Former WCW champion Leon “Vader” White revealed on Twitter that two heart doctors gave him two more years to live due to congestive heart failure, the after effects from his football and wrestling career.
The 61-year-old who still wrestles occasionally is on the heavy-end of the scale and the diagnosis isn’t a big surprise to many.
Raw General Manager Mick Foley went on Facebook to campaign to get Vader in the Hall of Fame before it’s too late. “I have been talking with Leon White the past few weeks, so I knew the news might be coming. But seeing it in print this morning was a shock nonetheless. Leon is dying,” Foley wrote.
“His legacy is so important to him, and he has told me that being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame would mean so much on both a personal and professional level. On a global level, Vader was one of the greatest attractions the pro wrestling business has ever seen. I have talked with people at the highest levels at WWE, and hope and pray that Leon’s name will be included in the class of 2017 Hall of Fame inductees,” Foley added.
Vader has a long and storied career in professional wrestling, wrestling for the AWA, New Japan Pro Wrestling, WCW, WWE and even briefly in TNA. He’s a former 3-time WCW and NJPW champion but never won a title in the WWE.
