Stan Hansen

[Dylan Waco]

I have a hell of a lot I could say about Hansen. I still want to watch more 70's footage from the guy and may do it here. I think he's a top ten all timer, and serious number one contender. I think he's underrated working holds and bumping even though it's obvious his bread and butter is brawling. But that is not why I started this thread. I started this thread because I want everyone to watch the Carlos Colon v. Stan Hansen matches I've been reviewing in the Puerto Rico thread. Because watching this stuff I really feel like this is the most underrated feud of the 80's and that the matches are outstanding. I watched the matches out of order and I'm not even positive what order they go in. In any event for those ignoring my Puerto Rico thread (and you shouldn't because PR wrestling is fun as fuck), here you go in what I THINK is the right order, though keep in mind my reviews were written out of order:

 

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 11/86

 

 

This has the same ambush opening of the last match, but is worked far more even. In a sense it helps the last match which came after this and was probably something of a Colon payback affair. Colon does get first blood here on Stan, but Hansen get some series licks in himself. I really liked Hansen's early legwork in this even if it was short lived and I also liked him bashing Colon on various fixtures all over the ball park as a bit of payback. Hansen ends up missing a lariat against the post and Colon attacks his arm some before honing in on Hansen's cut which is really nasty. Just when you think this is starting to get too one sided again Hansen loads up his elbow pad and lariat's the fuck out of Colon. A pro-Colon official shows up and stops the ref from making the count and Hansen fucking snaps and destroys Colon with a piledriver, before running out to the floor and crushing the official with a loaded lariat too. Really awesome sprint. That last match I watched really does make more sense in this context and Hansen running out of the stadium antagonizing fans and covered in blood is an awesome visual.

 

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 1986

 

 

Holy shit this time Hansen storms the ring from behind Colon and gets at him first, knocking him out on his ass. The ref tries to break this up and Stan beats the fuck out of him! Hansen ties the rope around Carlos neck and then whips him from post to post. Then he beats his ass with the WWC belt. Meanwhile fans are throwing shit at the ring, so Stan runs at them kicking, while the paramilitary style cops run around trying to keep order. Hansen grabs the table the bell was on and literally destroys it smashing it into Colon. Colon is a bloody mess and a second ref shows up at this point but Hansen can only get a near fall on Colon. Colon sort of makes a comeback by evasion, so Stan says fuck this and throws Colon back out to the floor where he chokes him out over the guardrail while trolling the fans. You've got to be either really brave or really stupid to do that in Puerto Rico.

 

Back in the ring and Carlos starts to flurry, so Stan headbutts him but of course it hurts him more. Gotta love that racist standard existing even in PR. Hansen cuts him back down anyhow and fucking stiffs him with an elbow for another near fall. Carlos puts together another big flurry of punches, but Colon gets kicked in his face for his trouble and shortly thereafter eats a modified lariat in the corner. Stan has him down for the fall, but pulls up his shoulder. Hansen goes for the lariat off the ropes, but Carlos blocks it and hits a dropkick.

 

And now the tide has turned. Carlos beats Stan's ass all around ringside, busts him open, does his round off and then starts biting at the cut as only he can. He holds Hansen up in the corner and mule kicks him right in the fucking balls which naturally can only be followed up with a jumping toe touch (what else?).

 

A second ref gets knocked over and Hansen is just getting peppered with shots. Fucking Al Perez (I think?) of all people shows up and passes something to Hansen who loads up his elbow pad for the lariat, the finish and the title.

 

Man this was pretty fucking awesome too.

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 1987

 

 

I am sticking with this feud because it has only done me right so far. This one starts off like the last one, a total war with both guys going right at each other and Colon taking over by beating Stan with his own rope and smashing his face onto the wooden platform holding up the ring while he's still walking around in his straps. They brawl out into the crowd/field and Hansen is knocking shit over while Colon throws him into anything he can. Hansen tries to fight back, but Colon has this look on his face that is just great as he is registering the blows but also feeding off the crowd and comes right back at him. Colon goes for his roundoff/Hulk up bit but Hansen hits him with a deep slam which only buys him a few seconds before he's back on the defensive. A few seconds later he is finally able to gain some real momentum with a double leg and low blow, which allows him to take over and get his chaps off. A seriously great opening to this.

