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Vader
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 375lbs
Date of Birth: 5/14/56
Place of Birth: Denver, Colorado
Debut: January, 1987 (vs. Otto Wanz)

Title History:

AJPW World Tag Team Title (1):
- (w/ Steve Williams) Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama (2/20/00) / Vacated (4/00)

CWA Heavyweight Title (3):
- Otto Wanz (3/22/87) / Otto Wanz (7/87)
- Otto Wanz (8/21/89) / Otto Wanz (6/30/90)
- Mark Rambo (12/22/90) / Mark Rambo (7/6/91)

CWA International Heavyweight Title (1):
- Tatsumi Fujinami (12/21/91) / Vacated (1992)

GHC Tag Team Title (1):
- (w/ Scorpio) Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (10/19/01) / Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (11/30/01)

IWGP Heavyweight Title (3):
- Shinya Hashimoto (4/24/89) / Salman Hashimikov (5/25/89)
- Riki Choshu (8/10/89) / Riki Choshu (8/19/90)
- Tatsumi Fujinami (1/17/91) / Tatsumi Fujinami (3/4/91)

IWGP Tag Team Title (1):
- (w/ Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow) Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase (3/1/92) / Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner (6/26/92)

Triple Crown (2):
- Akira Taue (3/6/99) / Mitsuharu Misawa (5/2/99)
- Mitsuharu Misawa (10/30/99) / Kenta Kobashi (2/27/00)

UWA Heavyweight Title (1):
- El Canek (11/22/89) / El Canek (12/8/90)

UWF-I Pro Wrestling Title (1):
- Nobuhiko Takada (8/18/94) / Nobuhiko Takada (4/20/95)

WCW Heavyweight Title (3):
- Sting (7/12/92) / Ron Simmons (8/2/92)
- Ron Simmons (12/30/92) / Sting (3/11/93)
- Sting (3/17/93) / Ric Flair (12/27/93)

WCW U.S. Heavyweight Title (1):
- Jim Duggan (12/27/94) / Sting (6/18/95)

Tournament History:

- IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament (1989): Big Van Vader beat Shinya Hashimoto (9:47) with an inside cradle.
- Super Grade Tag League 1991: Tatsumi Fujinami & Big Van Vader beat Riki Choshu & Masa Saito
- Best of the World/UWF-I Pro Wrestling Title Tournament (1994): Super Vader beat Nobuhiko Takada (19:24) by KO.
- Champion Carnival 1999: Vader beat Kenta Kobashi (19:11) with a Vader Attack.
- GHC Tag Team Title Tournament (2001): Vader & Scorpio beat Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (11:39) when Vader used a chokeslam on Akiyama.

Signature Moves:

- Big Van Crush
- Chokeslam
- Moonsault press
- Powerbomb
- Vader Attack
- Vader Hammer

Profile:

After playing American football professionally, Leon White became a professional wrestler. No matter what his ring name, whether Big Van Vader, Super Vader, or just Vader, he has established himself as one of the greatest "big man" wrestlers in history, and from 1998 to 2002 was the most important foreign wrestler in Japan. With success and many titles in North America, Japan, and Europe, Vader is no stranger to gold. Following a stint in the WWF, Vader returned to Japan in 1998, joining All Japan and having memorable matches with the likes of Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi. Winning the Triple Crown in 1999 made him the first wrestler to ever hold both the Triple Crown and IWGP Heavyweight Title. After Misawa split from All Japan to form NOAH, Vader was one of the few gaijin to follow, and in NOAH he reigned as foreign ace, rarely losing and dominating opponents. Early in 2003, Vader left NOAH, but after a short absence from Japan, returned, making Riki Choshu's new World Japan promotion his main base. The Mastadon, Vader's dominant power fighting and uncanny agility have won him fans for almost two decades.