Stan Hansen

[Grimmas]

Those matches weren't on AJ Excite viewing for some reason, I'll give them a review soon.

Too many great matches in AJPW! Damn narrowing to 74 is real hard with this company.

[Grimmas]

I just finished the Colon-Hansen feud and damn that was satisfying. One of the best feuds I have ever seen!

 

I think it's time to sit down and watch every Hansen match available.

[JerryvonKramer]

I am going to watch an hour and a half of the Colon vs. Hansen feud now.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (10/12/86)

 

This was a 10-minute sprint and a bloody brawl, Hansen seemed to both play monster heel and stooge for Colon here and made both seem natural. Opening ambush was good and Colon's comeback brought the crowd alive. Very promising first match for the feud.

 

***1/2

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (11/9/86)

 

This one is in the outdoor stadium in PR with almost a carnival atmosphere. Colon starts as the aggressor this time ambushing Hansen, who catches colour, until he blows his knee on the turnbuckle. Transition seemed a bit awkward.

 

Hansen immediately targets the injured leg. He's bleeding quite a lot from the early attack. Action goes outside. I get a kick out of the play-by-play guy saying stereotypically Spanish sounding stuff like "wow Amigos!" The brawl all over this stadium in what seems to be sand outside the ring. They make really good use of the space. Back in the ring and Colon is back on top, he has color too now. Colon does backflips and handstands for some reason, seems to be part of his schtick which seems really weird to me because I associate that sort of horseplay with a "gay" act such as Lanny Poffo's Genius. Fall comes a bit suddenly with some outside intereference by someone in a white shirt. Hansen freaks out. Decks a mustachio'd dude (who I assume is Hurrican Castillo Sr?), piledrives Colon and gives Castillo a really low lariat outside the ring. Tremendous heel work by Hansen and he jaws with the rabid crowd. Balls of steel.

 

Another sub-10-minute sprint but real fun stuff, which told a slightly better story that the first bout with Colon gunning for revenge. Real solid stuff.

 

***3/4

 

Stan Hansen and Chicky Starr vs. Carlos Colon and Hurrican Castillo Sr. (12/21/86)

 

Logical booking here with Hansen also looking for revenge on Castillo (although he now has a goatee beard too). They mostly pair off Starr vs. Castillo and Hansen vs. Colon. Lots of blood. Colon is not afraid to play dirty and does a load of blatant low blows in this match. There's a cool moment where Starr and Hansen are beating the crap out of Castillo. Starr bleeds a ton here. Hansen gets Colon in the bullrope and hangs him from it in the Terry Funk / Steamboat vs. Muraco spot. Always nasty. Medics come and check on him. This is a really blood-stained promotion!

 

Very enjoyable and heated match. Again around the 10-minute mark.

 

***3/4

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (1/6/87)

 

This is a Texas Bull Rope match. That's both guys tied together by a rope with a four corners stip. Carnival atmosphere again. I should mention here that Colon seems to be giving up over 60lbs to Hansen, who is a much bigger man in every dimension. After less than two minutes Hansen is already bleeding. Colon chokes him out ith the rope, takes things outside, posts him, lays him on a table and smashes the bell on the rope into his face. Hansen's selling is absolutely tremendous during all of this. Hansen comes back a bit and Colon seemingly almost instantly starts bleeding. I guess with that forehead all you need to do is touch it and he'll bleed. What's really cool about this match is that it is all about momentum and it's always really clear who is on top, the transitions are marked and obvious but that's a good thing. When Colon gets back on top he really takes it to Hansen, beating on him and choking him. Some of the methods of escape from the four corners are cool here. At one point Colon bails out of the ring to prevent a third corner. I feel like they are doing more with the stip than we typically see, some actual tactics involved. Hansen really uses his weight advantage to make himself as difficult as possible to drag. Another cool spot when they are outside and Hansen grabs the ref in desparation and drags him by the leg, and Colon slams Hansen's head into the ref's boot! That is a spot I can't recall seeing: ref's foot as weapon! At another point Hansen can't get Colon over to the fourth turnbuckle and starts wailing and moaning with frustration and despair. Terrific character work.

