added to Vader’s reputation as a dangerous individual.

Vader dropped the title to Ric Flair in a career making match that took place at Starrcade ’93 where Flair put his career on the line. Flair overcoming impossible odds managed to destroy his opponent and this signaled the end of Vader’s career in WCW. The arrival of Hulk Hogan pretty much put an end to Vader’s success and in a series of matches Hogan was booked to win. However, a backstage confrontation with Paul Orndorf eventually sealed the deal and Vader headed to the WWF.

World Wrestling Federation (1996-1998) 

Vader was heavily hyped to begin in the WWF prior to the 1996 Royal Rumble and he was billed as “The Man Called Vader.” Entering the Rumble at number 13, he eliminated several opponents including battling with his former ally Yokozuna, he was ultimately eliminated by Shawn Michaels. Now being managed by Jim Cornette, Vader was suspended for attacking Gorilla Monsoon, when in reality he needed time off for shoulder surgery. Appearing at In Your House 6, Vader attacked Yokozuna and delivered a severe beating. What was to follow was originally scheduled as a one-on-one match up then became a six-man tag match featuring Vader, Owen Hart and the British Bulldog versus  Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Sycho Sid. Vader was victorious against Michaels and scored the victory for his team. Vader once again faced Michaels at SummerSlam, however Michaels scored the winning pinfall. Vader faced off against The Undertaker in a series of matches, but The Undertaker’s former manager Paul Bearer turned heel and assisted Vader with the victory. Bearer than assumed management of Vader and he entered the Royal Rumble against Undertaker. Both men were eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin during that match. Vader and the other men who were eliminated by Austin were eventually put into a four-way main event at In Your House 13: Fatal Four for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Vader, after sustaining an injury and bleeding profusely was eliminated by The Undertaker. The duo of Vader and Cactus Jack were paired up by Paul Bearer to compete in WrestleMania 13, but they failed to capture the tag team belts.

Vader once again faced The Undertaker at In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede but came up short. The next night on Raw is War, Vader wrestled The Patriot, who won the match. The Patriot then attacked Brett Hart who was at ringside. Vader interfered and made the save thus resulting in Vader becoming a baby face, which eventually caused Vader to become involved in the USA vs. Canada feud. That feud culminated at Survivor Series where Vader was the leader of Team USA. Vader feuded with Goldust, eventually facing him at the Royal Rumble, in a match where Vader was the victor. Later that night Goldust eliminated Vader from the match.

Next to feud with Vader was Kane; the two met at No Way Out of Texas where Vader was the loser after being choke slammed and being the recipient of a Tombstone Piledriver. Kane subsequently attacked Vader with a large steel wrench which resulted in Vader doing a stretcher job. Two months later at Unforgiven: In Your House, Vader interfered during Kane’s Inferno match against The Undertaker, forcing him back to the ring, where Kane lost. In a rematch at Over the Edge, the two were signed to a Mask vs. Mask match; Vader attempted to use a wrench on Kane, but Kane recovered and defeated Vader, costing him his mask as the result.

Subsequently Vader eventually became a glorified jobber to the stars, losing a series of matches against a number of opponents. Vader was seriously considering retirement but instead negotiated his own release from the WWF so he could return to wrestle in Japan once again. In a shoot interview Cornette said part of the reason that Vader failed to get over with the fans was due to the failure to properly book Vader as a Monster Heel that was indestructible. 

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1998–2000)

After departing the WWF, Vader returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling where he formed a team with former rival Stan Hansen. The pair made it to the finals of the 1998 World’s Strongest Tag Determination League, resulting in defeating the team of Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyana. At the start of 1999, Vader became a number one contender to the Triple Crown by defeating Kobashi. Vader won the vacant Triple Crown Title on March 6, 1999, by defeating Akira Taue. Next, he won the 1999 Champion Carnival. Vader lost the Triple Crown to Misawa on May 2, 1999, at the Giant Baba Memorial Show, only to regain the title from Misawa on October 30.

While defending the Triple Crown title Vader managed to win the World Tag Team Championship with a newly returned Dr. Death Steve Williams on February 20, 2000. During the week of February 27 Vader lost the Triple Crown Title to Kenta Kobashi. Vader and Williams continued to defend the tag team belts during that time. Vader decided to take some time off after a loss to Misawa and subsequently the belts were vacated.

Pro Wrestling NOAH (2000–2003)

Upon a brief break, Vader joined Mitsuharu Misawa’s newly formed organization Pro Wrestling Noah in October 2000. While there he formed a strong partnership with 2 Cold Scorpio resulting in a plethora of victories on television and pay-per-views. Vader also accumulated many single victories against several of the roster’s Japanese wrestlers. On October 19, 2001, on pay-per-view, Vader and Scorpio defeated Jun Akiyama and Akitoshi Saito resulting in them becoming the inaugural GHC Tag Team Champions. They lost the titles to Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa on November 30. Having lost the tag team belts Vader attempted to reprioritize himself by pursuing Jun Akiyama’s GHC Heavyweight Championship. This culminated in a greatly hyped pay-per-view event on December 9,2001. Vader lost the match via submission to Akiyama. Vader’s last appearance in NOAH was in January 2003.

Leon White succumbed to pneumonia on June 18, 2018 at 63 years of age. Easily considered one of the greatest super heavyweight wrestlers of all time, Vader used his girth and strength to dominate his opponents. Known for his agility in the ring, Vader could easily perform a drop kick despite his 450-pound frame. We aren’t likely to see another athlete with White’s qualities any time soon.