Leon Allen White

Vader is one of those wrestlers who genuinely makes you question the laws of physics — the man was 6'4" and built like a cement mixer, yet he'd launch himself off the top rope like it was nothing. Leon White came up through college football at Colorado before reinventing himself as one of the most feared big men in the history of professional wrestling, tearing through New Japan, WCW, and beyond with that helmet, the steam shooting out of his mask, and that terrifying combination of raw power and surprising agility. What always got me was how over he was in Japan — American wrestlers earning that level of respect from Japanese crowds is rare, and Vader earned every bit of it. His WWF run never quite did him justice, but his legacy in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame tells the real story. Gone in 2018, but that crushing body splash lives forever.

Name (English)

Leon Allen White

Name (Japanese)

ビッグバン・ベイダー

Reading

びっぐばん・べいだー

Born

May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Goat

Origin

Lynwood, California, United States

Height

196 cm

Occupation

actor / professional wrestler / television actor / film actor / American football player

High school

Bell High School

University

University of Colorado Boulder

Awards & achievements

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

Motto

Private

• Xhttps://x.com/itsvadertime
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%93%E3%83%83%E3%82%B0%E3%83%90%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%99%E3%82%A4%E3%83%80%E3%83%BC

Tags

• California
• actor
• professional wrestler
• television actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.