Jim Ross Talks Vader's Legacy

During the latest episode of Grilling JR, Jim Ross spoke about Harley Race being Vader's manager in WCW.

“It wasn’t a bad idea because number one, it got Harley work. We all loved Harley, and Harley needed a place to land at that point in time. We thought he could help Leon because Leon was a handful sometimes on the road just being moody and so forth. Harley was all business and was probably the best guy [for the job]. Harley was not intimidated by Vader. Harley would chew his ass out when he needed it. He wasn’t intimidated by Leon whatsoever, but most people were. I think that’s why they got along so well. Vader developed great respect for Harley and knew, ‘I might be able to beat Harley in a fight, but I know this, he will fight me if the situation arose.’ I thought it was a good pairing for those guys.”

On Vader getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame:

“You say that about so many guys quite frankly [that they should have been inducted while alive]. He’s certainly one of the guys at the top of that list. He had earned that right in my humble opinion to be in the Hall of Fame. It just didn’t come about in a timely way, and it’s sad. He would’ve rejoiced in being inducted. He would’ve rejoiced in being able to tell his story. It would’ve been an interesting acceptance speech, to say the least. I’m glad he finally got in, and he’s gonna be remembered as a Hall of Famer, as he should be.”

On his favorite Vader memory:

“Leon was a complex in a lot of ways, but in some ways, he was a very simplistic and straightforward person. He was a big guy that always had issues justifying his look, his appearance. He was one of those guys who was self-conscious to some degree and had been all of his life because he was always looked at as an overweight, large human being. The fact that he could manhandle people because of his ridiculous, crazy strength got him over. I’ll have fond memories of Leon. He was frustrating and sometimes I would just be angry as hell at him for a few minutes, and then you’d shake your head and go, ‘I’ve gotta solve this problem. I’ve gotta work on Leon.’ I’m glad he’s finally in the Hall of Fame. He’s deserving. The only other thing I’ll say about Vader is I wish we would’ve signed him earlier in his career. If we had signed him earlier in his career and had his weight more under control and was more healthy, then his legacy would be something entirely different. I look at him as a superstar.”