Big Bang Vader was known as the “strongest guy” in New Japan Pro Wrestling in the 90s.
Boasting a gigantic body of 190cm and 170kg, he overran the Japanese mat world with overwhelming power. He is the first wrestler in history to win the IWGP heavyweight belt, New Japan's crown jewel, and the All Japan Pro Wrestling triple crown in the heavyweight division, as well as the only foreign wrestler.
"Even now, nearly 30 years later, I still can't forget the impact I felt when I debuted in Japan". Appearing as a secret member of Beat Takeshi's "Takeshi Pro Wrestling Group (TPG)", he suddenly changes the match and wins against Inoki in the first confrontation, and the audience explodes with dissatisfaction and riots... Vader's history began with great chaos, but the chaos actually began even before he was born.
Born from Antonio Inoki, the legendary martial artist Han, and manga artist Go Nagai!
At that time, New Japan was in turmoil as Antonio Inoki's centripetal power began to show signs of decline. They sought to break this trend by inviting brains from outside, but the person at the center of their efforts was Masashi Horibe, the founder of the martial art known as “Koneho”.
Koneho is a mythical martial art that has been passed down since the Nara period.
Mr. Horibe inherited it as an inheritance from his father, who was Hideki Tojo's bodyguard...that's right. There was a time when he talked about a “Grappler Baki”-like past where he won an underground martial arts tournament to determine the world's strongest, but the truth or falsehood of either is unknown. First of all, it is true that he was active as a chiropractor who worked on Takeshi's group on Beat Takeshi's show “Super Jockey”.
Furthermore, manga artist Go Nagai also participated, as he had been drawing a manga on the topic of bone surgery. Inoki joins them.
Vader was born from these three people's extremely unconventional ideas.
"Call a big guy who's almost 3 meters tall or a guy who looks like a gorilla."
Inoki tried to call in an unknown powerhouse, but his idea was amazing.
“There must be a giant man close to 3 meters tall deep in the mountains of China.''
"I'm sure there are people like gorillas in the jungles of Brazil."
Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Hiroshi Fujioka, and the expedition team also voiced their own surprising theories.
Of course, such a person doesn't exist, so I thought the story would end there, but it's ridiculous because the story moves on and says, “Then why don't we make one?”
Mr. Go Nagai immediately offered his help, saying, “I'll draw it.” This is how Go Nagai's design began.
The original plan was for it to be something like a giant robot with a person inside to operate it. I think it's limited to when you enter the venue, but it's a very innovative idea that only Go Nagai, the creator of Mazinger Z, can do.
In the end, due to budget constraints, the plan ended with just the upper body. A remnant of this is the armor that Vader wore upon his entrance. Smoke is pouring from my shoulder! The familiar gimmick that appears is certainly robotic.
Just like the legless Zeong later appeared as Perfect Zeong, I also wanted to see Perfect Vader!
"Vader Development Project" in which Terry Ito was also involved.
At the time, New Japan Pro-Wrestling broadcasts suffered from low viewer ratings, such as I can't wait until Give Up!” The program shifted to a program with a stronger variety element called “World Pro Wrestling”.
I was looking forward to the birth of a new character that would be a highlight on TV.
The original character idea for Vader was “Devastator, the Demon Beast!”
A coined word derived from the English word “DEVASTATE” (to destroy, annihilate), meaning "destroyer" or "plunderer". The project concept included the movie “The Terminator” and Go Nagai's masterpiece “Violence Jack”, and it was said that he was planning to market it as an anti-hero. What's more, it was also planned that the live-action video and anime would be released at the same time.
If this had happened, it would have definitely changed the history of the television world.
Last fall, the shocking news broke that Vader had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had only two years to live. But what about Vader, who is inhuman?
There is no doubt that it will completely destroy all the demons.