Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi, AJPW 07/29/93 Options

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[smkelly]

Best Stan Hansen match ever?

[Dylan Waco]

Best Stan Hansen match ever?

Yes and I would also say it is the best Kobashi singles match ever.

[Death From Above]

Hell you could almost take the words Stan Hansen out of that sentence and have it stand. I know at least a couple fans that would make the case. Though it wouldn't be my pick. Is really awesome though.

Back in the days when I still did the rasslin' votes, this was what I had to say about this on the billionth rewatch or so. long assed ramble 4 U on the internet. If you want the tl;dr version, it says this match rules a lot and Stan Hansen's strikes make me giddy like a 14 year old girl for Justin Bieber. And I go overboard with hyperbole, because it's the internet, I'm a wrestling fan, and that's what you're supposed to do:

This match right here, this is right up there in terms of pro wrestling matches held anywhere.

I think a great pro wrestling match isn't that different from a great movie, in that you can watch it again and find new little details that impress you each time. The new detail that I found this time was right around 5 minutes in, Kobashi does this suplex on Stan Hansen, and you really don't get the impression Hansen puts much lift into it, it's just a freakish andrenaline rush powerlift by Kobashi, and one of the cooler displays of strength in this set. Anyone that watches All Japan in the '90's knows there's not a lot of people suplexing Stan Hansen, and there's even fewer that do it and make it look pretty. He's just too big for that. But man, this suplex was a thing of beauty. The crowd really buys a nearfall off it, which is funny because it's a suplex, it's 5 minutes in, and it's Stan Hansen. But they make that work because this match is just that good.

One of the things I've come to love about wrestling that I look for is can you make what has become considered a "basic move" to look really good and nasty. And really, this whole match is "basic stuff that looks nasty". It's so awesome. Jumbo Tsuruta is probably still my favourite wrestler of all time, but I'm pretty confident saying that Hansen has the best looking strikes ever, and it's really on display in this match. His chops are awesome. His punches actually look like punches. Hansen's elbow drop is for me a consistant piece of artistry, one of the best looking moves in wrestling. His standing elbow strikes are suitably nasty as well, just as good as anyone's. Hansen even breaks out an elbow drop off the apron to the floor, which for a football lineman sized guy is really big stuff. He really works with his knees well in this match too, the kneedrop is a move that looks awesome when done right as it is here. He also works in a ton of sneaky knee strikes to the head just about every time he goes to pick Kobashi up and they all look suitably nasty. And there's that nasty splash off the second rope that is a totally credible nearfall. Hell, Hansen even pulls an enzuigiri out of his ass in this match which shocked the hell out of just about everyone, and he even manages to do it better and make it look nastier than most anyone else that used the move regularly. It's pretty much all simple but has so much more impact than any number of other wrestler's stuff. It just looks so damn good. He doesn't even break out his big shoulderblock in this match, which is by far and away the nastiest and most credible looking shoulderblock in wrestling, nor does he break out the dropkick which for a guy his size always looked awesome. Hansen was the last guy who really could get the dropkick over as a near fall. And of course, above all the Lariat. Oh hell, the Lariat.

So basically Hansen is just a masterclass in simple pro wrestling strikes and making a credible match out of them. I don't really think he has a peer in this area. And this match is as good an example of that as anything.

I haven't even touched on Kobashi much but he's really awesome here too. Firey babyface Kobashi struggling for survival was much more interesting to me than legendary Kobashi destroys all comers. Kobashi's great here at bringing this huge amount of fired up energy, and he also really works in a lot of big moments without taking away from the "credibility" of the contest. He's also really good at taking his part of the match but letting Hansen guide the match where he wants it to go when Hansen wants, which is smart because fighting Hansen for his control sections would just result in an ass kicking anyway. This is a pretty rare match in that they run the ropes a fair amount, yet it very rarely as ever felt "fake" and it never really breaks you out of the expereience of watching it. Even the top rope leg drop doesn't seem out of place because they don't fuck around with it "here's the part where I taunt and take my time getting to the top" or any of that shit, they just snap it out there and it fits. This is the kind of fight that marks want to imagine "if pro wrestlers had a street fight it would look something like this". This match doesn't really have any "okay this is the middle filler" part, you really get a sense these are two guys both playing for a first round knockout from bell to bell, and they work that so well that nothing really seems out of place. Not Kobashi busting out a DDT in the first minute, not Hansen transitioning to offense by powerbombing Kobashi on the fucking floor (nasty as hell and I love it), nothing. This is just a fight, a great great fight, and probably the best singles match of Hansen's illustious career. This is up there for Kobashi too.

[smkelly]

Best Stan Hansen match ever?

Yes and I would also say it is the best Kobashi singles match ever.

I don't know if I can make a similar claim, as 1-20-97 against Misawa is epic in its own right. I might need to watch both matches back-to-back.

Hell you could almost take the words Stan Hansen out of that sentence and have it stand. I know at least a couple fans that would make the case. Though it wouldn't be my pick. Is really awesome though.

Back in the days when I still did the rasslin' votes, this was what I had to say about this on the billionth rewatch or so. long assed ramble 4 U on the internet. If you want the tl;dr version, it says this match rules a lot and Stan Hansen's strikes make me giddy like a 14 year old girl for Justin Bieber. And I go overboard with hyperbole, because it's the internet, I'm a wrestling fan, and that's what you're supposed to do:

This match right here, this is right up there in terms of pro wrestling matches held anywhere.

