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Stan Hansen


Grimmas

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We've been talking about versatility recently, especially as regards Jumbo.

 

What do people think about Stan Hansen's range as a wrestler? Was he, like Vader, always kinda the same?

 

I actually started a response to Loss's "what skillsets and experiences do you value" post but it was late and I kept jumping around. I was going to bring up Hansen, Vader, and Volk Han in that post.

 

I will say I think Stan Hansen is a more versatile wrestler than you might expect. People look at him and think "brawler" but he did so much within that style. The Backlund matches don't look like the Baba matches which don't look like the Funk matches which don't look like Colon matches which don't look like the Tenryu matches etc. I'm not going to say the Inoki matches were great mat wrestling classics, I did not like them. But I think as a brawler, Hansen showed really tremendous range. He could have wild crazy brawls all over the arena, monster spectacles, etc. But when the change in style came to All Japan, Hansen was more than able to keep up the pace inspite of the fact that he was making the push to his mid 40s.

 

I wouldn't vote for Hansen #1 if not for the early 90s All Japan stuff. I think thats where you really see his range especially if you're familiar with his 80s work.

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I know where Dylan's going with his point and I'm going to agree with him ahead of time. You did see Jumbo in a lot of different situations, but he basically worked Jumbo most of the time. Hansen had subtle differences against whoever he wrestled, doing different things with Misawa than he would with Kawada or Kobashi. Not to mention his style was fantastic against guys like Andre, Funk and Baba. Dylan will expand on that, but Hansen did have different things he tried to do based on his opponents.

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Hansen's range is incredibly underrated.

 

His series vs. Kobashi is great for how much he is willing to give Kobashi (think 7/29/93 and the 94 CC match) for large portions of the match.

 

Speaking of the 94 Champion Carnival, watch the Kobashi, Taue and Williams matches in order to see a guy who is usually working monster gaijin do this incredible job of working from underneath because of the injured ribs.

 

His 2/28/93 match with Kawada was possibly the best back and forth pure brawl I've ever seen not involving some kind of hate-filled feud. And during this match Hansen does the best sell of the stretch plum EVER.

 

The Misawa matches are great for a few reasons. For one, in the 93 match, Hansen does this incredible reversal and works on the injured arm of Misawa (which also plays well off of being KOed by an elbow in a previous match) only to lose to a rolling elbow. It's like this complete turnaround of the way the natives used to work over Hansen's arm in the late 80s and Hansen would lariat them for the win anyway. The elbow almost-KO shot nearfall was a nice touch too. I think Hansen cemented Misawa as the ace just as much as Jumbo did in 92-93.

 

The 99 RWTL is Hansen as one of the most over sympathetic babyfaces ever. It was meant to be his last run and the Taue/Hansen team is faced with Burning in the finals. Really incredible heat for this match and another completely different performance from Hansen.

 

Hansen is one of the guys who is responsible for putting over the major players of 90s AJPW. What was really great for me is he treated each of them differently as far as how he wrestled them and what he gave them. I forget which matches, but there are a few where he has Misawa-style long comebacks with short bursts of brawling offense to stay in it while weathering the storm as well.

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I picked several Hansen matches out of the above lists to watch.

 

Stan Hansen vs Andre The Giant 9/23/81

 

I loved this. The sense of urgency for Hansen through out the match is great. The intensity is there and then some. Loved seeing Andre actually moving and BUMPNG HIS BIG ASS OFF. He was very. very good in this. Loved that he was headbutting Hansen's arm and selling the shit out of it. Overall, this was a great match.

 

 

Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen 4/14/83

 

Wow. This felt almost similar to that Dump/Chigusa match from '85 in the Joshi thread. But this was better. What a great way to get Hansen over as an unstoppable ass kicking machine and let Terry take in all the sympathy that the crowd has to offer. Dory running in to defend his brother was awesome. This is good stuff.

 

 

Carlos Colon vs Stan Hansen '86

 

I guess this was fine. I will say Hansen was a whole lot better than Colon. Got a laugh out of me when Hansen had pretty much dominated for the first 6 minutes and once Colon regained offense, Hansen starts begging for mercy. I though Colon's strikes were garbage, too. The match was just okay, imo. Really good performance from Hansen, though.

 

 

Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada 6/4/92

 

Amazing match. Great performance from Hansen, but man, I am loving Kawada in the 2 matches I've seen of his in the past 3 days. I was into every near fall and I was actually pissed when Hansen won. Superb match. Now I wanna go watch some Kawada.

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I still don't think most people have seen them Dylan. But I'm right there with you in thinking it's one of the feuds of the decade and that the bullrope and cage matches are MOTD-level. It's a big part of Stan's No. 1 case for me, because he showed different shades than he did most other places.

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Blown away by the lack of ove for Colon v. Hanson. I'd rather watch that then 99% of 90s AJPW

I'm with you 100% on that. Those matches blew me away in a way that 90s AJPW never has. They're big pluses in the candidacy for Hansen and Colon and the only complaint I have is the ending of the cage match being anti-climactic.

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I've just watched one of the Hansen/Colon matches (from '86, goes ten-minutes). For being so short, it's a hell of a match, with Hansen maintaining control from the bell, gradually building to the comeback, and then when Carlos gets control back he immediately fires off a bunch of payback spots before a weapon-assisted lariat knocks him out. That said, seeing the first lariat used so flippantly was bizarre (and I think you're clutching at straws to argue "well it highlighted the interference and weapon later"), Hansen begging off felt forced in a "this is how you bump the comeback" sort of way, and, of course, Carlos is guilty of selling only his fire when he makes said comeback (granted, what babyface will we not be penalising for that?). It's a terrific small slice of how great Hansen was though, absolutely.

