Vader passes away at 63 years old
Vader (real name Leon White), a legendary big man wherever he went in pro wrestling, has passed away at 63 years old.
White’s son wrote the following: “It is with a heavy heart to inform everyone that my father, Leon White, passed away on Monday night (6/18/18) at approximately 7:25pm. 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.”
White underwent successful open-heart surgery in March but still had a long road to recovery ahead of him at that point. He was hospitalized again in April due to pneumonia, which he tweeted was downgraded to bronchitis. He underwent another surgery in May to repair an irregular heartbeat.
Despite years of heart problems, White was active in the ring until 2017 and had been vowing to make a comeback even after his open-heart surgery. He briefly fainted after a match in Japan last year but claimed it wasn’t related to his heart issues.
White was a football player before starting his wrestling career in the AWA. With incredible athleticism for his size, he became a star in both Japan and the United States, wrestling for promotions like NJPW, AJPW, Pro Wrestling NOAH, WCW, and the WWF. He also appeared as a character on a few episodes of “Boy Meets World” in the 1990s.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.