Update On Vader And The WWE Hall Of Fame

According to a new report, one of the greatest big men in wrestling history still won’t see an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020.

There has been a massive push to induct Vader to the WWE Hall of Fame for years, and those efforts picked up after the star’s death in 2018. Mick Foley has reportedly been one of the major names within the industry urging the WWE to enshrine. the former WCW Champion.

However, the Wrestling Observer reports that Vader is not on the list of 2020 inductees. So far announced are the nWo and Batista, with “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith, JBL, Jushin “Thunder” Liger, and the Bella Twins also rumored for induction.

Vader (Leon White) was a major star in every promotion that he worked, including WCW, WWE, and Japan. His biggest stardom came in Japan and WCW. When he was brought to the WWE in early 1996, Vader was put into an immediate storyline where he injured on-air WWE President Gorilla Monsoon. He feuded that summer with Shawn Michaels over the WWE Championship, headlining SummerSlam in Cleveland against HBK. Vader was at one time planned for a world championship run in WWE, but those plans never came to pass and he floundered throughout the mid-card for most of the rest of his run.

Fellow wrestlers often cite Vader as one of the most agile big men to ever wrestle professionally and it’s been a shame to see a man that is so worthy of a Hall of Fame induction not get his due. However, the call on this ultimately rests with Vince McMahon, and evidently he hasn’t seen Vader as a big enough name for induction. While some would argue this is because Vader’s biggest success came outside of WWE, there have been numerous names inducted who that argument also rings true for (notably Sting, Harlem Heat, DDP, the Rock ‘N Roll Express, Stan Hansen, the Freebirds, and many others).

Would you like to see Vader inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame? Let us know in the comments section below, and check out a full retrospective on the career of Vader at this link. As always, give me a follow on Twitter @ryandroste for all things WWE.