10 Ways Brock Lesnar Is A Modern Big Van Vader

10. They Were Both Trained By The Exact Same Person

Despite entering the professional wrestling business during different periods, both Big Van Vader and Brock Lesnar received most of their training from the same person: Brad Rheingans. Rheingans was an accomplished Greco-Roman wrestler who was both an NCAA Division II (as well as a Division I All-American in 1975) wrestling champion for Dakota State University, as well as a member of the United States Olympic wrestling team. He was also a pro wrestler for s brief period, working around the world throughout the 1980s. Rheingans met Vader while he in Minnesota, and soon he started training him in wrestling and exposing him to the professional wrestling industry. Years later, Rheingans would meet another spectacular amateur wrestler in Brock Lesnar. As Lesnar was an NCAA Division I Champion, NCJAA National Champion, and two-time NCJAA All-American, he was basically a younger version of Rheingans himself. The training that they received from Brad Rheingans has clearly been worth it: both men are known for their ridiculous strength as well as technical skill unexpected of such large wrestlers. In fact, Vader was voted Wrestler of the Year in 1993 by both PWI and WON, and Lesnar was PWI€™s Wrestler of the Year in 2002 and in 2014. Both of them can thank Brad Rheingans for teaching them the fundamentals of wrestling needed to achieve such important distinctions.