Posted February 27, 200817 yr comment_5428699 Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (AWA Title v. Int'l Title, 4/19/86) - Out of the gate, Jumbo attacks Hansen using his best Stan Hansen impersonation. He opens it up with a lariat. When he gets him grounded, he pounds him in the face. He overpowers him. A good chunk of the match is worked out of a Jumbo headlock but they keep it entertaining enough where you never get the feeling you are watching a Dory Funk Jr. match. In order to gain control, Hansen injures Jumbo’s arm and that becomes the focus of the match. It is like these two reversed roles and I am loving it. Really hot ending as Jumbo throws everything at Stan trying to put him away. Stan reverses an Irish Whip, hits Jumbo with a forceful Lariat and both guys tumble out of the ring for the double count out. With the hot finish, I am not complaining about the result and this is a strong nomination. (AJC 130)
April 24, 201015 yr comment_5449924 I enjoyed the early part, with Jumbo using the headlock to control the uncontrollable force. Will's right. It was funny to see Hansen use an arm attack on someone else, but Jumbo sold it well, and it worked. The end was fine, though it was weird that Jumbo got up first from Stan's desperation lariat. I can see why people find their rivalry frustrating. The matches always contained threads of greatness, but Jumbo and Hansen never seemed to make the effort to tell a complete, satisfying story. They all feel like early drafts of a great piece of writing that never quite came off. Still a yes from me on this match but a mid-range one.
September 6, 201015 yr comment_5455383 AWA World Heavyweight Title vs. NWA International Heavyweight Title: Stan "The Lariat" Hansen © vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (4/19/86) Jumbo attacks Hansen at the bell by just pounding him and giving Hansen a hard lariat which is Hansen's modus operandi. Jumbo was very aggressive here working in and out of a headlock keeping Hansen grounded. Hansen would answer back though by working on Jumbo's left arm which was Baba's game against Hansen so like Will said this was reverse psychology. Jumbo comes firing back though and starts pulling out Baba's moves like a neckbreaker drop and russian legsweep along with his key moves trying to put away Hansen but a lariat by Hansen would send them both the floor where they would get counted out. This was a really solid match with both men hitting hard and this moves forward easily.