 

Hansen takes over and it's like he knows it's not his night as he immediately starts going for big shots on Colon to keep him down. You could argue that Colon's first hope spot is too soon, but it's a minor complaint and Stan puts him right back on his ass. Colon keeps trying to counter by going to the leg which is awesome because the figure-four is his big move. Stan cuts him down to size and knees the fuck out of him but goes to the well once to often which opens up more leg work.

 

Colon takes a lot of this and I could see that being a complaint from some, but he comes across as the best possible Bruno here, an ethnic hero, up against a tough challenger that knows he's on foreign turf. For his part Hansen keeps coming forward and making runs, but keeps making mistakes that get his leg in trouble. He is great selling the shit out of this and Colon is great making him pay. I really loved the spot with Hansen going to the floor thinking it would give him an advantage and Carlos still going to work on his leg even out there. This leads to an awesome moment as Hansen fights through and just heaves a chair at Carlos head in desperation.

 

The final bit of this is somewhat disappointing. I had hoped they were leading up to Hansen stealing a win. Instead they do a bit where Hansen is in the figure-four forever and tries everything to escape before grabbing a hold of a crutch and cracking Colon with it for the DQ. The struggle in the figure-four is actually really good with Hansen trying all sort of things to break free, but the finish is still unsatisfying. Still this was a very good match, that brushed up closely to greatness at times and might have gotten there with a more compelling finish.

 

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - Bullrope Match 2/87

 

 

I thought the Cage Match was really great and the Bullrope/Chain/Strap gimmick is not something I am a huge fan of. Having said that on first watch this felt like one of the best matches of the 80's. Not one of the best as in "good enough to make an 80's Set." I mean one of the best as in "if someone had this in there top twenty for the decade I would be hard pressed to disagree with that."

 

WWC matches always benefit some from the atmosphere, but the atmosphere here is really incredible as it has a sort of Wrestlemania feel in this big outdoor arena (Roberto Clemente Stadium?) but with full seating coming up alongside the ring unlike a lot of their shows. Hansen shows up and just whips the Bullrope at Colon almost as a challenge and the match is just a complete war from the start. Hansen charges forward with a boot, but Colon catches him and just goes straight to town. Hansen gets busted open almost immediately and is really great bumping round like a lunatic for the boss. The face shine is really strong and gets the crowd primed for this one big time.

 

One of the things I really like about this is that both guys take advantage of the bell at key moments to deliver huge shots. I also like how every time Colon got into a disadvantaged position he would do something to out think Hansen, whether it be an early eyepoke from over his shoulder, a great spot where he cut off the momentum of Hansen when he was going to touch the corners by sliding out to the floor, or just evading a big corner charge for a huge bump.

 

They really make the most out of this gimmick as there are several great struggle spots where Hansen in particular looks like he has is gonna make it to the fourth corner to win the match and Carlos is just able to pull him away. I give Hansen tons of credit for milking this moments in really effective ways and making the whole thing seem like a constant struggle. No inches were given in this match.

 

The big pay off here is the finish as Hansen looks to be almost there after cutting down Colon's hulk up spot with a sick bell shot. He realizes he can't quite make it, turns around for the death shot, but Colon back body drops and then stumbles through to touch the fourth corner and win the match. Just excellent stuff. The best match of it's kind I've ever seen including Piper/Valentine and Vader/Sting.

 

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - Cage Match March 1987

 

 

I thought this was an outstandingly great match. This is the sort of match that really bolsters the case for Hansen as a GOATC. I have no clue how regularly he was working WWC at this point, but he is crazy over here and of course Colon is like god on the island. Colon ambushes him as he is nervous about even getting into the cage and they proceed to have a sub-fifteen minute brawl that has all the staples you want. Hansen was really great here selling the blood loss and Colon legwork by just stumbling around clutching onto to shit to survive. I thought the transitions in this were really great for a brawl of this sort. There is a fun visual spot with both guys brawling while on the top rope which led to a great re-set and at one point Colon hits this reckless headbutt where he sort of flings himself at Hansen's head that looked absolutely brutal. Hansen eventually takes off the boot in desperation and starts whacking Colon with it, but it ends up coming back to bite him as he is trapped bare footed in the figure-four. Meanwhile a huge brawl breaks out on the floor and Colon walks out the front door to join it while the crowd goes batshit insane. Awesome stuff.

[soup23]

Hansen has been barreling up my all timer list. For a while I put him more in the wildman, great brawler role. After seeing some stuff recently that really displays his depth as a performer, he is a legit GOAT contender for me.

 

This stuff you just posted is a prime example. I had never given thought to an extended Hansen vs. Colon feud. Now I have 5 matches to look forward to.

