Why Ken Shamrock Felt His First WWE Feud Was 'The Right Guy'

When a legit fighter such as Ken Shamrock, dubbed "The World's Most Dangerous Man" for a reason, comes into professional wrestling, you only get one chance to get his first feud right. According to Shamrock, as he told "Wrestling Life," that this was absolutely the case at the start of his WWF run in 1997 when hand-selected for him was none other than the late, great Leon White, better known as Vader, to be his first opponent.

Now, technically, Vader wasn't Shamrock's actual first adversary in a pro wrestling ring, with that honor actually belonging to a familiar name for longtime WWE/F fans in legendary enhancement talent, Barry Horowitz, who actually beat Shamrock in a tryout match in 1989. Shamrock would go on to cut his teeth in Japan and on the indy circuit before returning to WWF for the longest mainstream run of his wrestling career. After what was called a "No Holds Barred Exhibition Match" against his Lion's Den protege, Vernon White, on an episode of "WWF Raw," he and Vader would lock up at "In Your House 15: A Cold Day In Hell," as his first real exposure to the business at its highest level.

Shamrock, whose name surfaces in Hall of Fame conversations each year, noted that some mainstays weren't comfortable with his presence at first, so getting in there with Vader helped settle certain anxieties. "Vader was the right guy for me," he said. "It was good that Vince [McMahon] put that match together because anybody else, they would have walked out. They would have said, 'I'm not wrestling this guy.' But I think Vader understood the task and Vader's a big, strong, tough person himself." That first bout taught Shamrock that even for pro wrestling, he still needed to dial things down. "My easy isn't the same thing as their easy," he said. "Because it was Vader, I was able to learn from that, I was able to dial it back [and] understand the difference of light sparring and pro wrestling, [and from there], I wasn't where I needed to be but I understood what I had to do."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Wrestling Life" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.