Mick Foley Remembers Vader
Mick Foley posted a new entry on Facebook in honor of Vader (Leon White), who passed away last night. You can read an excerpt from Foley’s post below, with the full post (including Foley’s foreword to Vader’s book) here.
REMEMBERING LEON WHITE
I was preparing to fly out to Denver for an episode of Monday Night Raw in October, 2016 when my wife called to tell me that Leon White had left a few messages on my answering machine. I figured he must have wanted to get together while WWE was in town, and got on my flight, thinking I would catch up with him the next day – that we would grab lunch before the show, or he could come backstage and hang out with some of the guys. But that next day, my wife asked me again to call him, telling me of the urgency in his voice, and how it seemed very important.
As it turned out, Leon wasn’t calling me to have lunch, catch up, or to hang out backstage. He was calling me as a friend, telling me that he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and had been given two years to live.
On Monday night, one year and eight months after telling me of his diagnosis, Leon White passed away, leaving behind him a loving son, a legacy as one of the very best big men to ever grace the ring (the very best, in my opinion) and a great mystery as to why one of the biggest drawing cards of his era has yet to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
No matter how many times I talked with Leon, the conversation would eventually turn to the Hall of Fame, and I would constantly tell him that no one or no thing, not even his absence from the WWE Hall of Fame could take away from what he had accomplished around the world. He was quite simply one of the biggest stars our business has ever known. He worked hard. He worked injured. He brought out the very best in so many people he faced – including me. On a worldwide basis he was so much bigger and meant so much more to our business than so many people who have gone on to receive far more accolades – including me, including just about everyone.
A few years ago, I was honored to be asked by Leon to write the forward for his book. I did my very best to come up with something that was worthy of the man and his body of outstanding work. I said a lot of the things I really felt needed to be said at that time – and probably need to be repeated now, more than ever.
Hulk Hogan On Vader’s Passing; “He Was The Consummate Professional” And His Death Is A Great Loss
Magnus Crashes & Burns Through a Table
The following is an Impact Wrestling classic moment featuring Magnus versus James Storm at Slammiversary 2015:
