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Vader Shoots On the Recent Wrestling Tragedies, Vince McMahon & Mick Foley

Posted: Aug 17th 2007 By: CMBurnham

Former WWE superstar & former WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Vader, was one of the special guests on this past week's live edition of Monday Night Mayhem (08/13/07), which can be heard in streaming audio every week (hosted by The Big Mosh & Blade, and heard LIVE at 8PM ET/7PM CT every Monday night) exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (MondayNightMayhem.com, OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com, ProWrestlingPress.com, AllWNYRadio.com, Showdown.net, & AudioWrestling.com).

Members of AudioWrestling.com's ON-DEMAND 360 section now get exclusive access to "The Best Of Candice Michelle" broadband video featuring WWE Women's Champion & former Mayhem guest, Candice, in all of her hottest & most revealing moments from outside of the WWE. Log onto the front page of www.MondayNightMayhem.com for more information. For $4.95, you cannot go wrong fans!

Vader's first-ever appearance can now be heard for FREE in Real Audio.

Here are some of the highlights from the interview provided by Mayhem listener, Daniel1991, & The Mayhem's co-host, The Big Mosh.

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The Mayhem Crew welcomed Vader to the program, and after some discussion about Vader taking care of his rather large dog, he pumped up the listeners with one simple question: "WHAT TIME IS IT?" You know it's Vader time baby!

The Big Mosh asked Vader what he has been doing since retiring from full-time competition a few years ago. Vader says that he is now self-employed (selling cars wholesale for a living), and is also involved in several different marketing & advertising projects, plus some work in Japan. Needless to say, Vader is a very busy guy, with not much free time on his hands.

Chaz asked Vader which superstar of his day & which superstar of today he would compare to himself in his prime. With regards to someone than competed around his time that had a similar build, style, & agility, he would have to say the late Bam Bam Bigelow -- because he could virtually do anything in the ring. Vader is very impressed with Umaga's work, especially because he can fly off the top rope.

Mosh & Blade brought up to the listening audience about Vader's last appearance in the WWE (which was in late October/early November of 2005 on an edition of Monday Night RAW & the following Taboo Tuesday Pay-Per-View). Whose idea was it for him to come back the "E" after so many years. Vader honestly did not know whose idea it was 100%, but he saw this as a perfect opportunity to come back once again, give back to those in the company who helped him have a very successful career (such as John Laurinaitis), as well as give back to the fans who supported him (both overseas & here in the states) throughout his career.

The Angry Hero asked about the match Vader had with Stan Hansen in Japan in 1990 and mentioned that Stan knocked Vader's eye out, and that he actually finished the match. What was going through Vader's mind? Vader said they were one of the main events that night, so there was pressure going into the match. Stan had hit him with a cow bell, and his nose was bleeding & his ears had fluids coming out. Then after a minute he was ok. He then went to Stan and slapped him hard, but then Stan punched Vader in his eye -- which then came out of his socket. He had to have it put back in his socket, as well as having three follow-up surgeries on that very same eye. Talk about one of the fiercest guys in the business fans!

After briefing the new-school fans on Vader's debut in WCW (a two-minute squash against Tom Zenk), Mosh asked Vader about making the move from Japan to World Championship Wrestling in 1990, and what led him to that decision. Vader said that he needed to simply make more money to support his family, and he had to leave the glory & respect that he had achieved in Japan. It was a pure business decision, but he never forgot the fans that got him to that particular point in his career.

Vader is impressed to say the least that some of the guys he had some of his best feuds with are still competing today on television & kicking ass -- both inside & outside of the ring. Ron Simmons (whom Vader loves his "Damn" catchphrase & wished to go on record saying he "drew a lot of money with Ron"), Sting, The Undertaker, & "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. Many fans remember HBK's match with Vader back at SummerSlam '96, and Vader looks at the battles he had with him & the aforementioned names as some of his classics. Vader also put over his contests with Mick Foley/Cactus Jack, but did have some interesting comments to say about what Mick said about Vader in Mick's recent book. Want to know what they are? Well, you have to tune into The Mayhem to listen to the remarks! Shocking & intriguing to say the least...

In closing, Vader wished to address the recent tragedies that have occurred in the wrestling business over the past year (including the recent passing of Bryan "Crush" Adams & the Benoit family tragedy). A lot of the blame has been placed the way of Vince McMahon. People in the mainstream media have given him a bad rap, with some even placed the entire blame on him exclusively. Vader wanted to set the record straight, with those people in particular: It's not entirely Vince's fault. Even though in the past he has had issues with people in the WWE, he believes that Vince is a good guy, and is all about making the business better. As a particular example, Vader told the audience to take a look at what Vince has done for some of the talent in particular -- turning them from names in the business to superstars. As an even more detailed example, Vader brought up the name of current WWE SmackDown General manager, Teddy Long. "Vince has made Long a star & plenty of money."

