[1984-03-24-AJPW] Giant Baba vs Stan Hansen

[JKWebb]

Hansen charges out of the gate and starts the beatdown on Baba. Baba looks good firing back, and takes Hansen down by the left arm. Looks pretty painful - then Baba lays in the armbar. He goes to work on that left arm. Hansen's selling is amazing here as he tries to comeback but gets sucked right back into the arm submission. Hansen gets to the ropes and takes a powder. More greatness ensues as Baba dodges the lariat with a drop toe hold and gets back on the attack... later dodges another outside and Hansen's arm hits the ringpost. Baba is focused and Hansen is selling ketchup to the lady in white gloves. Hansen gets tied up in the ropes and it appears Baba beats the left arm until he is DQ'd. This was short, but SWEET! Hansens is nuts after. Loved this.

[Superstar Sleeze]

PWF World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs Giant Baba - AJPW 3/22/84

 

Every time, I go to watch a Hansen/Baba match I think this is the time Hansen is going to break Baba. Baba looks so frail and Hansen is so vicious. Yet every time they make it work. It is not that Hansen holds anything back (throwing the PWF World Championship Belt at him was nasty). It is that he finally sells and bumps like a traditional heel. Which means so much more now because he NEVER does it for anyone else. So it makes Baba look like a giant world beater. Lets be honest 1984 Baba aint moving around that great and those chops are all that impactful, but Hansen bumping through the ropes and THEN WIPING OUT THE RAILING AND THE FIRST TWO ROWS OF PEOPLE makes you believe! People get on Hansen for his selling, which is silly because he totally sells (just not traditionally), but it when came time do the over the top bumping for the boss, he nails it! Plus he is so great as the wounded bear. Baba is relentless on the Lariat arm of Hansen. Some really great armbar takedowns and cross armbreaker attempts. Hansen was great selling on the run and throwing these errant kicks and swipes that would connect. Instead of that bull in the china shop, he was not the wounded bear powerful, but vulnerable. Baba was great about always keeping this on the arm. My second favorite spot after Hansen's ridiculous bump at the beginning was when Baba used a drop toehold to avoid a lariat! Love a good drop toehold. They end up on the outside, Hansen lariats the ring post and wipes out the railing again. I thought they were going for the double countout, but instead Hansen's arm gets tied up in the ropes. Baba attacks it until the ref is focused to call for DQ.

 

I am going to call a spade a spade those strikes by Baba at the end wouldn't event even tear a wet paper bag. Weak as hell and really took me out of what should have been a hot finish that was well-built from all the arm work. Love Baba, but Hansen carried this and made this work. I thought their 82 match was a match of equals. Baba looked old and weak here. Hansen through his unholy powers of selling, bumping and desperation offense carried this to greatness. I really thought this one of those amazing all time individual performances. Baba brought his larger than life persona & stature and focus on the arm so I cant deny that, but this was a Hansen match through and through. ****

[cactus]

A nuclear brawl between two big, super over lads. Baba is well past his prime here, with his holds and famous chops looking like shit, but he knows how to control a crowd and Hansen bumps all over the place to make Baba's chops look like a million bucks. Baba works over Hansen's arm in an effort to stop Hansen from using his Lariat, a nice bit of limbwork in this powder keg fist fight! This has a weak non-finish, but that's to be expected with the time period. 

★★★¾