[Ditch]

Hansen is one of a tiny handful of guys, along with Terry Funk, Rey Mysterio and Eddie that seem to get universal respect. I'm not so sure about Hansen as a GOAT candidate though; his singles work in All Japan was far from consistent in terms of greatness. However I can't pass full judgment without having seen much of his work outside Japan.

[tomk]

I'm not sure how underated the Hansen v Colon feud is as remember getting both that and the Hansen v Austin Idol stuff early in my tape trading days and I think much later Boston Idol may have sent them to me again unsolicited.

 

On some level people talk about Hansen these days as though he was just a guy with a Japanese career, but he showed up all over the US in the 80s coming in and out of places and probably working series as good as the Colon or Idol ones.

[Dylan Waco]

I have never heard anyone talk about Hansen v. Colon matches. Not saying no one ever has, but PR wrestling is rarely talked about in general and to the extent it is it is usually Abby, Colon, Brody, Brody dies.

 

If he has other series as good as the Colon one in States I want to know what the fuck it is and where I can find it

[tomk]

I have never heard anyone talk about Hansen v. Colon matches. Not saying no one ever has, but PR wrestling is rarely talked about in general and to the extent it is it is usually Abby, Colon, Brody, Brody dies.

 

If he has other series as good as the Colon one in States I want to know what the fuck it is and where I can find it

 

What are your thoughts on the Austin Idol stuff?

[goodhelmet]

I don't think he took part in the Memphis set.

[Dylan Waco]

I didn't but I've watched the set from beginning to end. Don't recall thinking it was at the level of Hansen v. Colon. Seriously people watch those matches

[Exposer]

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 1986

The opening minutes of this are fucking holy shit level great. Hansen tries to blindside Colon but gets caught. He quickly gets the upperhand though and absolutely decimates Colon. The ref tries to intervene but Hansen takes time to beat his ass too. Hansen ties his rope around Colon's neck and just chokes and slings him around. He demolishes him on the floor with the title belt and a small table literally breaking it into pieces. He takes the beating back into the ring after fans throw unidentifiable objects at him and those PR cops start flooding the ringside area. Hansen continues to crush Colon with turnbuckle charges and just a downright ass whooping. I really liked how Colon regained control with a desperation dropkick which Hansen took magnificently. Colon is incredibly pissed and bloodies Hansen following it up by working over the cut. Colon is in total control but the new ref gets knocked down. Al Perez shows up and assists Hansen with the loaded lariat and Colon walks right into it. It happened fast as fuck and looked really brutal. Hansen took the cover and won the title which really pissed off the crowd. This was really great shit and an awesome fucking ass beating from Hansen.

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 11/86

This was a really great sprint with a post-match that I fucking loved. The opening exchanges were intense as hell with Hansen getting whipped viciously by Colon with the bullrope. Colon gets maybe a little over-aggressive and misses a turnbuckle charge which results in Hansen working over his knee. This didn't last long but I loved Hansen twisting and contorting Colon's knee and trying to almost mangle him. The brawling continues into the ballpark where they smash each other against some sort of object near the stands. Hansen misses a lariat and ends up hitting the ringpost instead. Colon works on his arm pretty well and ends up ramming it into several shit in the stadium. Colon then nastily works on Hansen's cut with biting and fists. Hansen is able to get some breathing room though and nails Colon with the loaded lariat but some pro-Colon ref shows up and stops the count. Hansen goes ballistic and gives Colon a really frightening spike piledriver and then decimates the pro-Colon ref in the ballpark by giving him a sliding lariat which caused me to laugh uncontrollably. Hansen then challenged a bunch of psychotic fans only to get pelted with various objects as he sent screw you signals to every last one of them. This ruled and had a totally awesome post-match.

