WWF 305 Live: Vader vs. Henry!

Vader vs. Mark Henry WWF Sunday Night Heat 8/9/98 - VERY GOOD

ER: This was the 4th and final taped Vader/Henry bout, coming after their match at Fully Loaded. I thought what was most notable about it was how damn good Mark Henry looked, and how sad and sluggish Vader looked. I'm always hesitant to say someone is checked out, but Vader actually looked good in early '98 and this wasn't that. The most joy Vader brought here was during his entrance, which had so much wonderful hand dancing and shoulder shrugging, shimmying down the ramp while shoulder shrugging his way over to ringside fans. Vader had the kind of movement that would make him a consummate dancer and entertainer during literally any wedding. If Vader was just an uncle at a wedding and not one of the greatest wrestlers of my lifetime, I don't think I would be able to concentrate on anything else in the room once he took the dance floor. You're a beautiful dancer, Vader. 

But all of that pep he showed during his entrance kind of vanished during the match. There were some shockingly lazy moments that I wouldn't associate with someone as high end as Vader, and now I'm wondering if there are other late run WWF matches where he coasts been more. This was Vader just a couple months before returning to All Japan, so honestly why not coast down the stretch, but it's still surprising to see him do things like slowly walk far too long backwards to get into position to be Irish whipped. He doesn't cut corners like that. Vader is someone you can always rely on to punch someone in the ear to get him into position, so seeing a few moments where he just casually walked into position for offense looked bad. 

And yet, Mark Henry looked like the wrestler many of us would catch fire for heavily praising 5 years later. While Vader looked like he was holding back on his ear cupping punches and heavy clotheslines, Henry went full force. Vader doesn't budge Henry on a couple of shoulderblocks, and early in the match Henry actually pulls off a press slam on Vader. It's quick, and Vader lands it on his feet, falling to his stomach and rolling to the floor. There's a sad Vader stair bump in here, where Henry throws Vader into the ring steps and Vader just kind of gently pops into them, but Mark Henry responds with what had to have been his best punches of 1998, right to the side of Vader's head. Vader looked listless, but got great height and impact on his standing splash and even busted Henry's mouth open. Henry looked incredible with a blood red mouth. They should have found the best shot of him with a bloody mouth and used it on every Titantron video and t-shirt for the man. I thought the DQ finish was really great: Henry hitting his own standing splash once, twice, a three times, JR getting excited talking about Vader's potential internal injuries by the second splash.  

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