 

Colon is maybe the only wrestler you'll ever see doing a handstand and then biting a cut the next few seconds. This is also one of the very few times I can remember this stip being made exciting. They work it to perfection so the agony of not reaching the fourth turnbuckle really does mirror a true "nearfall".

 

Probably the best strap match I've ever seen. This had a ton of violence, the stip was worked perfectly, and there was a lot of cool and innovative stuff in there too. Really great match that had great psychology and was smartly worked while being suitable brutal. The feud has built extremely well to this point.

 

****3/4

 

Now we get a clip of some of the WWC TV from four days later and Chicky Starr is talking to Colon. I have no idea what they are saying but Starr spits at Colon which triggers a sneak attack from Hansen with a chair. The "Chicky Starr Sport Shop" set is the cheapest fucking thing I've ever ever ever seen, it looks more two-bob than the sorts of sets you'd make as a kid when you pretending to present children's shows or whatever. It really is a piss poor set! So laughably bad I've had to pause the footage to laugh it out. Ha ha ha!!

 

Colon is in a suit. Hansen decks him. Starr shouts orders and eggs Hansen on in English. Hansen ties Colon up by his legs and then sits on his back like a horse. He whips him with his cowboy hat souting "giddy up son!" as Starr stomps on Colon's head. This is some AWESOME heel beatdown shit right here. The floor is splattered with Colon's blood. The constrast between the cheap tackiness of the set and the awesomeness of that beatdown is amazing and must be witnessed by all true wrestling fans! This is a great bit of storytelling too. If you've been paying attention, Hansen has given up 2 wins to 1 to Colon now and needed something to top up his heat and something like this was the PERFECT way to do it. Great stuff.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (2/28/87)

 

Colon the aggressor here again, which makes sense. A lot of this feud has been very very logical while being consistently brutal and violent. Colon chokes Hansen out with the rope to start. Posts him. Colon's handstand / flip spot is one of the weirdest things and I'm not sure I can get used to it. It's the one aspect of his performance really bugging me right now. Here he does one and Hansen just slams him. What's the point of it?

 

This is a longer match so they go to the mat for a little bit. Colon has the most blatant mule-kick low blow known to man. He focuses on Hansen's left leg for a sustained period working some hamstring snaps and a shinbreaker among other things. Over ten minutes and no blood. Figure-four by Colon! And this is applied for some time, at least 6 or 7 minutes. Hansen reverses. Colon grabs a crutch and goes apeshit, I think causing a DQ loss? Or maybe Hansen used the crutch first and was DQ'd. Colon gets on the mic and says some stuff which gees up the crowd. I suspect he's saying "I want him in a No DQ match! In a cage!" or words to that effect.

 

This one was a bit of a comedown after all the brawls. It was worked as a more techncial match which makes perfect sense in the context of the feud especially as the finish sets up a no DQ cage match. I thought the figure-four went on way way too long, but it was not helped by the camera angle. The storytelling for the feud is great though, if you factor in the non-satisfactory result here and the humilation on TV the month before, the feud stands after this on about 2-2. Everything is poised for the big blow off.

 

***1/2

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (3/14/87)

 

This is a no DQ match in a cage. It seems to be in acres of space in the stadium. This cage is a bit bigger than we're used to, more like a Wargames cage only just over one ring not two.

 

Colon dripping with blood within minutes. Hansen too. This is some hate-filled earlygoing. Both guys are really covered in blood. Mule kick low blow gets a big cheer. Atmosphere is unreal with the horns blowing. There's a lot of cage escape attempts which makes me think that this is being worked under WWF-style "escape the cage" rules, haven't seen any pin attempts.

 

Awesome visual as Hansen knees Colon in the face and it leaves a blood smear on the kneecap. Series of elbows by Colon into Hansen's groin, Hansen resorts to taking a boot off to nail Colon, but it is removed by a ref. Figure-four! Various goons turn up to try to get into the ring but they are fended off by Castillo. Siege situation! Man huge pier six outside the ring. Wrestlers fighting everywhere as this figure-four is going on. Colon almost casually joins them to get the win. I didn't care for that finish much, seemed to bury the match and Hansen.