All of this goodness & more can be found in this near 45-minute interview on The Mayhem: including Vader's the issue of steroids & performance-enhancing drug in professional wrestling (and whether he thinks that a "Wellness Policy" will actually be successful in today's business), the passing of Bryan Adams, even more on his legendary feuds again The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, & Sting, & his recurring character on the hit ABC show "Boy Meets World." We couldn't forget to bring up Frankie's dad now could we? One of the most outspoken interviews that you will EVER hear, courtesy of "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio."

*Vader, along with many other stars of past & present (including Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Bret "Hitman" Hart, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, "The Doctor of Style" Slick, Lex Luger, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Dustin Rhodes, Tatanka, Tito Santana, "The Model" Rick Martel, The Beverly Brothers, Traci Brooks, Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, Francine, So-Cal Val, Danny Davis, & others) are going to be a part of next weekends' Legends Of The Ring convention in Carteret, NJ. If you have not already done so, log onto www.LegendsOfTheRing.com, and make your reservations to be at this huge event!

*Plus, head over to ESSPromotions.com, where no one takes cares of the legends & superstars better than ESS. Check out the site to see all of the fallout from The Iron Sheik's appearance on The Howard Stern Show!

*In addition, this past week's live edition of The Mayhem (8/13/07) featured an exclusive interview with former WWE manager, "The Doctor Of Style" Slick, who gave his thoughts/takes on his return to the business @ WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, the chances of a full-time return to the WWE, managing his superstars/talent to the top, and some words of advice to the troubled wrestling fans who are unhappy with today's product & the recent tragedies that have happened in the business over the past year. Slick, along with The Mayhem's very own Big Mosh, will be special guest judges in the European Rules Match (competitors TBD) at next Thursday night's Ballpark Brawl VIII event. For more details on the afternoon/evening's card (headlined by "The Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe defending the Natural Heavyweight Championship against 'Kishi) & how you can purchase tickets, log onto BallparkBrawl.com.

August 13th Monday Night Mayhem (streaming audio):
MondayNightMayhemArchives.com/waxfiles/081307.wax

August 13th Monday Night Mayhem (podcast):
Feeds.Feedburner.com/~r/MondayNightMayhem/~3/142447419/080807.mp3

*All new & old Mayhem listeners can still check out the archived programs/shows of "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio" (including the voice of Monday Night RAW himself/WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross, new WWE Women's Champion Candice Michelle, TNA President Dixie Carter, WWE Hall Of Famer/former WWE Champion The Iron Sheik, Howard Stern's very own Gary The Retard, The Four Horsemen's Tully Blanchard & J.J. Dillon, "The Notorious 187" Homicide, Danny Doring's first post-WWE interview, "The Wildman" Marc Mero, Diana Hart Smith, "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart, "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal, Senshi, the legendary voice of the Mid-Atlantic territory, Bob Caudle, the official Monday Night Mayhem WrestleMania 23 Countdown Special from Detroit's Hilton Garden Inn, the "Sensational" Sherri Martel Tribute Special w/Sherri's son, Jared, & the official Monday Night Mayhem WWE Draft Night Special)...now available on www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com, & www.AudioWrestling.com.

Make sure you join Monday Night Mayhem in saying goodbye to The Angry Hero (as he heads off into the "grad school sunset") LIVE this Monday night, August 20th (beginning @ 8PM ET/7PM CT). "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio" will also have your very best preview of the "Summer Spectacular" event, WWE's SummerSlam, courtesy of The Mayhem's WWE National PPV Correspondent, Scott Hudson, The Monster Factory's Jim Molineaux, & the man who is fresh off two dark matches for the WWE this past week, former European & Intercontinental Champion, D-Lo Brown. Plus, all of the latest news, as Ballpark Brawl VIII heads your way next Thursday night @ Dunn Tire Park. Joining us to count it all down will be "The Brawl-chitect" himself, Chris Hill, plus the men who will be calling all of the action, Scotty Bender & Ivan The Impaler. Plus one more very special guest to give Hero a fitting farewell, whose name will not be released until this weekend.

Want to submit your questions/comments for the SummerSlam Pay-Per-View preview crew live on the air, ask questions for The Mayhem Crew, or be a part of The Angry Hero's final Mayhem appearance? No problem...We will be taking your calls @ 716.989.6630 (long distance charges may apply), e-mails @ MondayNightMayhem@hotmail.com, your comments/questions @ MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem, & feedback on The Mayhem's Message Board @ www.MondayNightMayhem.com.

The Big Mosh, Blade, & (for the final time) the good Hero are back for another all-new edition of "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio," Monday Night Mayhem...presented by our fine sponsors/advertisers: Ticket Relief, Sweet Sunshine Sauces, The Monster Factory, Kayfabe Commentaries, Pro Wrestling Unplugged, B. Brown Videos, Sharp Labs, & Pierced Clothing.