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Post by microstatistics on Jan 4, 2018 18:16:06 GMT -5
I'm not a Stan Hansen fan but he gives an incredible performance here. Simply phenomenal selling of the bad ribs, among the best I have ever seen for injured body part selling. The way he fought his way back and still looked like a force despite being vulnerable also ruled. But in no way was it a one man show. Taue gave an amazingly focused offensive performance, attacking the ribs at all sorts of angles. He also added awesome heelish touches I couldn't see any of his peers doing. I liked how he was a total dick while working over the ribs but near the end almost became a sympathetic underdog because even an injured Stan Hansen is so dangerous. Top 50 for me and far far better than the vast majority of the certified 90s AJ classics.
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Post by elliott on Jan 5, 2018 23:30:18 GMT -5
I'll second this. I am a huge Hansen fan, and while he definitely has great matches after this, this might be his last HOLY FUCKING SHIT level performance. I've always maintained that Hansen was an awesome seller and this might be his best performance in that regard. Taue rules in this. Something I need to rewatch.
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Post by microstatistics on Sept 29, 2018 20:11:54 GMT -5
I was looking at my list so far and I actually have this as #2 for 90s All Japan at the moment. It's a lot more than just a great selling performance.
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Post by elliott on Oct 1, 2018 19:28:47 GMT -5
Agreed with Micro. I mean, I don't have this as my #2 90s AJPW match, but it is truly excellent and more than just Hansen's selling. Taue is fantastic here. His offensive focus is one of the best "Anderson's pick a body part and destroy it" performances you'll ever see. His focus is 100% on those ribs. When he's controlling the match on offense that's where he's going. When Taue cuts off a Hansen run or gets a quick reversal it is because of something he does to the ribs every single time. This is a much smaller match than the sort of things I'm really looking at, but it is so smart I almost have to consider it. A great example of a Taue was awesome match. No headdrops and a really limited number of big spots anyway, yet they had the crowd hooked and had a fantastic match.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jun 9, 2020 20:41:59 GMT -5
I am not quite as high as Micro or Elliot, but this is a fantastic match. Hansen comes into the match with injured courtesy of splashing the guardrail the day before in a match against Kobashi. I can actually see someone saying this is their favorite 90s All Japan match because it is so different than the rest of the King's Road style. I like the King Road's style generally so this would be a step down for me, but this is a fantastic match and in most promotions a match of the year candidate. Very shocked at how low Loss & others had this rated on PWO. Stan Hansen gets pigeon-holed as an out of control, but he is way more than just that. Taue is the king of lean, mean efficiency.
Stan Hansen vs Akira Taue - AJPW 4/11/94
If there's anyone that can babyface Stan Hansen, it is Akira Taue. In the Hansen/Kobashi match a day prior, Hansen injured his ribs by doing a diving shouldertackle from the apron and connecting with the guardrail. When Hansen enters, there is only one whip of his bull rope and he is walking not running to the ring clutching his ribs.
I will say this there's a talking point, which I believe to be asserted by JDW that no one else could have had this match by Taue which I believe to mean that he was absolutely laser focused on the ribs. I do take umbrage with that slightly as a Kobashi fan. I think Kobashi fan acquitted himself well the night before with a lot of body shots, kicks, dropkicks all to the ribs and even shouldertackles to the ribs to set up the moonsault. Were there leg drops and sleepers? Yes, but Kobashi was committed to the ribs until the very end of the match. Just like Taue used the ribs to set up his finish. Two very different matches and both phenomenal, but I just want to point this out. Kobashi is NOT this scattered-brain, "get my stuff in" wrestler that some people say. The criticism that Misawa could not work this match because he would want to sell and make his extended comeback I would agree with. I think Kawada would also be fine and well-suited for a match like this. This match is about Taue who is undersung anyways and we should let his spotlight get stolen by the other three.
Taue and Hansen both rock pretty hard in this. I know Hansen lariats with his left hand but I am not sure if he uses an Unorthodox stance because I have seen him punch right. Anyways he uses an Unorthodox stance here to keep his left side (injured side) further away from Taue. I always love touches like that. Taue ultimately crowds Hansen in the corner. Hansen does his best to bully his way out, but the bully got bullied here and Taue started unloading on the left side with some good shots. If there is one thing that Japanese fans cant stand, it is when Taue "hotshots" opponents on the top rope or railing. It always draws boos. Even though they were chanting for Taue at the end, I found that interesting. Some great work here from that standpoint. Hansen is a big mutha trucker and for Taue to get him up and launch him in such a way that it was his abdomen that landed on the railing and top rope was impressive. That's a tough bump for Hansen to take even if his ribs arent actually injured. We of course get stomach claws and abdominal stretches. Hansen tried this cat and mouse strategy luring Taue to the outside and then getting back in the ring to the get the high ground. Still Taue fought through his King of the Mountain by attacking the left side. All in all, excellent work. I liked the transition to Hansen on offense. Taue misses an elbow drop from the top rope and then Hansen hits a trademark lunging shouldertackle that sends Taue flying to the outside. Perfect. Hansen BOUNCES a chair off Taue! Perfect. DDT on the exposed concrete. Perfect! Cant suplex him on exposed concrete because of the injured ribs so he settles for wrenching his head into the railing. Perfect, Perfect, Perfect!