 

Bloody, violent cage match which was a fitting end to the a great great fued with the exception of the finish which seemed overbooked to me and Colon winning by saving his friend seemed to diminish the importance of vanquishing Hansen. Colon is ridiculously covered with blood at the end of this match and the mat is a blood-smeared mess.Very good and enjoyable.

 

****

 

-----------

 

This is an all-time great fued with logical storytelling that builds over the months and every chapter making perfect sense in relation to the whole. My only criticism is the finish to the blow off not being as satisfying as it could be. The real highlights for me were that bull-rope match and the angle with Hansen "riding" Colon that led to the 4th match. Real good stuff though that certainly enhances Hansen's GWE case and puts Colon at least into consideration for a top 100 spot. Well worth seeking out.

[InYourCase]

I am going to watch an hour and a half of the Colon vs. Hansen feud now.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (10/12/86)

 

This was a 10-minute sprint and a bloody brawl, Hansen seemed to both play monster heel and stooge for Colon here and made both seem natural. Opening ambush was good and Colon's comeback brought the crowd alive. Very promising first match for the feud.

 

***1/2

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (11/9/86)

 

This one is in the outdoor stadium in PR with almost a carnival atmosphere. Colon starts as the aggressor this time ambushing Hansen, who catches colour, until he blows his knee on the turnbuckle. Transition seemed a bit awkward.

 

Hansen immediately targets the injured leg. He's bleeding quite a lot from the early attack. Action goes outside. I get a kick out of the play-by-play guy saying stereotypically Spanish sounding stuff like "wow Amigos!" The brawl all over this stadium in what seems to be sand outside the ring. They make really good use of the space. Back in the ring and Colon is back on top, he has color too now. Colon does backflips and handstands for some reason, seems to be part of his schtick which seems really weird to me because I associate that sort of horseplay with a "gay" act such as Lanny Poffo's Genius. Fall comes a bit suddenly with some outside intereference by someone in a white shirt. Hansen freaks out. Decks a mustachio'd dude (who I assume is Hurrican Castillo Sr?), piledrives Colon and gives Castillo a really low lariat outside the ring. Tremendous heel work by Hansen and he jaws with the rabid crowd. Balls of steel.

 

Another sub-10-minute sprint but real fun stuff, which told a slightly better story that the first bout with Colon gunning for revenge. Real solid stuff.

 

***3/4

 

Stan Hansen and Chicky Starr vs. Carlos Colon and Hurrican Castillo Sr. (12/21/86)

 

Logical booking here with Hansen also looking for revenge on Castillo (although he now has a goatee beard too). They mostly pair off Starr vs. Castillo and Hansen vs. Colon. Lots of blood. Colon is not afraid to play dirty and does a load of blatant low blows in this match. There's a cool moment where Starr and Hansen are beating the crap out of Castillo. Starr bleeds a ton here. Hansen gets Colon in the bullrope and hangs him from it in the Terry Funk / Steamboat vs. Muraco spot. Always nasty. Medics come and check on him. This is a really blood-stained promotion!

 

Very enjoyable and heated match. Again around the 10-minute mark.

 

***3/4

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (1/6/87)

 

