About Stan Hansen
John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949), best known as Stan "the Lariat" Hansen, is an American retired professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributed to his poor eyesight, and for his gimmick as a loud, violent cowboy who wanted to fight everybody, which he further emphasized by appearing in interviews with a cowboy hat, leather vest and bullrope while often chewing on tobacco. Considered one of the most successful and popular gaijin in Japanese professional wrestling history, he became more well-known and revered in Japan than in his native United States. In Japan's AJPW promotion, he held seven different championships. Overall he is a ten-time world champion. Outside of wrestling Hansen played a small role in the movie No Holds Barred in 1989 and in 2011 he released his co-written biography, The Last Outlaw. In 1975, Hansen first teamed with future partner Frank Goodish, who later adopted the ring name Bruiser Brody, while competing in Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State territory. Hansen first came to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in January 1977 through the booking of Vince McMahon Sr. From November 21 to December 13, 1980, Hansen did a tour for NJPW, where he competed in the first MSG Tag League tournament (later renamed the G1 Tag League). With his "reputation" as the man who broke Bruno Sammartino's neck, Hansen quickly became a top heel, facing Antonio Inoki and other top New Japan stars like Seiji Sakaguchi and Tatsumi Fujinami.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.