Athletes - Leon White

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	Athletes - Leon White

Leon Allen White (born May 14, 1957), better known under his ring names Big Van Vader or Vader, was one of the most successful professional wrestlers of the 1990s. He is famous for being one of the few super-heavyweight wrestlers capable of significant aerial maneuvers. Long considered a premier monster heel in the pro wrestling world.

Early years

After failing a tryout with the Los Angeles Rams, Leon White headed for the Midwest, where he joined the American Wrestling Association. He first used the name Baby Bull, which he later changed his name to Bull Power, as White disliked being called a baby. He headed abroad, traveling the world. It was in New Japan Pro Wrestling that he earned his first taste of fame. Given the name Vader by promoter Antonio Inoki (no connection to Darth Vader; "Vader" was a manga character created by Go Nagai, who had also created the Jushin Liger anime), he was introduced as the crown jewel of the Takeshi Puroresu Gundan stable managed (in the storyline) by Takeshi Kitano. After a match in which Riki Choshu had challenged Inoki only to lose, Vader demanded a match with the already worn-out Inoki, and thoroughly destroyed him. This led the audience to cause a riot which banned NJPW from the arena, the Sumo Hall, which was its home arena (the ban was rescinded in 1989). The TPG storyline was scrapped because of this and NJPW and Kitano parted ways, but Vader was kept, as he had made a powerful statement. He would feud with Tatsumi Fujinami and Choshu over the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, winning the title three times. He would also win the European CWA's and the Mexican UWA's World titles, thereby becoming the first wrestler to hold three world titles from three different regions at the same time.

World Championship Wrestling

Vader's first match took place on July 9 1990 at the Great American Bash. Vader faced Tom Zenk and crushed Zenk in under two minutes. This made the fans take notice but Vader did not skyrocket in WCW as he had in Japan.

Around this time, Vader began a feud in with Stan Hansen, the best foreigner in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Hansen was a powerhouse much like Vader and their feud would lead to some of the most violent matches in Vader's career. The most famous episode in Vader's legendary Japanese career would result from the first match the two had together. It took place at the New Japan vs. All Japan Supercard at the Tokyo Dome and Vader received several stiff punches to the face from Hansen. As a result, his right eye came out of its socket, although it did remain under the eyelid. Vader finished the match despite the injury.

The level of violence in his matches with Hansen were taking their toll on Vader and he eventually had to drop the CWA Heavyweight Championship back to Otto Wanz on June 30 1990. Later that year, on August 19, Vader also dropped the IWGP Heavyweight Title back to Riki Choshu. December 9 saw Vader losing the last of his three titles, again to the man whom he had dethroned, as El Canek relieved him of the UWA Heavyweight Championship. Vader also began wearing a new mask around this time.

About two weeks later Vader went to Germany and defeated Rambo in a tournament final to reclaim the vacant CWA Heavyweight Championship (making Vader 3-time CWA Heavyweight Champion). In early 1991, Vader defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to earn himself a third IWGP Heavyweight Title reign.

The IWGP Heavyweight Title reign was short-lived, however, when on March 4 Vader lost the belt to Fujinami. Rambo ended Vader's CWA Heavyweight Championship reign on July 6 1991. Vader would go on to defeat Fujinami for the CWA Intercontinental Championship but, upon his signing of a WCW contract in 1992, the title was declared vacant.

At this point, WCW and NJPW were reaching a tentative working agreement. This benefited Vader as he could now have his schedule coordinated far more easily. His difficulty getting acknowledged in WCW was the fact that he had such a busy schedule due to participation in wrestling organizations on four continents.

On March 1 1992, he and Bam Bam Bigelow won the IWGP Tag Team Titles as the team "Big, Bad, and Dangerous" from Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh. In May, Vader faced Mutoh, now known as the Great Muta, one on one and received a serious knee injury. This injury was a factor that caused "Big, Bad, and Dangerous" to drop the titles to the Steiner Brothers after almost four months as champions. This would also signal a decrease in his NJPW time as Vader began to focus almost entirely on WCW, the World Heavyweight Championship and one man in particular.

Sting

Vader was paired with a manager, Harley Race, and the duo stalked the WCW Champion, Sting. seeking a title opportunity. Vader finally received one on April 12 1992, but lost after punching out the referee. Sting cracked a pair of ribs in the match and Vader was put into a rivalry with Nikita Koloff while Sting recuperated.

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