BEHIND THE MASKS | WWE's Greatest Masked Wrestlers

Friday Night's Main Event

August 29th 1997
WWF Friday Night's Main Event aired on the USA Network when Raw was preempted on the weeks of August 29 and September 5 in 1997, due to USA's coverage of the US Open. 
This program averaged a low 1.5 rating.
The main event was Bret Hart defending his WWF Championship against Vader.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated Cover of the Week

Cover dated November 1995

Magazine Cover of the Week

Remembering Leon "Baby Bull" White, better known to the world as Big Van Vader.

August 1992 WCW Magazine

Vader held the WCW World Heavyweight Title on 3 occasions, defeating Sting twice and Ron Simmons.  He held the title for a total of 357 days, with his last title reign ending December 27th 1993 at Starrcade at the hands of Ric Flair.

WWE Legend Vader Dies

PWI 500 1993

December 1993

Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500

(click the title for the 500)

#1 - Bret "Hitman" Hart

Match of the Day - WCW World Title

STARRCADE 

December 27th 1993 

Charlotte, North Carolina

WCW World Heavyweight Title Match

Ric Flair

vs

Big Van Vader 

(Champion)

Magazine Cover of the Week

WCW Magazine

November 1993

WE LOVE PRO WRESTLING!

Big Van Vader

1999 winner of the All Japan Champion Carnival

Today in WCW History (March 17th)

March 17th 1993

Big Van Vader defeats Sting to regain the WCW World Heavyweight Title in Dublin, Ireland.

Sting had won the title on March 11th in London England.  It was Sting's 2nd world title reign and Vader would start his 3rd and last reign as WCW World Heavyweight champion.  Vader held the title for 285 days until December 27th 1993.

Today in WCW History (March 11th)

March 11th 1993

Sting defeats Big Van Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title at a London, England house show.

1993 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestler of the Year

Big Van Vader

1993 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestler of the Year

(with manager Harley Race)

PPV Poster of the Week

PPV Poster of the Week

December 29th 1991

No.	Results[1]	Stipulations	Times
1	Marcus Bagwell and Jimmy Garvin defeated Michael Hayes and Tracy Smothers	Tag team match	12:45
2	Steve Austin and Rick Rude defeated Van Hammer and Big Josh	Tag team match	12:56
3	Dustin Rhodes and Richard Morton defeated Larry Zbyszko and El Gigante (with Madusa)	Tag team match	05:54
4	Bill Kazmaier and Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Mike Graham	Tag team match	13:08
5	Lex Luger and Arn Anderson (with Harley Race) defeated Terrance Taylor and The Z-Man	Tag team match	10:25
6	Ricky Steamboat and Todd Champion defeated Cactus Jack and Buddy Lee Parker	Tag team match	07:48
7	Sting and Abdullah the Butcher defeated Brian Pillman and Bobby Eaton	Tag team match	05:55
8	Big Van Vader and Mr. Hughes defeated Rick Steiner and The Nightstalker	Tag team match	05:05
9	Scott Steiner and Firebreaker Chip defeated Arachnaman and Johnny B. Badd	Tag team match	11:16
10	Ron Simmons and Thomas Rich defeated Steve Armstrong and P.N. News	Tag team match	12:01
11	Sting last eliminated Lex Luger to win	Battlebowl battle royal	25:10

Wrestling Magazine Cover of the Week

Inside Wrestling 

June 1993

Wrestling PPV Poster of the Day

Fall Brawl 1993: War Games 

September 19, 1993 

Astro Arena in Houston, Texas.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

• Dark match: Erik Watts defeated Bobby Eaton
  • Watts forced Eaton to submit with an STF.
• Lord Steven Regal (with Sir William) defeated Ricky Steamboat to win the WCW World Television Championship (17:05)
  • Regal pinned Steamboat with a bridging German suplex after Sir William hit him with an umbrella.
• Charlie Norris defeated Big Sky (4:34)
  • Norris pinned Sky after a big boot.
• Too Cold Scorpio and Marcus Bagwell defeated The Equalizer and Paul Orndorff (10:46)
  • Scorpio pinned Equalizer with a 450 Splash.
• Ice Train defeated Shanghai Pierce (with Tex Slazenger) (3:27)
  • Train pinned Pierce with a powerslam.
• The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags) (with Missy Hyatt) defeated Arn Anderson and Paul Roma to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship (23:58)
  • Knobs pinned Roma after Sags hit an elbow drop while the referee was distracted.
• Cactus Jack defeated Yoshi Kwan (with Harley Race) (3:38)
  • Jack pinned Kwan after the double-arm DDT.
• Rick Rude defeated Ric Flair to win the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (30:47)
  • Rude pinned Flair after punching him with brass knuckles while Flair had Rude locked in the Figure 4.
  • It was originally advertised as an NWA World Heavyweight title match, but on September 1, WCW withdrew from the NWA. WCW kept the Big Gold Belt that represented the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the time and renamed it the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship.
• Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes and The Shockmaster (with Road Warrior Animal) defeated Sid Vicious, Vader and Harlem Heat (Kole and Kane) (with Harley Race and Col. Robert Parker) in a WarGames match (16:39)
  • Shockmaster forced Kole to submit with a Bear hug.
  • Shockmaster replaced Road Warrior Hawk, who was advertised but was injured.

The Best of STING (Blu ray)

Out today September 23rd 2014

The Best of STING

DISC 1

Blonde Sting WCW Wrestler Bringing the Game Up a Level

The Blade Runners vs. Bret Wayne Sawyer and Sean O'Reilly

UWF Power Pro Wrestling * April 1986

Sting & Rick Steiner vs. Mike Rotundo & Ron Simmons

NWA Southern Pro Wrestling * May 19, 1987

NWA World Heavyweight Championship

Ric Flair vs. Sting

NWA Pro Wrestling * January 2, 1988

On the Map

Sting vs. Stan Lane

Main Event * October 2, 1988

Sting vs. Butch Reed

Main Event * March 26, 1989

Superstar

NWA World Television Championship Match

Sting vs. Mike Rotundo

WCW World Championship Wrestling * April 1, 1989

Sting vs. Ron Simmons

WCW Power Hour * August 18, 1989

NWA World Television Championship

Sting vs. Great Muta

WCW Power Hour * September 1, 1989

Bleach Blonde Rivalry

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match

Ric Flair vs. Sting

Great American Bash * July 7, 1990

Sting vs. Dutch Mantel

Main Event * September 2, 1990

DISC 2

Blonde Sting WCW Wrestler Face of WCW

Sting vs. Nikita Koloff

Clash of the Champions XIV * June 14, 1991

Sting & The Great Muta vs. The Steiner Brothers

WCW/New Japan Supershow II * January 4 1992

Vader Rivalry

Bounty Match

Sting vs. Van Vader

WCW WorldWide * February 9, 1992

Sting, Barry Windham, Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton)

WCW World Championship Wrestling * February 22, 1992

Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page

WCW Saturday Night * June 13, 1992

Sting vs. Barry Windham

WCW Saturday Night * February 6, 1993

Face Paint

Sting vs. Stunning Steve Austin

WCW Pro Wrestling * January 8, 1994

Viewers Choice Match

Sting vs. Ric Flair

WCW Nitro * November 6, 1995

Sting vs. Arn Anderson

WCW Nitro * July 8, 1996

Sting & "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. The Nasty Boys

WCW Saturday Night * July 27, 1996

DISC 3

WCW Sting - The Crow The Crow

Sting Becomes Free Agent

WCW Nitro * October 21, 1996

WCW World Championship Match

Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting

Starrcade * December 28, 1997

Scorpion Death Lock

Sting & Lex Luger vs. Hulk Hogan & "Macho Man" Randy Savage

WCW Nitro * February 16, 1998

Sting vs. Kevin Nash

WCW Nitro * April 6, 1998

Sting vs. Scott Steiner

WCW Thunder * April 22 1998

Wolfpak

Sting & Kevin Nash vs. Harlem Heat

WCW Nitro * June 15, 1998

Sting & The Warrior vs. Bret "Hitman" Hart & Hollywood Hogan

WCW Nitro * October 12, 1998

Sting vs. Bret "Hitman" Hart

WCW Nitro * October 19, 1998

Rafters

Sting vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage

WCW Nitro * June 7, 1999

WCW World Heavyweight Championship

Booker T vs. Sting

WCW Nitro * July 31, 2000

Best 2 out of 3 Falls Match

Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett

WCW Thunder * September 13, 2000

Sting, Booker T & Goldberg vs. Jeff Jarrett & KroniK

WCW Thunder * October 25, 2000

Sting vs. Ric Flair

WCW Nitro * March 26, 2001

WCW PPV of the Day

1993

SuperBrawl III took place on February 21, 1993 from the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina. This event marked the return of Ric Flair to WCW.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

• The Hollywood Blonds (Brian Pillman and Steve Austin) defeated Erik Watts and Marcus Bagwell (16:34)
  • Pillman pinned Bagwell after Austin hit Bagwell with a top-rope forearm shot while the referee was distracted, breaking Bagwell's Fisherman suplex on Pillman.
• Too Cold Scorpio defeated Chris Benoit (19:59)
  • Scorpio pinned Benoit with a Samson clutch, with one second left in the 20-minute time limit.
• Davey Boy Smith defeated Bill Irwin (5:49)
  • Smith pinned Irwin with a running powerslam.
  • This was Smith's WCW debut.
• Cactus Jack defeated Paul Orndorff in a Falls Count Anywhere match (12:17)
  • Jack pinned Orndorff after hitting him with a shovel.
• The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) defeated Smoky Mountain Wrestling tag team champions The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Stan Lane) (with Jim Cornette) (12:52)
  • Gibson Pinned Prichard.
  • The Heavenly Bodies replaced The Wrecking Crew due to an agreement by WCW Executive Vice President Bill Watts and Smoky Mountain Wrestling commissioner Bob Armstrong on an earlier episode ofWCW Main Event.
  • The Heavenly Bodies' SMW Tag Team Championship was not on the line, making it a non-title match.
• Dustin Rhodes defeated Maxx Payne by disqualification to retain the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (11:28)
  • Payne was disqualified after pulling the referee into Rhodes to attempt to break an abdominal stretch and throwing Rhodes over the top rope.
  • Payne replaced the injured Ron Simmons.
• Barry Windham defeated The Great Muta to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (24:10)
  • Windham pinned Muta following a DDT.
  • After the match Ric Flair attempted to place the belt around Windham's waist, but Windham refused to let him.
• WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader (with Harley Race) defeated Sting in a White Castle of Fear Strap match (20:54)
  • Vader touched the fourth corner after being propelled into it by Sting.
  • Vader's WCW World Heavyweight Championship was not on the line, making it a non-title match.
  • The match was kayfabe non-sanctioned by WCW.

WE LOVE PRO WRESTLING

Big Van Vader with Japan’s NJPW IWGP Heavyweight championship on his right shoulder, Mexico’s UWA World Heavyweight championship around his waist, and Germany’s CWA World Heavyweight championship on his left shoulder.

(courtesy of Mengs-mullet)

Wrestling Magazine Cover of the Day

September 1993

WE LOVE PRO WRESTLING!

Big Van Vader

3 time WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

1 - Defeated Sting at the Great American Bash on July 12th 1992, Albany, Georgia. (21 Days)

2 - Defeated Ron Simmons in Baltimore, MD on December 30th 1992  (71 Days)

3 - Defeated Sting in Dublin, Ireland on March 17th 1993  (285 days, his longest reign)