BETTER THAN YOU, CHICO
“You ain’t beat till you quit so if you don’t quit then you never lose”
That was a quote from Scott Hall that he gave to 2 young kids born with HIV/AIDS on the Jerry Springer show and honestly it is one of the best I have ever heard. Unfortunately for us here on Earth, God has called Scott Hall home. As sad as I am that Scott is gone, I am thankful that God gave him a chance to redeem himself. There have been many points that God could have called Scott home before he connected with DDP but he didn’t. I remember that E:60 documentary they did on Scott Hall and his fall from the top and it broke my heart. I hated to see 1 of my favourite wrestlers unable to pull the nose of his plane up. But i always believe that God didn’t want to bring Scott to heaven like that. God knew that Scott had it in him to beat his demons and what a glorious victory it was.
In his own words he would say that he did not like himself and was not worthy of the afterlife but also that the only perfect person to walk this earth was nailed to the cross. Such amazing perspective and it is absolutely 100% on the money. There are no levels of imperfection, you can’t be less imperfect than someone else. Either you are perfect or you aren’t. Jesus died for Scott Hall just the same as he died for the straight edge man /woman that goes to church every Sunday. When Scott left this Earth, he left it as a winner. He beat his demons and never stopped fighting to live the rest of his life as close to the best version of himself he could get. And after 3 heart attacks, God raised his hand for the 3rd drop but when they took him off life support, i’ll be damned if his hand didn’t stay in the air for a few more hours lol only Scott Hall would have the audacity to kick out of God’s finish. That’s why everyone loved him…and hated him lol
Scott Hall lived a unique life as both the best and worst version of himself at times. He lived through some tough, tough tragedy that would stay with him as an anchor around his neck for the rest of his life. But despite all that he became a loving Father. And he became 1 of the greatest, most influential wrestlers to ever step foot in the squared circle. Scott Hall helped change the business both inside and outside the ring. He is an integral part of some of the greatest matches in wrestling history. The knowledge he had about wrestling and the psychology of it was on another level than 99% of his peers. He became a hero to millions of people around the world including myself and toothpick manufacturers lol when you look up the word ‘cool’ in the dictionary there shuld be a picture of Hall and Nash.
Ah man Nash and the Kliq, this is obviously the worst kind of hurt. I send up prayers of love and strength to those guys who were as close as brothers. This is a day that they all knew would come but with his recovery, it looked like they were gonna get to be grumpy old men together. Hall and Nash will forever be connected and that’s the way it should be. I’ll never forget how exciting it was to see The Outsiders show up in WCW and create the nWo, every kid wanted to look and talk as cool as those guys. They pissed off a lot of people along the way but that was just bc they made themselves the #1 priority to try and maximize the money and exposure they got. They worked to get influence in creative decisions and they used it. They were more concerned about providing their family with the best life possible than the rest of the boys liking them. I def wasn’t a fan of everything they did but I always respected them for being smart about it and treating the business as a business.
From day 1 I was a Razor Ramon fan, I just couldn’t hate him. Along with machismo, Razor oozed charisma. He had the best look for a wrestler, the way he talked drew you into every word he said. He kicked ass in the ring and had a cool finisher. I was always rooting for him to ‘turn good’ lol when I would wrestle with my stuffed gorilla and it was time for Razor’s match, I would wet my hair like Razor, put on 1 of my Dad’s suit vest’s and tie up shoelaces to act as gold chains lol chico and mang became part of my daily vocabulary and to this day my Dad adds a chico and mang from time to time when he is talking lol the Razor Ramon theme was perfect for the character and stands as 1 of the best of all time. 6 foot 7 but was very athletic and could more than hang with grapplers. If you could build a wrestler from the ground up, you would get Scott Hall. The best version of Scott Hall scared satan to death and you see that with how hard he attacked Scott. Just imagine what his career would have looked like if that incident at the strip club had never happened. Honestly he probably would have been the next Hulk Hogan bc with his movie star looks he would have broken into the mainstream like Hogan did. He broke into the mainstream anyways so I feel pretty safe on that limb.
I even got my moment with Razor at a live event in 1995. My buddy Cam had a connection to the Saddledome in Calgary so we got to stand backstage as some wrestlers walked by. I hated Jeff Jarrett’s guts and loved Razor so I was all riled up to look tough and say ‘kick his ass Razor!’ But much to my disappointment I lost my voice the day of the show so it was all rasp. Razor walked by and I said it in my raspy voice, he laughed and said “I’ll get him, chico.” Made my life lol but I was crushed as well bc I wanted to look like a tough guy in front of Razor by saying ass in my tough guy voice but I knew my raspy voice did not have the same effect lol I’ve always been grateful that he gave me my moment and didn’t just walk by without saying anything. Man I really wish I would have written this while he was still alive. Gonna take a walk through his life and career to try and pay tribute to 1 of the all time greats. I watched the awesome documentary they did for his WWE DVD so that is where I got the information from, def recommened checking it out.
Scott Hall was born Oct 20, 1958 in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. His Dad was in the military so he was an Army brat like me. The family moved around a lot but their Dad was a war hero so it wasn’t a big deal. Scott actually graduated high school in Munich, Germany which gives perspective on why they say that military families serve too. Moving so much is def tough but they still had a great family life and with a war hero father, excellence was required. Maybe his lack of ambition to be a World Champion or ‘the guy’ for any wrestling company was his way of rebelling. At 8 years old, Scott found wrestling and fell in love with it to the point that it became his first addiction. The match that did it was a hair vs hair match, and you know he ain’t lying bc he still has the program and some hair from the match. That’s fn cool. Scott’s first wrestling hero was Dusty Rhodes, he wanted to be Dusty and be over in Florida like him to meet girls lol
It was time to leave Maryland behind so with $140 in his pocket, he hitchhiked to Orlando with his buddies and never looked back. Eventually he was asked to be a bouncer but was wary bc he wasnt a huge guy yet and didn’t want to be dealing with angry, tough guys. After a few shifts he knew there wasn’t anything to be sacred of and that most places attracted tourists with money so the tough guys were not the majority. The big money was made bouncing in strip clubs so that’s where Scott took his talents.