This is a Texas Bull Rope match. That's both guys tied together by a rope with a four corners stip. Carnival atmosphere again. I should mention here that Colon seems to be giving up over 60lbs to Hansen, who is a much bigger man in every dimension. After less than two minutes Hansen is already bleeding. Colon chokes him out ith the rope, takes things outside, posts him, lays him on a table and smashes the bell on the rope into his face. Hansen's selling is absolutely tremendous during all of this. Hansen comes back a bit and Colon seemingly almost instantly starts bleeding. I guess with that forehead all you need to do is touch it and he'll bleed. What's really cool about this match is that it is all about momentum and it's always really clear who is on top, the transitions are marked and obvious but that's a good thing. When Colon gets back on top he really takes it to Hansen, beating on him and choking him. Some of the methods of escape from the four corners are cool here. At one point Colon bails out of the ring to prevent a third corner. I feel like they are doing more with the stip than we typically see, some actual tactics involved. Hansen really uses his weight advantage to make himself as difficult as possible to drag. Another cool spot when they are outside and Hansen grabs the ref in desparation and drags him by the leg, and Colon slams Hansen's head into the ref's boot! That is a spot I can't recall seeing: ref's foot as weapon! At another point Hansen can't get Colon over to the fourth turnbuckle and starts wailing and moaning with frustration and despair. Terrific character work.

 

Colon is maybe the only wrestler you'll ever see doing a handstand and then biting a cut the next few seconds. This is also one of the very few times I can remember this stip being made exciting. They work it to perfection so the agony of not reaching the fourth turnbuckle really does mirror a true "nearfall".

 

Probably the best strap match I've ever seen. This had a ton of violence, the stip was worked perfectly, and there was a lot of cool and innovative stuff in there too. Really great match that had great psychology and was smartly worked while being suitable brutal. The feud has built extremely well to this point.

 

****3/4

 

Now we get a clip of some of the WWC TV from four days later and Chicky Starr is talking to Colon. I have no idea what they are saying but Starr spits at Colon which triggers a sneak attack from Hansen with a chair. The "Chicky Starr Sport Shop" set is the cheapest fucking thing I've ever ever ever seen, it looks more two-bob than the sorts of sets you'd make as a kid when you pretending to present children's shows or whatever. It really is a piss poor set! So laughably bad I've had to pause the footage to laugh it out. Ha ha ha!!

 

Colon is in a suit. Hansen decks him. Starr shouts orders and eggs Hansen on in English. Hansen ties Colon up by his legs and then sits on his back like a horse. He whips him with his cowboy hat souting "giddy up son!" as Starr stomps on Colon's head. This is some AWESOME heel beatdown shit right here. The floor is splattered with Colon's blood. The constrast between the cheap tackiness of the set and the awesomeness of that beatdown is amazing and must be witnessed by all true wrestling fans! This is a great bit of storytelling too. If you've been paying attention, Hansen has given up 2 wins to 1 to Colon now and needed something to top up his heat and something like this was the PERFECT way to do it. Great stuff.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (2/28/87)

 

Colon the aggressor here again, which makes sense. A lot of this feud has been very very logical while being consistently brutal and violent. Colon chokes Hansen out with the rope to start. Posts him. Colon's handstand / flip spot is one of the weirdest things and I'm not sure I can get used to it. It's the one aspect of his performance really bugging me right now. Here he does one and Hansen just slams him. What's the point of it?

 

This is a longer match so they go to the mat for a little bit. Colon has the most blatant mule-kick low blow known to man. He focuses on Hansen's left leg for a sustained period working some hamstring snaps and a shinbreaker among other things. Over ten minutes and no blood. Figure-four by Colon! And this is applied for some time, at least 6 or 7 minutes. Hansen reverses. Colon grabs a crutch and goes apeshit, I think causing a DQ loss? Or maybe Hansen used the crutch first and was DQ'd. Colon gets on the mic and says some stuff which gees up the crowd. I suspect he's saying "I want him in a No DQ match! In a cage!" or words to that effect.

 

This one was a bit of a comedown after all the brawls. It was worked as a more techncial match which makes perfect sense in the context of the feud especially as the finish sets up a no DQ cage match. I thought the figure-four went on way way too long, but it was not helped by the camera angle. The storytelling for the feud is great though, if you factor in the non-satisfactory result here and the humilation on TV the month before, the feud stands after this on about 2-2. Everything is poised for the big blow off.

 

***1/2

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (3/14/87)

 

This is a no DQ match in a cage. It seems to be in acres of space in the stadium. This cage is a bit bigger than we're used to, more like a Wargames cage only just over one ring not two.

