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Big Van Vader

Red Beard

Red Beard

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Where do you think Big Van Vader lands on the all-time greatest wrestler list? Below are his accolades throughout his career. He was a solid heel in Japan, had tag team and singles success, had an awesome big man move set (the Vader sault was amazing considering his size), and he regularly was put with the top face to put them over or destroy them.


He was a personal favorite of mine and I personally think he'd land somewhere in the top 20. I'd say 16-19 somewhere. His run in 1993 alone makes me think he deserved his spot. I can't think of too many super heavyweights that could hang with him. What say you guys?


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Michael Scott said:
Top 10 heel all time imo maybe even top 5

He's not top 25 overall imo
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I'd be hard-pressed to pick 20 guys that had as good of a career as him. I am factoring in Japan as well. I think the big issue was how bad the booking of Vader was in WWF. If he had a decent run there I think I could justify top 20. I looked into a lot of lists and he was anywhere from mid 50's all the way to low 20's.
 
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Just off the top of my head I'd put Andre, Undertaker, The Spoiler, Terry Gordy, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Ernie Ladd all above Vader

I liked Vader ever since he was Bull Power Leon White but I wouldnt rank him top 5
 
Pliny Pete said:
Just off the top of my head I'd put Andre, Undertaker, The Spoiler, Terry Gordy, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Ernie Ladd all above Vader

I liked Vader ever since he was Bull Power Leon White but I wouldnt rank him top 5
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I can see all the names you've listed above over him. I have a personal love for Vader's work and have followed him my entire life. That bias definitely weighs on me...
 
I love the guy. His matches with sting were awesome. He also appeared on boy meets world when I was a kid so that won me over.

His wwf run was such bullshit. It was a precursor for all the guys who came over after the Monday night war. He should have taken the belt off of shawn and held it for a few months. Drop it back at series and then do a gimmick match for the blowoff at royal rumble.
 
Yeah hes up there in my list.

In terms of super heavies, probably bam bam Bigelow is a good comparison for a guy that moves similar. Both really agile

My favorites big guys would probably be sid, kane, taker, and vader.
 
He also inspired Raiden, the legendary under-boss from Fatal Fury who went on to be a crucial part of the series overall.
 
Anyway, Vader is amazing. His UWFi work was awesome as well. I actually liked his work way, way more than Gary Albright's. Vader versus Tamura was absolute magic. And the fact that he was able to put on great shoot-style matches was both a huge shock and a huge accomplishment. Its too bad him and Sakuraba never worked a match together. I'm sure that would have been magic as well.
 
RandyCouture>U said:
I love the guy. His matches with sting were awesome. He also appeared on boy meets world when I was a kid so that won me over.

His wwf run was such bullshit. It was a precursor for all the guys who came over after the Monday night war. He should have taken the belt off of shawn and held it for a few months. Drop it back at series and then do a gimmick match for the blowoff at royal rumble.
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He needed that title in WWF and had he gotten it, his career would be remembered in a more fond manner. Shawn beating him the way he did was garbage to me. He was 450 pounds and had such a powerful move set it wasn't believable. That Rumble match turned me off to wrestling haha straight up. Him and Sting had some wars in the early 90's. To me, he was a formidable foe for any WWF talent at that point. I used to think in terms of fantasy match ups and I always though if the WWF and WCW did a crossover, Vader would destroy what WWF had to offer.

Kforcer said:
Anyway, Vader is amazing. His UWFi work was awesome as well. I actually liked his work way, way more than Gary Albright's. Vader versus Tamura was absolute magic. And the fact that he was able to put on great shoot-style matches was both a huge shock and a huge accomplishment. Its too bad him and Sakuraba never worked a match together. I'm sure that would have been magic as well.
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I 100% agree! I used to be a tape trader and I had all of his UWFI matches and he was on another level. He was such a great heel and almost made me as a kid think that even though it was all a work, he'd still happily beat my ass. He was like that behind the scenes too from shoot interviews I've heard so he was just awesome to me.
 
I liked his matches with Takada. He was pretty good overall. One of my favorite bigger wrestlers.
 
Top 5 In smelling bad

I liked him but wrestling wise wouldn’t put him on any list
 
I grew up almost exclusively on the Fed so my view of him is definitely limited. That said I thought he had an awesome look and seemed like a good enough worker to be the world champion. Id say he was equal to if not better than Sid but never got the same push. He probably had the misfortune of coming in when Shawn was the guy and a whiny cunt.
 
Probably a top 10 monster heel of all time. In terms of overall career, probably top 50.
 
Pliny Pete said:
Just off the top of my head I'd put Andre, Undertaker, The Spoiler, Terry Gordy, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Ernie Ladd all above Vader

I liked Vader ever since he was Bull Power Leon White but I wouldnt rank him top 5
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That's a great group and he right there with them. You can go back and forth for days debating the orer.
 
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