The Lariat Rides Again, Part II

STAN HANSEN VS. TOSHIAKI KAWADA -- ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING -- 6/21/92 

I hadn't seen this in quite some time but was alone at my friend Greg's house with his endless net-time and YouTube available on the TV, so I went diving for puroresu and came up with this gem in short order. If you want to see two guys absolutely destroy each other, this is it. By the end of the match both men are at their lowest ebb and are selling like maniacs (something you could never get 100% from out of Misawa or Kobashi; Kobashi may have had the Hansen match of a lifetime the next year but he could never play it like Kawada). Hansen looks to be ready for the ambo ride after this is over. What's so cool about it is everything is so even-steven, Hansen may have the three belts but the shoe could have easily been on the other foot the way they play it. I mean Stan is ALWAYS gonna be a mountain to climb but his selling for Kawada and the abuse he takes makes the match perfectly balanced. Somebody needs to put this and the aforementioned Kobashi barn-burner back to back and do the Pepsi Challenge because I swear this just might be better.