10 Wrestlers Too Big To Fail (That Failed Anyway)

In early nineties WCW, Vader was the man - or monster - to beat, huge, violent and terrifying, the mask making him seem like a villain from a slasher movie: the banned kind.

That was the character: but Leon White was a fantastic wrestler, fast, agile and fearless, able to pull off a moonsault as easily as a powerbomb. One of the best big men in the business, he’d cut his teeth in Japan and perfected his craft all over the world. In short, he was a McMahon wet dream - and when he was signed in 1995 he came in hot, with all the signs of a significant push.

Why didn’t he work out in the WWF? The word is that the crippling office politics of the mid-to-late nineties stood in his way. Back then, Shawn Michaels was hip deep in the drug addiction and superficial selfishness phase of his career, and had a sleeper hold on the top spot. Vince McMahon was infatuated with the charismatic Michaels, and when the Heartbreak Kid didn’t like you, you didn’t last.

Vader (the character) was given opportunities at the title, but Vader (the wrestler) was being sidelined. His monster aura was gradually diminished by losses in the big matches, and a poorly-conceived, poorly-managed babyface turn sapped any momentum he might have had left.