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[1993-02-28-AJPW-Excite Series] Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada


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So much to love about this match -- stuff like Kawada selling Hansen’s haymakers like death, or the way Hansen kicks Kawada like he’s kicking at a clod of cow shit. I love how Hansen throws his weight into offense, like that big back elbow out of the corner or the awesome diving shoulderblock through the ropes. They take turns controlling portions of the match and at one point, Hansen looks a little lost and then really looks lost (as in loss of consciousness) when Kawada's got him trapped in the Stretch Plum. Kawada destroys him in the corner with kicks and chops at him before Hansen just grabs him by the head and slams him down with zero shits given. After Hansen’s big ole release powerbomb, he signals for the lariat and the crowd is eating it up. Kawada cuts him off but Hansen hits one of the greatest lariats of all time, the momentum of it carrying him clear out of the ring! They're both sluggish and glazed over, and Hansen almost collapses into that final enzui-lariat with enough power to defeat Kawada. Great psychology, brutal shitkicking strikes, and a super hot crowd during the final minutes of the match. One of the best brawls of all time.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1993-02-28-AJPW-Excite Series] Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada
  • 1 year later...

Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 2/28/93

Man when Youtube really started to get going in what like 2005/2006, this was one of my favorite matches to watch again and again. I had read so much about All Japan through the late 90s and early 2000s. I was so excited to finally see it and it delivered in spades. Funny though I have not watched this match in a good ten years I would say. It is matches like this that remind me I did have some damn good taste as a teenager. :P

There are two things I remember about his match the beginning and the end. This maybe the greatest bar room brawl in the history of pro wrestling. This is match pretty much universally praised, I have run across some criticisms of it being disjointed and/or aimless. I would replace those words with "chaotic" and "mayhem". This is what a bar room brawl should feel like. If you are caught flat footed, someone is going to bowl you over. Hansen is the king of that. Anytime Kawada thought he was safe, Hansen would just lunge at him and wipe him out. Kawada was fighting for his life in there against Hansen at the outset. There was a great Kawada sell. He was trying to bottle Hansen up with a front facelock, but got clipped by a punch and just went down on his ass. Even though at first, it felt like Kawada was fighting for his life against the human version of the Tasmanian Devil. Soon Kawada turned the tables on him. At first, it was something like ramming his head into the post. You knew Hansen was hurt because he was stomping around outside. Kawada kicks him in the brutally in the ropes. Then it was Kawada going for the leg. This however backfired and inspired Hansen to target Kawada's leg. This was Kawada's second great sell around his knee which is his bread and butter. There was some great verbal selling in this from Kawada. Kawada ends up kicking him off his leg and sending him crashing into the railing. 

I just need to say this somewhere. This match is crazy fucking stiff. Especially those KICKS! Each men was just rifling the other with these crazy stiff kicks. It sounded like gunshots going off. 

When Hansen starts going for pinfall attempts after punting Kawada in the mouth a kick I knew Hansen was in trouble. It sounds counter-intuitive. Hansen was not his usual confident self. When Hansen goes for a pin, it is usually over because he has kicked so much ass. Here, Kawada gave him a helluva fight and it feels like Hansen wants to get out of this match with the win rather than mauling his opponent. Hansen's heat segment here feels more like a normal monster heel (big move, cover, big move, cover) less of his style of Bull in the China Shop.  Hansen gets more and more desperate. Busting out a dropkick and then A SUICIDE DIVE THROUGH THE BOTTOM ROPE! HOLY SHIT! MARK OUT CITY! You really get the feeling that Kawada has pushed Hansen to the limit forcing him to take these high risks. Hansen wants to slam Kawada on the exposed floor, but Kawada blocks and it is Hansen that is slammed on the floor! Amazing selling from Hansen...clutching the ribs and verbal selling. Kawada hits a stiff clothesline to the back of Hansen's head on the apron. Kawada's clothesline is so wicked. Hansen sells it like he is KO'd. Hansen has really put Kawada over.   

Kawada knee drop 1-2-No! See these pinfalls feel different. This feels like a man in the dominant position looking to get the win. STRETCH PLUM! A great one at that. Looks really tight! Kawada Kicks! Anyone who says Stan Hansen cant sell, needs to watch this match and tell me that. Kawada SLAPS THE TASTE OUT OF Hansen's mouth. So Hansen punches him right in the face! KAWADA IS OUT COLD! Great Kawada sell #3! 

Honestly that should have been the finish or shortly thereafter the Western Lariat. My slight criticism of this classic is they go a little overboard in the finish making sure you know that Kawada is just inches away from beating Hansen, but I think it was clear in the body of the match and we didnt 5 minutes to remind us of that. 

Hansen throws down the defiant Kawada head first multiple times and then delivers a big time Powerbomb! He signals for the Western Lariat, but we get all sort of evasions. This is what I mean it was a little much. Kawada was throwing clotheslines and kicks at Hansen trying to win, but it seemed too much. The one spot I remember from this match that I still think is epic is when Hansen hits that first Lariat and he hits it so hard that he is going flying out of the ring. He was so out of control! You knew the end was nigh. Hansen comes up selling his head so well. Kawada again puts up token offense (his patented Spinning Heel Kick to get two) but Hansen nails him in the back of the head with a right handed lariat. 

The first twenty minutes of this is just excellent. It is a 5 minute bar room brawl sprint that feels uncooperative, chaotic and like a shoot. Then as each man becomes fatigued it becomes a slugfest first trying to take out each other's legs and then just hitting each other as hard as possible. Hansen sold his ass off for Kawada and really busted out some neat stuff. Kawada felt like a superstar in this match. He was at a disadvantage and turned it around and made you feel like Hansen was the one that was surviving. I think they could have cut out 2-3 minutes of the last 5 minutes of the match and tightened it up. One nearfall for Kawada would have been plenty. Regardless, this match is epic and really shows Hansen's range all in one match and how much of an asskicker Kawada is. ****3/4

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  • 5 months later...

A hellish brawl, with some excellent selling from Kawada. I agree that the first ten minutes felt directionless but once things are more controlled, this was ace!  Hansen is as stiff as ever and even hits a freakin' suicide dive! The contorted face Hansen makes once he's locked in the Stretch Plum really sold the move's danger. Kawada seems to not care all that much for his well being as he takes a lot of stiff strikes and spikes himself on his head when he's bumping. Hansen hits a Beat Head (a Smackdown 2 reference for you) and Kawada sells it like he's been Backdrop Driver'd! Kawada shows a lot of fire, but it's not to be his night as Hansen is able to score the win with a brutal Western Lariat. 

★★★★¼

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  • 1 month later...

The match took awhile to invest me fully into the match, if I’m being honest with my criticism. That’s not usually something I need to deal with but there was just something that wasn’t sticking for a bit. Then the match hooked me suddenly, and from that point forth, the match was great. Naturally with two of the most stiff wrestlers of the era, this was super snug and stiff with the strikes and submissions being displayed. Hansen would throw downward slaps that looked so brutal and he hit a killer dive that had so much force behind it. It was awesome just watching the two beat the heck out of each other. Kawada himself brought the heavy strikes with the big slaps he threw and Gamengiris. Kawada’s selling at the big moments was huge. Loved the lariat that was hit with so much speed that Hansen fell out of the ring, saving Kawada a few more minutes. Great match barring a few moments of indifference. ****1/4

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