Sting was always seen as the franchise player of WCW and in 1993, during a lull across the entire wrestling industry, Sting engaged in a rivalry with Big Van Vader that captivated wrestling audiences at the time and left memories of legendary matchups that are still relieved to this very day.
Appearing on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast, Sting reflected on his rivalry with the Mastodon-like competitor and also shared that he was able to spend the last 8 months of Vader's life with him in Dallas.
Credit to The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast for sending along the following quotes.
"You know, it's amazing, I don’t have one match with Leon, Vader that stands out,” said Sting. “I have images, pictures, moments of matches, memories that really stand out with him, both in and out of the ring. There are so many great moments I shared with him, which to me ranks right up there with my feud with Ric Flair. I was solely responsible for taming him when he came over to the United States from Japan. I preferred for my matches to be stiff and believable. I didn’t want to leave any doubt in the fans' minds that Vader was literally trying to kill me. I was able to spend the last 8 months of his life with. I live in the Dallas area now and he was living in the area at the time. I was able to go to his funeral and speak at the funeral. So it was great to connect with him before he died because we always had a great relationship and had great matches.”
Also in this interview, Sting talks about the time Big Van Vader got sick before their first match, in another match getting his ribs broken by Vader, Ric Flair, Rick Bassman, character evolution through the years and much more. You can check it out at this link.
