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The Legacy Of Wrestler Stan Hansen, Explained

Posted: Jun 1st 2023 By: Patrick Coyle-Simmons - TheSportster.com

Stan Hansen's stiff, brawling wrestling made him a big name in both WWE and Japan, creating a style that is still used by wrestlers today.

Earning the nickname "The Lariat", Stan Hansen is one of the most respected, toughest wrestlers to ever do it. With a decades-spanning career, Hansen worked across the world, wrestling in nearly every major company there is, including WWE, WCW, AJPW, and NJPW, with his wrestling style inspiring generations of wrestlers to come. Legendary feuds with Bruno Sammartino, Antonio Inoki, Andre the Giant, and Vader elevated Stan to the legendary status where he now exists, having left his mark on the pro wrestling world from the 1970s until his retirement in 2001. Looking back on the legendary career of Stan Hansen, fans can learn plenty about the legacy of this hard-hitting wrestling star.

Stan Hansen Rose To Fame Through A Feud With Bruno Sammartino

Making his pro-wrestling debut in 1973, it would not take long for Stan Hansen to break out in North America, as three years later, he was brought into WWE (then WWWF) as an active wrestler. A few short months into his career with the company, Hansen found himself shot into the main event scene, as he would begin a feud with Bruno Sammartino in 1976 for the WWE Championship. During this time, the two men faced off in a title match that saw Hansen botch a powerslam, breaking Bruno's neck in the process. Both Sammartino and WWE opted to turn this into a storyline, however, elevating Hansen in the process, as they went with the story that it was one of Stan Hansen's famous Lariats that caused the champion to break his neck.

Upon his recovery and return to the ring, Sammartino would reignite his feud with Hansen, though the cowboy failed to capture the WWE Championship. Stan Hansen's other notable program during his time in the company would be a massive feud with Bob Backlund for the WWE Championship that saw the men face off in a Steel Cage Match at Madison Square Garden, with Hansen failing to capture the gold for the final time.

The Peak Of Hansen's Wrestling Career Came In Japan

While Stan Hansen failed to capture gold in WWE over the years, that would not be the case in Japan. With Japanese wrestling featuring a much harder, more stiff style of wrestling, Stan Hansen fit right in thanks to his hard-hitting in-ring style. First landing in NJPW during 1977, it was Vince McMahon Sr. that sent Hansen to the company following his injuring of Bruno Sammartino as a way to promote him further as an international draw. His New Japan career was a huge one, as he would dethrone Antonio Inoki of the NWF Championship, and held the accolade of giving Inoki and Andre The Giant very rare pinfall losses.

While he did have a strong, but short career in NJPW, with most fans remembering his brutal match against Vader, in which Vader's eye came out of his head, it was be be his time in AJPW that cemented Stan Hansen as having a truly legendary career in Japan. In All Japan, Hansen captured title after title, becoming an incredibly decorated champion, including four reigns as Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion.

Stan Hansen's Legacy Was Cemented With Championships And Hall Of Fames

With his in-ring career wrapping up in 2001, the legendary wrestler finishing his career with a 10-year run in All Japan, Hansen left behind an incredibly strong legacy. Known as one of the toughest gaijin to ever wrestle in Japan, Hansen was recognized for his career across the board. In the 2010s, Stan Hansen began getting recognition for his career, being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016, earning the Frank Gotch Award in 2017 through the Lou Thesz Hall of Hame, being inducted into NJPW's Greatest 18 Club and the Tokyo Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, and earlier, being inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 1996.

Hansen may not be a wrestler that many wrestling fans know of nowadays, but through his stiff, brawling wrestling style, he left a legacy that would be carried on by some of the stiffer workers today, with the likes of Gunther, Eddie Kingston, and Sheamus all being cut from the same cloth, as the younger stars of today carry on in the style he brought to Japan.