6 Ups & 4 Downs From Vader's Legendary Wrestling Career
4. "Ease Up"
WWE.com
Ken Shamrock's transition from Mixed Martial Arts to professional wrestling wasn't actually the newbie-giving-it-a-crack miracle currently being offered by Ronda Rousey's scintillating displays. 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' was a disciplined multi-skilled star, but had been away from pre-determined combat for a little while when he made his WWE pay-per-view debut against Vader at 1997's In Your House: Cold Day In Hell.
To this end, his strikes were more than a little snug, but 'The Mastadon' took the quickest route to convincing the newcomer to, in his words, "ease up".
With the almighty swing of his bulky right arm, Vader leathered Shamrock. Ken went for a spin, going 180 degrees from the sheer force rather than due to a decision to comically oversell. More loaded with potatoes than a chip factory, the match didn't particularly settle into a softer pace, but Vader's monster shot across the bow was a crucial (and hilarious) leveller that set the tone for the remainder of the bruising encounter.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
