Kayfabe Commentaries Timeline Series: 1993 WCW as told by Vader

This was released in February 2014

The interview runs at two hours and ten minutes long

Sean Oliver conducted the interview

JANUARY

On January 8th, just nine days after Vader defeated Ron Simmons for the WCW World Championship, Ron Simmons challenges him to another match. Vader claims that he thought that title was the number one title in America at that time, because Sting, Ron Simmons, and himself were all great workers. Sean asks Vader if there were any plans for him to hold the title for a long time and Vader said Dusty Rhodes gave him “free reign” at the time and that he would tell them if he could work around their schedule.

Vader talks about riding with Harley Race at this time and how he would always hit the governor in the car, which was around 115mph and that Harley always had a beer and a cigarette in his hand and his job was to make sure that he did not run out of either.

When asked if Cactus Jack was better as a face or a heel, Vader said he didn’t think it mattered and feels the same way about himself. Vader, speaking for himself, said that he did not work any different between heel or face.

On January 15th, Paul Heyman was fired from WCW by Bill Watts via fax after Watts claimed that Heyman faked expense reports from April-July of 1992. Vader said that Heyman had him sold about coming to ECW and calls him a great salesman. On the subject of Watts, Vader said that Watts once saw him do jump presses in the gym and after that, Watts was impressed and that he never had a problem with him.

Sean asks Vader about Bill Apter, after the 1992 PWI award show. Vader said that he liked him as a writer and someone who was important to wrestling for providing inside knowledge to the serious fan. Sean then talks about how now the curtain has been drawn back, exposing the business, and how they now know everything that will happen, stating the mystery is gone.

Vader is asked about Erik Watts and if the heat he had on him was warranted or not. Vader said that he always treated him good but the fact that he was a son of a very dominant booker and didn’t have what it took to be a star brought on the resentment. Vader did add that he believed Watts could have been a decent middle-of-the-card guy.

He is now asked the same question about Dustin Rhodes. Vader said that Dustin was a whole class above him as a wrestler and said that he is very talented and can wrestle.

Sean now goes over the “White Castle of Fear” video that aired on the January 30th episode of “WCW Saturday Night.” When asked, Vader said he did not know who came up with the idea but looking back, people remember it well.

The Tazmaniac received a tryout at the February 8th “WCW Saturday Night” tapings defeating Joey Maggs but did not get hired by the company. Vader said that he remembered him briefly at that time and said that he had power and explosiveness that made him popular. When asked about the tryout process in WCW, Vader said that it was a tough situation because they had a stacked roster. He goes back to talk about the AWA when he broke in until Sean reins him back to talk about WCW.

Bill Watts resigned from WCW on February 10th. When asked if Watts’ tenure was good, Vader just talked about how he agreed to drop the belt to Ron Simmons, claiming that it was by his choice, as he could have jumped ship to WWF or Japan if he wanted.

Ole Anderson took over for Watts on February 12th. Vader said that he was confrontational then talks about he was the first 400lbs person to perform a moonsault and after that, people tried to imitate him. Vader said that Ole did not want him to do the moonsault because he was 400lbs and did not need to fly around like “Peter Pan.” Vader said at that time, he was drinking and doing other things, so he told off Ole. Vader claims that he is not that person anymore (he is full of shit).

Davey Boy Smith debuted on February 21st by defeating Bill Irwin after being fired from the WWF due to receiving shipments of growth hormones. When asked about the difference between the companies, Vader talks about how he always put legal stuff into his body and never had a problem with tests. Sean asks him about the steroids and if the “black market” stuff was different from what you would get from doctors and what steroids they used and Vader said he was naturally big since birth and used stuff that would help his body produce naturally because if you put other stuff into your body, it can stop producing.

At SuperBrawl III, Barry Windham defeated the Great Muta to win the NWA World Championship. When asked if two belts diminished the WCW World Championship, Vader said he didn’t at the time but looking back thinks it did. He also said that was Ric Flair’s decision as he was running things then talks about how he saw Reid Flair right before he died at an independent show in Rhode Island and from that he talks about Japan for a bit.

Speaking on Flair’s return to WCW, Vader said that at the time he did not understand the politics of the business like he does now. He talks about his feud with Cactus Jack and how it was the hottest in the business and they ended with Cactus having amnesia. He then said that Flair was the best in regards to political savvy.