 

Colon dripping with blood within minutes. Hansen too. This is some hate-filled earlygoing. Both guys are really covered in blood. Mule kick low blow gets a big cheer. Atmosphere is unreal with the horns blowing. There's a lot of cage escape attempts which makes me think that this is being worked under WWF-style "escape the cage" rules, haven't seen any pin attempts.

 

Awesome visual as Hansen knees Colon in the face and it leaves a blood smear on the kneecap. Series of elbows by Colon into Hansen's groin, Hansen resorts to taking a boot off to nail Colon, but it is removed by a ref. Figure-four! Various goons turn up to try to get into the ring but they are fended off by Castillo. Siege situation! Man huge pier six outside the ring. Wrestlers fighting everywhere as this figure-four is going on. Colon almost casually joins them to get the win. I didn't care for that finish much, seemed to bury the match and Hansen.

 

Bloody, violent cage match which was a fitting end to the a great great fued with the exception of the finish which seemed overbooked to me and Colon winning by saving his friend seemed to diminish the importance of vanquishing Hansen. Colon is ridiculously covered with blood at the end of this match and the mat is a blood-smeared mess.Very good and enjoyable.

 

****

 

-----------

 

This is an all-time great fued with logical storytelling that builds over the months and every chapter making perfect sense in relation to the whole. My only criticism is the finish to the blow off not being as satisfying as it could be. The real highlights for me were that bull-rope match and the angle with Hansen "riding" Colon that led to the 4th match. Real good stuff though that certainly enhances Hansen's GWE case and puts Colon at least into consideration for a top 100 spot. Well worth seeking out.

I will probably never agree with something Parv says so much ever again. Nearly identical ratings and same thoughts on the feud. Hansen really shot up my list after watching these matches.

[Dylan Waco]

What's amazing about that is that I actually think Parv underrates a couple of those matches and we still have the same takeaway in the end anyhow.

 

I know this is Hansen's thread, but I'd really like to see Parv have a go at the Colon v. Hercules Ayala feud next.

[goc]

Here is everything that Parv reviewed from the Hansen/Colon feud in one youtube video:

 

[WingedEagle]

+1 for Goc. That's what I'm doing after dinner now. Only 90 minutes?? I was sure that was Parv's version of "we wrestled broadways 8 times every week" or Hogan's 400 matches in a year.

[goc]

Feel free to subscribe. You never know what I might randomly put on youtube.

[WingedEagle]

Oh wow that's you? Consider it done.

[goc]

Yea I had been meaning to cut that up and upload them all individually after I finished watching the whole thing but then after Parv posted all the reviews I figured I'd just throw it all up in one file.

 

I haven't watched the last 2 matches yet but the feud is AWESOME. The Texas Bullrope match is definitely the best of that type of match that I have ever seen. They do such an awesome job of milking the drama of trying to get to that last corner. And the crowds in Puerto Rico are SUPER hot. Hansen definitely DID have balls of steel to go up to the fans talk to shit to them after the baseball stadium match.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

AWESOME. Was just gonna ask if there's a playlist.

[SomethingSavage]

Awesome possum. Thanks a TRUCKLOAD for this, man.

 

I've seen everything from the Colon/Hansen feud except the tag with Chicky & Castillo. Every time I've had to seek out the matches - which is usually around once a year or so - I have to sort through the dates and try to organize everything in order, because it's easy to forget which came first - which brawl was the kickoff, the No DQ, the Bull Rope stipulation, the Cage, etc.

 

So this helps out a ton. Would legit LOVE to see this done for more WWC rivalries, as they all sort of suffer from that setback. It's great, because it's so easy to just dive into the violence and soak it in. But it can be a chore that eats up a good chunk of time just trying to find dates, figure things out, and discover the chronological order of things.

 

I definitely appreciate this though.

[goc]

I have a Colon vs. Abby feud DVD but other than that, all I have is a bunch of random TV episodes from Puerto Rico. I don't even know where the full matches that are on that DVD like the Bullrope match came from, it wasn't aired in full on TV.