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The more Hansen I watch and rewatch, the more I think he's my favorite offensive wrestler ever. No, he doesn't have the varied arsenal of Kobashi or Misawa, but he's not a simple punch-kick brawler. More importantly, everything he does looks so damn good. His elbows and knee drops look like they're going to bust you up. The lariat has legendary status for good reason. It looks brutal and believable.

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Hansen's range is incredibly underrated.

 

His series vs. Kobashi is great for how much he is willing to give Kobashi (think 7/29/93 and the 94 CC match) for large portions of the match.

 

Speaking of the 94 Champion Carnival, watch the Kobashi, Taue and Williams matches in order to see a guy who is usually working monster gaijin do this incredible job of working from underneath because of the injured ribs.

 

His 2/28/93 match with Kawada was possibly the best back and forth pure brawl I've ever seen not involving some kind of hate-filled feud. And during this match Hansen does the best sell of the stretch plum EVER.

 

The Misawa matches are great for a few reasons. For one, in the 93 match, Hansen does this incredible reversal and works on the injured arm of Misawa (which also plays well off of being KOed by an elbow in a previous match) only to lose to a rolling elbow. It's like this complete turnaround of the way the natives used to work over Hansen's arm in the late 80s and Hansen would lariat them for the win anyway. The elbow almost-KO shot nearfall was a nice touch too. I think Hansen cemented Misawa as the ace just as much as Jumbo did in 92-93.

 

The 99 RWTL is Hansen as one of the most over sympathetic babyfaces ever. It was meant to be his last run and the Taue/Hansen team is faced with Burning in the finals. Really incredible heat for this match and another completely different performance from Hansen.

 

Hansen is one of the guys who is responsible for putting over the major players of 90s AJPW. What was really great for me is he treated each of them differently as far as how he wrestled them and what he gave them. I forget which matches, but there are a few where he has Misawa-style long comebacks with short bursts of brawling offense to stay in it while weathering the storm as well.

Have you any more late 90s recommendations? I remember hearing somewhere that summer 96 v Kobashi was his last great match.....

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Have you any more late 90s recommendations? I remember hearing somewhere that summer 96 v Kobashi was his last great match.....

 

 

I loved the '96 Hansen-Kobashi. Here's my review:

 

I'm not sure I had ever seen this match, but it's a worthy addition to their great matches from earlier in the decade. Hansen turned in a great selling performance after posting his lariat arm. I appreciated how much he stuck with it and made it a key part of the finishing stretch. It felt character-appropriate, because he came off more as an aging gunslinger than the bionic cowboy of years past. It amazes me that some think of Hansen as a guy who made up for precision with stiffness. Watch the timing of his cutoff spots -- impeccable, even this late in his career. I also loved Kobashi's body punches as a response to Hansen's early-match potatoes. All in all, another testament to the greatness of All-Japan main events.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acb3ZFdGF3I

 

This. Misawa/Kawada are still teaming and young, which is certainly an interesting part of the watch. But this is Hansen's match all the way. The really great stuff starts when Hansen comes in and starts stomping on Kawada's head while Spivey has him in a Boston crab. He gets chased out by the ref, but Hansen decides that it's time to up the ante instead. What follows is some of the best character work Hansen ever does.

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Blown away by the lack of ove for Colon v. Hanson. I'd rather watch that then 99% of 90s AJPW

I'm with you 100% on that. Those matches blew me away in a way that 90s AJPW never has. They're big pluses in the candidacy for Hansen and Colon and the only complaint I have is the ending of the cage match being anti-climactic.

I fucking LOVE the end of the cage match. I guess in hindsight looking at it as the climax to a long hate-filled feud, I can see how you'd feel that way. But I love it. That big brawl breaks out on the floor and Colon walks out of the cage to join in and basically wins accidentally? I laughed my ass off. It's just awesome in such a wacky, pro wrestling kind of way.

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The brawling all around the arena is a good visual, but Colon winning by just stepping out is not something I'm a fan of. I hate escape the cage rules but this was almost an exception as Hansen tried like hell to get away from Colon. For Colon to win like that? Anti-climactic for all that built up to it, for sure.

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The brawling all around the arena is a good visual, but Colon winning by just stepping out is not something I'm a fan of. I hate escape the cage rules but this was almost an exception as Hansen tried like hell to get away from Colon. For Colon to win like that? Anti-climactic for all that built up to it, for sure.

 

Out of curiosity, did you watch the cage match after watching the feud in order or did you watch it in isolation?

 

For anyone looking to watch these matches, there's a guide for the feud in the Puerto Rico wrestling thread.

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When Hansen was on the Ross Report he described his style as "act and react" saying that he never knew what he was going to do until he did it. His opponent would have to react to whatever he did and then Hansen would react to their reaction. That made the action in his matches feel spontaneous and exciting. There's an urgency and grittiness to his matches that you don't find very often. Everything feels like a struggle and a fight, even when he's working the mat. Mix that in with his amazing selling, underrated offense and his seamless transitions to high spots and I think Hansen has to be a top 5 candidate at worst.

 

The 4.14.83 match between Funk and Hansen is a match everyone should check out if they haven't seen it. Both guys are doing what they do best here. This is why they are GOAT candidates.

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