What happened to...(part 2).

[Deleted]

What happened to Vader in 1998?

I remember he lost a little bit of weight but after his mask vs. mask feud with Kane he basically became a jobber.

According to Wikipedia, his last televised match was against Edge on Sunday Night Heat which he lost.

I also remember him losing to Bradshaw on a PPV right before he left the company. Wikipedia says he left to go back to Japan.

I feel like WWF kinda dropped the ball with Vader and I'm not sure why...he was still over in his last match against Edge. Here's the match:



What do you guys think?

[drifter]

They definitely dropped the ball with Vader. He could have been a great main event heel champion, they just never really gave him the chance. So much more could have been done with him as a heel against HBK, and then as a face vs. Bret Hart.

[markallenkellner]

[Brad]

Oct 17, 2011 19:34:52 GMT -5 @markallenkellner said:

I always hate hearing stuff like this because Shawn has always been in my top 5 of all time.

[candygallows]

Vader, in WCW, really was a monster. Possibly one of the best wrestlers I can think of. Same can be said for his work in Japan. WWF dropped the ball with him worse than they did with anyone else I can think of.

[Deleted]

Another one lost in the shuffle because of The Kliq?! I remember that match from SummerSlam '96 when Shawn has a temper tantrum in the middle of the ring and kicks Vader in the head...

[jasonphoenix1]

I always wondered if they did it on purpose. Take they're monster heel and make him so so here to show it as we have the best talent in the world. Killed me cause I have always liked Vader. I really liked him and Hughes working the Steiners.

[koreygunz]

Vader was supposed to win the title at summerslam 96 but hbk wouldn't have it. Vader was supposed to basically have Sids spot in mid 96-97 but michaels didn't want to work with him

[Deleted]

Oct 17, 2011 21:59:54 GMT -5 @bashcrashwiley said:

Another one lost in the shuffle because of The Kliq?! I remember that match from SummerSlam '96 when Shawn has a temper tantrum in the middle of the ring and kicks Vader in the head...

simple enough it was Michaels.

at this time in wrestling(94-97)you would be hard pressed to find anyone worse (in the history of the biz)to work with than him.

plus when WCW exploded in 96 he felt the pich big time and threw his toys outta the cot when ever the suited him.he knew he could go to Bischoff and talk turkey and he used that many many times.the same could be said of Undertaker-but mark did his job(make Foley a star) and ignored Erics calls and never used it for leeway.

Vaders spot was given to Sid(?)because shawn convinced and connived Vince into thinking the WWFs crap buyrates for IYH:International Incident were down to Vaders dominace of all things.

I admire HBK tremedously as a performer but me its hard to ignore the horror stories about him.

BUT

then of course how many times have we seen this?Flair,Roadies and many others..........Vince doesnt knwo how to handle talent created elsewhere.and by created I mean Talent that was OVER elsewhere.Cornette mentions the name change-I believe it was Undertaker who talked him out of this.

[Deleted]

Yeah...

Calling him "The Mastadon" only would have sucked.

[jeffro2000]

Pretty much known that Vader was suppose to beat Shawn at Summerslam. I lover HBK's in ring work, prob my favorite ever, but that crap backstage was ridiculous. Vader should had been a great heel for them. However, Vader wasn't without his own backstage problems/demons.

[Deleted]

thats very true as well.I had meant to post that leon was very sensitive-almost to a fault and often overreacted to things himself

but yeah HBK was still Vaders main block.testament to Vinnies desperation at the time.

[greenjack1992]

Oct 17, 2011 20:07:12 GMT -5 Brad said:

Oct 17, 2011 19:34:52 GMT -5 @markallenkellner said:

I always hate hearing stuff like this because Shawn has always been in my top 5 of all time.

It's not about how you start, it's about how you finish.

HBK turned it around and that's all that counts now.

[Deleted]

as I said I admire HBK and yes he did turn it around-but its hard to ignore all the stories about him.

on Paul Bearers shoot he said he loved Shawn now.....but back then he was a horrible person and he was delioghted to see him turning it around.

all of us here are no different.HBKs antics are bound to come up in conversation.

[T R W]

Sure. Shawn is a changed man now, and that's good. I believe him when he says he regrets his behavior in the past. Some people have forgiven him, and others will always hold a grudge, and I don't really blame them, as it impacted their livlihood. But even though he is different now, doesn't mean the impact is gone.

[Rule 30]

I'm not even going to get started..... or things will get ugly.

I pushed Vader to the moon in my 98 sim, though, had him feud with Austin for the title for a few months with McMahon backing him up.

[cordless2016]

I always hate hearing stuff like this because Shawn has always been in my top 5 of all time.

Doesn't change the fact that he was a total dick and held tons of people down during his 1st run w/ the Kliq.

Anyway, Vader was misused big time. His time in WCW was great, and was literally the only guy who went into matches w/ Flair and Sting as the favorite to win(until Hogan showed up). I've heard that Vince was never too high on him but signed him because others convinced him to. Its just sad that his heel momentum was completly killed by HBK. Its well know that Vader was schedualed to win the title at SummerSlam 1996, and was origionally gonna face HBK again at Survivor Series, until Shawn threw his usual bitch fits and changed the outcomes.