411’s Dark Side of The Ring Report: ‘Big Van Vader’

-This should be good as Vader was awesome and with my Retro Review series, I am getting closer to where Vader was unleashed on WCW.

I suspect more Jim Cornette and Jim Ross this week as well.

Lets get to it! -Reminder that Chris Jericho is our narrator.

-Teaser: Jim Ross: Vader is the greatest super heavyweight of all time, but he is still human and we forgot that.

-Show opening! -Mick Foley is up first and talks about great movie villains and notes Vader was the greatest monster of his era.

I was pummeled by Vader on many occasions.

He talks about how your favorites looked like they would lose more than just a title when they faced Vader.

-Next is Vaders son, Jesse White, and he says Vader would eat people up that wouldnt fight back.

Leon White grew up in a house with a lot of violence caused by alcohol.

Debra White, ex wife of Leon, is next and says Vader had to be the man of his house very early and notes he had a tough life.

Vader had to fight nearly every day in school.

-Jesse tells a story of two men breaking into the house when Vader was 12.

He was watching Star Trek and his sister was there.

They took off to their grandpas house, and he took them back home and handed Vader a shotgun.

He told him he knows what to do if it happens again.

The grandpap wanted to make Leon tough and obviously it worked.

-Leon was a great football player and it got him out of the violent home life.

We meet Dave Logan, friend and former NFL player.

They met when Leon was a Freshman at The University of Colorado.

Leon as given the nickname, Baby Bull and it fit him perfectly.

Vader was drafted by the LA Rams in the third round of the NFL Draft, but injuries caught up to him and ended his dream.

-His next though was to try pro-wrestling.

We hear audio from 2014 as Leon talks about going to a show in Denver and meeting Bruiser Brody in the back.

Brody asked what he was doing and Vader told him he was here to get a job.

He was sent to Minnesota and see Vader vs.

Brody in the AWA.

-Jim Cornette notes Vader was trained in the mid-west and was built like a monster, but was agile.

He looked like someone that could kick the shit out of you.

Vader learned the ropes in the AWA from Stan Hansen, who was another tough bastard.

Respectfully! -Heres Stan Hansen and he says he is here to talk about Vader.

The rough in ring style Vader learned came from Hansen and Brody.

Makes all the sense in the world.

We learn about being stiff and how it wasnt meant to injure, but it did hurt.

Vader just took it from Stan and Brody and didnt complain, so it earned their respect.

-Leon went to Japan and was given the Big Van Vader gimmick.

Cornette is in his bag here as he talks wrestling history.

He talks about Inoki wanting monster heels he could beat and it was a bonus if they were foreign to Japan.

Jesse tells the legend of Vader in Japan as he was a samurai warrior that fought to the death with another warrior.

Vader won that battle and Inoki always wanted to turn that story into a wrestling character.

Inoki also designed the helmet and shoulder pads.

Cornette mentions it had a few people controlling it so the steam would shoot out.

That helmet is legendary and scared the crap out of me as a kid, but I also thought it was the coolest thing ever.

-Inoki gets SQUASHED by Vader in a match in under three minutes which causes a riot in Japan.

Jesse calls it probably the most impactful debut in wrestling history.

Vader becomes the first American to win the IWGP Championship and he is called the Hulk Hogan of Japan.

-We get to Hansen vs.

Vader in the Tokyo Dome.

Hansen says Vader was hitting him hard, so he hit him back.

Mick says working that way sometimes produced scary results.

We see the infamous shot where Hansen knocks Vaders eyeball out of his head.

That is nasty! Eye issues freak me out as I have worked for nearly 30 years in a vet hospital and eye issues are one of the things I walk away from and go back to my office.

-Commercials! -Back with Vaders eye popping out of his head.

Leon just pushed it back in his head and they continue to beat on each other.

Debra says she was scared to death, but notes it was a phenomenal match.

She continues that Vader was in Japan 32 weeks a year.

That leads to discussion of him missing a lot of Jesse growing up, but he notes it was the life he was born into.

-Jim Ross was working with WCW and he saw the Hansen match and got the idea to bring Vader into the company.

It should be noted JR is credited as a former WWF/WCW announcer.

Cornette says Vader has to be Main Event once he hits as you cant have him in the second match.

-Foley says Vader had a big impact on him.

No kidding! Mick talks about Vaders moonsault and it was wild.

The man was 400lbs and was hitting a top rope moonsault.

As I mentioned before, the first show I ever searched for when The WWE Network came to be was Halloween Havoc: Jack vs.

Vader.

-They talk about the fame that came with Vader become World Champion in WCW.

We see Vader on Boy Meets World and Baywatch.