He started with a rule that he wouldn’t date a woman where he worked but we all know how fast the right(or wrong) woman can make you break it lol and that happened with Scott as he started dating a stripper where he worked but unfortunately learned the hard way why you should never break the rules you set for yourself. Another guy that his girlfriend had been seeing pulled a gun on Scott in the parking lot, they fought and Scott got the gun and went to pistol whip him but it was loaded, ready to fire and blew the back of the guys head off. Total accident in self defense but in his own words, it was brutal. Blood all over him and obviously the scene on the ground was terrible. Not fair man, this guy puts Scott in a position to fight for his life and when the worst happens, Scott is the one that has to carry the crushing emotional weight for the rest of his life.
Everyone is a good person at heart and it is the influences of satan and his demons that turn us into vessels for evil. The good in some people is buried deep but for others it is closer to the surface and the good in Scott Hall was def closer to the surface. You can see that with his reaction to this incident. Someone whose good was buried deep wouldn’t have cared that they killed someone but Scott struggled with it every day. It didn’t matter that this guy was ready to kill Scott if he had won the struggle for the gun or that Scott didn’t intend to kill him, all that mattered to Scott was that this man wasn’t gonna wake up in the morning bc of him. I hate that this happened to him bc it is def the catalyst for the time he spent as the worst version of himself. After an investigation he was cleared of all charges but got no help for the trauma and just kinda shrugged it off which is the worst thing you can do.
Trying to put that behind him and start working to achieve his dream of becoming a wrestler, Scott started hitting weights after that and joined every gym in the city to try and get noticed by the wrestlers. It worked and he ended up doing squats with Kevin Sullivan and told him he wants to be a wrestler. Kevin Sullivan was impressed at his body as well as his mind so he started spreading the word. Scott even showed up at the aiport to try and stand out to the veteran wrestlers by carrying their luggage including for one Jake the Snake Roberts who would become 1 of Scott’s closest friends. That was how you paid your dues and earned respect back then. Eventually it was his hero Dusty Rhodes who had the biggest role in helping build and mold Scott as they worked together in some fashion every night. Then he was put into a tag team with Dan Spivey called American Starship and Scott was billed as Starship Coyote. American Starship didn’t have much going for them as their biggest success was losing a tag team title shot to Arn & Ole Anderson so they went their seperate ways shortly after arriving at the Kansas City territory.
Scott met HBK in KC and I believe this is where Scott had a confrontation with Marty Jannetty before he was a Rocker. I watched a shoot interview where Scott described being ribbed by Marty and made to look like an idiot. In those days if you let someone disrespect you they would just keep doing it so Scott decided to respond immediately. He found Marty taking a nap in the building and just started beating the shit out of him lol safe to say that nobody was gonna fck with Scott Hall after that. Everyone recognized right away that Scott had ‘the look’ for wrestling looking like a jacked Tom Selleck who was a huge star on TV at the time. In a cruel twist of irony, Scott was looking for wrestling to take him out of the bar scene but couldn’t even afford a pair of wrestling boots so Dusty actually bought him his first pair and never asked for a penny. When Scott made it to the AWA and started making decent money, he paid Dusty back in full and Dusty couldn’t have been more proud. He was obviously testing Scott to see what kind of man he was. Shawn Michaels gave Scott some good advice and help during their time in KC and Scott was so appreciative he wrote HBK a postcard thanking him for the help. The best version of Scott Hall was such a fcking great guy.
Scott was building a reputation for having a great mind for wrestling/entertainment which was why Blackjack Lanza brought him into the AWA. 1 of the most important moments in Scott Hall’s life, he met DDP in AWA and they became instant friends. He started as ‘Magnum’ Scott Hall and ‘Big’ Scott Hall before heading to Japan for multiple tours btwn 1987-1990 which definitely helped speed up his development as a wrestler. Back in the AWA he formed a Tag Team with Curt Hennig who carried the team and taught Scott so much. Curt taught him how to talk to promoters and not be taken advantage of, something that Scott would take to the next level in the 90’s while Scott taught Curt how to build muscle in the gym. Scott didnt drink in the AWA so he was never in the bar but so much of the fellowship/business back then went down in the bar that he basically had no choice but to start indulging and we know where that led to. Sad that the wrestling business was so toxic like that back then. Kinda funny story on the documentary about Curt introducing his wife to Scott and thanking him for the gym work while apologizing for introducing him to pills lol
Scott and Curt won the AWA Tag Titles from Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal and had a decent 4 month reign before losing them to Buddy Rose and Doug Somers. The team broke up and Scott started recieving World Title shots as the AWA was considering putting the title on Scott but he didnt want it recognzing that the AWA was a sinking ship. Scott left the AWA in 1989 for WCW but he did not find the success he would later, working as ‘Gator’ Scott Hall and losing the majority of his matches. Seeing the writing on the wall, Scott would head overseas to work for NJPW, CWA in Germany and then for the WWC in Puerto Rico. It was def a blessing in disguise that his career hadn’t worked out in the states to that point bc the lessons he learned in those territories are priceless and a big reason why he was so great in the ring. He tried to get in the WWF working a dark match but they said no so he actually left the business. Fell in love and married his wife Dana and planned to live a normal life working a normal job but needed money and wrestling was the best way. Scott phoned DDP who was in WCW with 1 last pitch to stay in the business, The Diamond Studd.
