n February 1990, Vader faced Stan Hansen (both of whom are legitimate friends) at an AJPW versus NJPW supercard show. Before Vader entered the ring, Hansen accidentally broke Vader's nose with the bullrope Hansen carried to the ring for his matches. Hansen, who is nearly blind without his glasses, denied that he broke Vader's nose. During an exchange of stiff punches, Hansen unintentionally poked Vader's left eye with his thumb during their brawl, which caused the eye to pop out of its socket. In response, Vader took a brief moment to take off his mask and push the eye back into the socket before finishing the match as planned. As a result of the match, Vader suffered a broken orbital socket along with the aforementioned broken nose, both of which required extensive reconstructive surgery. Vader's success garnered the attention of World Championship Wrestling, who convinced him to work for them while still the IWGP Champion and an active competitor in New Japan. Vader subsequently required four surgeries to repair the damage to his face.