His Boy Meets World cameos are fantastic! Jesse admits is was pretty cool seeing his dad on TV, but it was a double edge sword as his dad wasnt around as much as other kids dads were.

When he would show up to Jesses events, people would hound Vader for autographs and it made Jesse jealous.

-They note Vader had a soft side, but could change gears quickly.

There was a side to him you didnt want to see.

It was a challenge to go from Vader to Leon White and Debra says she fell in love with Leon, and not Vader.

He liked being a tough man and unfortunately he brought it home sometimes.

That sucks! She says it never went to Jesse and only her.

She knows Leon loved her to death, but it was to death.

It looked like a beautiful life, but you never know what happens behind closed doors.

-Gerald Brisco next and he says people bitched and complained about how stiff Vader was.

We got through the list: broke Stings ribs, ended Koloffs career, gave Jack a concussion with the powerbomb on the concrete.

Mick saw many young men walk out on being a wrestler when they saw they were going to work a match against Vader.

-Mick brings up Joe Thurman and this is a story I even knew as a kid.

Oh man, they have Joey Thurmond here and he says this is something he has never talked about to anybody.

-Commercials! -Back to Joey who notes his dream was to be a pro-wrestler.

He was 20 years old and this was his first time working for WCW and it was the biggest night of his career.

Vader told Joey before the match they were working together and it was going to be quick.

He asked Joey if he was good with the powerbomb and Joey said yes.

-We see footage from the handicap match and Joey says it started okay and he doesnt know what changed.

He says the next part is what has bothered him for 32 years.

Vader yelled in his ears, you better jump you motherfucker.

That lead to a chokeslam that looked nasty as Joey gets dropped on his neck and shoulders.

Come here you little piece of shit, was next from Vader as Joey notes the mood had completely changed.

We get to the powerbomb and Joey says the carelessness is obvious and the man has a point.

Vader just slammed the poor kid down with no protection.

Just folded him in half! Joey says he remembers feeling the numbness and Vader didnt even touch him for the pin as whatever was happening had switched back and he could see concern in Vaders face.

Joey told the ref he couldnt feel his legs.

It broke his back in two places and almost severed his spinal cord.

-Foley notes he saw Leon crying backstage and he knows he went to visit Joey in the hospital that night.

Vader was only able to get out, hey buddy are you okay, before Joey unloaded on him.

He notes he called Leon every name he could, which made Leon break down and cry.

He didnt care as he was told by doctors he would never wrestle again.

-Joey knows Vader was under pressure to be that monster, boy you still have to work with and protect the guy you are in the ring with.

He notes it was having his dream taken away from him.

Foley notes word got around to the boys how Vader treated young guys in the business.

WCW used it make Vader look like even more of a killer.

Nick Patrick says they had to play it up or it was just a waste of time.

Jesse says it advanced his dads aura.

-They jump to Hulk Hogan joining WCW and Debra says that wasnt a good thing.

JR says Hogan was a massive face and Leon was a killer heel.

He says it went wrong because of egos.

Jesse says the matches with Hogan were a watered down version of what his dad was doing.

I kind of side with those who dont want their top meal ticket crippled by Vader on this one.

The first match they had at SuperBrawl is a darn fine match though and likely better than you remember it.

We see Hogan no sell the powerbomb and Leon said it was a backstab.

-We move to the Vader/Paul Orndorff incident.

Paul was a producer and told Vader he had interviews to do.

Vader wasnt moving fast enough, so Paul told him to get his fat ass moving.

Leon told Paul he would call him a bad ass, so Paul, in flip flops punched the shit out of Vader and then started kicking him with the flops and it sounded like two dead fish smacking together.

Cornette is so great at telling stories! Someone had to take the fall and Vader was done in WCW.

Debra says that was the beginning of the end as it led to bad decision after bad decision.

-Mick says Leon was never the same after the lost fight to Orndorff.

He lost some of his aura.

He got an offer from WWF as Jim Ross was the head of talent relations.

Cornette says everyone in WWF were amazed they had him now and they knew he was going to be a future World Champion.

They show him destroying Gorilla Monsoon and Cornette gets The Rocks goosebumps just talking about it.

He thought this was the start of Vader becoming the first true monster heel in the WWF, but he was wrong as Vince McMahon had no clue who Vader was.

Vince never watched any wrestling besides WWF and wanted to call Vader, The Mastodon.

-Vader also started getting injuries, which caused him to gain weight and that irritated Vince.

He sent to Vader and Yoko to Duke weight loss clinic and they both gained weight.

They were smuggling fried chicken into the dorm.

-Cornette: Then came Shawn Michaels.

Ross notes they should have had wonderful matches, but somethings arent meant to be.

Cornette calls Michaels a Primadonna who didnt like working Vader because he was stiff.

