Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
While the late Leon ‘Vader’ White’s WWE career never really hit the heights many expected. Few will forget the way the company debuted him on our screens. That debut, is the focus of this latest piece.
Longtime WWF/WWE fans will remember Gorilla Monsoon as the voice of many of the company’s broadcasts. Whether it was calling play by play on a pay per view, Wrestling Challenge or a taped house show. Monsoon was most remembered by fans as the co-host of Prime time Wrestling alongside Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan. Monsoon would often be the straight man in the comedic banter between he and the Brain.
By 1995, the landscape of the WWF was changing. Monsoon was beginning to get phased out of all play by play duties and instead took on more of a backstage role. Eventually, Gorilla would be named the new fictitious WWF President after Jack Tunney “retired.”
The following year in 1996, the WWF signed international wrestling star Vader to a contract. Vader made his debut at the Royal Rumble ’96 and eliminated four wrestlers in the match before being eliminated himself. The following evening on Monday Night Raw, Vader had his first WWF singles match against Savio Vega. Vader won the match, but wasn’t satisfied with just beating Vega. He wanted to end Vega’s career and send a message to the rest of the WWF locker room.
Vader would repeatedly climb the second rope and and launch his 400 plus pound body on a helpless Savio. When the WWF referees ran in to restore law and order, Vader began attacking them. He viciously clotheslined and powerbombed a couple of officials. Vader’s manager Jim Cornette was trying to restrain and calm Vader down, but to no avail. That is when WWF President Gorilla Monsoon came into the ring.
As Monsoon was checking on an injured referee, Vader started to try and intimidate Monsoon. President Monsoon went to the ring announcer and instructed him what to say. The ring announcer then told the audience in the arena and those watching at home that Vader was being suspended. That didn’t calm Vader down, all it did was rile him up more and started shoving Monsoon.
When Vader grabbed the WWF President, Monsoon snapped and began delivering chops to the chest of Vader. Many fans forget that Gorilla was a wrestler himself. He was a monster heel in his day and age. Standing tall at 6’5 and weighing over 400 pounds, Monsoon was no slouch. After being struck by Monsoon, Cornette tried to hold Vader back, but Vader shoved his manager to the ground and went right after Monsoon.
As Gorilla was helping one of his referees to his feet in the corner, Vader would run and avalanche both Monsoon and the injured ref. The Monday Night Raw crowd fell silent as nobody had seen this kind of act from the WWF in their cartoon era. It didn’t end there. Vader climbed the second rope and jumped off splashing an incapacitated Monsoon.
Vader eventually stormed off as he left a pile of bodies in his wake. The next we saw, Gorilla Monsoon was being stretchered out of the ring. He would soon be replaced in the interim as president by ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper. It was an extremely powerful debut for “the man they call Vader.” In reality, the reason this angle happened the way it did, is because of two reasons.
The first was because when Leon ‘Vader’ White signed a WWF contract, he was upfront and honest telling them that he had an injured shoulder and would need surgery. That is why Vader was kayfabe “suspended.” The other reason was involving Gorilla Monsoon. He was battling diabetes and needed time off to rest and take care of himself. This angle allowed both Vader the surgery he needed and Monsoon the care he needed to continue on with the WWF.
Say what you want about how poorly Vader was booked and treated when he finally did return to the company. This angle was an all time classic and, backstage politics aside, was truly great and memorable in my personal opinion.
