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The Man from Borger, Texas: Stan “The Lariat” Hansen

Posted: Oct 29th 2024 By: Robert Segedy - RingTheDamnBell.Wordpress.com

Born John Stanley “Stan” Hansen II, however best known in wrestling circles as Stan “The Lariat” Hansen, he is a rough and tough Texan cowboy who specialized in the strong style of grappling. Hansen became known for working stiff and he is considered one of the most successful and popular gaijin in Japanese professional wrestling. Hansen’s reputation in Japan approaches almost mythical proportions; in Japan’s AJPW promotion he held seven different championships and overall, he is a ten-time world champion.

Early on in his career, Hansen played college football for the West Texas State Buffaloes.

Hansen made his pro wrestling debut in 1973; in 1975, Hansen first teamed with future partner, Frank Goodish (Bruiser Brody). While competing in Leroy McGuirk’s Tri-State Territory. He was trained by the Funks: Dory Funk, Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk. A large man, he was 6 foot, 4 inches tall and tipped the scales at 321 pounds; he was billed as hailing from Borger, Texas.

In 1976 Hansen made his debut in the WWWF and shortly thereafter he was feuding for the WWF Heavyweight title with current champion, Bruno Sammartino. During a title match, Hansen accidentally broke Sammartino’s neck; promoters immediately claimed that it was the result of Hansen’s powerful Lariat move when in reality it was from a botched powerslam that was the cause of the injury. After Sammartino recovered, Hansen resumed their feud for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship at the Showdown at the Shea, but he was unsuccessful in trying to claim the title. Hansen departed the promotion shortly afterwards, but he returned in 1980, where he faced main eventers such as Pedro Morales and Andre the Giant on several occasions. He also developed a heated feud with then WWF-Champion Bob Backland which culminated in a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden.

NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING (1977-1981, 1990)

Hansen first came to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in January 1977 through the booking of Vince McMahon Sr; he quickly became a top heel facing Antonio Inoki, Seiji Sakaguchi, and Tatsumi Fujinami. While in Japan, Hansen also regularly faced other top American stars such as Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes, Bob Backland and Hulk Hogan. Quickly establishing himself as a top contender, Hansen competed in New Japan’s MSG tournament between 1978 and 1981. Hansen would win the NWF World Title from Antonio Inoki on February 8, 1980; he was only one of two wrestlers who would defeat Inoki during his seven-year reign.

Hansen returned at NJPW’s Super Fight at the Tokyo Dome event in 1990 where he faced Vader in an inter-promotional match. The match for the IWPG Heavyweight Championship featured Big Van Vader (representing New Japan) while Hansen represented All Japan. Vader’s nose was broken by Hansen with his bull rope during his entrance but that hardly slowed Vader down. Both men were known to use a stiff style of wrestling, which resulted in a heated exchange of legitimate punches, where Hansen unintentionally poked Vader’s left eye with his thumb during the brawl, causing the eye to pop out of its socket. Vader casually removed his mask and pushed the eye back into its socket, thus continuing the match. The match ended in a draw.

Hansen made his surprise debut in All Japan Wrestling accompanying Bruiser Brody and Jimmy Snuka when they faced the Funk Brothers in the final match of the 1981 Real World Tag League at the old Kuramo Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) in front of 11,500 fans. Hansen’s jump to All Japan from New Japan only led to more imported talent throughout the 1980’s. Abdullah the Butcher made his debut in New Japan in 1981 followed by Dick Murdock in August 1981. All Japan poached Tiger Jeet Singh from New Japan in 1981. Plenty of money was involved in the transactions: Abdullah and Singh were making at least $8,000 per week and when Brody jumped to New Japan, it is reported that he was making as much as $17,000 per week.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1981–1990).
Hansen abruptly left NJPW to join All Japan Pro Wrestling. While in AJPW Hansen became the only man to pin both Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba in championship singles matches. Hansen continued wrestling from 1982 to 1999 in World’s Strongest Tag Team Determination League. He had a wide assortment of partners including Bruiser Brody, Terry Gordy, Ted DiBiase, Genichiro Tenryu, Dan Spivey, Bobby Duncum Jr. and Big Van Vader. He also engaged in an infamous brawl with Andre the Giant while in Japan.

On April 13, 1990, the WWF and AJPW held a super card called Wrestling Summit at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo in which Hansen lost to Hulk Hogan in the main event.

Hansen won his first Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship by defeating Terry Gordy on June 8, 1990; he also wrestled a rematch against Vader on June 12.

American Wrestling Association (1985-1986).
Hansen entered into competition in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1985-1986. He won the World Heavyweight Championship on December 29, 1985, from Rick Martel. Hansen then no showed a title defense against number one contender Nick Bockwinkle on June 29, 1986. I can vividly recall watching Verne Gagne handing the belt to Bockwinkle due to a forfeiture. Bockwinkle was given one of the tag team belts due to Hansen still retaining the belt in Japan where he was appearing. The AWA threatened legal action if Hansen continued to carry the belt and being identified as the organization’s champion. Hansen responded by running the belt over repeatedly with his tractor and mailed it back complete with mud tracks on it.

World Championship Wrestling (1990-1991).
Hansen appeared in WCW and started a feud with Lex Luger over the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. On October 27 at Halloween Havoc, Hansen ended Luger’s championship reign of 523 days. On December 16 at Starrcade, Hansen lost the title back to Luger in a bull rope match.

On April 18, Hansen teamed with Dan Spivey to finish second in the World’s Strongest Tag Determination League in November and December. The duo won the AJPW World Tag Team Championship from Terry Gordy and Steve Williams.

Hansen returned to AJPW and started a major feud with Mitsuharu Misawa: during this time, they traded the Triple Crown Championship between on another. Following the death of Giant Baba, Misawa became the new booker, and he started to de-emphasizing Hansen and other foreign talent.

Return to APJW (1991-2001).

In 2000, Misawa defected from the promotion and formed Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH), however Hansen decided to stay loyal to AJPW instead of NOAH. On October 21, 2000, as part of a tournament for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, Hansen lost the semi-final match to his ex-partner Genichiro Tenryu, who would go on to win the tournament and the title. His last match was a six-man bout on the 28th, in which he, Steve Williams, and Wolf Hawkfield lost to the opposing team of Johnny Smith, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and Masanobu Fuchi.

EASTERN CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING (1993-1994).

In August 1993, Hansen debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) in Philadelphia. In his first match he defeated ECW Television Champion Jimmy Snuka by disqualification. Hansen’s last appearance was at ECW Ultra Clash 1993, where he teamed with Terry Funk, and they defeated the team of Abdullah the Butcher and Kevin Sullivan by disqualification.

Hansen announced his retirement on January 28, 2001, at the Giant Baba Memorial Spectacular Event.

Hansen is the author of a book, The Last Outlaw, published by Crowbar Press.

On April 2, 2016, Hansen was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his old nemesis Vader.

In the 2010’s Hansen finally began receiving recognition for his career; he received the Frank Gotch Award in 2017 through the Lou Thesz Hall of Fame, he was inducted into NJPW Greatest 18 Club and the Tokyo Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. In 1996, he was also inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame.