WWE Legend Vader Passes Away At 63

Leon White - also known as WWE, WCW, NJPW, and AJPW legend Vader - has sadly passed away at the age of 63.

This news comes courtesy of White's son, who took to his father's Twitter today to break the sad news:

https://twitter.com/itsvadertime/status/1009447703418408960

The son added: “Around a month ago my father was diagnosed with a severe case of Pneumonia. He fought extremely hard and clinically was making progress. Unfortunately, on Monday night his heart had enough and it was his time.”

The Mastodon underwent open-heart surgery in March, and around the same time described himself as a “walking time bomb” due to having ten clogged blood vessels. He appeared to be doing well in the months following his surgery, but his health took a turn for the worse in recent times and unfortunately he wasn't able to recover.

In a career that spanned some 31 years, Vader's most successful period in professional wrestling arrived during the early 1990s while part of WCW. Feuding with the likes of Sting, he was widely regarded as one of, if not the best monster heel the business had ever seen.

Vader was also an American football star at the University of Colorado before his wrestling career began. There, he was a two-time All-American offensive lineman and was drafted to the LA Rams in the 3rd round of the 1978 NFL draft - he also played in Super Bowl XIV against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Everyone at Cultaholic offers our deepest condolences to both Vader's family and his legions of fans at this time.