Stan Hansen

Verified Timeline

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.

In Their Own Story

Hansen returned at NJPW's Super Fight In Tokyo Dome event in 1990, where he had an infamous inter-promotional match against Vader. The match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship saw Big Van Vader (representing New Japan, while Hansen represented All Japan) get struck in the nose during the entrances by Hansen's Bullrope, breaking it. Both men were known to use a stiff style of wrestling, resulting in a nasty exchange where each man threw legitimate punches, during which Hansen unintentionally poked Vader's left eye with his thumb during their brawl, causing the eye to pop out of its socket. After removing his mask, Vader pushed the eye back into its socket and held it in place with his eyelid. The match ended in a draw. Hansen returned in June for a few more matches, teaming twice with Riki Choshu and once with The Pegasus Kid.

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.