Former WWE Star Says Nobody Liked Vader Or George Steele: 'Some Guys Are Just Jerks'

Wrestling has historically been a challenging business to get into. The industry may have mellowed as it has modernized, but there have been many stories told of veterans hazing rookies and putting them through rites of passage, so to speak. Ex-WWE star Harvey Wippleman addressed his own experiences going through such trials during a recent interview with "Developmentally Speaking." During the conversation, he recalled how he would be ill-treated himself but made sure to remain respectful to everybody, irrespective of their experience. 

"There's some guys, if you're a jerk, you're a jerk," he started before reeling off examples, "Vader was a jerk. I'm sorry; God bless him and his family. I know he's left us. He's a jerk. Another one, George Steele, was a jerk, you know, and just because they died doesn't take away the fact they were jerks."

Wippleman justified that it wasn't just his thinking either, explaining that "nobody" liked either of them. He said, "Some guys are just jerks," and while some grow out of it, others don't. History serves Wippleman's case, too, with Jake Roberts previously calling Vader a bully. Vader also infamously got into a fight with Paul Orndorff in WCW and further had issues with Will Ospreay prior to his death in 2018. 

George Steele is remembered more fondly; rarely a negative word has been said about the WWE Hall of Famer who died in 2017. He was a despised villain for the majority of his career, however, and came through at a time when it was commonplace for those to remain in character at all times.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Developmentally Speaking" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.