10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Vader
Vader would have been WWF Champ had it not been for Shawn Michaels...
An absolute mountain of a man, Leon White broke into the AWA in 1985, but first became wrestling's wrecking machine in Japan. Becoming a smash hit with New Japan in the late-1980's, the big man morphed from the name of Bull Power into the much more recognisable Big Van Vader.
WCW was his next destination, and Vader would dominate for much of the first half of the 90's, winning the WCW World Title on 3 different occasions. Along the way, he also won the United States Title and feuded with everyone from Sting and Ric Flair to Hulk Hogan.
Upon leaving WCW, the WWF seemed like the next natural step.
Vader should have dominated the company as a top heel, just as he had everywhere else he'd worked. That didn't happen, a variety of factors led to Vader never capturing the WWF Heavyweight Title.
Incredibly, he didn't even win a single championship during his stay in McMahonland.
Exploring Vader's career with the WWF/WWE makes it clear that he didn't quite reach his potential there. The reasons why are things those in charge would likely rather fans could forget...
10. Vince McMahon Wanted To Change His Name Upon WWF Arrival
After leaving WCW in late 1995, Vader was WWF-bound.
At the time, it was considered quite the coup for Vince McMahon, because the big man had been a top star in WCW for many years. In the early part of 1996, McMahon planned to debut Vader, albeit under an entirely different moniker.
According to Jim Cornette and Vader himself, McMahon wished to rebrand him as 'The Mastodon'. This would have allowed the company to own the rights to the name for gimmick purposes, but it would have discarded much of Vader's history.
A world-travelled star, he was known by wrestling fans around the globe, so it was confusing that the WWF planned to change anything about his act or presentation.
In the end, the change didn't end up happening, although Vader was routinely referred to on commentary by the proposed new title. In Vader's words, all that would have really changed would be the name on the front of his singlet, but who knows if WWF fans would have accepted the sudden switch.