[1994-04-14-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Stan Hansen vs Steve Williams

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Started off hot, then slowed down a little too much, then was good again near the end. I still liked it, but I had high expectations and it didn't quite get there, as the middle of the match was really dull. Doc looked great. Hansen looked really good too. I'm not sure what the issue was. I'm also not sure what was up with the announcer laughing at the match. He sounded like a non-fan watching wrestling.

[jdw]

Started off hot, then slowed down a little too much, then was good again near the end. I still liked it, but I had high expectations and it didn't quite get there, as the middle of the match was really dull. Doc looked great. Hansen looked really good too. I'm not sure what the issue was.

They has a start: Hansen is fucking PISSED OFF after losing to Kobashi and Taue. His fire, and Doc trying to respond to it, is pretty hot as you say.

 

They have a good home stretch: throw the bombs that they can do with each other (their relative size limits them against each other in ways that they aren't against the smaller natives), and actually have a clean finish.

 

They... didn't really have a middle. It wasn't all that long at 16:35, but really was one of those times when AJPW needed to develop the concept of "Short Wars": the guys come out throwing bombs and killing each other, get a sense they're not going long but at a certain point anything might end this because they've killed each other. Edit this down to 12:30 and it would have been a much better match.

 

Still, it's the best match between the two. They had some doggy matches before this as they never really fit together very well in singles matches. It actually a sign of how well Doc had gotten, and how good Stan still was, that they had a match at this level.

 

 

 

I'm also not sure what was up with the announcer laughing at the match. He sounded like a non-fan watching wrestling.

The announcers on the 1994 Carny Tape didn't really sound like a pro. It seemed to have been done in the studio after the cards rather than live. One really wishes that they simply had no announcer.

 

John

[Childs]

I recall liking a match they had in 1990. Not at a "this is great" level but at least as a fun brawl between bad motherfuckers.

 

edit: And I see it's on a Schneider comp, and Phil described it as a "balls out fight" between "two of the baddest MFs in wrestling history."

[Childs]

The rhythm in this match felt a little off. Hansen's initial control segment went on a few beats too long without setting up any specific vulnerability for Doc. Things improved once Doc turned the tide by targeting Stan's injured ribs, but the crowd was disengaged by then. Hansen in peril was more interesting than Doc in peril, both because he was selling a specific injury and because he always seemed to be trying to get back to offense with his nasty little counter shots. They never really went toe-to-toe as the lariat came very quickly after Stan countered out of the backdrop suplex. Good match overall, but I can't say it grabbed me viscerally. I think I liked their 1990 match better.

[Kevin Ridge]

Promising start as was looking forward to seeing this match. The crowd is quite vocal here. Just random people yelling out Hansen for a good portion of the match. Action feels pretty slow at times. Finish came out of nowhere with Hansen hitting the clothesline. Wasn’t ready for that. Not as good of a match as I was expecting.

[Exposer]

Both guys are really great in this but I agree that the middle was lacking. I think the match could have been shortened to 10-12 minutes and it would have delivered much better. I loved the beginning of the match and the closing minutes rocked so that makes this one still worthwhile and very good to great as well.

[soup23]

Was a match that felt like 25 minutes even though it went only 17. Hansen headbutting Williams to get him nuetralized in the chinlock along with his facial expressions was a nice touch. The size of these guys defintely restricted some of the big throws and impact they could make on their moves in the finishing stretch.

[PeteF3]

This was veering dangerously close to 1991-92 levels of Doc to me. I really liked the start, though, with Doc getting greedy about zeroing in on Hansen's ribs and immediately paying for it. Hansen had wrestled so much on the defensive lately that it felt like a refreshing swerve to have him start out "hot." I definitely dug the 1990 match more than this. These two seem to be better off going at it in a balls-out sprint than at the more methodical pace we've seen here in and in tag bouts.

[Zenjo]

Doc decided to go for the jump start, a strategy that totally backfired. Hansen would dominate the early stages as a result. Williams slowly worked his way back into the bout by going after the injured ribs. Continuity baby. One of the great things about tournament play is that it naturally lends itself to being able to play off prior events. It was cool seeing someone hoss enough to manhandle Stan. Some stiff shots and impactful power moves from both. In the end Lariato prevailed in this battle between the top two gaijins of the time. Enjoyable.