Playaz Eyez
Veteran
I think Vader was one of the GOAT big men in wrestling, and I have been on and off watching (and re-watching) various matches and segments in his career, and 1998 was clearly the worst year for him. Even though this is mainly 1998, the first inkling of Vader being finished in the WWF goes back to mid 1997. We all know HBK was the one that really stymied Vader as far as being a main eventer, but the descent slowly started happening after that. At some In Your House PPV, they have Ken Shamrock make his WWF (in-ring) debut vs Vader.
This was the same match where Vader got tired of Shamrock stiffing him, so he just said fukk it and rocked the hell out of him
But as you see towards the end, Shamrock counters a Vader lunge into an Ankle Lock and makes him tap like a bytch, damn near faster than Darren Young tapping to the Anaconda Vice
FF to later in the year. Vader is a face and in the middle of a feud with Goldust, who recently dumped Terri Runnels for Luna and started getting his BDSM on. Goldust was faking a brain injury or something, and Vader confronts him, causing Luna to blindside him. The way Vader fell
Vader shows up later on in a Santa suit and beats the shyt out of Goldust
They face off at Royal Rumble, with a pretty cool Vader Bomb sequence with Luna riding shotgun on Vader's back.
But then Goldust eliminates him in the Royal Rumble
Vader then moved on to Kane. 11 year old me knew Vader didn't stand a chance
He got a pinch of revenge after Kane whooped his ass
.....but that revenge didn't last long, cause Kane demolished Vader and sent him out on a stretcher for a couple weeks.
Then came the Mask vs Mask matchup when Vader returned. It was a fairly even contest, but Kane mopped him up with a Chokeslam and Tombstone, then washed him with a wrench
Paul Bearer even put Vader's mask on and mocked him
Post match, we all remember this, basically killed Vader off for good. He was a walking corpse after this. Basically became a popular jobber.
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Dude called himself a piece of shyt, then started losing to anyone with a pulse. Mark Henry was in the Nation at the time, but he hadn't fleshed out his character at this point. Still handed Vader a MEAN L.
To bring things full circle, Vader took another L to Ken Shamrock. Shamrock didn't even have to struggle this time. Vader tapped out here like a WWE diva.
Match was like 5 minutes.
Vader then moved into a mini-feud with Bradshaw, pre-Acolyte/APA, post-Justin Hawk. He was a clean-shaven Blackjack gone solo after he split from Barry Windham, who had previously been in that Cornette/NWA stable (I could make another thread about that period). Really [expected] stiff match. Bradshaw hits him with a mean pre-Clothesline from Hell, then a second nasty one, in which you could see his spirit leave his body. Bradshaw doesn't even cover him after that, he just talks shyt to him, then pins him after doing what a couple years later would be known as the Regal Cutter
And here we are....Vader's last televised WWF match (as a full time performer). How the mighty have fallen. Sunday Night Heat, Vader vs a rookie Edge. I've watched this [short] match several times over the years and notice something different each time. You can tell just by Vader's entrance alone that his WWF career is finished, and he's just trying to enjoy his time right here. The match itself, it's somewhat of a squash. Just the feel of the match....Vader hits a Powerbomb, and Edge just casually kicks out like it was an arm drag. The closing moments of the match though
Edge hits the worst fukking Downward Spiral of all time and gets the 3 count. No resistance at all.
Wow....I'm disgusted right now. I always knew Vader's WWF tenure sucked outside of the 1st 6 months or so, but doing this back tracking of 1998 specifically makes it a WOAT company run. Kinda want to burn this out of my memory. If you're a Vader fan, stick to WCW/Japan if you're reminiscing about his career.
This was the same match where Vader got tired of Shamrock stiffing him, so he just said fukk it and rocked the hell out of him
But as you see towards the end, Shamrock counters a Vader lunge into an Ankle Lock and makes him tap like a bytch, damn near faster than Darren Young tapping to the Anaconda Vice
FF to later in the year. Vader is a face and in the middle of a feud with Goldust, who recently dumped Terri Runnels for Luna and started getting his BDSM on. Goldust was faking a brain injury or something, and Vader confronts him, causing Luna to blindside him. The way Vader fell
Vader shows up later on in a Santa suit and beats the shyt out of Goldust
They face off at Royal Rumble, with a pretty cool Vader Bomb sequence with Luna riding shotgun on Vader's back.
But then Goldust eliminates him in the Royal Rumble
Vader then moved on to Kane. 11 year old me knew Vader didn't stand a chance
He got a pinch of revenge after Kane whooped his ass
.....but that revenge didn't last long, cause Kane demolished Vader and sent him out on a stretcher for a couple weeks.
Then came the Mask vs Mask matchup when Vader returned. It was a fairly even contest, but Kane mopped him up with a Chokeslam and Tombstone, then washed him with a wrench
Paul Bearer even put Vader's mask on and mocked him
Post match, we all remember this, basically killed Vader off for good. He was a walking corpse after this. Basically became a popular jobber.
:
Dude called himself a piece of shyt, then started losing to anyone with a pulse. Mark Henry was in the Nation at the time, but he hadn't fleshed out his character at this point. Still handed Vader a MEAN L.
To bring things full circle, Vader took another L to Ken Shamrock. Shamrock didn't even have to struggle this time. Vader tapped out here like a WWE diva.
Match was like 5 minutes.Vader then moved into a mini-feud with Bradshaw, pre-Acolyte/APA, post-Justin Hawk. He was a clean-shaven Blackjack gone solo after he split from Barry Windham, who had previously been in that Cornette/NWA stable (I could make another thread about that period
). Really [expected] stiff match. Bradshaw hits him with a mean pre-Clothesline from Hell, then a second nasty one, in which you could see his spirit leave his body. Bradshaw doesn't even cover him after that, he just talks shyt to him, then pins him after doing what a couple years later would be known as the Regal CutterAnd here we are....Vader's last televised WWF match (as a full time performer). How the mighty have fallen. Sunday Night Heat, Vader vs a rookie Edge. I've watched this [short] match several times over the years and notice something different each time. You can tell just by Vader's entrance alone that his WWF career is finished, and he's just trying to enjoy his time right here. The match itself, it's somewhat of a squash. Just the feel of the match....Vader hits a Powerbomb, and Edge just casually kicks out like it was an arm drag. The closing moments of the match though
Edge hits the worst fukking Downward Spiral of all time and gets the 3 count. No resistance at all.Wow....I'm disgusted right now. I always knew Vader's WWF tenure sucked outside of the 1st 6 months or so, but doing this back tracking of 1998 specifically makes it a WOAT company run. Kinda want to burn this out of my memory. If you're a Vader fan, stick to WCW/Japan if you're reminiscing about his career.
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