The WWE Hall Of Famer Who Says Vader “Hated” Working With Hulk Hogan In WCW

WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield has opened up about the late Big Van Vader’s deep resentment over his 1995 WCW storyline with Hulk Hogan, revealing just how strongly the legendary big man felt about the experience.

Speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL recounted a conversation he had with Vader in 1996, shortly after Vader had transitioned from WCW to WWE. According to Layfield, Vader did not hold back when expressing his feelings about his feud with Hogan.

“It wasn’t frustration, it was way past that, he hated it, absolutely hated it,” JBL said. “When he came to WWE, he said, ‘I’ll never let anybody Hulk up on me again.’ He said that a few times, he hated it, absolutely.”

The rivalry between Vader and Hogan was a key storyline in WCW during 1995, positioning Vader as a dominant challenger. However, despite its prominence, Vader felt the feud did more harm than good to his career trajectory.

JBL made it clear that Vader’s frustrations weren’t rooted in any personal dislike of Hogan himself, but rather the creative direction and booking decisions surrounding the programme.

“I don’t think he thought Hogan took advantage of him,” he explained. “He simply thought he was put in a bad spot. Here you have the guy who helped create WrestleMania, who’s creating the biggest storyline, maybe of all time, with the nWo, or about to, and Leon was put in a terrible spot, and he absolutely hated it.”

Though Vader remains remembered as one of wrestling’s most powerful and respected figures, it’s evident that his run with Hogan left him disillusioned with how top-tier feuds were handled in WCW at the time.

Which Non-Spanish Speaking WWE Hall Of Famer Did JBL Say Vince McMahon Put On Spanish Commentary?

JBL spoke about how Vince McMahon put WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana on the Spanish announce team in 1997, despite Tito not knowing how to speak Spanish fluently. JBL said that McMahon liked Tito and thought that he’d be able to learn the language quickly due to his Mexican roots. However, Santana did not learn Spanish, but was still a member of the Spanish announce team until early 1998.

H/t to ITRWrestling.com