DDP loved the idea so he got Scott hired and created the whole Diamond Studd look. Another one of the most important moments in Scott’s life, he 1st meets Kevin Nash during this stint in WCW when Scott was still into the gym more than partying. Before the Outsiders Hall and Nash, we had the Diamond Studd and Vinnie Vegas lol once again Scott’s WCW run was underwhelming but motivation/ambition was always a problem for him and I think that comes from the guilt he carried after the strip club incident. Being at the top is a big, heavy spotlight and I doubt he wanted to put himself and the incident in that spotlight. If he was just below the top of the card, he could make good money and avoid everything that comes with top spot and I think he was satisfied with that. But he wanted to be in the WWF so he phoned WWF offices and asked to talk to Pat Patterson for a year with no luck. Eventually he reached out to Curt Hennig who was in the WWF and asked if Curt could get him a shot. Curt said he would try and sure enough Scott finally got a call from Patterson, who asked if he signed a contract with WCW and of course Scott had just signed. Scott was upset but Patterson calmed him down and said in a year when the contract is up, it will be a better deal. After another uneventful year for Scott Hall in WCW, he signed with the WWF and Razor Ramon was born.
Scott did a dark match as Razor in Diamond Studd gear and they offered him a contract. He had a meeting with Vince and as they were trying to figure out a character, Vince learned that Scott’s Dad was in the military and a wave of panic came over Scott lol i’m sure he could envision Vince shaving his head and making him the new Sgt Slaughter so Scott brought up that his favourite movie was Scarface and he did his Tony Montana impression for Vince who was immediately SOLD. Before his debut, we were introduced to the character through a series of legendary vignettes that still stand the test of time for cool, humour and entertainment. I watched them all and had to write up the transcripts for them bc they are just too good:
From the Gutter – Ramon. Razor Ramon. I come from the gutter, I know that. I got no education, who needs it. Look at me, look at me. Look at the gold, look at my clothes. I’m a success. I’m coming to the WWF. All i want is what I got coming to me…the world chico and everything in it.
El Jefe – Say hello to Razor Ramon. Check my ride, mang. Its a cadillac, mang. Custom made for Razor. You know chico, 90 miles away they living like pigs, they living in squalor mang, they eating garbage. People telling them what to do. Nobody telling Razor Ramon what to do, mang. Nobody. I’m coming to the WWF, nobody going to stop me. Nobody going to tell Razor Ramon what to do. El Jefe, Razor Ramon.
Chicas Are For Fun – Take a look at Razor Ramon. I living the good life, mang. Me, I know how to relax, chico. I’m living like a king.
“Random Woman: Razor what happened last night. i call you and you dont call me back.I thought we had something going”
No chica, you don’t understand. You had something, you had a good time. I through with you now, got outta here, i through with you. Adios. Mang, the chicas they for fun, I prob scar her heart for life. That’s too bad. I coming to the WWF not for fun. You step into the ring with Razor Ramon it’s strictly business, chico. I not going to scar your heart, oh no, im going to scar your soul! I am Razor Ramon, El Jefe.
Taking What You Want – Take a look at me. I am Razor Ramon. I am somebody important, mang. Me, I’m like Adam in the Garden of Eden. I’m the only real man. Everybody, they want to be like me. Little kids, they want to grow up and be like me. Bambilos, forget about school, what you learn in a book can’t make you like Razor. You want to be like Razor, you got to do like Razor. You just take whatever you want. takes a piece of fruit
man asks Razor to pay for his fruit
You got a problem with me taking whatever I want…and if there’s anybody else that doesn’t like me taking whatever i want in the WWF, we going to have a really big problem, chico. spits fruit in the mans face
Clearing The Table – Nothing too good for Razor Ramon. Good food, good drink, good chicas. Only some people in the WWF, they been putting Razor down. Saying he’s not good enough. What do they think, i’m some kind of a pig, some kind of an animal!? Ya know what I think, i think maybe they’re scared. I think maybe they’re afraid of Razor Ramon slams his hand down on the waiter’s hand as he puts the bill on the table
What is this man…you got a bill for me, you know who i am!? I am Razor Ramon. People find out I eat in this restaurant they line up down the street, chico. Get outta here, mang. What’s next maybe i could mop the floor for you huh man you like that maybe i mop your floor, you want me to go in the back maybe i could wash some dishes for you, mang. You like that, mang. Come here, mang, maybe i pick the food from your teeth would you like that, chico? I’ll pick the food for you, whats next, mang huh maybe i could bus the table for you huh, chico. Would you like me to clear the table for you, mang, maybe i could clear the table huh is that what you would like, mang? I clear the table for you mang swipes everything off the table with his arms I clear the table for you mang throws toothpick at the camera
Beach Bully – the sound of the waves kissing the beach, mang. That’s the sound that’s so relaxing to Razor Ramon. But there’s another sound, chico, that’s very, very irritating to Razor. That’s the sound of people in the WWF putting Razor down, mang. Saying I some kind of a filthy, stinking cockaroach! Sounds to me like maybe they afraid of Razor Ramon, there’s nothing to be scared of, mang. What do you think, i some kind of a beach bully, mang? I’m going to kick sand in your face, mang? All I want, fama y fortuna. Fame, fortune and the WWF title. There’s nothing to be scared of mang, unless chico, you try and stop me, mang. And then we going to have a big problem, mang. I’m not going to kick sand in your face, chico, i’m gonna kick your stinking face into the sand!
Making a Wish – You know, mang. Everybody, I mean everybody in the WWF, they wishing they could be on top, mang. They dreaming of being the WWF Champion. They may as well be wishing on a star, mang. They may as well be tossing their dinero in a wishing well, like this monkey shoves man into the wishing well lol I make his dream come true, mang. He dreaming of a swim. Now i’m going to make Razor’s dream come true, not by wishing, by taking. I’m going to take what I got coming to me, mang. The WWF and everything in it.
