Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen

[8.0] "I love that everybody has either an 8 or 9 here. For me this will be an 8 because of the finish. ****"

[8.0] "Sigh, look what we used to have and look what we get today. We are never getting this back. I didn't love the finish but my god it was a ride to get there and an all timer of a crimson mask from Jumbo"

[9.0] "hell of a match, tsuruta and hansen had a hell of a match, that puerto rico carlos colon feud style came out if stan and tsuruta takes it perfect, makes hansen seem like a beast"

[8.0] "I kept seeing comments saying bloodbath but even I was surprised. Hansen brought a little of his Puerto Rican excursion back with him. This was really violent. Jumbo's knee got destroyed near the end of the match. Loved the ending and the post-match. Makes Hansen still seem like a monster."

[9.0] "YES. The Hansen/Jumbo matches in '86 are frustrating because they're often filled with great moments and stretches, but are bogged down by the things that happen around those moments. For the most part, this does away with that. It's not perfect. They still spend a good amount of time in holds, and Jumbo continues attacking the arm even though we know Hansen won't acknowledge it in any way, but to their credit, they do it in a much more interesting way than their previous matches, as there's more motion in and struggle in attempting to get out of a hold and cause the control segments are straight up meaner, with the holds often being supplemented with some hard-hitting strikes. Once this gets going though, this really gets going, turning into a straight-up slug-fest where Jumbo has to survive and out-wit the marauding Hansen. Not a classic or a masterpiece, but it's at the very least the best AJPW singles match of the year to this point, and by a country mile, the best of the Jumbo/Hansen matches so far. (****1/2)"

[8.0] "bloodbath brawl. Hansen dominates most of the match and Tsuruta bleeds a gusher. Just a good ole brawl. There weren't any flips, no crazy once in a lifetime moves. Just a great story, a hard hitting matchup, great selling and a good finish. ****1/4"

[9.0] "The best singles match between these two legends of AJPW. Stan Hansen gets the better of Tsuruta early before a bloody Tsuruta fights back. The match devolves into these two bloody heavyweights clubbing each other and it's as amazing as it sounds. The underdog Tsuruta fighting back against a heavyweight gaijin makes you think back to his Race match in 1982 and his Bruiser Brody match in 1983. If you were a fan of either of those matches, you'll like this one as well."

[8.0] "This is a defense of Hansen's NWA International Heavyweight Championship, which he won three months earlier to end Jumbo's three-year reign. And fellas, they finally stick the landing. They don't get bogged down in lengthy work on Hansen's arm this time. Nope, while Jumbo tries to gain control, he just gets dominated for much of the first half. Eventually, a lariat off the apron to the guardrail gives Jumbo the best gusher he's had since at least 1982 (from that one Harley Race match), and the match escalates from there into the 1-on-1 fight we've wanted to see since Hansen joined this company! Great ending story with the corner. I still have a few more years of Jumbo's career to watch, but even if he and Hansen never top this singles match I'll be at least somewhat satisfied at the end of the day. Because, at least this time, they did it right. ****"