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 1987

This was a totally different match than the previous two but I think that's a good thing and shows dynamics in the feud. It starts like the others with both guys going at war around the ring. Colon has control for most of these exchanges but Hansen gets in some tremendously violent chops. Colon then starts to set up for the figure four and Hansen realizes he could be in for trouble so he just starts throwing bombs and trying to get out of there unscathed. Colon takes Hansen's onslaught and keeps finding ways to attack Hansen's leg. The crowd gradually gets more excited as Colon slowly starts to edge closer in putting in the figure four. The crowd seems to be going with the flow of the match. They seem to be in tune with what Colon is doing and that is really something unique. Hansen still is able to get in some quick strikes and a few escapes but they are all for not. Colon finally gets in the hold but Hansen reaches out to the ropes. Colon goes straight to the figure four again and Hansen continues to desperately find ways to escape. He claws at Colon's free ankle, twists and turns as much as possible, and yet still can't seem to get himself free. They end up on the floor one last time after Hansen gets in a hard fought escape. I really loved Hansen just wildly flinging a chair at Colon's back when he found just enough space to get something in. That's all he had. It was like a fling of frustration and desperation. Colon is only slightly phased though and they return back to the ring where Colon once again gets Hansen set up for the figure four. Eventually, it's reapplied and Hansen is just gasping for breath and pretty much done. Then, Hansen out of sheer instinct grabs a crutch and whacks Colon to escape the match for a DQ. That finish is weird because I can see how it was a last attempt for Hansen to survive but it should have had Hansen winning in a more meaningful way. Maybe it would have been better if he had thrown some wild lariat while in the figure four that ended up giving him the win. I didn't find the finish to be as disappointing as Dylan did but I can see why there are complaints and that there definitely was a better way to end it. However, this was a really interesting match to watch and was completely different than the first two matches. It's a revenge match for Colon and shows how well Hansen can be in sort of a sympathetic heel role. It's certainly something worth checking out and might be best if watched following those first two matches to better understand it in context.

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - Bullrope Match 2/87

Wow. Just wow. What an unbelievable match. That's one of the greatest matches I've ever seen. It's very important to watch these matches in order. It makes this one that much better. These two make it essential that they destroy one another before even trying to go for the corners. It makes sense two ways but with the second being more important. The first reason is that the objective of the match is to of course incapacitate one's opponent so that they may touch all four corners. The second and most crucial reason is that these two have been beating the living shit out of each other for the past few months and hate each others guts so they won't miss out on the opportunity of once again violently mauling one another. So, in the beginning fuck winning the match right now. This is a chance to totally end someone I hate with an undying passion. Therefore, Hansen and Colon bloody one another with the cowbell on the rope and have this really great opening moments of just trying to almost kill one another. There is this great spot when Hansen's in control as he's trying to nail Colon in the head with the cowbell but Colon just Hulk's up and uses all of his might to counter. It's a really tremendous spot. Colon soon gets a good hold on things and starts wailing away some more on a bloodied Hansen. In another out of this world spot, he lassos Hansen's neck and chokes him ruthlessly. Hansen's selling is so realistic that it looks eerily similar to a graphic crime scene. Colon then starts the journey for reaching each corner. He gets the first few but doesn't have the strength to pull a larger man like Hansen. Hansen's desperate struggles as he uses all of his weight to prevent Colon from reaching each corner is phenomenal attention to detail. Hansen is able to stop Colon and beats him senselessly so that he can try to win. This part is important as Hansen is able to pull Colon whereas Colon wasn't able to pull him. Again, fantastic specifics that matter in these sorts of settings. Hansen is unable to succeed and at some point in the match there is this really great sequence on the floor where Colon whips Hansen around with all of his force and strength into the ring post and elsewhere at ringside. Specifically, there is a really awesome spot where Hansen hangs onto the refs leg and Colon just grabs Hansen by the hair and smashes him head first into the refs foot. I've never seen anything like that before. Back in the ring, both continue to gain the upper hand and yet can't seem to muster up all the strength to get to the final corner. Then, in one of the greatest spots I've ever seen Hansen easily gets the first three corners and is getting right up to the last one. Then Colon finds himself at the corner across the ring, wraps his legs around the ring post and pulls with everything he's got. Hansen fights for his life and reaches with one last heave but gets pulled back on his ass. Finally, the camera pans to Hansen's bloody face and I swear to God it's one of the greatest reactions to failure I've ever seen in a wrestling match. Hansen just sits there with his face covered in blood and screams out loud in angst, swearing like no other. It's almost like he's in tears. What does he have to do to beat this motherfucker? What a moment. Colon gets in a few really great close calls and Hansen ends up back on the offensive. Hansen gets down Colon for what it seems to be the end but Colon gets back in it only to get viciously clocked with the cowbell in a great spot. Hansen is doing everything he can to reach that final corner after knocking down Colon but still can't get it. He realizes he's going to have to brutalize him more and takes a fatal charge that sends him flying over Colon in a back body drop leaving the final corner wide open for a tremendous swan dive to end it all. Colon hits the corner and the match ends. The post-match brawl was a blast too but I can't stress how great of a match this is. Everyone needs to watch this. Do your best to watch these matches in a row because everything fits perfectly in the story being told. It's an absolute classic and one of the greatest matches ever. Watch it.

