Stan Hansen Will Be Inducted into 2016 WWE Hall of Fame

Stan Hansen was announced on Monday as the newest member of the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame class, according to Yahoo Japan (via WWE.com's Bobby Melok). Melok revealed on Tuesday that Vader will be the one to induct Hansen.

He's the sixth confirmed inductee for the Hall, joining Sting, The Fabulous Freebirds, Jacqueline, The Godfather and The Big Boss Man.

Hansen is considered one of the most physical performers of his era. He was famous for his Lariat clothesline, which incapacitated many Superstars.

In a match at New York City's Madison Square Garden in April 1976, Bruno Sammartino suffered a neck injury at the hands of Hansen. Wrestling writer Bill Apter interviewed Sammartino about the incident in May of that year:

In a February 1990 match against Hansen in Japan, Vader's eye fell out of its socket. The three-time WCW world champion quickly popped it back into place and continued the match.

"It was just instinct," said Vader in a 2011 interview with WWE.com's Ryan Murphy. "I popped it back in and it swelled up real quick and held it in, but that cost me about 30 percent of my vision, broke all the bones in my orbital, broke every bone in my nose. I had to have reconstructive surgery. That p----d me off."

Hansen wrestled all over the world, spending the bulk of his career in Japan with New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. According to Melok, he was the first foreign star to defeat Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, two giants of Japanese wrestling.

Hansen also wrestled for a brief period in NWA and WCW and beat Lex Luger for the NWA United States Championship at Halloween Havoc 1990. Between his work overseas and in the U.S., Hansen is more than deserving of induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Since April 3's WrestleMania 32 is a little over two weeks away, WWE has more time to announce one or more stars before finalizing its 2016 class. Hansen might be the last addition, though. A reader tipped off Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc that WWE's WrestleMania magazine included photos of Hansen and Jacqueline as Hall of Famers before they were officially announced as part of the 2016 class.

To that extent, Hansen was the last Superstar from the magazine yet to be confirmed for the Hall of Fame by WWE.