[WingedEagle]

Will post my thoughts on the matches later, likely from home. But a HUGE shout out to Goc for making this available in such an easy fashion. We need a thread here or playlist on youtube that compiles these kinds of references so that they're easy to track. Just great work. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

 

Perhaps a GWE-related resource? That just came to mind as this is clearly a must-watch for anyone not sure where to put Hansen.

[SomethingSavage]

Hansen could come away from this feud with a better rep, for sure. But I think he holds up strong enough even without the PR run.

 

But Colon is the guy I'd hate for people to sleep on, and that's completely possible if they aren't seeking out this sort of footage.

[El Boricua]

In case it helps add some detail, here's a link to the guide I wrote for the feud in the PR wrestling thread:

 

http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/19176-puerto-rico-wrestling/?p=5536701

 

It starts at the end of page 5 and continues on page 6.

[WingedEagle]

If you've locked Hansen in to a particular spot this won't change your mind. If not, I think this is a terrific example of him producing high level matches and arguably a classic or two with someone that didn't resemble any kind of all-time worker. Super, SUPER charismatic. I didn't come away from this regarding him as this hidden treasure. I did come away asking how many other all timers could pull this off.

[WingedEagle]

Should add I'm more than open to changing my tune on Colon, as I haven't seen enough of him to close the book on him at all. My takeaway here was simply how damn great Stan Hansen was when not working against a HOF talent. No doubt Colon sweated charisma and could control a PR crowd though.

[dawho5]

As far as the Hansen looking great against a noon-world class talent, watch the 4/18/91 tag against the MVC and his matches with Williams from that year. Then watch everything else you can find that Williams and the MVC did that year. If you don't think hansen is amazing after watching that I'd be surprised.

 

Also, re: goc. I always thought that when I watched the Colon vs. Hansen matches. With all the U.S. workers who went over there and were scared of the fans, Hansen openly fucking with them like that is so ballsy.

[WingedEagle]

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (10/12/86)

 

Hansen going crazy early, murders the ref right away then goes to work with the bullrope. Sodas and such thrown at Hansen. Chairs, cowbell, barricade. Going after crowd with police chasing as they presumably hope to keep him alive. Finally the chaps come off. Loved tracking throughout this madness how long it took him every time to get down to business and remove the cowboy gear. They tease an early Colon comeback off of a missed corner charge but that's not happening yet as Hansen cuts it off with a low blow. Hate this as a finish, but its not a finish in Puerto Rico but rather a signal for the crowd to sharpen their weapons. Hansen with corner lariat but pulls Colon up at 2 to lay in more punishment, which leads to Colon's comeback and his apparently trademark cartwheel / flip deal. Colon's offense is some of the weakest stuff you'll find which may prove problematic for some people but doesn't hurt this at all. His timing is spectacular and can carry an entire stadium through his comebacks even if its never more than punching and biting. This was a terrific brawl that didn't waste a moment of its near 10 minutes and left you wanting more but not shorted. Double juice, a top of his game crazed Hansen and a willing victim in Colon gives this feud a super hot start.

 

****

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (11/9/86)

 

This time Colon jumps him out of the gates as Hansen enters the ring, using the bullrope on him before taking it outside to throw Hansen into what I guess is a a bullpen or dugout wall. Colon goes down after Hansen sidesteps the weakest running kneelift you'll ever find and goes on to attack the knee with kicks and stomps. Finally the chaps are off. Hansen now using the fence around the field and we've got double juice again. Colon works the arm after Hansen posts it on a missed lariat but has given up selling his knee. Colon still getting by almost entirely on charisma, energy and punching/biting. I could see this resulting in some awfully long and dry matches against lesser opposition but it works great against Hansen's wild aggression and selling. Colon appears to take this by DQ after outsiders get involved trying to load Hansen's lariat arm again. Post-match is the set-up for the upcoming tag with Hansen laying out I guess Castillo, piledrives Colon and then lariats Castillo on the grass. More great madness. Hansen jawing at the crowd probably isn't brilliant. This match also under 10 minutes. Love it.

 

***3/4

 

Stan Hansen and Chicky Starr vs. Carlos Colon and Hurrican Castillo Sr. (12/21/86)

 

More brawling before it officially starts, with Hansen/Colon paired outside and Starr/Castillo inside. Chicky has a nice rat tail and seems pretty scummy, but he's not Stan Hansen. Chicky takes a nice over the top bump from a Colon kick low. That brings in Castillo for some dancing before unloading while Colon controls Hansen with punches in the corner. Chicky is the first to bleed. But not the last as Hansen with color almost immediately thereafter. Hansen returns to save a bloody Chicky from a 2 on 1 with the bullrope and hangs Colon over the ropes with it. He lays out the ref who tries to break it up and we've got a pretty hot angle leading into the bullrope match. But not the hottest of this feud. Fans look rabid as Hansen & Starr bail to avoid other faces in for the save. Another sub 10 minute brawl. More angle than match here but you can't argue with something so hot and effective.

 

***1/4

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (Bullrope Match 1/6/87)

 

A little slower start with them attached here as we don't have the typical before the bell attack. But that doesn't last long and Hansen is bleeding pretty quickly from punching and rope work. I like that Colon used the cowbell so strongly hear with clear shots as opposed to relying on the rope. If you have metal, use it. Really strong offense for Colon early with Hansen putting him over big. This probably isn't mic'd as well as it could be as the noise does not match the frenzy you can see in the crowd. They teased touching the four corners a few times here in good fashion to build the stip and finish. At one point Hansen is choking Colon with the rope and Carlos was tapping as though to legit let Hansen know he couldn't breathe. Nice use of the ball to break a choke before using it for more offense and then kicking it into Hansen's head. VIOLENCE! Hansen is really working his tail off here -- he's much more aggressive when in control while selling and stooging like a boss every time Colon is on top. Carlos may be the seasoning here but without Hansen providing the meat you're going home hungry. The violence as this progresses was top notch. Neat spot with Colon leaving the ring to stop Hansen from touching all 4 posts. More great brawling with both on the floor. The finish sees them go to the common trope of both men touching the corners but we get a nice wrinkle with the backdrop leading into the finish. More post-match brawling to the back serves as a great cap here.

 

Okay, Stan Hansen is the best. Colon's offense doesn't even really look threatening but Hansen is just incredible putting it over as a world class beating. There's not a single aspect of wrestling he doesn't deliver here. Quick take is I can't put this above Vader-Sting as far as the gimmick goes because of Colon's offense. Curious if I feel differently on a second look down the line.

 

****1/4

 

Before this next match we get the angle in Chicky Starr's Barber Shop. I can say nothing here that Parv already didn't. Classic. Not just the best hog tying angle I've seen, but a great one of any kind. Loved Chicky alternating between English & Spanish.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (2/28/87)

 

Colon starts things out here which makes sense after the angle, unloading on Hansen before the vest & chaps are off once again. Let's see how quickly they bleed. Colon whipping him with the rope on the floor. Colon how bashing Hansen's face against the floor and punching, then throwing him into the railing at the building. Colon breaks out out his cartwheel too early here as Hansen uses the opportunity to hit a bodyslam, but Colon right back with punches bookending an actual armdrag which may his first non-punch/bite/stomp offense of this feud. The chaps have their longest run of the series here and we also get probably the longest start until there's blood. Colon goes after Hansen's knee here, with the highlight being Hansen selling it as though he's in surgery without any drugs. Long spot with the figure-four in the ring, and I actually dug the footage here as it looked like the cameraman climbed the turnbuckles to shoot it. Hansen selling the knee throughout and after this is really something to see. They're in the hold forever as Parv noted, but Hansen keeps it compelling throughout. Weak finish with Hansen DQ'd for a crutch shot but the post-match with him getting in a few more shots before bailing on the bad knee makes up fo rit. Colon is hot and taking out refs and officials afterwards, chasing Hansen to the back.

 

I loved how they mixed things up here with the knee work on Hansen and Colon controlling much of the way without sacrificing the brawling and bloodsport element of the feud.