 

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - Cage Match March 1987

Well, after watching this that third matches finish comes out looking a lot better. It actually comes out looking like a good finish. It's a cage match and seems like the environment Hansen would want to have so that he may annihilate Colon to where there's no escape. This starts with the usual wild brawl and escalates into sheer violence pretty quickly. Hansen barely has the upper hand and Colon ends up taking complete control. This is the important part about this match that pertains to the third one. Hansen finally realizes he's in a bad place. No one likes him here. They despise him and want him for dead. He's got to find a way to fucking escape this madness. But, oh there in a cage which he originally thought might benefit him. Now he's in serious trouble. He tries several times to climb the cage or get through the cage door. Colon throws a really awesome calculated headbutt through the ropes that Hansen sells tremendously as he tries to escape. Then Colon remembers that third match where that redneck bastard got away from him. So he starts to set up the figure four. Hansen is absolutely terrified and the crowd is reveling in his fear. They're are enhancing his fear. There's this really great moment where Hansen finds an opening and just leaps up the cage only using his arms to climb because his leg is so damaged from Colon's onslaught. Colon manages to bring him back down and once again sets up the figure four. Hansen this time refocuses his escape to the cage door and attempts to crawl his way out. Colon is having none of that and is relentless on the leg attack. Hansen gets the best opening he's had yet and gets his boot off nailing the ever living shit out of Colon with it. He recognizes one shot isn't enough and blasts Colon again with the boot for good measure hoping it puts him down so he can get the fuck out of this madhouse. Hansen gets the closest he's ever going to get and Colon grabs the leg, drops an elbow to really bring the house down before he finally locks in the figure four. The camera pans to the crowd and suddenly we get an overview of the entire scene. Some heels backing Hansen have tried to make a run in but faces from the locker room have intervened and there's a massive brawl going on outside the cage. The crowd is one of the loudest I've ever heard. Ever. They realize this redneck son of a bitch is getting what he deserves and has no chance of escape whatsoever. Hansen is finally done and is done for good. The last seconds are amazing with ten or so guys brawling on the floor while Hansen is writhing in pain in the center of the ring. Colon finally lets go of the hold and quickly escapes the cage to join in the wild brawl on the floor. Hansen recuperates a little and gets involved too and this is one of the wildest scenes I've ever seen in wrestling. The faces win the battle but one of Colon's buddies is a bloody mess. Hansen gets in a few words before disappearing and this turns out to be one of the greatest feuds I've ever seen. I can't believe this hasn't been talked up over the years as an all-time great feud. It is seriously one of the five or so best I've ever witnessed and it was just in a three hour sitting. Everyone go watch these five matches in succession and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Dylan Waco]

Devon is right about that third match. WAY better in context. I liked it a lot out of context. In context it's great and makes sense on a completely different level.

[Exposer]

The order was slightly off here. I fixed it in my reviews. That's the proper order and allows the first two matches to make even more sense looking at the finish of both of them surrounding the loaded lariat which got Hansen the title in the first match which caused the commission to reverse the decision in the second match.

[KB8]

If I had to put together an all time top 10 right now, Hansen would be my#1. I'd never even heard of those Colon matches. Gonna have to check those out whenever I get motivated to actually watch something.

[Jimmy Redman]

I am a long time lurker of this board, and finally felt compelled to join just to say that I am so, so glad other people are enjoying the Hansen/Colon feud as much as I did. I came across the cage match a few months ago entirely by accident when I was educating myself on 80s wrestling and I was completely blown away. Basically everything Dylan said - the heat, the selling, Colon's headbutt, Hansen taking his boot off, Colon walking out and winning accidentally - every second rules. The whole feud rules.

 

There's a moment in the bullrope match where they are on the floor and Hansen is desperately trying to cling to something and ends up grabbing the feet of the referee standing in the ring. Then while he's still holding on Colon grabs his head and rams it into the ref's now conveniently placed boot. I loved that and thought it was one of the coolest little pieces of offense I've seen.

[Dylan Waco]

Stan Hansen v. Kevin Kelly - AWA 11/85

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ChB-B0JBw8

 

I had no recollection of seeing this when I was watching stuff for the AWA set and Dot Dotkins has been the source of some other youtube gems so I gave this a watch. I don't think this is as good as Blackwell v. Kelly from 86 and maybe not even the DJ peterson v. Kevin Kelly miracle match from the Showboat, but this was a really entertaining mauling by Hansen. He does give Kelly some, but mostly he steamrolls him and works half the match with his chaps on. Some brutal elbows and a fucking nasty as hell lariat. A fun way to kill six minutes.

