Big Van Vader

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Real Name - Leon White
Birthdate - 5/14/56
6'5" 450 lbs. - Denver, CO

Aliases - Leon White, Baby Bull, Bull Power, Super Vader, Vader

Athletic background - Football (NFL)

Teachers - Brad Rheingans

Professional background - AWA(`85-`8?), CWA(`87), New Japan(`87-`92), UWA, WCW(`91-`95), UWFI(`93-`95), WWF(`96-`98), All Japan(`98-`00), NOAH(`00-`03), WJ(`03-)

Groups - Sullivan's House of Animals, Camp Cornette

Career Highlights -
- Beats Shinya Hashimoto in the finals of an 8-man final with Lou Thesz as the guest referee
- Holds the CWA, IWGP, and UWA titles all at the same time
- Defeats long-time rival Sting to win his first of three WCW World title
- Wins UWFI's "Best of the World" tournament by defeating Nobuhiko Takada
- Becomes the first man to win both the IWGP (3) and Triple Crown (2) titles by beating Mitsuharu Misawa

Finisher(s) -
- Powerbomb
- Vader Bomb/Big Van Crush (Flying Splash)

Favorites -
- Chokeslam
- Face Eraser (Reverse Powerbomb)
- Vader Attack (Body Attack)
- Vader Hammers (Forearms)
- Lariat

Ringwork Rating -
move set - 10
science - 3
aerial - 5
power - 10
strikes - 10

Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 8
selling - 8
bumping - 7
heat - 8
carrying - 8
legacy - 8

Serious Injuries - Knee (Has Required 27+ surgeries)

Place in History - Perhaps the greatest big man worker of all-time, Leon White has worked all over the globe and seen greater success than nearly everyone of his contemparies bar a select few. His breaks came quickly as he was a pretty agile football player who was pushed hard right off the bat. He was given the CWA Heavyweight title and remained the champion for quite a stretch due to infrequent dealings with the company. Then after Jim Hellwig bailed on New Japan's Post-Apocalyptic warrior character - Big Van Vader, the green big man was brought in. Competing at that level quickly elevated Vader's abilities and in a few years he was a strong worker. He had gone on to success in Mexico as well before r returning to the US in the early 90s. WCW realized the ability of Vader and pushed him hard in a stellar, though somewhat short program with Sting. After that his days in the US never did very well, he was banged up and not pushed properly much of the time and often stuck with the wrong guys. He had an even sadder run with the WWF before returning to Japan and pulling out some strong efforts in his forties. After his game has dropped off Vader is largely living off his legacy in Japan as one of the few who beat Antonio Inoki and has always been a top gaijin over there. He's competed everywhere, won titles everywhere and is probably the best 400+ pound worker the wrestling world has ever and may likely ever see.