He talks about his strap match with Sting at SuperBrawl III. Vader talks for a while about building a match and how too much scripting hinders the match and how he did everything on the fly and now the business has changed because they now receive a piece of paper on what do to at all times.

Jim Ross quit on February 25th, shortly after a demotion to a position that had him sell TV syndication. Vader said that it was a big loss, especially for him as he really liked his character. Vader then said that the announcer matters a lot more than the average fan thinks. He also believes that the company was going into a new era and that they wanted to move away from JR’s style of announcing and looks.

On the subject of the Hollywood Blonds team, Vader said that he once teamed with Steve Austin against Ric Flair & Steve Austin in a TV match that lasted 27 minutes and how they tore the house down. Vader said that he and Austin had instant chemistry. When asked if Brian Pillman was the best choice as Austin’s partner, Vader said that he was not but they still had a good run.

He is asked about the WCW debut in New York City on April 14th at the Paramount Theatre. Vader said that the locker room treated it as another show and did not get excited that they were in WWF territory.

On April 17th after a match on WCW Saturday Night, Cactus Jack wound up in the hospital, requiring 24 stitches and suffering a concussion, after his match with Vader. When asked, Vader said that before the match, Cactus came up to Harley and himself and told him to not wear his gloves and when he hit him, to turn his hand and cut him on each side then puff his nose and slice up his forehead. Vader said that parts of the match were edited off of TV.

On May 1st, the “Flair for the Gold” segment made it’s debut on “WCW Worldwide.” Flair introduced his wife Fifi and interviewed Harley Race and Vader. He thought that the segment didn’t work and looking back, Vader said that was on him because he kept grunting and growling so Flair had nothing to work with.

Vader defeated Tatsuo Nakano via KO at 3:35 at the UWFI event in Japan. He is asked if WCW management took issue with him taking the match. Vader said that it was in his contract with Bischoff that he could go to Japan a few times a year. He said that eventually, he gave WCW the rights that prevented him to go to Japan when he restructured his own contract but he got more money as a result. When asked about the UWFI “shoot fight” match, Vader said that he was confident in his ability but was legit scared about a guy from Russia who was 6’1 and 340lbs. He said that he only did it for the payday as he was building a shopping center at the time and needed the money to make that happen.

He is asked about Paul Roma joining the Four Horseman but first asked about what happened between Tully Blanchard and WCW. He just said there was friction between cliques within the company. When asked why Roma was considered, Vader has no idea and wonders if he was a friend.

Sid rejoined WCW on May 23rd. Vader tells us that Sid was originally considered for the Vader gimmick but that was over once they saw him wrestle. He could not do a long match with a smaller guy as he could not keep up with them.

When asked about Kevin Nash showing up on WWF television after wrestling just three days earlier for WCW, Vader said that he was not much in terms of star power when he left the company but became a major player in WWF then came back as a huge star. Vader said Kevin is a friend and a very smart businessman.

He is asked about the “Masters of the Powerbomb” gimmick when he teamed with Sid. Vader said that was Bischoff’s idea but that the gimmick did not work, citing it was just “too much.”

At the Clash of the Champions, Ric Flair & Arn Anderson defeated the Hollywood Blonds for the Tag Team Titles in the lowest rated Clash of all-time. Vader talks again about how he teamed with Austin and had great chemistry together and thought they should have gotten a chance to feud with Arn & Flair

On July 7th, WCW taped several months worth of WCW Worldwide shows at the Disney/MGM Studios, revealing future champions to the crowd in the process. He said that the WCW did it to save cash but the crowds were not wrestling crowds and that they did not take into consideration the fact that guys involved in the shows had contracts expiring later in the year.

The Nasty Boys returned to WCW on August 14th. Vader said he always got along with them and they were a pretty good tag team who partied more than they trained but still did a good job in the ring.

On that same day, Harlem Heat made their WCW debut. Vader said that he got along with them and says that he grew up in inner-city Los Angeles around a lot of minorities and played sports, using a rough style. When asked if he saw any star potential in Booker T back then, Vader said he is very good and once he got to show his own personality, he started to shine.

