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The 10 Best Matches Of Vader's Career, According To Cagematch.net

The late pro-wrestling legend Vader's name has been the talk among the fans following WWE's announcement of his posthumous induction into the 2022 class of their Hall of Fame. The former 3-time WCW Champion competed in the squared circle for over three decades and has won numerous accolades throughout his career. He retired from in-ring competition in 2017 and unfortunately passed away the following year after a month-long hospitalization for pneumonia.

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He was 63 years old when he left this world, but his legacy lives on to this day, and his contributions to the industry are set to get immortalized with his upcoming Hall of Fame induction. He's been in the ring with various iconic names of the industry and had stellar matches with them throughout his career. With that said, let's take a look at the ten best matches of his career, ranked as per Cagematch.net.

10 Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto (NJPW Big Fight Series 1992 - Tag 1) - 8.25

The match that takes the tenth spot on this list took place at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Big Fight Series 1992 event. It was the year when Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow started teaming as "Big, Bad, and Dangerous," and the two wrestlers went straight for the IWGP Tag Team Championships.

They took on champions Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto at the event and put on a back and forth match that lasted for 24:48 minutes. Vader's team picked up the win at the event and walked with their first IWGP Tag Team Championships.

9 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader (AJPW October Giant Series 1999 - Tag 17) - 8.27

Mitsuharu Misawa was one of Vader's fierce opponents in 1999 as the two wrestlers competed 28 times in various singles and tag team contests throughout the year.

The match that took the ninth spot on this list is the one that took place on All Japan Pro Wrestling's October Giant Series event in 1999. Vader took on Misawa for the Triple Crown Championship in the main event of the show and proved to be a challenge that his opponent couldn't overcome. He defeated Misawa at the event and walked out as the new Triple Crown champion.

8 Antonio Inoki vs. Big Van Vader (NJPW Wrestling World In Tokyo Dome - January 1996) - 8.34

Starting from 1987, Vader has constantly clashed with Antonio Inoki in various singles and tag team matches until 1996. The match that takes this spot also happens to be their final bout, which took place at the NJPW Wrestling World event on January 4, 1996.

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It was Vader's first match after he departed from WCW in 1995, and with a familiar foe in the other corner, Vader looked to vanquish his competition. The match lasted 14:16 minutes, and Vader, unfortunately, couldn't overcome Inoki's challenge at the event and ended up losing the contest.

7 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader (AJPW Giant Baba Memorial Show - May 1999) - 8.40

Vader's first reign with the AJPW Triple Crown Championship began in March 1999 when he defeated Akira Taue at the AJPW Excite Series event. He held the title for 57 days and lost the title in his first defense at the promotion's Giant Baba Memorial Show in May 1999.

He defended the title against Mitsuharu Misawa at the event, and the match went on for a back and forth 18:07 minutes before Misawa could overcome Vader and win his fifth AJPW Triple Crown Championship. The match got an 8.4 rating from Cagematch and has taken the seventh spot on this list.

6 Big Van Vader vs. Sting (WCW Starrcade 1992) - 8.47

Vader had to take some time off after undergoing knee surgery around September 1992, and upon his return at Halloween Havoc, he was at his most dangerous self and legitimately injured Nikita Koloff and sent him into retirement.

He entered the WCW King of Cable tournament in November 1992 and defeated Tony Atlas in the first round and Dustin Rhodes in the semi-final. He took on Sting in the final of the tournament at the 1992 Starrcade PPV, but couldn't continue his dominant run as he fell in defeat to Sting at the event.

5 Kenta Kobashi vs. Vader (AJPW New Year Giant Series 1999 Tag 11) - 8.52

Vader and Kenta Kobashi squared off against each other on multiple occasions throughout 1999 in various singles and tag team matches. Their first one-on-one match came at the New Year Giant Series, and it was also a No.1 contenders match for the vacant Triple Crown Championship.

The two wrestlers squared off in the main event of the show and wrestled their hearts out for 16:59 minutes. Vader was the one to pick up the victory at the event and went on to defeat Akira Taue to win the vacant Triple Crown Championship.

4 Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto (NJPW Explosion Tour 1992 - Tag 14) - 8.58

After winning the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto in March 1992, Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow held the titles for 117 days.

Following a successful defense against Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto, Vader and Bigelow put their titles on the line against the former champions Hase and Muto at the NJPW Explosion Tour 1992.

RELATED: 10 Backstage Stories About Vader That We Can't Believe

The match lasted for an impressive 20:40 minutes and saw Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow defeat Hiroshi Hase & Keiji to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championships, and held them proudly until they lost them to The Steiner Brothers in June 1992.

3 Big Van Vader vs. Ric Flair (WCW Starrcade 1993) - 8.66

After winning his third WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Sting at a house show in March 1993, Vader was taking out all of his challengers one after the other and was having a solid 285-day run with the title.

He entered a feud with Ric Flair over the title in end-1993, and the first match between the two took place at the Clash of Champions show in November, where Flair won by disqualification.

The second match took place the following month at the Starrcade PPV, and Flair overcame the odds at the event and defeated Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

2 Big Van Vader vs. Keiji Muto (NJPW Violent Storm in Kokugikan 1991 - Tag 2) - 8.95

Vader entered the 1991 G1 Climax tournament and competed in Block A against Keiji Mutoh, Tatsumi Fujinami, and Scott Norton. He ended up finishing last in his block with only one victory against Norton.

The match that takes the second spot on this list is the one between him and Keiji Mutoh at the NJPW Violent Storm in Kokugikan event in August 1991. The two wrestlers competed in the main event of the show and put on a fight that lasted 13:54 minutes, which saw Mutoh defeat Vader and finish first in Block A.

1 Nobuhiko Takada vs. Super Vader (UWF-I Pro Wrestling World Tournament: Finals 1994) - 9.25

Vader signed an eight-date deal with the Japanese promotion Union of Wrestling Forces International in February 1993. He entered the 1994 Best of the World Tournament and defeated Salman Hashimikov in the first round, Masahito Kakihara in the quarter-final, and Kiyoshi Tamura in the semi-final to advance to the final round of the tournament.

Vader faced Nobuhiko Takada in the tournament final in a one-on-one match, which was also for the UWFi Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. He defeated Nobuhiko Takada in the final after battling it out for 19:24 minutes and won the tournament and the UWFi Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight ChampionshIP.

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