10 Legitimate WWE Hard Man Reputations Explored

7. Stan Hansen

If most adult males were faced with the prospect of tangling with a man the size of Big Van Vader, they'd elect to make like Usain Bolt and run a million miles in the opposite direction, sprinting as fast as their legs could carry them! It'd be like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park was chasing them, but Stan Hansen would likely prefer to go toe-to-toe with the beast, just like he did the monstrous Vader. During a co-promoted show between New Japan and All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1990, Hansen hit Vader so hard that his eye literally popped out, landing on his cheek. Allow that image to sink in for a while, before enjoying your lunch over the visual of Vader simply stuffing his actual eye back into his socket. Pretty gross, right? Well, that was the risk of working with Stan Hansen, who could hit like a train. By far one of the most respected foreigners to ever work in the Orient, Hansen wasn't adverse to striking fans on his way to the ring, some of them even enjoyed it! Working an incredibly stiff style was second nature to the 'Texas Tough' American. There are numerous accounts of Hansen deliberately stiffing opponents, just so they'd hit back harder. That's tough.
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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood.