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

[El Boricua]

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

[AstroBoy]

There is a good logical progression in the Hansen/Colon matches from Hansen jumping Colon at the bell in the first encounter to Colon throwing everything at Hansen from the start in later matches to try to overwhelm him. And here Colon's strategy and tenacity pays off -- mostly -- until Hansen begins to overwhelm him and take over. There is a sense that unless Colon can keep him down and put him away that Hansen, like a force of nature, will just eventually wear him out. Hansen starts using high impact moves, a piledriver and back suplex to try to keep Colon down and that segues into the next wrinkle, which is Colon slowly chipping away at Hansen's knee. The build here is gradual, from a few quick shots to an all-out destruction of the knee and feels like a full-fledged organic new chapter in the match. Hansen's wounded bull selling is fantastic, conveying a guy who is on his last legs but also at his most dangerous, fighting back and throwing chairs and desperation elbows. I think I didn't like the final figure four sequence for going on a little too long but it's to set up a cool finish with Hansen getting the crutch and a wild post-match fight. Without rewatching their previous matches, this feels like the most "full" and rich, and probably my favorite. A great match.

[elliott]

Typical start for these two as they go right at each other blasting away in front of a yet another enormous and hot crowd. Wild shit to start with Colon tying the bullrope around Hansen’s neck and posting him. Awesome overhead shot outside the ring with Hansen face down and Colon just smashing his skull into the ground over and over again. They continue brawling around ringside and eventually back in. Hansen appears to be cut early again as these two are just stiffing the shit out of each other. Did I mention this ENORMOUS crowd is crazy hot for this match? Awesome spot where Hansen bodyslams Colon after Colon’s patented cartwheel, but Colon stays on top of Hansen. One of the great spots in wrestling is when Stan Hansen gets fed up with getting his ass kicked and cuts his opponent off with a small but brutal counter to lead to the transition. The best of which is of course the boot to Kobashi’s face in the 7/93 match. The early portions of this are just incredible. They are definitely brawling, but it feels very much like an All Japan brawl early on if that makes sense. This is like the best possible Hansen vs Tenryu or Hansen vs Choshu match for the first 10 or so minutes. I love it. I love Hansen’s desperation flying shoulder block from his knees to ward of Colon’s attack even more. Hansen selling the leg is Kawada level of rolling around clutching the knee. And Colon is relentless going after it. Hansen takes any opening he can get to get Colon off of him even if its just grabbing an arm and yanking it as hard as he can to fuck up Colon’s balance and leverage. Colon refuses to give up his legwork and the crowd goes bananas when he locks in the figure 4. The figure 4 work is amazing with Carlos refusing to break after Hansen grabs the ropes and then Colon cheating and using the ropes himself. Hansen gets thrown a crutch and smashes Colon with ti and the match gets thrown out. Hansen can barely stand from all the legwork. Colon goes crazy attacking refs with the crutch. WILD Scene. Incredible match.

[AJS]

Another tremendous match between these two guys. I love how ferocious Colon is at the start, head butting, punching and chocking Hansen with the rope. It's really all Colon for the first part of the match with Hansen trying, but failing to get the upper hand. Hansen of course looks amazing on offence when he gets the opportunity. At one point he throws a chair at Colon and it's an amazing visual.

 

I would say that my favourite aspect of the match, and the thing that makes it stand out amongst their other matches, is Colon's leg work. I've loved what i've seen of him so far, but this is the first time i've seen him so focused on working that particular part of the body. He goes after it every chance he gets, and it takes an already great match to an even higher level. And Hansen's selling as his leg is destroyed is predictably brilliant, particularly when locked in the figure four. Not just his selling of pain but his determination. He will not give up. He also can't get out of it so he whacks Colon in the face with a crutch to break free. Awesome!

[KB8]

Another incredible match between two guys who can do no wrong together. One of the things I really love about this series - and there are many - is how they build upon previous matches in fairly obvious ways (they don't mess around with the "learned psychology"), while adding layers to the overarching story every time out. In their first match Hansen jumped Colon at the bell and went on a big run of offence, so in the second match Colon made sure it was he who got the early start. He learned quickly that you can't let Hansen get settled. It worked for him in the second match, so he does the same this time. Except this time he goes at him even harder. Hansen gets almost no respite in the first six/seven minutes and can't even take off his chaps. He fought much of the bullrope match on the back foot, but he's on defence for even more of this, practically fighting the whole second half from his back. I think it's time we talk about Colon's headbutts. He has some great headbutts. His punches can sometimes look a bit like they're with the heel of the hand, but his headbutts are always forehead square on forehead. There was one awesome bit during this early stretch where he dragged Hansen out the ring and just started battering his head off the stage. It was a real mauling, and a position we rarely see Hansen in. The transition to Hansen going on offence was really great. He takes Colon down with a double leg and tries to roll him up with the feet on the ropes, which is pretty crazy in and of itself because when the hell do we see Stan Hansen resorting to that inside ten minutes? but when the ref' calls him on it Stan just blatantly drops the knee on Colon's balls. What's also great about that is the fact it'll lead to a revenge ball shot later on, because this is Puerto Rico, and in Puerto Rico no good ball shot goes unpunished. Hansen's only on top for a little while before Colon takes over again, and this is where we get the next building block of the feud. They tried to kill each other with the cowbell in the last match, so now Colon thinks maybe if he breaks Hansen's leg he'll finally be rid of him. Both guys were really awesome during this stretch. It starts with Colon throwing a few kicks to the leg to sort of create some distance, then Hansen misses a high knee in the corner and a knee drop on the canvas, so Colon zeroes in on it and makes it his one point of attack for the rest of the match. Hansen's selling ruled. He's always dangerous because of who he is, but he's wounded with his back to the wall and that makes him even worse. At one point he disappears limping into the crowd, and as Colon goes out to look for him you hear a shriek from a pocket of fans as one of those non-foldable chairs comes flying at Colon. Another thing I really like about Colon is how tenacious he is. That's probably something WWE commentators have said about a thousand wrestlers over the last few years, but I can't imagine many of them capturing a sense of tenaciousness like Colon. He's a street brawler and he'll do whatever he needs to to survive, like biting Hansen's fingers or blatantly grabbing the ropes while applying the figure four. He's in there with Hansen after all; sometimes you need to take liberties. I thought the finish was a tiny bit flat, but the build to Colon finally putting Hansen in the figure four was great, coming a little closer each time with Hansen getting more desperate in fighting him off, and you knew the place would go apeshit when it was finally locked in. I might have four Hansen/Colon matches in my top 10 by the end of this.

[dawho5]

I loved the growing sense of desperation by Hansen as the match progressed. And I love the twist on the story here. By the way this match built, this was it. Colon finally had the answer. He knew how to beat Hansen, and even if he had to bite, scratch, claw, kick him in the balls, grab the ropes in a figure four, didn't matter, he was going to make it stick. But that rat Chicky Starr slides his crutch in the ring and Hansen gets out of the match the one last way he has. Colon's post-match frenzy is incredible. He sells the absolute rage that he was this close to putting Hansen away definitively. And takes it out on whoever gets in his fucking way.

 

Oh, and this match was the first reason I loved PR. Not for anything I wrote about or anybody above me. But for this: They are wrestling in a baseball stadium. Colon bangs Hansen's head into a barricade. And a fan FREAKING PUNCHES HANSEN while he's there!!! No missing it, the dude just punched Hansen in the face while he had the shot. I fell in love with PR the first time I saw this match for that and that alone.