10 Pieces Of Wrestling Trivia That Will Astonish You

10. The Role Of Big Van Vader Was Almost Awarded To...

...the Ultimate Warrior!

In 1987, NJPW envisioned a character before they recruited a colossal westerner to play it: Vader, a folkloric warrior modernised to capitalise on the manga craze. Antonio Inoki in a wildly uncharacteristic move initially scouted Jim Hellwig for the role. Inoki was a man so intent on presenting wrestling as a legitimate combat discipline that he eventually worked himself into a shoot by ordering his workers to participate in shoot matches that, as workers, they comprehensively lost, saying goodnight to auras and becoming jabronies.

Jim Hellwig was not an Inoki guy because he was not a legitimately skilled or even imposing pro wrestler. He was a clumsy oaf and his stuff looked like sh*t.

Imagine the alternate timeline, though. What if Warrior sh*t the bed and was dispatched to the Dojo system? What if he emerged from it an actually good, humbled professional wrestler? What if the Warrior was even vaguely competent and disciplined?

Vince McMahon would have thrown his Sexy Bitch yacht money at the man to recruit him in the '90s, and the Attitude Era may never have not have unfolded as it did.

In the actual timeline, it almost didn't...