I think a great pro wrestling match isn't that different from a great movie, in that you can watch it again and find new little details that impress you each time. The new detail that I found this time was right around 5 minutes in, Kobashi does this suplex on Stan Hansen, and you really don't get the impression Hansen puts much lift into it, it's just a freakish andrenaline rush powerlift by Kobashi, and one of the cooler displays of strength in this set. Anyone that watches All Japan in the '90's knows there's not a lot of people suplexing Stan Hansen, and there's even fewer that do it and make it look pretty. He's just too big for that. But man, this suplex was a thing of beauty. The crowd really buys a nearfall off it, which is funny because it's a suplex, it's 5 minutes in, and it's Stan Hansen. But they make that work because this match is just that good.

One of the things I've come to love about wrestling that I look for is can you make what has become considered a "basic move" to look really good and nasty. And really, this whole match is "basic stuff that looks nasty". It's so awesome. Jumbo Tsuruta is probably still my favourite wrestler of all time, but I'm pretty confident saying that Hansen has the best looking strikes ever, and it's really on display in this match. His chops are awesome. His punches actually look like punches. Hansen's elbow drop is for me a consistant piece of artistry, one of the best looking moves in wrestling. His standing elbow strikes are suitably nasty as well, just as good as anyone's. Hansen even breaks out an elbow drop off the apron to the floor, which for a football lineman sized guy is really big stuff. He really works with his knees well in this match too, the kneedrop is a move that looks awesome when done right as it is here. He also works in a ton of sneaky knee strikes to the head just about every time he goes to pick Kobashi up and they all look suitably nasty. And there's that nasty splash off the second rope that is a totally credible nearfall. Hell, Hansen even pulls an enzuigiri out of his ass in this match which shocked the hell out of just about everyone, and he even manages to do it better and make it look nastier than most anyone else that used the move regularly. It's pretty much all simple but has so much more impact than any number of other wrestler's stuff. It just looks so damn good. He doesn't even break out his big shoulderblock in this match, which is by far and away the nastiest and most credible looking shoulderblock in wrestling, nor does he break out the dropkick which for a guy his size always looked awesome. Hansen was the last guy who really could get the dropkick over as a near fall. And of course, above all the Lariat. Oh hell, the Lariat.

So basically Hansen is just a masterclass in simple pro wrestling strikes and making a credible match out of them. I don't really think he has a peer in this area. And this match is as good an example of that as anything.

I haven't even touched on Kobashi much but he's really awesome here too. Firey babyface Kobashi struggling for survival was much more interesting to me than legendary Kobashi destroys all comers. Kobashi's great here at bringing this huge amount of fired up energy, and he also really works in a lot of big moments without taking away from the "credibility" of the contest. He's also really good at taking his part of the match but letting Hansen guide the match where he wants it to go when Hansen wants, which is smart because fighting Hansen for his control sections would just result in an ass kicking anyway. This is a pretty rare match in that they run the ropes a fair amount, yet it very rarely as ever felt "fake" and it never really breaks you out of the expereience of watching it. Even the top rope leg drop doesn't seem out of place because they don't fuck around with it "here's the part where I taunt and take my time getting to the top" or any of that shit, they just snap it out there and it fits. This is the kind of fight that marks want to imagine "if pro wrestlers had a street fight it would look something like this". This match doesn't really have any "okay this is the middle filler" part, you really get a sense these are two guys both playing for a first round knockout from bell to bell, and they work that so well that nothing really seems out of place. Not Kobashi busting out a DDT in the first minute, not Hansen transitioning to offense by powerbombing Kobashi on the fucking floor (nasty as hell and I love it), nothing. This is just a fight, a great great fight, and probably the best singles match of Hansen's illustious career. This is up there for Kobashi too.

Well said, man. No worries, I read the whole thing. TL-DR does not apply to you or your post.
Since the discussion/argument for "good for its time" has reared up recently, does the powerbomb on the floor hold up? I think it does, as I wouldn't want to be powerbombed on the floor.

[Loss]

Well, that was a war. Everything said here was true. I especially appreciate Kobashi's desperation stretch at the end. Beating the hell out of Hansen wasn't doing him any good, so he just kept trying every pin attempt he could think of in rapid fire succession, and it didn't work. This is also incredibly brutal from the beginning, and on top of the stiffness, you have a match that is paced brilliantly with a super hot crowd. Also, that was a hell of a finish that was perfect, because Kobashi losing may have helped him more than winning could have, if only because Hansen gave him so much of the match. Not sure what takes the top spot between this and Hokuto/Kandori at this point, but one of them definitely does.

[Superstar Sleeze]

My current choice for great wrestling match of all time. I watched it again due to Kobashi's retirement over the weekend. It is such brilliant work and a compelling story. The Underdog Kobashi lives and dies by his big bombs as he tries to overwhelm the unstoppable force known as Stan Hansen. Kobashi was relentless in the first ten minutes just an excellent display of urgency by never letting Hansen breathe. Hansen was fucking great both on offense and defense, his deadweighting on the pinfall attempt off the top rope legdrop was so awesome. I have always loved this match and love it more each time.