Vader is now asked about the Shockmaster debut. When Vader said it was over once he fell through the wall and starts to laugh for a bit.

He is now asked about the Road Warriors returning to WCW at Clash of the Champions. Sean asked if the gimmick was passé and Vader said their physical presence was awesome and that they were built for power. He adds that their time away from the company may have hurt them.

After New Japan Wrestling took him to court claiming his costume and name, he became “Vader” after originally being called “Big Van Vader.” He talks for a long time about how he was as a star in Japan and then ended with how no one gave a shit about the name change as it meant nothing. A waste of four minutes.

Vader is asked about Bret Hart burying Ric Flair on a Sports Radio Station in Toronto. Vader said that Flair is a great wrestler and that was not a fair criticism. He also says that Bret is extremely good but not the “Best there was….” He then talks about hearing horror stories about Vince McMahon and said that he was always treated like a gentleman in the WWF, by the employees and Vince, and that the WWF had a lot to do with them being allowed to say anything.

Now he is asked about the incident in which Sid Vicious stabbed Arn Anderson. Vader said that the whole company were all at this lounge, drinking and exchanging a lot of pills. He said that not everyone was doing this but they were all doing this before getting on a plane and he said that one wrestler, who Vader refused to name, got up and fell face-first onto a chair. They get to their destination and they get someone to open up a bar and guys are drinking as the sun is coming up. The next thing he knows, a fight breaks out and that Sid was going into shock and did the “Frankenstein” walk towards him so he grabbed Sid and had blood squirting out of his side. Vader said that he did not know what to do so he stuck is thumb there with a towel and sat him down until the ambulance came. Vader claims to have not seen what happened before that. Sean asks if they were reprimanded about what happened and Vader said he was actually praised for saving Sid’s life.

Gene Okerlund makes his WCW debut on the November 6th edition of WCW Saturday Night. Vader said that Hogan was surrounding himself with his people and that the talks of Hogan entering the company were happening. He says that Okerlund is very good.

Vader won the BattleBowl on November 20th. He said that the year before, Sting got a nice ring after he won the tournament but he did not get one when he won, which ticked him off. Vader said that the reason was that Bischoff asked him to take photos for six weeks straight and he didn’t, which he did, then did what Bischoff told him to, which meant he was late to the other place he was supposed to be at and Orndorff flipped out at him, leading to the fight, which Vader said cost him a shitload of money and that if Bischoff had told him where he was at that time, this could have been avoided. Vader then wishes Orndorff well.

He is asked about the Title vs. Career match against Ric Flair. Originally, Vader claimed that Dusty told him he was going to regain the belt six weeks later in a cage match and that Ric was getting the belt because it was his hometown and the company needed a boost. He said that a five weeks later, Flair took over the booking job and the rematch never took place.

Sean asks Vader about being named the “Wrestler of the Year” in 1993 from three different publications. Vader then promises to tell Sean about his exercise devise which is patent-pending that strengthens your upper body as long as he invites him back for another video. He said the device is tentatively called the “Vader Pump.”

Final Thoughts: This was awful. Vader, who just mumbled through the video, kept going off-topic to talk about himself or something else that was not involving anything that happened in 1993 WCW. I learned next to nothing about this year and everything else I heard from his RF Video Shoot interview from 15 years ago. The purpose of these pieces is to learn about the entire year. This failed at that miserably.

I really like Sean Oliver but he did a terrible job with Vader, letting him go off-topic and not bringing him back to the topic. I also think he got played a bit by Vader, who seemingly used this as a vehicle to promote himself. I mean they all do but this guy didnt even say a single thing of note. He let Vader consume the whole interview with his own ramblings. I thought this was about 1993 WCW and throughout the the two hours and ten minutes of this piece, I heard very little of what happened this year other than Vader harping on the fact that he and Steve Austin would have been the best tag team.

As far as these Timeline interviews go, this was easily one of the worst. I thought the Barry Windham 1991 Timeline was the worst but at least he wasn’t in love with himself like Vader, who was not willing to discuss anyone but himself. He would say that he was “good friends” with people that he liked and if something came up where he acted like a jerk, he would not talk about the situation in detail and just said that he is a different person now, which is full of shit based off of he acted recently while in Europe. My recommendation for this is to avoid at all costs.