Vader was a "bully" and a "horrible person" in real life, according to legendary WWE manager

WWE Hall of Famer Vader has been called a "bully" and a "horrible person" in real life by a legendary manager. Vader made his name wrestling in Japan and WCW before arriving in WWE in 1996.

He had some notable feuds in the promotion and in his prime was seen as one of the best big men to compete in a wrestling ring. However, Harvey Wippleman, who worked as a manager to many prominent wrestlers, claimed Vader was not a nice person to be around.

Talking to Dr. Chris Featherstone on the 700th episode of the Pancakes and Powerslams Show, Wippleman called the late wrestler a "horrible person."

"If we are being honest, there is people like Vader, who was one of the worst people that I ever came across in my entire life. God bless his soul, I don't wish him dead. I'm not glad he's dead. He was a horrible person...every possible way," he said.

When asked to explain his comments, Wippleman said that Vader was a "jerk" and then said he wasn't the best big man in wrestling.

"He was a bully, he was a liar, he was a jerk. He was a talentless piece of...people say, 'Oh, he was the best big man.' No he wasn't. Have they never seen King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow, Crush or Blackwell? Vader was a zero, he was a piece of cr*p," he added.

You can watch the interview below:

During his time in WWE, Harvey Wippleman managed the likes of Sid Justice, Kamala, and Giant Gonzalez, among others. Wippleman also became the first man to win the WWE Women's Championship in 2000.

Vader was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022

Vader became popular during his run in WCW in the early 90s. He had memorable feuds with Sting and Ric Flair and won the World Heavyweight Championship three times. He also held the WCW United States Title once.

After making his WWE debut at the 1996 Royal Rumble, he feuded with Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. He would have a notable feud with Kane before eventually leaving the promotion in 1998.

He made sporadic WWE appearances in the mid-2000s as well. Vader passed away in 2018 and was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit The Pancakes and Powerslams Show and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Sherjeel Malik