Wrestler/Match Recommendations

Been watching some classic Stan Hansen matches,it would take forever to do a bio on his illustrious career so I just thought that I'd recommend a few really great matches to watch from a productive period during his run in AJPW(with a Harding hiiting WCW classic for good measure).

World Tag league AJPW(16/12/88)
Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshaki Kawada

Stan Hansen vs Mitsuharu Misawa(AJPW,27/07/90)

Stan Hansen vs Big Van Vader(WCW Wrestle War,24/02/91)

Stan Hansen vs Toshaki Kawada(AJPW,28/02/93)

Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi(AJPW,29/07/93)

All these matches are on YouTube

I've been watching a lot of matches involving Dr.Death Steve Williams so.I thought I'd do a bio and some match recommendations.

Born : 14/05/60
Died : 29/12/09

As a standout football player at the University of Oklahoma and four time all American heavyweight wrestler who then finished second to future Olympic gold medalist Bruce Baumgartner in the NCAA tournament, Williams had the athletic background wreatling promoters love.

Making his pro debut in 1982 Williams made an impact in Mid South before it became the UWF.Quickly becoming a two time tag champion with Ted Dibiase before releaving Big Bubba Rogers(Ray "Bossman" Traylor)of the UWF heavyweight title.Signed for JCP/WCW and excelled in the promotion with his hard hitting style and completed in War Games '89 and executed an amazing spot when he pressed the 300lb Terry Gordy,8 times against the top of the double cage.

Williams' awesome strength and brutal power moves were tailor made for AJPW,forming The Miracle Violence Combination with Terry Gordy.Won the Real League Tag Team Tournament with Gordy in '90 and '91 competing in wonderful matches against Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada,Stan Hansen and Dan Spivey and Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue.

Still working in WCW,1992 was another great year in the ring for Williams.Stellar effort with Gordy against the Steiners(who didn't dare to take any liberties against two genuine hard men)at Beach Blast then two awesome matches at The Great American Bash against Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff and Dustin Rhoades and Barry Windham in the semi and final of the tag tournament for the revived NWA tag titles.

More stellar work in AJPW against Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa in 1994.Ending Misawa'a near two year reign as The Triple Crown Champion.

The hard hitting style of Japan took its toll though,as an habitual steroid and pain killer user as 90% of Japanese workers were,Williams missed most of 1995 due to being court with a tiny amount of marijuana and the effects of various injuries.

Resurfaced to huge pops in ECW before ending his career on a sad note in the WWF.Not marketed properly and put in the Brawl For All Tournament without any training(he'd not competed in real scrap for years).

Was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2004 but recovered only for the disease to return,he passed away on 29/12/09 after being revived three times by paramedics.

Match recommendations :

With Terry Gordy vs Stan Hansen and Genchiro Tenryu(AJPW,06/03/90)

With Terry Gordy vs The Steiner Brothers(WCW Beach Blast 1992,20/06/92)

With Terry Gordy vs Rick Steamboat and Nikita Koloff(WCW The Great American Bash,12/07/92)Semi final NWA tag title tournament

With Terry Gordy vs Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham(final^)

Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi(AJPW,31/08/93)

Steve Williams vs Mitsuharu Misaw(AJPW Triple Crown,28/07/94)

Edge

I actually wrote a truly massive bio on Edge some months back that covered his entire active wrestling career only to accidentally delete it when I was posting it.So this is a truncated version focusing on what I thought were the highlights followed by some match recommendations.

Real name : Adam Copland
D.O.B : 30/10/73
Pro debut : June 1992

Grafted in the Canadian and Michigan indie scene as Sexton Hardcastle and teamed with life long pal Jason Reso(Christian)as The Suicide Blondes until a tryout with the WWF in a match with Bob Holly led to his fulltime TV debut on the 22/06/98 edition of RAW.Always a good performer,was teamed again with Christian and broke out following an amazing tag team ladder match with The Hardy Boys at No Mercy(17/10/99).

Became a multiple co-holder of the tag team titles with Christian in 2000 where they engaged in compelling feuds with the Hardys and the Dudleys,generally producing incredible matches.Including efforts at WM and Summerslam.Their mic work was always entertaining as well,featuring Bill and Ted style banter and hilarious putdowns.

Started 2001 strong with must see matches at WM and RAW.Won the King Of The Ring.Split with Christian and on 03/09/01 RAW and went solo.Meandered in worthless rivalries with Test,William Regal and Booker T in 2002 before getting into a heated feud with Kurt Angle which produced storming matches on TV and ppv.

Joined forces with Mysterio which led to a classic against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoitat No Mercy in October.The high impact and frequent matches left Edge battered,succumbing to neck injury in early 2003 which benched him until 22/03/04.

Struggled in 2004 with his dated image and went down with a ruptured grion on the 28tg August,he was sidelined for six weeks.

