It is now confirmed that the legendary Vader has sadly passed away, aged 63.Jesse White, the son of Leon 'Big Van Vader' White, revealed the sad news on Twitter on Wednesday morning, announcing that his father had passed away on Monday evening at 7:25 PM.
LEGEND
Wrestling fans will be aware that White had been battling some heart issues for the past few years. Sadly, his deteriorating health never significantly improved as he revealed in November 2016 that he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure due to his wrestling and football careers.
At the time, he revealed that two different heart doctors had told him that he only had two more years left to live. To combat this, Vader underwent open heart surgery in March, along with another operation as recently as May.
When sharing the upsetting news on Twitter, Jesse shared that last month, his father was diagnosed with a severe case of pneumonia, and while he continued to fight hard and make progress, his heart had eventually had enough.
He posted: "It is with a heavy heart to inform everyone that my father, Leon White, passed away on Monday night (6/18/18) at approximately 7:25 PM.
"Around a month ago my father was diagnosed with a severe case of Pneumonia. He fought extremely hard and clinically was making progress. Unfortunately, on Monday night his heart had enough, and it was his time."
REACTION
Since then, wrestling stars, personalities and fans have continued to share their tributes for the legend. WWE has also released a statement to acknowledge the sad news and passing on their condolences in what is a big loss to the wrestling business after making his mark in Japan and then doing the same when he transitioned to World Championship Wrestling.
Although he played the quintessential heel throughout the majority of his career, the mask he wore as Vader saw him receive brilliant reactions from the audience, despite being a monstrous figure. Perhaps it was his aerial ability - which took many by surprise due to his size - which blew fans away, as nobody had seen anyone like him at the time.
Since then, WWE stars have paid their tributes to Vader - and they're going to continue to pour in with some sharing their favourite stories of the wrestling icon.
It's clear to see how much of an impact he had on both wrestlers that mixed it up with, those that wanted to emulate, stars that wanted to compete opposite him and the youngsters that grew up watching him - being terrified in the best way.
What is your fondest memory of Vader in action? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.