10 Fascinating Facts About Famous Wrestling Finishers
5. Why Stan Hansen's Lariat Was So Awesome
Stan Hansen was such an incredible performer.
Head like a rock, face like the hardest maniac in the saloon, a physique that inspired terror before he somehow exploded across the ring in spite of it: he's a man who couldn't possibly exist today. He simply embodies an older, more rugged time.
He was known for his super-physical and wild brawls, but that shorthand description betrays his deep storytelling ability. Jumbo Tsuruta was more famed for his attempts to repel the new generation of AJPW stars in the early '90s, but Hansen played his part in ushering in one of wrestling's greatest ever periods; in a July 23, 1993 classic against Kenta Kobashi, he brutally punished the young Pillar every time he left his feet in a stunning inter-generational battle.
More than some hotheaded violent bruiser, he was also incredible as the hotheaded violent bruiser. His famed lariat was so good that JBL built a career around ripping it off. It looked like a tree caught in a storm smashing against whatever the f*ck it wanted, and that's because Hansen was nearsighted almost to the point of medical blindness.
All the better for how impulsive and ugly it looked, the lariat will forever remain linked to his version of it.