Stan Hansen

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Stan Hansen bigraphy, stories - American professional wrestler

Stan Hansen : biography

August 29, 1949 –

John Stanley Hansen, Jr. (born August 29, 1949) is an American former professional wrestler, best known under his ring name Stan Hansen. As a wrestler, Hansen was well known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributed to his poor eyesight. Hansen is considered to be among the most successful and popular gaijins in history, becoming more well known in Japan than the United States.

Hansen’s character was that of a shouting, psychotic cowboy who wanted to fight everybody. He typically appeared in interviews with cowboy hat, vest, and rope, and often had a very large amount of chewing tobacco in his mouth that he would spit out every so often. Some elements of his character’s personality provided inspiration for later antiheros, including Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bad News Brown.

Personal life

In 1989, Hansen appeared in a small but memorable role in the World Wrestling Federation-produced movie No Holds Barred, which starred Hulk Hogan.

Hansen is married and has two sons. His older son, Shaver (born December 19, 1987), played baseball at Baylor University before being drafted by the Seattle Mariners as the second pick in the sixth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. His younger son, Samuel (born February 21, 1991), is also a baseball player and plays for the University of Texas at Arlington.

Hansen’s nephew, Caleb Dewall, is also a professional wrestler. He performs under the ring name Silas Young for various independent promotions.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Western Lariat (Japan) / Lariat
  • Signature moves
    • Belly to back suplex
    • Brazos Valley Backbreaker (Boston crab)
    • Elbow drop
    • Running shoulder block
    • Snap suplex
  • Managers
    • Freddie Blassie
  • Nicknames
    • "Cowboy"
    • "Fuchinkan" / "The Unsinkable Battleship"
    • "The Lariat"
    • "The Man"
  • Entrance themes
    • "Sunrise" by SPECTRUM (AJPW)

Professional wrestling career

United States

Hansen began his wrestling career in 1973 for his hometown promotion in Amarillo, Texas. He had initially taken up wrestling as a part-time job while trying out for the Detroit Wheels, but he began wrestling full-time when the team folded. Hansen first teamed with future partner Frank Goodish (who later became Bruiser Brody) in 1975 while in Leroy McGuirk’s Tri-State territory. He wrestled in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the late 1970s, where he broke Bruno Sammartino’s neck; it was from this incident that both Hansen and promoters claimed enormous power for his lariat move, although a botched body slam is what actually caused Sammartino’s injury.

In the mid to late 1970s, Hansen wrestled in Georgia Championship Wrestling, where he teamed with Tommy Rich and Ole Anderson.

Hansen competed in the American Wrestling Association in 1985-1986 and won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on December 29, 1985, from Rick Martel. On June 29, 1986, he no-showed a title defense against the #1 contender Nick Bockwinkel, forcing the AWA to default the title to Bockwinkel. Rumors suggest that Hansen was actually in the building that evening and had been informed by AWA promoter Verne Gagne of the pending loss to Bockwinkel. Hansen allegedly called All Japan Pro Wrestling president Giant Baba to ask if losing the championship was acceptable, but Baba had already lined up challengers for Hansen and did not permit Hansen to drop the championship. At the time, Hansen was already in a feud with Verne’s son Greg, in which Hansen as determined to hog-tie Greg and ‘make him squeal like a pig’. Eventually, Hansen was too much for the young and brash Greg Gagne, and on an episode of All-Star Wrestling, Hansen hog-tied Greg and proceeded to make him squeal in front of his fans, friends, family and father. As a result, Hansen refused to drop the title to Bockwinkel and was stripped of the championship; Bockwinkel was given one of the tag team belts (billed as the AWA World Heavyweight Championship), because Hansen was still in possession of the physical title belt. Hansen immediately returned to Japan and defended the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, despite being stripped of it. The AWA threatened legal action if Hansen continued to carry the belt and refer to himself as the organization’s champion, so Hansen responded by running over the belt with his truck and mailing it back with the mud tracks still on it. This chain of events was reviewed in an interview with Hansen at an NWA Legends convention, in which he expressed regret over the way he handled the situation and ultimately complimented Gagne.