10 Stiffest Wrestling Matches Ever
3. Vader Vs Stan Hansen - 1990
Vader is one of the stiffest wrestlers of all time, but he found an equal in Stan Hansen. A star in Japan, Hansen was notorious for hitting hard and having bad eyesight, making his signature lariat particularly devastating.
Vader and Hansen met on a New Japan-All Japan supershow in February of 1990. Given the competition between the companies, stakes were high in their battle, and neither man wanted to give anything less than his best. At the very beginning of the match, Hansen hit Vader with a bullrope, breaking his nose. From there on out, Vader worked his typical stiff style.
Not long into the match, Hansen accidentally gave Vader one of the most gruesome injuries in wrestling history - a misjudged punch to the face accidentally knocked "The Mastodon's" eyeball out of its socket. Vader popped his eye back in the socket, then continued with the match.
Following the bout, Vader needed surgery for a broken nose and orbital bone, with a steel plate being placed behind his eyeball.