Stan Hansen

[Matt D]

Thanks. I'll hit them soon. I'd love for someone to make a Hansen list like the LaserLossFlairList, too, because he's someone who probably deserves it as a number 1 contender.

[Matt D]

Dusty Rhodes vs Stan Hansen, 5/6/80, I assume All Japan

 

Dusty's robe is great. He seems a little lither than I'm used to but that could be the camera. There's three or four stretches of great brawling here, really enjoyable stuff that reminds me a little of the Andre match. It's broken up by a chinlock and Dusty making an attempt at control armwork, but all of this is fine in general. It's just not as fine for so short a match. It goes seven or eight minutes tops. They do tell a little story with Dusty making comebacks and Hansen cutting him off and Dusty taking it to the outside to fight back. Dusty hits two postings throughout the match but when he goes for the third, Hansen tosses him off, hits a Lariat, then as Dusty makes it back to the apron, another, which drops him so he can't get back in. I wish this had five more minutes.

[ohtani's jacket]

It's from New Japan.

[Matt D]

At least I was honest about my laziness. That makes sense though because he had some Inoki matches right around this point.

[dawho5]

Hansen's matches against the Four Pillars and also Tenryu in the really late 80s are where he shines. For whatever reason, Hansen and Jumbo never really have great matches with each other. 4/16/89 is fun when Jumbo tries to out-Hansen Hansen, but it's not what that rivalry ought to have been.

[Matt D]

I'll get to them, and I'm sure I'll either appreciate them more because I've seen whatever else I've seen first, or i won't, and then we'll have a problem when it comes to Hansen's ranking. But that he didn't click with some others does matter when it comes to things like "Is he #1 ever?" which isn't off the table as of now by any means.

[Childs]

For whatever reason, Hansen and Jumbo never really have great matches with each other.

This is always a little overstated, even though I'd agree they never produced a string of classics. Their 10/21/86 match was pretty great.

[Matt D]

I'm starting to come up with a personal theory on Hansen but I haven';t seen enough to be sure. What I really wanted to do was to find a match that would go outside that theory. People have talked up the Funk matches so I gave this try

 

4-14-83 : Funk vs Hansen.

 

And I liked it a lot though it didn't push hard against the theory. Funk was great because he didn't just run back against Hansen. He sold and his comebacks seemed tortured and desperate. I loved the dropkick on the outside and how Hansen was right on him when he came back in. I liked going to the leg as equalizer and I especially loved the battle over the spinning toe hold. Watching Hansen matches are exhausting because he only seems to have one gear (Dolph Ziggler Speed), but Funk really made this great with his selling and his fighting from underneath. It really seemed like Funk had his number before the ref bump. They layered hope spots in well early and i'll reiterate that the battle for the toehold was brilliant.

 

This was really good but I'm seeing Hansen more and more as a tool for other wrestlers. I really mean to take a look at the Colon series soon, and yeah I'll have to look at the matches vs the pillars but I have less hope than ever for those.

[Matt D]

9/11/1982 Hansen vs Funk was a hell of a match. I need to rewatch it before commenting more but it was great. I liked it a lot more than the 83 match and I liked that one.

[JerryvonKramer]

Hmmm, I had the 83 match significantly higher.

 

A (****3/4)

11. Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen (4/14/83)

 

C+ (***)

109. Stan Hansen vs. Terry Funk (9/11/82)

 

To be honest, if you don't like that 83 match I don't know what planet you're on. That's Funk's retirement match right?

[Matt D]

I said I liked it. Twice. I just liked the other more.

 

I'll have a comparison between the two after thanksgiving and we'll see if that opinion holds up on rewatches. If it does, I'll be tossing around "negative space."

[NintendoLogic]

I guess I don't reside on Earth, since I don't like 4/14/83 or the retirement match at all. The only Funk/Hansen match I like is the 1985 one.

[Matt D]

1.) I have some serious problems with what I've seen in Hansen so far, even though I see why someone like Will, and frankly, most people in our circle, would love him. I have some criticisms in the 83 match that I'll be curious if I still feel in a rewatch.

2.) I fully believe that, despite that, NintendoLogic could be from another planet.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'll give it a rewatch and new review tomorrow as well.

[Matt D]

Just to be clear, I don't question your star rating. We often value different things in matches, or at least we value the same things differently. (And again, I liked the match.)

[DR Ackermann]

The Funk retirement match is the tag w/ Dory against Hansen & Gordy on 8/30/83. Dory & Gordy are just there. You have to realize that as good as Terry is, what he does wouldn't mean as much without Hansen. Hansen is the ultimate give and take guy. Constantly selling in a very subtle way. I love his series with Baba, which, based on what I've seen is Baba's best 80s work.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vT4HalkldY

 

This match is severely JIP. But I think it really shows Hansen's brilliance. Based on my understanding of your view on wrestling, Matt D, I think you would appreciate Hansen's performance.

[JerryvonKramer]

Just a FYI I went full ***** on Funks vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy (8/31/83) and ranked it 4. for 80s AJPW, but I seem to recall that I was a high vote on that match. And reading comments from Will and Childs, I think I am higher on the longer Funks tags in general than the committee were.

[Childs]

Just a FYI I went full ***** on Funks vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy (8/31/83) and ranked it 4. for 80s AJPW, but I seem to recall that I was a high vote on that match. And reading comments from Will and Childs, I think I am higher on the longer Funks tags in general than the committee were.

 

Not sure about that. I loved most of the Funks tags you rated highly from the '70s, and I had Terry's retirement tag in my top 25 for DVDVR voting. I think you liked the Funks' '86 run better than any of us.

 

And piggybacking what Doc Ack said, I'd recommend comparing and contrasting Hansen vs. Inoki, Baba and then Colon. Three different aces, and he didn't work any of them the same way.

[WingedEagle]

I loved both Hansen/Funk singles and actually had '82 ahead of '83 in my rankings on the set. I'll need to rewatch to remind myself exactly why, but think it had to do with appreciating the complete package of '82 as opposed to the frenetic, balls to the wall insanity of '83. The retirement tag was a spectacular presentation and scene with great emotion, but one that didn't register on quite that great a level with as watching nearly 30 years later out of the moment. As a match it simply didn't measure up to the action elsewhere on the set.

[Grimmas]

I just watched the first two matches of the Colon-Hansen series and now I am eager to finish those off when I get home from work. The first time are just awesome bloody brawls.

 

I've been going through Hansen in the 90's for the AJ Excite Series podcast and damn he is great there too.

Every time I see Hansen wrestle I love it, even if the match isn't great. He just brings something special every time. I'm not ready to proclaim him GWE, but he's very much in contention.

[JerryvonKramer]

For me, the more I've seen of Hansen the more he's kinda slipped. I loved the match with Kawada but Hansen seems to have an awful lot of middling or disappointing matches to me against really good opponents. He's been slowing trending townwards for me.

[Dylan Waco]

I think the discussion of where I will rate him relative to others is best left in the GWE sub-forum, but I have pretty much the opposite view of Parv. Hansen's stock has been going up with me for the last several years and I already rated him highly. The more I see the better I think he was.

[soup23]

Parv, you should watch 5/21/93 vs. Misawa and see what you think.

[dawho5]

4/18/91 is also a must-watch Hansen match. Anything vs. Kobashi after 1992 is probably going to be really good to great. His CC in 1994 was nothing short of spectacular. Then he ends up doing not a whole lot that is the good kind of noteworthy until the 1999 RWTL and the 2000 reboot match.

[JerryvonKramer]

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