10 Wrestlers You Totally Forgot Worked For ECW

3. Stan Hansen

Doink ECW
WWE.com/Pro Wrestling Illustrated

The famously half-blind Stan Hansen - a major draw in Japan owing to his perfection of the bruising, vicious foreigner role, incredible presence and herculean in-ring work - dropped by ECW between All Japan Pro Wrestling tours to inform its hardcore legacy.

Wrestling in tandem with Terry Funk, Hansen waged his brand of war against Abdullah The Butcher and Kevin Sullivan at Ultra Clash in a temporary sojourn - his last on American soil. Elsewhere, he didn't do much beyond choke Tod Gordon half to death, and spank and destroy "Freddie Gilbert" in a non-finish with Jimmy Snuka, but it's clear even from that barely watchable, grain-specked footage that Hansen and ECW were a match made in Hardcore Heaven.

It's not difficult to picture the alternate, awesome timeline - of Hansen sending hapless motherf*ckers flying from balconies and through tables with his lethal lariat, of Hansen swatting down Sabu the second he attempted any of his new school offence, of Hansen spitting beer back into the face of the Sandman, of Hansen doing horrific things to Mikey Whipwreck...

Sadly, All Japan simply paid far more.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!