R.I.P. Vader

It's time, it's time, it's Vader time!

NJPW 04/24/89: Big Van Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto

First of all, Vader doing his smoke-from-the-armor pre-match ritual which lead to Hashimoto having a "really?" look on his face was amazing. Then the match starts w/ both guys looking to gain the first control of one another - Hash ends up on the winning side of things, but he doesn't keep Vader contained & eventually Vader goddamn BLASTS him with a big backhand. Hashimoto's selling of this was amazing & he really comes off as a wounded bear after he received that one. Vader does his thing, beats the crap out of Hash on top. That sets the tone for rest of the match - it's mostly Vader on top, giving Hashimoto a beating, but Hash refuses to go down easily & every time he manages to get some offense going, the Dome goes unglued. Absolutely loved how he targeted Vader's arm throughout, he was relentless & wasn't gonna leave the place without destroying that left arm of Vader's. Hashimoto's selling is absolutely incredible throughout, but so is Vader's - he sells all of Hash's arm targeting & offense in general perfectly for his role in the thing. One of my favorite Tokyo Dome & NJPW matches - just two all-time greats demonstrating why they are exactly that via delivering all-time great performances. The way they conveyed the drama, the struggle & the emotion is simply unreal. Actually not just one of my favorite Tokyo Dome & NJPW matches, but one of my favorite matches of all-time, period. *****

NJPW 02/10/90: Big Van Vader vs. Stan Hansen

There aren't many matches with a more genuine feel of chaos & danger than this one. Just two asskickers beating the crap out of each other. It's amazing. ****1/2

NJPW 08/10/91: Big Van Vader vs. Keiji Muto

Vader is tremendous as always beating the taste out of his opponent & Mutoh is absolutely awesome with his punches and overall offense. Great fiery babyface performance by the man. ****

WCW Starrcade 1993: Big Van Vader vs. Ric Flair

Love the story leading up to this one, and they wrestle according to it perfectly. Vader gives Flair a classic Big Van Vader beating while Flair does some of his finest babyface work with those PUNCHES & CHOPS. Fantastic dynamic, fantastic drama, fantastic match. ****1/2

UWFI 06/10/94: Super Vader vs. Kiyoshi Tamura

This match - THIS MATCH! An absolutely outstanding 7 minute sprint David vs. Goliath sprint where Vader clobbers the shit out of Tamura & Tamura answers to it by kicking the shit out of Vader, in particular his leg. It's all super heated & just lovely, lovely stuff. 100% my jam. ****1/2

ALWAYS.

R.I.P.