Debra says Shawn was Vinces boy and Leon wasnt anyones boys.

Jesse says Shawn told Leon if he kept working that stiff, he would get him fire and Leon would roll out of the ring crying.

We get the famous stories of Shawn and others being pissed that Leon never washed his gear.

JR: you got body odor and people dont want to work with you.

-We get to their SummerSlam Match and Cornette says it was a good match.

We see the spot where Vader doesnt move and Shawn throws a hissy fit and kicks Vader in the head.

Cornette: he is an unprofessional fucking asshole.

Tell us how you really feel, Jim! -Shawn then told Vince he wasnt dropping the title to Vader as he was not ready.

That crushed Leon as it is noted that he was sensitive and he never got to work in that Main Event level again.

Well, he had that last Main Event match in Feb with Final Four and he was the star of that amazing match.

-Anyway we get to the tour in Kuwait where Vader and Taker are on a talk show.

Someone asks if wrestling is fake and Vader snaps on the talk show host.

Cornette notes it is assault and Leon was detained in Kuwait.

-Commercials! -Back to Kuwait as we hear Vader tell his side of the story.

He says they were told before to go crazy and break tables to get them a huge rating.

The issue was nobody told the host.

They wanted to put Vader in jail.

Brisco says WWF used all their resources while Debra notes they took his passport and he had to stay behind while everyone else left.

They were able to get Vader home bu he had to be on house arrest.

-Ross notes they couldnt get Vader happy or healthy.

Debra notes the injuries caught up to him and like many others, he became addicted to pain killers.

They changed his personality and he started becoming all over the place with his emotions.

Debra notes he was self destructive and it got worse.

-We see the post match interview where he lost to Kane at Over The Edge where Vader calls himself a big fat piece of shit.

Cornette and Brisco note those were the words of Vince McMahon and that is how he felt about Vader.

It killed the character of Vader and his career was toast.

Mick says Vader was so pressured to please everyone that he forget what it was like to be Vader.

Debra says Leon blew it and started spiraling down hill.

Jesse wishes he would have taken care if himself and lost weight.

They agree he had a hard time figuring out what he was going to do after his wrestling career was finished.

-Debra had enough when Jesse was off to college.

She tried to get Leon to rehab and do whatever to save the marriage.

Leon stayed in bed most of the day drinking.

He was also diabetic, which they didnt know.

Leon just napped his way through any low sugar periods.

He took an offer to work in Japan and went into a diabetic coma.

-Commercials! -Next week: Tony Atlas! -Vader did have a brief rebound in Japan, but his health continued to get worse and he had congestive heart failure.

He was told he needed surgery as soon as possible.

They got him home and he had a severe case of pneumonia.

Jesse broke into the house and got him to a hospital where Leon was put in a medically induced coma.

Jesse was now taking care of his father and everyone notes he did right by his dad.

He couldnt speak for about six weeks, but the day after Fathers Day he told Jesse that he loved him.

Later that night, the nurse calls and Vader wants to talk to Jesse.

He thanks Jesse for everything and Jesse says it was the last time they talked.

Debra mentions he and Leon had an agreement that if something happened, they would pull the plug and it was her call.

She did it and says it was the right call.

Leon White was dead at 63! -We hear audio of Leon from 2017 where he tells people not to feel sorry for him as he has lived a great life.

Ross calls him the greatest monster heel of all time.

Foley says Vader was one of the biggest stars of his era and he doesnt think he gets the credit he deserves.

Debra says there was some bad, but there was a lot of good and it was so much fun.

-We see video of Vader celebrating a win with media and thanking his wife and son.

He notes his son will be Champion one day.

Jesse says the love he had for his father and the love he had for him never changed.

-Another strong episode here as the talking heads were great.

Credit to them for getting Joey on the show and for him wanting to talk about the incident.

We all knew Vader liked to work stiff and I understand that is who Vader is, but that style wont work for everyone.

Hansen and Foley may not care about being stiffed, but I dont blame Hogan or Shawn for not wanting to work that way.

Now, Shawn was a dick for what happened at SummerSlam, but even Shawn admits to that now.

Doesnt change what he did though.

Vaders son and wife were really good here as they were open about their fathers life and mentioned the good and bad.

Cornette and Ross were here for the history and being there working with Vader and they are great when they get a chance to tell stories.

Interesting how Vader never worked out in Vinces WWF but if he was around today, you have to think HHH would be all over him.

Look what he is doing with GUNTHER.

This was only an hour so they rushed through things, but hit all the high/low points.

This wasnt as dark as a lot of dark side episodes can be, but it fit for the series.

Thanks for reading!.

This article has been shared from the original article on 411mania, here is the link to the original article.