Leon White, who wrestling fans best know as "Big Van Vader" in WCW and New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling and just Vader in WWE, has passed away.
the wrestler nicknamed "The Mastodon" lost his battle with congestive heart failure after being diagnosed with it in late 2016 shortly after surviving a horrible car wreck in November of that year.
White was born and raised in the LA Area where he was born in Lynwood and raised in Compton (the home of gangsta rap group of N.W.A: N****s With Attitude which includes Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and the late Easy E), and he also played football before he became a pro wrestler, where he played for the University of Colorado Buffaloes as a offensive lineman in the 1977 college football season where he became a second team all american that year, then he was drafted to the Los Angeles Rams as the 24th pick of the 3rd round and 80th pick overall in 1978, he would be placed on the injury reserve, he was apart of the team during their 1979 NFC Championship season and he played for the Rams at Super Bowl XIV in 1980 where he and the Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers who has Terry Bradshaw as the Quarterback and that game's MVP. He retired from Pro Football later that year after suffering a career ending ruptured patella.
He made his pro wrestling debut for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association in 1985 as Baby Bull, but would wrestle for promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, WWE (then World Wrestling Federation, or WWF for short), Impact Wrestling (then National Wrestling Association-Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or NWA-TNA or later on to just TNA for short), Pro Wrestling NOAH.
In his career, he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (the top title of NJPW) 3 times, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship 3 times, WCW US Championship (now known today as the WWE US Championship) and the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for AJPW twice along with several other titles he won during his career.
He also guest star on 4 episodes of Boy Meets World in the 1990s as a version of himself who was the father of Ethan Sulpee's character Frankie Stechino, in which Vader retained his WWE character while his outside of WWE name was Francis Albert Leslie 'Frankie' Stecchino, Sr. He also guest stared on Baywatch as himself in a WCW "Bash At The Beach" themed episode of the show.
He also was infamous for a incident in Kuwait in 1997 where he and The Undertaker were guest of a morning news show on Kuwait TV station in April 1997 where the host called pro wrestling fake, in which lead to him flipping a table and grabbing the news reporter who interview him by the tie and used foul language in order to protect the business of wrestling, which at that time was known to be fake in some places, but the internet had not been a big presence in the world yet.
He was survived by his son Jesse White, who previously worked in the WWE's developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (later rebranded to WWE NXT) as Jake Carter from 2011 to 2013.
The cause of his death was heart failure brought on by a severe case of pneumonia, which could had be a complication from open heart surgery he had back in March of this year and a follow up surgery he had to treat arrhythmia. He was 63 years old.
story of his passing from WWE.com:
https://www.wwe.com/article/vader-passes-away
the wrestler nicknamed "The Mastodon" lost his battle with congestive heart failure after being diagnosed with it in late 2016 shortly after surviving a horrible car wreck in November of that year.
White was born and raised in the LA Area where he was born in Lynwood and raised in Compton (the home of gangsta rap group of N.W.A: N****s With Attitude which includes Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and the late Easy E), and he also played football before he became a pro wrestler, where he played for the University of Colorado Buffaloes as a offensive lineman in the 1977 college football season where he became a second team all american that year, then he was drafted to the Los Angeles Rams as the 24th pick of the 3rd round and 80th pick overall in 1978, he would be placed on the injury reserve, he was apart of the team during their 1979 NFC Championship season and he played for the Rams at Super Bowl XIV in 1980 where he and the Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers who has Terry Bradshaw as the Quarterback and that game's MVP. He retired from Pro Football later that year after suffering a career ending ruptured patella.
He made his pro wrestling debut for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association in 1985 as Baby Bull, but would wrestle for promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, WWE (then World Wrestling Federation, or WWF for short), Impact Wrestling (then National Wrestling Association-Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or NWA-TNA or later on to just TNA for short), Pro Wrestling NOAH.
In his career, he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (the top title of NJPW) 3 times, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship 3 times, WCW US Championship (now known today as the WWE US Championship) and the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for AJPW twice along with several other titles he won during his career.
He also guest star on 4 episodes of Boy Meets World in the 1990s as a version of himself who was the father of Ethan Sulpee's character Frankie Stechino, in which Vader retained his WWE character while his outside of WWE name was Francis Albert Leslie 'Frankie' Stecchino, Sr. He also guest stared on Baywatch as himself in a WCW "Bash At The Beach" themed episode of the show.
He also was infamous for a incident in Kuwait in 1997 where he and The Undertaker were guest of a morning news show on Kuwait TV station in April 1997 where the host called pro wrestling fake, in which lead to him flipping a table and grabbing the news reporter who interview him by the tie and used foul language in order to protect the business of wrestling, which at that time was known to be fake in some places, but the internet had not been a big presence in the world yet.
He was survived by his son Jesse White, who previously worked in the WWE's developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (later rebranded to WWE NXT) as Jake Carter from 2011 to 2013.
The cause of his death was heart failure brought on by a severe case of pneumonia, which could had be a complication from open heart surgery he had back in March of this year and a follow up surgery he had to treat arrhythmia. He was 63 years old.
story of his passing from WWE.com:
https://www.wwe.com/article/vader-passes-away
