#236: Big Van Vader vs. Stan Hansen, NJPW Super Fight in Tokyo Dome (2/10/1990).
Hello, readers!
If you’ve followed my blog since the beginning, or if you’ve skimmed through my posts, you’ll notice that I am a huge fan of modern New Japan Pro Wrestling. From 2012 to present day, the promotion has given the world some of the greatest matches of all time, and it’s given me some of my favorite matches I’ve ever seen. A while back, I noticed something: I am entirely foreign to the 1990s era of New Japan.
When people think of the Tape Trading days of the 1990s, most people’s minds go to the legendary bouts from All Japan Pro Wrestling, featuring the Four Pillars. While AJPW dominated the Heavyweight scene, New Japan was changing all of pro wrestling with its revolutionary Junior Heavyweight division, creating some of the most exciting wrestling matches anyone had seen anywhere in the world.
That’s not to say that the Heavyweights were lacking, either. From Hashimoto to Chono, Mutoh and Vader, New Japan had no shortage of talented big men in the 90s, and one of those men is the focus of this particular review this week: Big Van Vader. Considered one of the greatest gaijin to ever wrestle in Japan, Vader amassed an incredible resume during his time in the Land of the Rising Sun. Here is one of his most famous – or infamous bouts – he ever had in Japan, against fellow legendary Gaijin Stan Hansen, for Vader’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Why is it infamous? Well, other than the fact that it features two of the stiffest workers in pro wrestling history, but something rather gross takes place during this match.
Vader enters the ring and knocks Hansen’s hat off his head. The introductions are skipped, and the bell sounds for this one. The crowd is hot to see these two beat the hell out of each other. Vader with some short arm strikes to the head, followed by some hard chops. Hansen gives it right back with chops of his own. Vader forces Hansen into the turnbuckle, and we get somewhat of a clean break. More clubbing blows from both men, and Vader gets Hansen against the ropes.
Hansen with a hard elbow to the head. Vader with a short arm lariat that rocks the Cowboy, and he follows with a kick to the chest. Hansen fights back with forearms to the head. They lock up in the corner, with neither man relenting. Vader takes control of the left arm and forces Hansen to the mat. Vader stands back up, and removes his mask. Holy fucking shit, his eyeball is out of the socket. I repeat, reader: HIS EYEBALL IS OUT OF THE SOCKET.
No clue when it actually happened. It must’ve been during one of the scuffles early in the match, but here and now, HIS EYEBALL IS OUT OF THE SOCKET. And guess what? As he stands up, HE PUSHES HIS EYEBALL BACK INTO THE SOCKET. What the fuck. Hansen rushes Vader in the corner, but Vader reverses the offense and squashes Hansen in the turnbuckle. Vader’s right eye socket is swollen. You know, because it was hanging out a few seconds ago.
Hansen smashes Vader’s head off the turnbuckle, then elbows him in the chin. Chin lock by Hansen next. Vader is back up and pops off some nice strikes to the head and body. Vader misses a splash, and eats a back suplex from Hansen. Side headlock by Hansen, and a running tackle by Vader. Hansen with a running headbutt right into Vader’s jaw, and then he kicks the big man to the floor. Hansen sends Vader head first into the ring post, and then irish whips him into the steel barricade.
Vader decks Hansen with something at ringside – I think the ring bell? He drops Hansen midsection first onto the barricade, and then follows him into the front row. He brings Hansen back into the ring, as the crowd pops big for this brawl. Big knee to the face by the champion. Vader hits a clothesline to the kidney, which was kind of cool. He kicks at Hansen’s midsection, as the Texan crumbles to the floor. A reminder that Vader is still wrestling, despite his eye socket looking like a brussel sprout.
On the floor, Vader unloads with punches to Hansen, before bringing him back inside once again. Vader hits a running powerslam, and gets a nearfall. Vader goes to the top rope next, and hits a nasty looking diving clothesline to Hansen. He covers, and Hansen kicks out. Vader lays his knee across Hansen’s head, and elbows directly into his kidney. An elbow drop follows, and Hansen again kicks out. Vader with some hard punches to the head, and a lariat that sends Hansen back to the floor.
Vader shoves the referee away, as Hansen looks like he’s seeing stars. He sets Hansen against the ring post, and goes to run into him with a splash, but Hansen moves and Vader eats steel! Hansen is back in control, as he kicks Vader around ringside. He brings the champion into the ring, and continues to kick at him. Hansen is even targeting the fucking eye socket! Vader is back on the floor, but here’s Hansen with a chop, and a tackle that sends him over the barricade!
Hansen tops him, and starts beating the shit out of him. Vader tries to fight back, and eats an elbow to the head. Back in the ring, Hansen drops an elbow, and goes for the cover, but Vader gets his leg on the ropes to break it up. Back elbow to the head once again by Hansen, and Vader kicks out. Vader fires back with a running dropkick out of nowhere! Nasty lariat by Vader, and one by Hansen! They lock up, and scramble to the floor again.
Vader with repeated headbutts to Hansen, as they continue to fight past the barricade and into the crowd. Vader has Hansen on the ground, leveling him with hard strikes. They collapse onto a row of chairs, as they continue to brawl. The referee is in the ring, and he’s calling for the bell. We have a double countout as the finish. That was less of a match, and more of a fight between two wild animals. The fact that you don’t even know when Vader’s eye popped out in this match is proof of how vicious this was. It makes that whole injury seem small in the grand scheme of things.
Vader wrestling the rest of this match despite that injury has to make him one of the toughest – and one of the most stubborn – wrestlers on the planet. Hansen was uncaged fury in the most legitimate sense. He was on Vader start to finish, and was not afraid to target his injured eye. Vader, to his credit, stayed in the game and dominated Hansen for a lot of this match. This is one of the nastiest fights you’ll ever see, and I’m not just talking about the eye injury – this is just a raw fight in the purest form. This is humanity, before society was formed. If you want to see a modern caveman fight, this is it.