Stan Hansen vs. Andre The Giant
September 23rd, 1981
Taped in Japan

Andre is already on the assault before the bell even rings! Hansen
clubs himself outo f the corner with some forearm shots, but Andre
uses his gigantic boot to save himself. Andre goes for the bear hug
in the early going, and Hansen clubs away with forearms out of
desperation. Hansen goes for the face, but Andre keeps the hold
locked on. Wow, a bear hug spot that I don't hate, amazing. Hansen
finally breaks out, but Andre clutches him from behind, and they
fall into the ropes. Hansen continues his assault, but Andre
wrenches him by the wrist, taking him down to the mat in the
process. Andre has the arm lock in place for a few secodns, before
breaking with a head lock and a stomp. Andre takes a breather,
allowing Hansen to come back with some chops. Andre corners him, and
shoves against him, forcing the ref to break it up. Andre whips
Hansen across the ring and charges, but Hansen dodges and Andre hits
the corner hard. The big man is down, so Hansen capitilizes with
some stomps and nearly gets a scoop slam in! Andre capitilizes with
a hammerlock. Andre talks some shit, and Hansen tries to club his
way to freedom. Hansen pushes Andre into the ropes, and the ref
breaks them up. Andre goes back to work on the wrist of Stan Hansen,
pulling it over his shoulder. Hansen only escapes by pulling Andre's
hair. Andre grabs the wrist again and this leads to a suplex! Andre
almost falls on Hansen, but ultimately drags him up to hit him
again. This transitions into a chin lock. Andre lets go and splashes
Hansen into the ropes. Hansen gets back up and hits a huge power
slam on Andre! Hansen then misses an elbow drop, but keeps control.
Hansen gets Andre into a cobra clutch. It takes him a bit, but Andre
powers his way out, but gets tripped into the ropes in short order.
Hansen is clearly selling this as the fight of his life. They end up
brawling at ringside, and some photographers get in the way of my
view. Hansen slams Andre's skull into the ring apron, and flees into
the ring. The bell has been rung, and it is not clear if the match
is going to continue or not. Andre argues with the officials,
apparently the fight at ringside was the cause (I can't really tell
due to everything being in Japanese). The match then restarts at
10:42.

Hansen arm drags Andre to the mat and hits some forearms to the
skull. Andre is then left hanging out to dry on the ropes, making
him an easy target for some more shots. Andre is pissed and
strangles Hansen on the ropes and hits a terrifying chop. Andre hits
a duo of head butts. Hansen blocks a shot to the turnbuckle and
drives Andre's skull into the ring post instead. Hansen goes for an
elbow drop, but Andre catches him and turns it into an arm lock.
They get to their feet and Andre puts Hansen into a standing
surfboard stretch, adding some head butts in for good measure. Andre
then hits a big power slam, but then misses a splash! Hansen misses
an elbow drop! Andre hits a few more head butts. Andre whips Hansen,
but misses the big boot and gets hit with a lariat! This sends Andre
falling over the ropes to ringside. Andre needs a minute to fix his
elbow pad, but returns to the ring. He pushes the referee aside and
clotheslines him! Andre continues his aggressive attack on Hansen,
while other officials flood the ring to check on the ref. The bell
rings at 15:04, apparently disqualifying Andre. The brawl between
Hansen and Andre storms on, and it is all the officials can do to
seperate them. The match was not technically great, but this was a
great brawl and had an epic feel to it. Hansen was in control at
parts, but always looked as if it was all he could do to keep up
with the giant. There were a lot of rest holds, but they were used
to advance the story of the match, not just used to allow the
wrestlers to take it easier. This all adds up to make a good ***
match.
Winner by DQ: Stan Hansen