Vader's run in the WWF why did it fail

[whatamaneuver]

He simply lost too many matches.

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

I never bought the "Hogan no-selling the powerbomb was the end of Vader". Hogan did the exact same thing to Macho Man's elbow and Undertaker's tombstone and their careers didn't end.

A weird theory I had was he never looked as big in WWF as he did in WCW. He just didn't look as physically imposing as he did in WCW for whatever reasons.

[nWoElite]

Dec 22, 2011 9:05:54 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

HBK probably had something to do with it,

This. and for proof, lookup the Jim Cornette shoot vid on youtube where he goes into this.

[Handsome Halfbreed]

No, no, no. It had nothing to do with monster heels not being the 'in thing'... or Shawn Micheals and his temper tantrums... Honestly I think when Vader was signed he was over valued. Vince thought they could book him to squash Yoko and take out Monsoon and that would be all the momentum Vader would need to carry him through the summer. No winning King of the Ring, No major main event calibur fueds... and that hurt. By Summer Slam just got lost in the shuffle and fans cared more about red hot Sid and the return of Bret Hart.

[rnrk supports BLM]

The entire idea that losing to Michaels is what killed Vader in WWF is revisionism; Vader was beating Undertaker at the start of '97 and still being treated like a credible contender for the world title.

Roughing up that interviewer in Kuwait probably had more to do with why management soured on him.

[Renslayer]

Shawn Michaels's hissy fit in the ring certainly didn't help. I always wonder why the WWF didn't bother rename the December In Your House since Vader wasn't in the ME(in fact, I don't even think he was even on the card) At least Vader had that kick ass match at the Final Four with Taker, Austin & Bret.

[rawthentic]

Yeah, it was not all Shawn Michaels. He was still involved in pretty big fueds through 1997. He had the fued with Undertaker and he was in that awesome final four match(i still remember the cut eyelid).

I personally think the matches with Kane put an end to Vader being credible as an upper card monster. I remember Vader was still very credible heading in the first match with Kane. It seemed like Vader would have been one to cut Kane down as inch or two..he lost and got hit by a wrench and was out for awhile. He came back to wrestle Kane again and pretty much got squashed again where he cried and called himself a big fat pile of shit after the match...yeah, i think that was the last of Vader being in any big storylines or credible.

[Perpetual Nirvana]

It's the same as the problem with Goldberg's run. He wasn't booked as anything special. Just another guy.

[celticjobber]

I'd pretty much put all of the blame on Shawn Michaels' whining. Without HBK, he probably would've prospered in the WWF.

[Hit Girl]

I just don't think he was very good in WWF. He looked bloated and I found him fairly dull.

[Deleted]

HHH mentioned in an interview a few years ago that Vader had stopped washing his singlet and guys were getting rashes from working with him. That certainly could not have helped him score points with anyone, though I believe it was mentioned that was it happening around 1998 rather than Vader's eariy WWF days.

[Efren]

Why would you stop washing your singlet? thats just weird.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

First of all; he didn't fail. He worked there for years near to the top of the card and was perfectly over.


The reason he didn't rise higher is because despite his charisma, the only thing in the ring that made him special is that he would actually hit people really hard. I don't normally defend Shawn, but no one should work with that.

[Bub (BLM)]

Shawn Michaels being a little prick and making sure he got to make Vader his personal jobber.

[mikey_editor]

I agree with right guy wrong time. He would kill now. He had a fantastic moment at a Survivor Series where he laid it all out as the lone member of his team. He was just there in the most competitive time. RIP

[MichaelMartini]

I think it has everything to do with politics. A little bit to do with presentation too. Where was his kickass helmet? He should've been booked like Yoko. An invincible monster, not a fat bully. Feuding with HBK right away wasn't a good idea.

Then Kane came along and they had a replacement for the top monster spot. Kind of made him redundant. Looking back it's a good thing he didn't work in the WWF because we never would've got his awesome Japan run, that has to be considered one of the best comebacks ever.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Dec 23, 2011 3:10:45 GMT -5 mikey_editor said:

I agree with right guy wrong time. He would kill now. He had a fantastic moment at a Survivor Series where he laid it all out as the lone member of his team. He was just there in the most competitive time. RIP

RIP?

[Deleted]

So Shawn Michaels was a whiny bitch for not appreciating being punched in the face?

[MichaelMartini]

Dec 23, 2011 6:15:19 GMT -5 @tagteamspecialist said:

So Shawn Michaels was a whiny bitch for not appreciating being punched in the face?

Shouldn't be wrestling if you're worried about getting potatoed.

[bitteroldman]

Dec 23, 2011 6:17:23 GMT -5 MichaelMartini said:

Dec 23, 2011 6:15:19 GMT -5 @tagteamspecialist said:

So Shawn Michaels was a whiny bitch for not appreciating being punched in the face?

Shouldn't be wrestling if you're worried about getting potatoed.

Maybe I'm just old-school but pro-wrestling is supposed to be about believable illusions. One of those is that you're hurting your opponent with whatever offensive moves you're using. This should included kicks and punches. I seriously doubt that Vader could even throw a worked punch.