10 Ways Brock Lesnar Is A Modern Big Van Vader

By Alexander Podgorski /

8. They've Both Wrestled In Japan

Something many fans tend to forget about Brock Lesnar is that he wrestled in Japan after his football prospects fell through. While in Japan, Lesnar won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, one of the most prestigious wrestling championships on the planet. This proved that Lesnar could be a big draw anywhere, and, if it weren€™t for what he called €˜visa problems€™, he might€™ve stayed in Japan longer and enjoyed even more success. That said, however, Lesnar€™s career in Japan was nowhere near as successful as Vader€™s. The best moments of Vader€™s career were in Japan. He was an incredible athlete in both New Japan and All Japan, and enjoyed long title runs and very memorable feuds against the best of the best of both companies. In fact, it was Vader€™s fantastic run as IWGP Heavyweight Champion that got him WCW€™s attention. Vader was one of the most successful €˜gaijin€™ wrestlers in Japanese history: he captured the IWGP Heavyweight Championship three times and the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship twice. Few wrestlers can say that they main-evented in both All Japan and New Japan during both companies€™ peak years in the 1990s, but Vader is one who can. Lesnar, meanwhile, had a very brief run in Japan, but it still goes to show that big, muscular Americans can still draw in other parts of the world.