The mountain of a man known as Big Van Vader immediately made a splash when he burst onto the scene in the 1980s. A decimation of the legendary Antonio Inoki in Sumo Hall in Vader's New Japan debut nearly led to a riot and ensured that no fan in the Land of the Rising Sun would ever forget this monster. Vader's reign of terror spread across multiple continents, and in every case, his image was the first thing that gave him his bad-ass aura -- he stood nearly six and a half feet tall and weighed in at a mammoth -- but athletic -- 450 pounds. His mask and singlet were unique, giving off an air of terror that's hard to pinpoint, but simple to feel. Especially terrifying was the elephantine headgear Vader sometimes donned in the early 1990s. Living up to his nickname of "The Mastodon," Vader truly looked more beast than man as he came down to the ring to maul a pitiable opponent. Like a conquering warrior from a distant world, Vader came to destroy, and it was written all over him.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
