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Post by elliott on Dec 3, 2017 22:29:00 GMT -5
Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen (AJPW – 4/14/83)
Two of the best wrestlers ever having a stone cold classic. This is Funk vs Hansen so it is a wild brawl with an epic blade job. This is the one where Funk just constantly goes after Hansen’s leg to set up the spinning toe-hold, ultimately leading to his own demise. Terrific selling, blood, punches and a crazy crowd including the Terry Funk Cheerleaders. Dory running out dressed like an 80s middle school science teacher to brawl is a lovely touch.
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Post by Cap on Dec 4, 2017 11:19:31 GMT -5
Second
Yeah, this one is a lock on my list I think. These two put on a master class in brawling, storytelling, and working the crowd. The post match stuff is what puts this over the edge to me. I love it. To me, matches are more or less curtain to curtain (or whatever we have), and this one is a wrestling classic in that regard.
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Post by tetsujin on Jan 5, 2018 19:17:41 GMT -5
Third. This match is insane, with maybe the most powerful Terry Funk's performance as a babyface and the the most 'son-of-a-bitchesque' performance from Hansen. They had no trouble in making you suffer with the match, to the point of feeling yourself as a pyscho for watching it.
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 14, 2018 1:17:29 GMT -5
Wild brawl between two of the best brawlers. Terry juiced. Hansen drags Terry around with a rope around Terry’s neck and hangs him. A tie-wearing Dory Funk Jr. comes to his brother’s rescue. One of the best matches of 1983.
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Post by microstatistics on May 2, 2018 1:42:54 GMT -5
Superb match with Terry Funk giving one of the best performances in wrestling history. Brillant selling, doing little things to put Hansen over as a monster (for example nearly falling backwards after slamming Hansen to emphasize how difficult it was) and generally making himself look like the most sympathetic babyface ever. Hansen's intensity is great too but him no selling Funk's work on his knee prevents this from hitting classic level.
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Post by puropotsy on Jun 3, 2018 17:01:55 GMT -5
Terry's dropkick on the floor while covered in streamers early in the match was great. Then they put on all-time brawl. Terry going for the spinning toehold was cool and Hansen working away on him with elbows was equally awesome. Hansen choking him out with that rope was macabre and made this an all-time moment.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 22, 2018 11:08:17 GMT -5
Everybody who knows me knows I'm a windbag. Let's keep this short,
A Violent Masterpiece.
Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk - AJPW 4/14/83
Insane violent spectacle! Funk's selling of this brutal beatdown is transcendent. You first realize that Funk is deeply lacerated, not from looking at his face, but rather from his blood pooling on Hansen's stomach. Then when he was being back into the ring by the crazed sadist, he looked like a bloody dog tangled in streamers beaten to a pulp. The look on his face as he was being hung, with the rope in his mouth, bleeding profusely was unsettling and horrifying. Dory, who apparently is the world's toughest nerd, is able to save his baby brother. As he was being tended to by his brother, he was a sickly bloody mess. It was gruesome and maybe the nastiest wrestling has ever looked.
Funk tried to stay away from Hansen early avoiding being corner with speed and his jab. Hansen slapped him and when Funk went for a bodyslam it was all over. Hansen threw him down and began to unload. Bullying him at every turn and just using his elbows, knees and fists as weapons. I loved Funk just wailing away on Hansen knee out of desperation or throwing a dropkick outside. The struggle over the spinning toehold is one of the most poignant moments in wrestling. You just hope against hope that Funk can cause enough to pain make Hansen submit. Hansen like a ferocious, wounded animal keeps kicking him off and punching him hard in the face until he is bleeding. It was titanic. At every stage, Funk would dive for the leg and attempt to submit him knowing full well he was going to be blasted in the head and his cut be further opened up. I think Hansen not selling the leg is a curious choice. It adds to his monster dynamic that he can't be harmed and that Terry Funk will eventually be a tragic hero left for dead by the ultimate bully. Hansen drops Funk on his balls on the top rope and thus commences the gruesome scene above.
It is hard to say this is even a match. It feels like something so much more. I would say at the very least one of the top 5 most violent matches in a way that is really unsettling from the sense you really feel for Terry Funk. It is definitely something everybody should watch at some point. ****3/4
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Post by puropotsy on May 7, 2023 14:03:40 GMT -5
Terry's dropkick on the floor while covered in streamers early in the match was great. Then they put on all-time brawl. Terry going for the spinning toehold was cool and Hansen working away on him with elbows was equally awesome. Hansen choking him out with that rope was macabre and made this an all-time moment. 2023 re-watch This feels like a tale of two matches: the first half with great fire by Funk and an awesome dropkick on the floor and the second half being Terry selling and then getting choked out with the bullrope. A lot of matches fit that two-part structure but it felt pronounced here and the match got cut a little short for me. It is still amazing stuff and a definite classic battle between GOAT candidates but I would have liked to see a little more time before it went to the bullrope spot. |
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Post by mvz on Jun 15, 2023 7:52:19 GMT -5
40 years on and this match is still shocking and compelling. I see the point about the lack of leg selling, but I don’t necessarily miss it when I am caught up in the moment. So not a perfect match but one of the most incredible.
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Post by mrjmml on Sept 17, 2023 4:02:16 GMT -5
AJPW 1983 04 14 Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk
This what comes to mind when someone says great brawling, the intensity here is rarely seen, Stan Hansen is one of the greatest brawlers in professional wrestling, Terry Funk is one of the greatest sellers so we are here for a treat, gaijins hitting each other very hard is one of All Japan’s greatest acts and that’s what happened here, fantastic brawling all around and almost no downtime whatsoever, Hansen was just savage, Terry Funk had an amazing selling performance that I don’t think can be replicated, the fear in his eyes is priceless, Hansen looked like the scariest wrestler in the world, his offense is as stiff as it gets, the roughness in this match can be felt, it’s a great representation of what 80’s AJPW was about, Terry had no chance of winning but he endured through the pain and agony until Dory came in to save him, to be honest the bell alone wasn’t going to stop Stan’s rage and blood thirst, Terry was beaten up badly, he never even hit Hansen throughout what we have of the match, it was cut for tv but I think it’s fair to assume that he didn’t hit Hansen during that commercial break, Terry’s selling masterpiece is legendary, I think this match is one of the greatest brawls I’ve ever seen, it’s got everything I love in wrestling done to perfection, I highly recommend this match to everyone interested in this era of the company, AJPW in the 1980’s it’s so underrated by the greater wrestling community, the main reason for that is the popularity of their 1990’s run that pretty much overshadowed it, no pillar could have replicated what these two did here, this match is that special, Terry Funk had an innate ability to make every brawl memorable and this one is no exception.
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