On April 11th 1997, WWF Superstar Vader was arrested in Kuwait for grabbing a TV reporter after the reporter said that professional wrestling is fake, an incident that WWF promoter Vince McMahon wasn’t very happy about as you can imagine.
You can watch a video of it below:
#OnThisDay in 1997: Leon White, aka Vader, is detained in Kuwait after he attacks Bossam Al Otham, the host of Good Morning Kuwait.
The arrest comes after White took offense to Otham's questions about the legitimacy of wrestling, then assaulted the host & trashed the set. pic.twitter.com/hDyjpDcRAS
— Allan (@allan_cheapshot) April 11, 2020
During a recent episode of his weekly ‘Something To Wrestle With’ podcast, Bruce Prichard (fka Brother Love) revealed that Vince McMahon fined Vader $30,000 for the incident, which was the biggest fine that – at that point in time – was ever issued to any wrestler.
Here’s what Prichard said:
“Vader was fined the largest fine we had ever fined anyone up until that point.
$30,000. And expenses. Expenses of staying over there and security and everything, and getting them out and all that.”
Big Van Vader wrestled for several major promotions during his long, illustrious career, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1987-1991), Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling (1990-1995), the World Wrestling Federation (1996-1998), All Japan Pro Wrestling (1998-2000 & 2011-2012), NWA Total Nonstop Action (2003), among many others.
In 2022, he was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Also Read: The Undertaker & Vince McMahon’s Reaction To Vader Getting Arrested In Kuwait
WATCH: Alexa Bliss Exposes Her Buns On Stage (Pre-WWE):
