Wrestling fans are unusually affected by the people they watched in their formative years. Kids watching today will have remarkably fond memories of Roman Reigns. Those that grew up a few years ago will always speak fondly of John Cena. Of course, the Monday Night Wars spawned more than a generation of wrestling fans that have wonderful memories of most of the wrestlers of the era.

I came along at a weird time. The first time I remember watching WWF programming was the summer of 1990, in the buildup to SummerSlam 1990. Ultimate Warrior was champion and Hulk Hogan rarely appeared on television, so I managed to avoid the Hogan hero worship that most people my age have. Like many, I only knew of WWF at first. It wasn’t until I was hanging out at an IGA grocery store & saw this that I knew of other promotions.

I didn’t know anything about Big Van Vader, but I had to see more of him based on this magazine cover. My suspicions were correct, as he was a monster the likes of which I hadn’t seen before. My earliest & fondest memories of WCW involve Vader squashing anybody in his path. As a young wrestling fan in 1993, I often wondered what would happen if WCW Champion Vader & WWF Champion Yokozuna met in the ring. There’s nothing like two dominant heel champions to get kids’ minds wondering.

I’ll admit it: I was afraid of Vader early on. A funny thing happened though…once Hulk Hogan & his friends started coming to WCW in 1994, I started rooting for Vader. I liked how WCW was different from the WWF, and I rejected the idea of all the WWF retreads coming in & wiping out the WCW wrestlers that I had grown to appreciate. Vader was one of those guys. When he asked “WHO’S THE MAN?”, I couldn’t help but say that Vader was indeed the man.

Wrestling has always been about MEN. We’ve harped on this recently. Back in the mid-1990s, Vader wasn’t just A MAN. He was THE MAN. You really couldn’t argue it. Even when he had temporary setbacks against men like Ron Simmons, we knew it was just a matter of time before Vader would set things right. He was brute force + intensity + anything else a wrestler could want to be. He didn’t do fancy moves, but he didn’t need to. Vader was a force of nature.

We knew it was coming. His health hadn’t been the best in recent years. But it stings just the same. In honor of one of the greatest monsters I’ve ever seen in the ring, here are the Top 5 Vader Moments.

5. Starrcade 1993

It’s probably absolutely insane to think such a thing right now. But there was actually an idea that Ric Flair could retire from professional wrestling in 1993. Probably because he was wrestling Vader in a retirement match at Starrcade 1993, and the idea of Vader losing was pretty crazy at that point.

Vader was a little stiff in that match. He usually was. It was a retirement match in Flair’s hometown of Charlotte. Of course he laid it in a little bit. Flair would have expected nothing less.

4. Sixteen Candles & Four Hundred Pound Men

Those that know me well know that there are a few television shows I’ve loved as much as I love pro wrestling. One of those shows was Boy Meets World. I was a TGIF mark, and the show about a young baseball/wrestling fan spoke to me. The involvement of Vader in the show was absolutely perfect for me. He was cast as the father of Frankie, a young Ethan Suplee, who if you saw him now you might not believe it, but as a young gentleman he looked like a potential son of Big Van Vader. Vader appeared a couple of times on BMW as Frankie’s father, but his most notable appearance happened in what I believe to be the greatest episode of Boy Meets World.

Topanga Lawrence’s Sweet 16th birthday happened to coincide with a WWF tour stop in Philadelphia. This typically would have been a minor inconvenience for Topanga’s boyfriend Cory Matthews, but it turns out that his presence at the WWF show is absolutely vital. Frankie, a reformed bully who has befriended Cory & Shawn Hunter, is the son of WWF Superstar Vader, and their relationship isn’t exactly the best because Frankie is more interested in poetry than wrestling. In an attempt to get closer to his father, Frankie asks Cory & Shawn for wrestling advice to give his father. Vader actually ends up taking it & decides that his son can be a trusted advisor. Frankie needs Cory & Shawn there to make sure he knows what he’s talking about, so it’s shades of the Flintstones episode where Fred has to be at Pebbles’ first birthday and a Water Buffalo Lodge party at the same time. They reference this multiple times because Boy Meets World is the best show ever.