Hansen's selling through his comeback is sublime. You never lose sight of the fact he is in tremendous pain but that means he is also tremendously furious. Exposed knee. Two WICKED Stiff, Swift Cowboy Kicks! The way he has to gear himself up for the a suplex and then ultimately a Powerbomb. The sell after that powerbomb is tremendous. Hansen gets two and then tugs at the elbow pad to let everyone know whats coming. Taue kicks him right in the left side and gets a powerslam for two. NODOWA~! Great struggle there with Taue earning it. Hot nearfall and the crowd is clearly behind Taue. Hansen shifts his weight on a back suplex. Gnarly headbutts from Hansen and SMOKES Taue with a diving right elbow to the point where I bit on that nearfall even though the crowd didn't. I thought it was his way of doing a lariat without using his left side. He goes for the Lariat by holding Taue's head but Taue is able to punch the left side repeatedly and NODOWA~! 1-2-3!
If someone wanted to say this is their favorite 90s All Japan match or even the best, I would not bat an eye. King's Road is not for everyone. I happen to generally like the style and do think it is my personal favorite style. For those that like a more minimalist approach with heavy emphasis on body part psychology both from a laser-focused offensive perspective and a great selling perspective this match meets those needs. Hansen's stock is really rising in my book (he was already in my Top 5 wrestlers of all time) he has so many more layers than a Bull in the China Shop brawler, really effective seller and more than one-dimensional tool. Taue (also in my Top 25) really showed his ability to carry a singles match on top here. Taue is a man of efficiency. We saw that NOAH where he had great singles bouts with Misawa, Nagata and Kobashi. This was a very efficient and tidy match. It is not one of the more pimped matches so if you have not watched it ever or in a while, I definitely implore to give this a watch. ****1/2
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Post by KB8 on Sept 23, 2022 13:49:46 GMT -5
I've said it a few times before, but I think this is my favourite period of Hansen's career. By "period" I could probably just say the 90s as a whole and it would still be fairly accurate. The Pillars were climbing the ladder and you had other American talent like Gordy and Williams emerging while Hansen was on the decline (at least physically). He wasn't necessarily being phased out right from the turn of the decade -- he was still one of the promotion's top guys, but before long father time had his claws in him and he was almost becoming a relic of the past. He couldn't bully this new generation the same way he could the previous. Studs like Kobashi wouldn't take it for long and by the end of '93 Misawa had already knocked him off his perch. It's that '92-'94-ish period that I love the most. I still think '93 is the best year of his career, the way he captured that feeling of baddest gunslinger in the west (the east?) who maybe wasn't the baddest anymore, who either refused to acknowledge that fact or did acknowledge it but was too far along to do things any other way. A man struggling to hold onto his place in the world, who'd go out on his shield, dangerous till the very end. By this point in '94 he'd slipped even further down the pecking order. He was still someone who you bought winning against basically anybody, including Kawada in the Champions Carnival that the latter went on to win, but those wins were more difficult to come by. The night before this he even lost to Kobashi for the first time ever. And as Hansen became less of a tornado who could just overwhelm people, it meant we got to see more of him as wounded animal, selling from below, garnering sympathy (for as much sympathy as a rampant maniac can garner). He's an amazing seller, maybe even an underrated one, at least in that his selling is rarely talked about in comparison to his brawling and offence and the carnage that comes with those things. In the Kobashi match the previous night he picked up a rib injury, and that carries over to this. It's one of my favourite Hansen selling performances ever and almost reminded me of Steamboat's at Starrcade '84, where even the way he stood told you that he wanted to keep the ribs on that side out of reach. Taue isn't particularly dynamic offensively, but I'm fine with that and everything he did stayed laser-focused on Hansen's ribs. Plus Taue is someone who did a lot of hotshots and snake eyes anyway, so just tweak it a little and drop a guy a bit higher up. It was actually pretty un-All Japan-like for this period of All Japan. And I guess in the end that's what made it so interesting.
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