JR says former WWE superstar was lucky not to be fired despite refusing to lose for absurd reason. He recalled the incident on his podcast.
The WWE has had a number of huge personalites during it’s entire existence. A number of top stars have performed for the promotion and this sometimes, can lead to clashes of ego as the bigger stars try to preserve their status at the very top of the food chain.
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During a recent episode of the “Grilling JR” podcast on AdFreeShows.com, Jim Ross recalled a particular match from the 90’s. June 9, 1996 to be precise. It was Big Van Vader vs The Ultimate Warrior at a house show in Rosemont.
The match is remembered for Vader walking out of the match only to return after being threatened with a release. He then walked away again. This time Warrior was awarded the win via count out. JR revealed the reason why Vader refused to lose and why he thought it was absurd.
JR says former WWE superstar Big Van Vader was lucky not to be fired despite refusing to lose for absurd reason
“So, Leon (Vader) is lucky that night he didn’t get fired. And a lot of bookers in less tenuis times would have said, ‘Well, see, you’re done.’ You can’t lose; we can’t win. So, you figure that out. I think we had the WCW thing going on, bubbling and bubbling. Leon might have been out. That would have been a terrible loss because he was a killer heel and got over and all that good stuff. But the Japanese influence on some of those guys. They actually believed that losing at a house show, for example, in Rosemont, would be detrimental to their Japanese career.”
” I find that absurd. Really, I find it absurd. Are we kidding each other? But Leon was lucky. He got lucky that night. And I’m not saying that his match was not good, or he didn’t have a reason for being defiant, or he wasn’t easy to work with, but on paper, from a promoter’s standpoint, Vader vs. Warrior had some sizzle.”
“Leon was very gifted, as we know, and I was always a big proponent of Leon because I was one of the persons responsible for bringing he and Hansen into WCW back in the day. So, I always loved the big monster heel persona. But Leon is one of those guys that was easily convinced that if I do jobs, it’s going to hurt me in Japan.”
“Screw Japan. I mean, come on…Oh Japan, this in Japan, and that, you know. If you wanted to protect your money, you should not have come here, if that’s a concern of yours. Because you know you’re not going to get booked for signing a contract that says I never lose.”
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