10 Early Predictions For 2020 WWE Hall Of Fame Class
4. Vader
Last year, Michael Sidgwick wrote this regarding Vader's much-deserved Hall of Fame induction...
Vader wowed and frightened fans - worldwide - in equal measure. He was ahead of his time in several respects; an absurdly agile behemoth, his in-ring game was so stiff as to be sickening.
He pummelled Sting, Ric Flair and Cactus Jack in grisly, awe-inspiring WCW bouts in the States, during which time he was a major draw in Japan, having amassed the AJPW Triple Crown, IWGP Heavyweight and UWFi World Heavyweight Championships in front of tens and thousands of spectators.
His reputation was so formidable that he scared the sh*t out of Shawn Michaels, who squirmed and politicked his way out of a beating at SummerSlam 1996 - the abiding legacy of an underwhelming stint. The match itself was a disjointed and tentative affair, on its own merits - but in its own way, it conveyed Vader's menacing aura in retrospect.
His argument is just as valid today as it was in 2018, if not more so.
Vader's disappointing stint in the WWF wasn't his fault, his industry exploits elsewhere deserve recognition, and whilst it would have been ghoulish to induct him in the immediate aftermath of his death, enough time has passed for a respectful & justified posthumous Hall of Fame inclusion.