 

****

 

Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (Steel Cage Match 3/14/87)

 

Colon pulls Hansen into the cage and again has a super hot shine with punches, headbutts and of course biting. Hansen ends that with a low blow as Colon climbs in the corner. We have an early double juice job which is only appropriate for these gents. Colon is quickly a bloody mess as Hansen drops great knees on his face. The Colon cartwheel and comeback comes shortly thereafter and he's on fire with punches, dancing and a jumping headbutt. Colon also works the knee here and Hansen again puts it over with fantastic selling. Great, treat teases of escapes here as a crimson Colon stops Hansen from escaping over the top and through the door. Colon with an awesome series of slams that drop his body weight on the knee. The crowd looks like a World Cup crowd when Colon locks on the figure-four as everyone at the bull ring? stadium? is on their feet. We then get a scene straight out of Oz with someone trying to break into the cage but babyfaces are out to stop the interference and there are mini brawls everywhere surrounding the ring. Meanwhile Colon is working the figure-four this entire time. Was that always his finisher? He finally lets it go and runs out of the cage to win and join the fracas outside. Someone on the floor is really bloodied and the faces help him back. Colon working the mic afterwards sends everyone home happy.

 

One of the best cage matches I've seen and a fantastic close to a great feud that cements Hansen as a magician in my eyes given what Colon brought to the table. Is this really the end though? No later matches between these two before he left PR for good?

 

****1/2

 

Finally, another shout out to Goc for making this available in a neat 90 minute package on Youtube. Hopefully many other great feuds or series are packaged together in such a fashion.

[Matt D]

I watched 10/12/86. It felt about 40% longer than it actually was, which was a testament to Hansen's violence in the beginning. I really like Hansen outside of Japan so much more than Hansen in Japan. Colon's offense on the comeback was starting to lose me a little right up til the point he bit. I think it came right after an unfortunate back body drop, but the bite pulled me back in and I loved the revenge low blow. Really, the fact that Hansen was so giving on the comeback meant that it barely mattered what Colon actually did. I thought the BS on the finish took a few seconds too long to happen, but that was partially counterbalanced by how quickly Hansen hit the lariat, as if he realized that he needed to really just take care of business and get out of there.

 

It goes on that ever growing "best matches that are under ten minutes" list and has me looking forward to watching more of this. Thanks for goc for putting it all together.

[goc]

I didn't put it together, not sure who made the original DVD but I traded with khawk a while back and got it from him. I should also give credit to El Boricua for giving me the dates to go along with it.

[Cap]

I fell into a Stan Hansen hole today, popped in his highspots DVD and lloked up a few matches on line. I watched his matches vs Backlund (9/30/80 NJPW and 4/6/81 WWF) and came away a little dissapointed. i think I liked them both better on the first watch and they didn't live up to my memory. I still had them both at ***3/4 and ***1/2, respectively. But I came away more dissapointed with Backlund than Hansen. The matches were shining when Hansen had the pace. In the NJPW match Backlund just sort of stood in a few submission holds, not cranking it in. In the MSG match Backlund had way too much control early and it never felt like Hansen was a threat to win. Both matches did have some great moments though, some great sequences and spots that showed off the power and brutality of Hansen and the strength and technique of Backlund, which is honestly the real story of both matches.

[Badlittlekitten]

Yeah, I liked the Backlund matches a lot less on rewatch. I love Bob and don't mind him doing his thing, but working on top vs Stan, the man, in Japan, it felt all wrong.

 

As for Hansen, top 5 no brainer. Possibly as high as three.

[Jingus]

Bob seemed like he should've been better in Japan since they were much willing to dig a no-frills, mat-based style like his than the fans in America. But far too many of his New Japan matches I've seen turned into rest-hold marathons, plodding exhibitions of mooovez that frequently felt like they were being performed at three-quarters speed. Maybe it was jetlag or something, I dunno, but Backlund typically delivered better workrate in American than in Japan (aside from exceptions like the 1988 Takada match, of course).