Stan Hansen [RF Video's "Behind Closed Doors" Shoot Interview]

The Good
RF Video's second shoot interview with Stan Hansen is not much different from the first. It is a little more scattered, but that can be okay. Stan Hansen has a variety of experiences in both the US and Japan that could be explored. Rob goes more into the Japanese experiences than I would have expected, but ultimately his ignorance of the culture, product and legacy of Stan Hansen limit the depth of discussion there. Hansen explains how he grew to enjoy Japan, why the preferred that style and some of his experiences with different people in and out of the ring. Overall, he seems to understand the nature of this interview better than previous outings, so he is a little more open. I found this enjoyable, but it was certainly not all I would have hoped for.

The Bad
A notorious kayfaber, Stan Hansen even says, "What's kayfabe?" when asked about it. Rob takes the bait and tries to explain it before realizing how stupid he is. Hansen sort of knows what the score is and answers a fair number of question with "that's what I've heard, so it must be true" and perpetuates old angles with a grin (i.e. breaking Bruno's neck with the Lariat). While he was not as bad as I've heard, it got aggravating at times as he did not give the straightforward answer you'd hope for. Overall, it seems that Rob's inability to develop a narrative, ask follow-up questions or carefully ask more prying questions really hindered this. If Stan Hansen wants to play the kayfabing game, you've got to be a better interviewer to get more out of them. People like Arn Anderson, Jimmy Valiant and Stan Hansen will always be worthwhile people to interview, but it takes a quality interviewer to get them to really shoot.

The Rating: ***1/2