Stan Hansen

The Lariat who broke necks and barriers in Japan.

John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949), best known as Stan "the Lariat" Hansen, is an American retired professional wrestler.

Quick Facts

Birth name: John Stanley Hansen II
Ring names: Stan "The Lariat" Hansen
Weight: 321 lb / 146 kg
Born: 29 August 1949
Birthplace: Knox City, Texas, U.S.
Spouse: Yumi Hansen
Children: 4
Education: West Texas State University

Lore & Background

Hansen is known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributed to his poor eyesight, and for his gimmick as a loud, violent cowboy who wanted to fight everybody, which he further emphasized by appearing in interviews with a cowboy hat, leather vest and bullrope while often chewing on tobacco. Hansen became established as a massively successful and popular gaijin in Japanese professional wrestling where he eventually became more well-known and revered than he was in his native United States. In Japan's AJPW promotion, he held seven different championships. Overall he is a ten-time world champion. Outside of wrestling Hansen played a small role in the movie No Holds Barred in 1989 and in 2011 he released his co-written biography, The Last Outlaw.

Reader's Guide

Hansen made his professional wrestling debut in 1973. He first came to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in January 1977. Hansen won the NWF World Title from Antonio Inoki on February 8, 1980. He returned at NJPW's Super Fight In Tokyo Dome event in 1990, where he had an infamous inter-promotional match against Vader. Hansen won his first Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship by defeating Terry Gordy on June 8, 1990. He won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on December 29, 1985, from Rick Martel. On October 27 at Halloween Havoc 1990, Hansen defeated Lex Luger to win the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship.

Did You Know?

Hansen broke Bruno Sammartino's neck during a WWWF title match, though a botched powerslam actually caused the injury.
Hansen is one of only two wrestlers to dethrone Antonio Inoki during Inoki's seven-year NWF title reign.
In a 1990 match against Vader, Hansen accidentally poked Vader's left eye, causing it to pop out of its socket; Vader pushed it back in and the match ended in a draw.
After being stripped of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, Hansen ran over the title belt with his truck and mailed it back with mud tracks on it.