[ohtani's jacket]

I watched the Hansen/Colon feud one match per night for the past few nights and it really should be required viewing for all PWO members. The cage match is an insane spectacle. Hansen gives one of the best cage match performances I can remember seeing, which for a guy his size is really impressive. This was my first time to watch Colon properly and he was much smaller than I would have imagined. He bounced around like a skinny bean pole at times and the size difference was fascinating to watch.

 

EDIT: I watched the bull rope match again this morning and it really is an incredible match. Hansen's selling is amazing. My favourite part is when he collapses into Colon's arm like a child hugging his parent. I thought they kind of exhausted their spots by the end and the finish was less heated to me than the round of cut-off spots earlier, but it was a clever idea with the back body drop.

[Loss]

Stan Hansen is threatening Ric Flair as my GOAT. I'm not ready to give him the mantle just yet, but he had great matches that spanned three decades. He pushed everyone around him to be better. For me, it's a question of if his US output is every bit as good as Flair's Japan output. And I haven't dived into 80s Hansen in the AWA enough to know how I feel about that just yet. Flair's US run and Hansen's Japan run feel pretty comparable. Hansen may even have a slight edge. I'm officially open to the idea.

[WingedEagle]

Without looking at their runs, I think you could easily make the case that Hansen's highs in Japan are better than Flair's domestically, but Flair clearly gets the edge on volume.

 

Where the cases falls apart for me is promos and angles. Obviously Hansen doesn't have the opportunity for that in Japan but building matches and feuds outside of ring work is too important for me to overlook.

[NintendoLogic]

What 70s Hansen matches would you consider great?

[WingedEagle]

Haven't seen much of him in the 70s. I'd consider the 80s and 90s a sufficient body of work for such an evaluation.

[Childs]

What 70s Flair matches are great? Truth is we don't have a good representation for either guy.

 

As for building feuds, he clearly had great rivalries with Inoki, Baba, Funk, Tenryu, Carlos Colon, the new generation of All Japan. Not sure it matters how much of a role promos played in creating them.

 

Hansen would be my No. 1 if we did a poll right now -- incredible mastery of his character, large volume of great matches against very different opponents, lots of excellent performances in matches that were merely good, always came off as a star. I think I've seen the vast majority of Hansen matches on tape at this point, and he was almost never less than good until he broke down physically.

 

At the very highest level, the rankings do come down to personal preference, and Hansen fits what I'm looking for almost perfectly.

[WingedEagle]

Couldn't agree more on the feuds. I had the Baba matches ranked higher than many on the 80s AJ set as I thought they held up ridiculously well and were pretty amazing when you consider what else Baba was doing in the ring at the time. Then you look at the Funk match, the tag league matches, the Tenryu series, Puerto Rico with the highlights that Dylan recapped in that thread, '88 w/ Gordy vs. Tenryu & Kawada. And that's before we get to the 90s versus those stars.

 

I do disagree about the promos though -- if you take those and many angles away from Flair his feuds and resume just aren't the same. Its not a strike against Hansen in the sense he didn't deliver in that respect, but the same opportunity just wasn't there.

 

This stuff about the 70s is pure garbage though. The record for anyone there is beyond incomplete, and even so, comes off to me as fishing for an opportunity to throw stones. When you've got a pretty strong 15-20 year period to evaluate someone that should be a pretty fair body of work for purposes of this kind of discussion. Its the same reason I'm not interested in hearing why the '00s are a case against Flair. I also don't care what Willie Mays did with the Mets or what Jordan did with the Wizards (even if his performance in the ASG was classic and yet another reminder that he is the only true god on earth).

[ohtani's jacket]

I like Stan Hansen as much as the next guy, but he had more than his share of average matches. I can't remember ever seeing a good Hansen/Brody tag.

[WingedEagle]

Most matches involving Brody were below average. What's the point? Hansen was a great worker, not a miracle worker.

[ohtani's jacket]

Childs said he was almost never less than good. I don't think that's really true.

[WingedEagle]

I don't doubt he had more than his share of less than shining moments. But I wouldn't want to hold those involving Brody against him anymore than I would hold Flair responsible for working with El Gigante or the Black Scorpion.