Leon White aka Big Van Vader is known amongst many wrestling fans for being one of the biggest heels during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. His big size and surprisingly agile nature had won him a plethora of fans worldwide and his feud with Sting in WCW had only elevated his status as one of the wrestling’s greats. Winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on three occasions and being the first non-Japanese IWCP Heavyweight Champion, he had certainly made an impact on the industry. Unfortunately his transition to WWF wasn’t a smooth one and he never hit the same heights again due to a combination of backroom politics and personal problems.
It now looks as if Big Van Vader’s problems have gotten a whole lot worse as he recently took to Twitter to announce that he only has 2 years to live due to combination of football and wrestling which has impacted on his heart.
Told by 2.heart Drs at this time that my heart is wore out from footbal&wrestling I have 2 yrs to live , conjestive hesrt failure reality
— Big Van Vader (@itsvadertime) November 15, 2016
Although wrestling is fake, the effects it has on the body are real and many wrestlers in the past have died due a variety of health problems from the sport. It’s a shame to hear such tragic news and one can only hope that the lessons from the past have been fixed for the new generation of wrestlers. So lets keep our fingers crossed and hope he can prove the doctors wrong!
What was your favourite Vader match? Did you think he was underutilised in WWF? Who would you have liked to see him face off against? Sound off down below ….