Turned heel upon his return and showed the kind of dynamism that headliners are made of.Contested in a fued with Matt Hardy which could have been better but thee heel work from Edge(based on real life events)had the crowds captivated.Edge was the most over heel in WWE.

Became a proven winner with the ratings due to his titanic efforts against John Cena,succeeding where Angle and Triple H failed,he actually made the live crowds empathic towards Xena which made for some truly wonderful storytelling.

Publicly disgraced in the steroid/pharmacy scandal in the summer of 2007 but returned to TV later in the year when the dust had settled.Competed in another essential feud with the Undertaker which culminated in a cracker at WM24 in 2008.His exploits with Vickie Guerrero again made RAW unmissable.

Lost momentum in 2009 after some lax booking and more debilitating injuries.After a few meaningful performances in 2010,his active career ended on April 3rd at WM27 2011.Diagnosed with spinal stenosis,he announced his retirement on April 11th still recognised as a world champion.

Match recommendations :

With Christian vs The Hardy Boyz(WWF No Mercy,17/10/99)

With Christian vs The Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boyz(WWF Summerslam,27/08/000

With Christian vs The Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boyz(WWF WM17,01/04/01)

Witch Christian vs Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit(WWF RAW,25/05/01)

Vs Kurt Angle(WWF Judgement Day,20/05/02)

Cage Match vs Kurt Angle(WWE Smackdown,30/05/02)

With Mysterio vs Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit(WWE No Mercy,20/11/02)

MITB(WM21,03/04/05)

Cage Match vs Matt Hardy(WWE Unforgiven,18/09/05)

Vs Mick Foley(WWE Backlash,02/04/06)

Vs RVD(WWE RAW,25/06/06)

Vs John Cena(WWE RAW,02/10/06)

Triple Threat Match vs Batista vs The Undertaker (WWE,16/12/06)

Vs Mysterio(WWE Royal Rumble,29/01/08)

Vs The Undertaker(WWE WM24,02/04/08)

Kensuke Sasaki

D.O.B : 04/08/66
Pro debut : February 1986
Retired : 11/02/14

Although Sasaki never reached the elite level of stardom of his peers Kenta Kobaahi,Mitsuhura Misawa,Keji Muto et all,he was still a fiercely credible performer and at 5'11" and 250lbs kept himself in great condition.In addition he was also the first man to hold all three of the major puroresu heavyweight titles.

Had great contests and feuds with The Road Warriors,The Steiner Brothers and many others in various promotions after rising to fame in 1991 based on the quality of his work in NJPW.

Married Akira Hokuto,one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time and maintained a balance in his private life and wrestling to the envy of many others.

Retired after a 28 year career due to a serious neck injury under advice from his doctor.

Match recommendations :

With Hiroshi Haze vs The Steiner Brothers (NJPW 1992)

Vs Kenta Kobashi(NOAH,18/07/05)

With Kenta Kobashi vs Genichiro Tenryu & Katsuhiko Nakajima(20th Anniversary Show11/02/06)

If you like the Japanese style especially in its most productive periods,check out Jumbo Tsuruta.

Real name : Tomomi Tsuruta
D.O.B : 13/05/51
Died : 13/05/2000

At 6"6' and just under 300lbs Tsuruta was a true giant both physically and in terms of respect in the heyday of AJPW due to his work ethic,range of holds,massive array of suplex variations and vicious lariats.
Famous for also being recognised as the first Triple Crown Heavyweight champion, winning the PWF,NWA United National title and the NWA International Heavyweight title aswell as being co-holder of the NWA International and PWF Tag Team titles.

Throughout his career he both went over and put over the biggest stars of the era in wars with the likes of Kenta Kobashi,Stan Hansen and Mistsuhura Misawa to name a few.

Here are just a handful of must see Dave Meltzer rated 5 star matches he competed on :

Vs Genchiro Tenryu : http://youtu.be/TthZiAkks8k (AJPW 06/12/89)

Vs Mitsuhura Misawa : http://youtu.be/58x8VgWCdYo (AJPW 08/06/90)

With Akira Taue and Mosambu Fuchi vs Mitsuhura Misawa,Kenya Kobaahi and Toshaki Kowada : http://youtu.be/Ry-RAjlWvbc (AJPW 09/10/90)

A few great matches that are well worth a look.

IC title match WWF SNME(27/10/92)The British Bulldog ( c ) vs Shawn Michaels
http://youtu.be/oTkRjQivjSQ

WWF Smackdown(20/07/00)Kane vs Kurt Angle
http://youtu.be/G61URi145jw

Intergender match Kana Pro Mania Triple Tails.S(11/02/11)Kana(Aauka)vs Munenori Sawa
http://youtu.be/h-Zt13rGJ1s