They almost pulled it off, until Cory missed the Sweet 16 dance & Topanga saw the replay on the TV in the corner with Vader, Frankie, Cory & Shawn celebrating Vader’s win over Jake Roberts. The only flaw in this episode is that there was no way Vader needed anybody’s advice to beat Jake Roberts. Cory ends up making it up to Topanga by arranging a slow dance in a WWF ring, Vader does a Vadersault, and everybody goes home happy.

How this didn’t win multiple Emmys, I’ll never know.

3. Powerbombing Cactus Jack on Concrete

I remember this WCW Saturday Night episode very well. I had grown fond of Cactus Jack for his willingness to get the crap beaten out of him for my entertainment. Vader took that whole idea to another level.

He powerbombed the man on the concrete floor, for crying out loud. This is what Bill Watts wanted more of when he said to get rid of the pads on the floor. The whole concussion thing that we have learned is a very bad thing. We already knew that getting hit in the head was bad. That was why Jesse Ventura rode in the ambulance with Cactus Jack after this powerbomb. Getting hit in the head is bad, folks.

2. Busted Eye Socket? No Big Deal.

Stan Hansen’s disregard for his opponents is legendary. Sure, he was nearsighted. OK. The man took liberties on everybody he ever wrestled, and we love him for it. Vader was one of those guys, and he really didn’t give a rip about it.

On Oct. 12, 1990, during an @njpw1972 match vs Stan Hansen, Vader took a thumb to his eye causing it to pop out of its socket. Vader pushed it back in and wrestled 12 more minutes. Tough SOB. #RIPVader pic.twitter.com/qRlU1lptF5

— Old Wrestling Pics (@OldWrestlingPic) June 20, 2018

They had a rematch at WrestleWar 1991 and if you haven’t seen that and you have the Network, I recommend you fix that right now. It was a brawl beyond anything WCW was serving up at the time.

Honorable Mention: Attacking Gorilla Monsoon

I know so many people are wondering why I’m shying away from WWE highlights of Vader. To be honest, there aren’t many. For my money, his high point during his empolyment by the McMahons happened on the second night he appeared on their programming. He attacked the President of the company, and it meant a lot because not many men had laid their hands on Gorilla Monsoon.

Gorilla put him over. Too bad nobody else in the WWF wanted to.

1. The Sting vs. Vader Feud

WCW mangement really wanted Ric Flair to put Sting over. The only problem with that whole thing was they had no idea what Sting should do afterwards. His first title reign was doomed by that. The Black Scorpion? GTFO. Once Sting’s second title run came, they had some better opponents. The most important of which was the Mastadon.

Sting lost the WCW title to Vader at the 1992 Great American Bash, but that was merely the beginning. Their feud carried throughout 1992, 1993 & 1994. The matches weren’t constant. They didn’t face off every week on television. When they met, it mattered. Every Sting vs. Vader match meant something.

Sting needed somebody like Vader to prove himself as the Franchise of WCW. When people think of WCW, they think of Sting. This is largely due to the matches that Sting had with the likes of Ric Flair & Vader. Sting vs. Flair was the story of NWA passing the torch to WCW. Sting vs. Vader was the classic David vs. Goliath story.

I realize that I’m an old man, and that there are people reading these columns that weren’t alive in the early 1990s. If you weren’t alive when Sting & Vader were facing off, you gotta check it out now. Great American Bash 1992. Starrcade 1992. Slamboree 1994. This isn’t a complete list, but you need to see Sting vs. Vader. One of the top babyfaces of all time against one of the top heels.

If only Roman Reigns had somebody like Vader to face off against right now. There just aren’t men like Vader available in 2018.