WWE Hall Of Fame 2016: 5 Things you should know about Stan Hansen

Hansen had an interesting careerStan Hansen is a wrestler whose Hall of Fame induction was ridiculously delayed. Although his record in the WWE is not a long one, he is a sorted out and highly respected name in the wrestling business as a whole.The jinx, however, was broken when WWE announced the induction of Stan into the 2016 Hall of Fame class.Stan will be joining the likes of Sting, Fabulous Freebirds, The Godfather, Jacqueline Moore, and The Big Boss Man in the class. Despite the induction, Hansen is relatively unknown to most of the fans, and if you are one among that group, here are some of the things that you should know about him.

#5 He popped out Vaders eye

Vader and Stan Hansen are two wrestlers known for their stiff work. These two often got into the ring together and at times, things went out of hand as well. One such instance happened in 1990 when Vader was wrestling as the representative of NJPW and Hansen wrestled at the representative of AJPW.

During the match, Hansen and Vader were exchanging blows and Hansen unintentionally poked Vader’s right eye with his thumb. This made Vader’s eye pop out of its socket. Vader, who showed great character, removed his mask, pushed his eye back into the socket and continued to wrestle the match.

The match was eventually announced as a no contest.

#4 The Championships and awards

Stan Hansen was a multiple time champion and won numerous accolades as well during the career that spanned almost three decades. He won numerous Heavyweight championships and tag team championships during the time and was also inducted into the Professional wrestling Hall of Fame and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

He had three five-star matches according to the WON while his match with Bruno Sammartino won the Match of the year tag from Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Stan’s ventures with tag team partners like Bruiser Brody, Ted DiBiase, Terry Gordy, and Ole Anderson were successful as well.

Apart from his awards in the States, he is considered as one of the most popular and successful foreign wrestlers in Japan.

#3 Only man to pin Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba in Championship singles match

We mentioned earlier that Hansen is one of the most successful foreign wrestlers in Japanese Wrestling. He had numerous blockbuster matches and storylines in the country. He feuded with names like Andre The Giant, Hulk Hogan, Antonio Inoki and The Giant Baba during his time in Japan.

And Hansen was booked so strongly by the promoters that he became the only wrestler to pin Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba in Championship singles match. Considering the legendary status of Inoki and Baba in Japan, for a foreigner to do so is not a small deal.

Hansen spent the last years of his career in Japan which was clearly the right way to wrap up his career.

#2 The power of his lariat

The Lariat is a move that Stan made famous. He pulled it off with some exceptional power and combine it with his stiff style, it was a deadly combination. Just two months after joining the WWWF, Stan was given a shot at then Champion Bruno Sammartino.

Hansen broke Bruno’s neck during their match and though it was a result of a botched power slam, the promoters started claiming that it was due to the power of Hansen’s lariat. This Kayfabe move from the promoters worked wonders and Hansen was able to stamp his name as a feared stiff worker in between the ropes.

#1 He wanted to become a Footballer

Before taking up professional wrestling as a full-time venture, Stan wanted to become a footballer. He played football in College as part of the West Texas State Buffaloes. Once his collegiate pehase came to an end, Stan started trying out for the Detroit Wheels.

As a part-time gig, he started wrestling and made his official debut in 1973.

He did have a brief stint with the Detroit wheels as a player but the team soon folded and Hansen had to take up wrestling full-time. He initially wrestled in the Tri-State Territory and then made his jump to the World Wide Wrestling Federation and American Wrestling Association.