Forget The Past – what a waste, mang..(spanish word I couldn’t make out)..the old timers, they coming to the land of opportunity. For what, they hanging onto the old ways, mang. They hanging onto the past, they sitting around all day playing dominoes. Me, I say forget about the past, mang. Nobody cares where you come from, chico, they only care where you’re going. Look at me, mang, I going to the top. The very top of the WWF. So Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Mang, hey el presidente Jack Tunney, you bring your heroes on, mang. And Razor Ramon, he going to knock em down like stinking stack of dominoes!
So fcking good man I think my favs are Clearing The Table, Making A Wish, Taking What You Want and El Jefe. Cool story told by Scott on the DVD about Al Pacino seeing a picture of Razor Ramon on a picture board put up by an entertainment editor at the Montreal Film Festival and said ‘that’s that Razor guy, he does Scarface better than me.’ I hope that’s a true story bc it is awesome. Would have loved to see the 2 of them sit down together but i’d settle for Al Pacino’s thoughts on Razor Ramon and Scott Hall. Right from day 1, Razor Ramon took the WWF by storm in the ring and on the mic displaying his cool moveset as he racked up the wins. As I said at the beginning, I couldn’t hate Razor. Loved the fall away slam aka the sack of shit lol, the slaps to the back of the head, the side suplex off the middle rope, all his taunts and of course the Razor’s Edge. His 1st angle in the company was helping Ric Flair defeat Macho Man for the WWF Title and this led to an awesome match at Survivor Series 1992 that saw Razor/Flair wrestle Macho Man/Mr Perfect.
After 8 months in the company, Razor was ready for a shot at WWF Champion Bret Hart at the 1993 Royal Rumble and I was worried. Bret was my guy and I wanted him to have a long title reign but Razor was the biggest threat so far. In the lead up to the match, Razor and Bret had an awesome exchange on the mic that me and my brother watched 1000 times since the tape of Royal Rumble 1993 we had started with the pre-show and it showed the entire feud. It’s so good but I don’t think anyone but me and my brother even remember it lol
“Bret: You know Raymond, you know what everyone says to me over and over and over, they always say, people’s champion.
Razor appears on the video wall
Razor: Yo. Yo. Hitmang. Shut up! Shut up chico.
Bret: What do you want, what is this?
Razor: Oh, Bret Hart. The people’s choice.
Bret: That’s right brother.
Razor: The working man’s champion. 8 and a half years in the WWF. 2 times, the Tag Team Champion.
Bret: That’s right. What are you hiding behind a rock somewhere, why don’t you come out here.
Razor: Shut up chico. 2 times, the Intercontinental Champion. And now, you climb your way to the very, very top. You the main mang.
Bret: that’s right brother.
Razor: You the WWF Champion. Well say hello to the bad guy! Hey chico, squashing, your baby brother, like a cockaroach, that was fun mang. And chico, if I see your Daddy, walking the street, I may slap his face too. Because Razor Ramon, takes whatever he wants.
Bret: Hey let me tell you something Razor Ramon…
Razor: Callate chico! Razor Ramon takes whatever he wants. And Hitmang, I. Want. You!
Bret: You want me?
Razor: I want you.
Bret: You want a piece of me so bad, you think you’re so tough. Why don’t we come out here right now, come out from behind your rock, LET’S DO IT BROTHER!
Razor: You want me? I’ll slap you face you punk.
Bret: We don’t need to wait for the Royal Rumble, we can step out right now, right in that ring and finish this thing!
Razor: I’ll slap your face you punk.
Bret: LET’S DO IT! COME ON! YOU’RE GUTLESS! WHERE’S YOUR GUTS!?
Razor: Oyeme chico, oyeme. Listen to me! Nobody! Tells Razor Ramon what to do. Nobody! Tells Razor Ramon when to do it. You want to fight Razor Ramon!? YOU GO IT! Este Domingo chico, This Sunday! Royal Rumble. And chico, you look at me you punk! There is nothing your fans can do. There is nothing, tu familia, your family can do. And Hitmang, Hitmang, there is nothing you can do, to stop, Razor Ramon from taking your precious gold. Hahaha
Bret: Let me tell you something Razor Ramon, the name’s not chico, the name’s Hitman. And i take pride, I take pride in being the World Wrestling Federation Champion, and this Sunday at the Royal Rumble, were allllll gonna take pride, when I kick your butt!!”
Just played the cocky, asshole to perfection and really made you want to see Bret kick his butt. It was a great match that saw some great psychology with Razor working Bret’s ribs to set up for the Razor’s Edge but Bret was able to get him in the Sharpshooter and retain his title. Razor and Bret faced off again at KOTR 1993 and it might be better than the Rumble match. They had great chemistry it’s a shame we didn’t see more matches between them. Razor made his WrestleMania debut at WM 9 defeating Bob Backlund via small package after a short match but the most noteworthy part of it was that the fans cheered Razor despite him being the heel. After this they were having trouble getting heel reactions for Razor bc the fans were loving the character so the office wanted to move Razor to babyface but didnt want to do the traditional turn so they had another idea. They came up with the feud vs the 123 Kid to use up all the heel heat he had to get ready for his babyface run. It was the shock of my life when I heard that Razor Ramon lost to a jobber lol but it did the trick, I was instantly obsessed with seeing this wrestler that beat Razor Ramon. In those days, enhancement talent didn’t even sniff a victory against a guy like Razor and it goes to show how over Razor was that he not only survived it but came out even more popular.
Razor would lose to the Kid again but was slowly starting to gain respect for him and even helped him defeat Ted Dibiase. Most guys in Razor’s position would have refused this angle but Razor was smart enough to see the potential and also unselfish enough to try and use his heat to make another star. And he absolutely did bc Sean Waltman took this rub and turned it into a Hall of Fame career. Ted Dibiase started making fun of Razor for losing to a jobber so they had a match at SummerSlam 1993 that Razor won and now there was no doubt that Razor was a babyface. After Shawn Michaels was suspended and stripped of the Intercontinental Title, the WWF held a Battle Royal to determine the next champion with the last 2 remaining wrestlers facing off the next week in a match for the vacant title. The final 2 were Razor and Rick Martel so they were set to face off for the IC Title on RAW and had an awesome match that culminated with the Razor’s Edge giving Razor his first taste of gold in the WWF. I didn’t get RAW yet at this time so I was devastated to miss this match but so pumped when I learned that Razor won.
It was around this time that the Kliq started to come together after HBK brought in Nash to be his bodyguard. Scott already had a relationship with both guys so it was natural for them to hang out together and Scott had also built a bond with Kid so the 4 of them started riding together. HHH would join them when he came into the company in 1995 and the rest is history. Scott shared his knowledge of wrestling with the group and it’s cool to hear these all time greats talk about how Scott really helped them understand the business on another level. Eventually HBK came back to the company with his belt proclaiming to be the real IC Champion and this leads to the incredible ladder match at WM X. Hilarious moment at the press conference when HBK tries to be cocky and blow a big bubble with his gum when Razor pops it with his toothpick lol 1 of the greatest matches of all time that inspired the next generation of wrestlers to take Ladder Matches to the next level. But none of it happens on the level it did if Razor/HBK don’t set the table with this match. It wasn’t just a spotfest, they had a great match around the Ladder while also using it beat the shit out of each other. That Ladder looks legit heavy and not as safe as the Ladders they use now. Razor wins and hits that epic pose on top of the ladder with both belts.
For a guy that didn’t want the pressures of being a top guy, Razor really became a great ambassador for the company going the whole 9 yards for charity work and promoting the company. Scott really tried to be a great Dad when he was home and he always took care of his Mom with whatever she needed. He admits that he wasn’t a good husband but thinks he did ok as a Dad and son. There was an amazing segment on the Jerry Springer show of all places where Razor showed up in full gear to meet with kids that were born with HIV/AIDS and Razor was just incredible making the kids feel special. He didn’t hesitate to hug them or put his arms around them showing the world that it is ok to be around people with HIV/AIDS and you can be their friend, there is nothing to be scared of. He would deliver that incredible quote I started with – ‘you ain’t beat till you quit so if you don’t quit then you never lose.’ Then Razor gave the kid the real belt that he carried around. In an interview with the kids 20 years later, they said this moment was a really big deal to them and that he still has the belt. Razor was scared to tell Vince but Vince was more than cool with it.
After WM X, Razor would feud with Diesel throughout the spring/summer even dropping the IC Title to him on an episode of Superstars. This would lead to a big match at SummerSlam 1994 where Razor had NFL Legend Walter Payton in his corner and defeated Diesel to win his 2nd IC Title. Great moment for Razor and it was cool to see Walter Payton genuinely enjoying himself. Razor would lead “The Bad Guys” (The 1–2–3 Kid, Davey Boy Smith, and The Headshrinkers) into Survivor Series 1995 to face “the Teamsters” (Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Jeff Jarret) and end up being the sole survivor. Razor carried the IC Title into Royal Rumble 1995 to face Jeff Jarrett and I thought a Razor victory was a mere formality but boy was I wrong. After the Roadie clipped Razor’s knee and Razor demanded the match be restarted when he was counted out, Jarrett scored a quick small package and won the title. I was crushed lol I couldn’t stand Jarrett and the fact that he took Razor’s gold drove me nuts. It got worse at WrestleMania 11 when Razor only won by DQ after the Roadie interfered and made 12 hear old Jason lose his mind lol I didn’t think Jarrett deserved to lace Razor’s boots so to see him leave WM with the belt was too much.
Razor would get a measure of revenge defeating Jarrett and the Roadie in a handicap match but it wasn’t for the title so it was no victory for me lol Jarrett finally lost the title to Razor but it was on a house show and he won it back 3 days later so once again, no victory for me. After suffering a rib injury, Razor formed a tag team with Savio Vega losing to Men on a Mission at In Your House 2. At SummerSlam 1995, we got the rematch of the WM X classic Ladder Match between Razor and HBK and they tore the house down again. Not as good as their WM X match but still a great match that HBK won. In Your House 4 was in Winnipeg and I was there to see HBK forfeit the title to Dean Douglas after he was attacked in Syracuse at a night club. I was upset I wouldn’t get to see HBK wrestle but was immediately excited when Razor took HBK’s place and won the title from Dean Douglas to become the 1st ever 4 time IC Champ.
Razor would enter into a feud with Goldust, a controversial new character that had bigtime gay overtones. I loved the feud bc of the psychology. Machismo was a strength of Razor but Goldust exploited it to get Razor off his game and it worked to perfection. After Goldust brought in Marlena, you realized he was just playing psychological games with his opponents to gain an advantage. I thought it was brilliant but I guess Scott was not happy about a part of it and I think it def contributed to the spark that made Scott look at WCW as an option. Razor lost the IC Title to Goldust at Royal Rumble 1996 thanks to interference from the 123 Kid who had turned heel. There was a Crybaby match or something between Razor and Kid at IYH 6 but the less said about that the better. Behind the scenes, Razor talked to Vince to try and find out what he needed to do to get the big money contract but Vince didn’t think that was an option so Razor gave his notice. Then they suspended him for 6 weeks for drug use which caused Razor to miss WM 12 and there was no doubt now that he was WCW bound.
Razor’s last PPV match before leaving was losing to Vader at IYH 7 but his last night was the infamous ‘Curtain Call’ at MSG. The main event was HBK vs Diesel in a cage and after it was over they embraced each other which was not cool since they just in an intense feud. But then Razor and HHH joined them to pose together and they might as well have dropped a nuke on kayfabe. Babyfaces and heels weren’t even supposed to ride together nevermind embrace in the ring but the business was about to change and kayfabe would have died anyways so this wasn’t the business killing moment people thought it was. I didn’t like it just bc I saw it as extremely selfish but I might feel different if it was me and my friends instead. Whatever side you fall on, you have to agree that it was one of the most historic and talked about moments ever in wrestling. Scott was able to get a WCW contract for less dates and big guaranteed money and when Nash learned the details of Scott’s contract, he got his own deal and gave his notice to Vince.
May 27, 1996. The night that changed the wrestling business forever. Scott Hall shows up on Nitro, coming out of the crowd and getting into the ring to cut this legendary promo –
You people, you know who I am. But you don’t know why I’m here. Where is billionaire Ted? Where is the Nacho Man? That punk can’t even get in the building. Me? I go where ever I want, whenever I want. And where oh where is Scheme Gene? Cause I got a scoop for you. When that Ken doll look-a-like, when that weather man wannabe comes out here later tonight, I got a challenge for him, for billionaire Ted, for the Nacho Man and for anybody else in WCW. You want to go to war? You want a war? You’re gonna get one.
I don’t know if I can express how insane this moment was to younger wrestling fans. No internet to learn that Hall and Nash were signed and working a new invasion gimmick. You had the Wrestling Observer but that was still only a small group of fans that had that information, most like me had no clue about contracts. For Scott Hall to debut on Nitro and not in some lame gimmick but literally suggesting he was starting a WWF vs WCW war, this was the most exciting thing that had ever happened in wrestling. We barely got RAW regularly so watching Nitro was not even a possibility for me and it hurt lol the angle just got crazier the next week when Scott crashed the announce booth at the end of Nitro:
Hall: Just relax, chico. Yo ken doll, i had such a good time last week that i came back for more. Relax, mang, relax. You started it, you wanna go to war, you got a war. You started, we gonna finish it.
Bischoff: What do you mean we, you come up with this we stuff…
Hall: You know who, mang, you know who. Did daddy warbucks, he get his money yet
Sting comes out to the booth
Bischoff: Wait a minute, Stinger. Wait a minute, Stinger. Not here, not now. Dont even dignify it…
Sting: You came out here last week and said some real horrible things about WCW. Some real horrible things about the Hulkster, about the Macho Man. Somewhere along the way you got lost, do you have any idea where you are? You’ re in the jungle, babay! This is WCW, thats right.. hold on. And every week you come out here and say you want 3 of the best in WCW.
Hall: That’s right, mang, thats right 3 of the best.
Sting: You want 3 of the best but i dont see 2 with you, all i see is yu and me. So why dont we just do this 1 on 1 right here, right now!
Hall: Yo. Yo, you wanna fight mang, you wanna fight? You got one. Only, nobody tells me what to do, and chico, nobody tells me when to do it.
tosses toothpick in Stings face
Sting slaps the taste out of Hall’s mouth
Police step in between them
Hall: Ok tough guy, i got a little, no, i got a big suprise for you. Next week.
Couldn’t have a better person than Sting come to WCW’s defense and this was a great exchange. The heat behind that slap made you think there was something real to this. Credit to everyone involved bc the segments just kept getting better. The next week, Nash makes his debut in an awesome segment and poured gas on the fire that Hall’s debut lit. I was so excited about what was happening yet could almost cry that I had to miss Nitro every week, it was all I was thinking about lol but this whole thing doesn’t work if it isn’t Hall and Nash. Their charisma and cool factor was the heart and soul of the nWo. At the Great American Bash PPV, Hall and Nash would make a statement that the wrestling world would not forget:
Bischoff: For the last several weeks, since May 27, we’ve had a number of, let’s call them interruptions on Nitro. I know, I know, I know, i pointed out last week that if they want an answer we are prepared to give them an answer. We know who they are, come on out guys.
Hall and Nash come out
Alright I promised you an answer, that’s what you’re here for but we’ve got some questions we’ve got to resolve before we do all that. Right off the bat I want to let you know right here, right now, I was in the WCW offices, debated, you want a match? You want a war? You want it inside of the ring, you’re gonna get it.
Hall: They fell into the trap big mang, o
Bischoff: Hold on, hold on, ive got a couple considerations here, before we go. Hold on, I will tell you it will be at Bash at the Beach, July 7th in Daytona.
Hall: I’m free, I’m free.
Bischoff: But before we go any further, hold on, hold, before we go any further let’s clear 1 thing up. Do you work for the WWF?
Hall: No, no. Forget about the past, chico, let’s worry about the future. We wanna know who your 3 guys are. Is it the Nacho Man? I don’t think so. And what about the immortal huckster? Ya know, you tell billionaire Ted to break out the money and get anybody he can bc the big mang and the medium sized mang and our surprise buddy are gonna carve them up.
Bischoff: I wanna ask you(Nash) a question right now, he’s(Hall) had his say.
Hall: Who are they, mang, who are they?
Bischoff: I can’t tell you, i’ll tell ya tomorrow night on Nitro. That’s..
Hall: You cant tell us, you don’t jack us around punches Bischoff in the stomach and Nash powerboms him off the stage Hey yo, the real big boys, they just left the building.
Oh man when I heard that Nash powerbombed Bischoff off the stage there wasn’t anyone that could have told me this wasn’t a real war lol i am so blessed to have got to grow up and experience this as it was happening bc it was so much fun to anticipate what was coming next with every fibre of your being and have it actually pay off and then some. Hall and Nash didn’t get any more interview time leading up to Bash at the Beach but they kept showing up with tickets to sit in the front row and with baseball bats. This would lead to the moment that would change the business forever. At the Bash at the Beach PPV, Hall, Nash and a mystery partner would face Sting, Lex Luger and Macho Man in match that had the entire wrestling world watching to see who the 3rd man would be. Towards the end of the match, Hulk Hogan would make his way down to the ring and shock the world by dropping the big leg on Macho Man. Only 1 kid on our block was able to buy the PPv and we weren’t allowed in his house so we waited outside and I’ll never forget him running out yelling “Hulk Hogan is the 3rd man!” over and over lol but this moment is not possible if Scott Hall does not set the table for it and I honestly think that it couldn’t have been anyone but him. Hogan was the rocket fuel that took the nWo to the next level but Hall was the rocket.
It was around this time that the WWF sued WCW accusing them of using the copyrighted Razor Ramon and Diesel characters on WCW TV which is so ridiculous I can’t believe WWF actually won this lawsuit. First off, all WCW should have had to do was show video of the Diamond Studd and they would have proof he was already doing most of his Razor mannerisms before working in the WWF. But I mean, unless WWF had ‘gonna carve you up’ specifically copyrighted, I don’t see why he isn’t free to say that. And what, Nash can’t raise his fist in the air for the rest of his career bc he did it as Diesel? lol the whole thing was absurd to me but I guess the other point of contention was Hall/Nash making it seem like they were starting a war in behalf of the WWF. That def was the initial impression i’ll give them that but it quickly changed to ‘WWF guys’ going to war with WCW just bc they didn’t like WCW not that they were sent by Vince McMahon. But legend goes this lawsuit paid for Mike Tyson so it turned out ok lol
As a WWF fan, you see what is going on in WCW and you’re crushed that 2 of your favourites left the company you love and also a little worried that your company might be in trouble. I was becoming more and more interested in watching WCW and you’re waiting for the WWF to respond to the awesome shit going down in WCW and they bring out fake Razor and fake Diesel lol man at the time I remember being so disgusted with the fakes but after re-watching some 1996 RAW shows I actually enjoyed them as characters. Watching it now after the careers of Hall/Nash are over, the energy of wishing you could see Hall/Nash is gone bc we have seen our fill of 2 Hall of Fame careers so you are able to enjoy the work of fake Razor and fake Diesel. It’s great to hear Hall talk about fake Razor bc he just loved it and felt like Elvis having someone impersonate him. Total missed opportunity to bring Rick Bognar(RIP), who portrayed fake Razor, into the nWo lol
You could almost say that the success of WCW was tied to Scott Hall. When Hall was at his best, so was WCW and when Hall started to unravel so did WCW. Same with my interest in the nWo, without Hall involved I just didn’t care as much. After Bash at the Beach, Hogan took over the leadership role while Hall moved into a supporting role going after the WCW Tag Team Titles with Nash as the Outsiders. First step was a rematch with Sting/Luger at Hog Wild and it was another really good match, these 4 had chemistry. But that’s something that stood out to me rewatching these matches, The Outsiders had chemistry with everyone man they were so good as a team and should prob be mentioned more when great tag teams are talked about. Scott got his first taste of the War Games match when the nWo (Hogan, Hall, Nash, nWo Sting defeated Team WCW (Luger, Flair, Arn Anderson, Sting) and man I loved the storyline of the nWo making it look like Sting joined them and the WCW guys started to believe it sending Sting into his Crow character. Cool to know that it was actually Scott Hall that gave Sting the idea to make that change his character. What a mind for wrestling he had. With the nWo winning War Games and WCW losing Sting, I remember thinking WCW was done and wondering what would happen with the nWo taking over.
I’m not sure when we got the first ‘Hey Yo’ but I think it was somewhere around this time and would become Hall’s biggest catchphrase. Cool to know that he got the idea for it from a scene in Rocky II, just another connection to wrestling for Sylvester Stallone. The survey was always fun and something I looked forward to every week. The Outsiders would win the WCW Tag Titles at Halloween Havoc from Harlem Heat in another really good match that did a good job keeping Hall and Nash heel having them cheat to win. They were so cool that you were always fighting the battle of trying to get fans to boo them. After good matches against Meng/Barbarian and the Nasty Boys, the Outsiders technically lose the titles to the Steiner Brothers but it’s an nWo PPV and a WCW ref counted the pin so the titles went back to Hall/Nash. Not for long though bc the next month at SuperBrawl 7 they would lose the titles to Luger and the Giant. But once again they weaseled their way back to them as Bischoff declared that Luger wasn’t medically cleared to wrestle so the titles went back to the Outsiders. Scott would get a chance to work with another NFL legend, this time in the ring, in a team with Nash and Syxx vs Kevin Greene, Flair and Piper at Slamboree 97. I actually loved his feud with Larry Zbyszko both the matches and the mic work, it made me learn more about Zbyszko and appreciate his legend.
Pretty cool moment when Hall was booked to beat a young Chris Jericho in a match on Nitro but Hall decided that the better finish for everyone was to have Jericho catch a surprise win on him. So they went against the instructions and had Jericho win with a small package and Hall was 100% right in that being the best finish for business. I had been waiting a long time for Scott Hall to finally have a run as World Champion, I wanted it for Razor Ramon and now I wanted it for Scott Hall and I thought I was getting my wish after Hall won World War 3 97 battle royal. But this was also right before the big Sting/Hogan Starrcade match and everyone knew Sting was winning so the odds of a Hall title run coming off this title shot were slim. Hall got his world title match vs Sting at Uncensored 98 but despite interference from Dusty, Hall lost to the Scorpion Death Drop. Def sucks that the World War 3 win didn’t lead to a world title run but the Scott Hall behind the scenes was not someone any company would trust with their world title.
I guess Scott really was a jekyll and hyde personality with his demons around this time in that on a good day, you got the great guy. But on a bad day, as Bischoff puts it, a ball peen hammer to the temple wouldn’t have been good enough for him lol damn but I know exactly what he is talking about. I have known many brothers and sisters that when they are sober, they are the fn best people you could ever want to be around. But when you add drugs/alcohol, that great person is long gone and the worst version of them takes over and that’s not something fun to be around. I understand that a lot of people that dealt with Scott Hall only got the worst version of him so they might not happy with all the love he is getting or see it justified but I just say that we are all better than our worst moments. That’s why Jesus saved us. A lot of people also got the best version of Scott Hall, like the kids on the Jerry Springer show or the young wrestlers he had helped mentor after his recovery. The guilt over the strip club incident was always an anchor pulling him down to the worst version of himself and all things considered it’s a wonder that anyone ever got the best of him.
The Outsiders would trade the Tag Titles back n forth with the Steiner Brothers to get them up to 5 time champions before losing them right before Hall would be suspended and forced to go to rehab for showing up to work intoxicated. While he was gone the nWo split into Wolfpac and nWo Hollywood and when he came back, Hall turned on Nash who formed the Wolfpac and joined nWo Hollywood. Hall would end up being the last roadblock to Hogan for Goldberg who had to beat him to get his world title match later in the night. It’s a testament to how over Hall was that as a fan I legitimately thought there was a chance, a small chance lol, but still a chance that Goldberg might not get through Hall. Didn’t happen though as Goldberg defeated Hall to set him up for his crowning moment in the main event vs Hogan. This isn’t the role the fans wanted for him but it is the role that Hall always wanted, to set the table for the next stars to hit the top spot and he def helped legitimize Goldberg on his big night.
Hall would continue to feud with Nash and would end up winning the WCW Tag Titles for a 6th time with the Giant. Nobody really wanted to see Hall and Nash fight but it def wasn’t going to work with a deteriorating Scott. At Halloween Havoc 98, Hall def Nash but only bc Nash hit 2 jackknife powerbombs and left the ring to be counted out instead of pinning Scott. The worst kind of win, a pity win lol after being kicked out of nWo Hollywood, Hall needed a partner to face Hogan/Scott Steiner and Nash answered the call. Next month at Starrcade, Hall helped end Goldberg’s 173 match undefeated streak by shocking him with stun gun allowing Nash to hit the jackknife for the win. Extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people and Scott Hall was around so many legendary moments that it def wasn’t coincidence. At SuperBrawl 9, Hall would win his first US Championship defeating Roddy Piper but would have to vacate it soon after due to a foot injury that kept him out for months. When he came back, he regained the US Championship winning a Texas Tornado Ladder Match on Nitro vs Goldberg, Bret Hart and Sid, def an impressive list of opponents.
Scott would become a double Champion winning the TV Title from Rick Steiner via forfeit but after defending it once vs Booker T, we see how much it means to him after he throws the belt in the trash making it now vacant. Injury would force Hall to soon give up the US Title as well. The Outsiders would win the Tag Titles for the 6th and final time after defeating Goldberg and Bret Hart but once again Hall would have to vacate them due to injury. WCW took 1 last shot at making the nWo relevant again forming nWo 2000 with Hall, Nash, Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett but that well was long dry. The last time we see Scott Hall in WCW was at SuperBrawl 2000 losing in the main event vs Sid and Jeff Jarrett. Kinda sad that Hall had such a lacklustre end to his WCW run considering the beginning of it changed the wrestling business. But his demons def were the main reason why he was never able to realize his full potential in WCW. I hated when the WWF did storyline about Hawk’s demons and I hated that WCW did the awful storyline of bringing Scott’s demons into storylines. Not worth talking about it was just a sad scene. On the DVD, HBK gives great insight into their mindset saying they tried to have the mentality of ‘we only do this on the road’ but if you’re on the road 250+ days a year, then you’re really doing it significantly more than you are not which is a problem.
Scott became more of a problem than WCW was willing to deal with so he left the company in early 2000. In a ‘yes that actually happened’ moment, Scott wrestled a few matches for ECW making him the only member of the Kliq to wrestle in WWF, WCW and ECW. One more for the legend of Scott Hall. In 2001, Scott would wrestle for NJPW working mostly tag matches. When WCW ended, Vince called Scott and personally offered him a spot in the company and a match with Steve Austin at WrestleMania 18. Scott Hall vs Steve Austin should have been 1 of the greatest feuds and matches of all time but Scott wasn’t even close to the best version of himself and just didn’t have that next level in him anymore that this feud required. To make things worse, Scott was on pills that made you sick if you came into contact with alcohol and Austin was always pouring beer on Scott bc that’s what he does. Not fair at all to Scott and it would be hard to bring out your best constantly feeling nauseous. It ended up being a very average match with Austin and things were falling apart in his wrestling and family life
The 10 years from 2002-2012 were very rough with some terrifying lows like multiple arrests for various charges and increased dependency on booze and drugs. It wasn’t all bad as some of his work for TNA was good but he def wasn’t the performer that he could and should have been. On the DVD, Scott says he didn’t like himself and felt like he fooled people that thought he was a good person. I think this explains the story in Bret Hart’s book about Scott not making time for a young fan. He would rather break the kids heart and have him find another hero than let the kid look up to him bc he felt he was no role model. Like I said earlier, we got to see the best (Jerry Springer show) and the worst in this story but the best is who Scott Hall truly was. Our best is who we all truly are. Unfortunately in those years, Scott just wasn’t in a mindset where he could accept help for his addictions. Through it all, Nash was always there for Scott trying to help him any way that he could, no matter what. Getting him into rehab several times with WWE stepping up to get him the next level of help that he needed. Wrestling is a business of blurring the lines of reality but the friendship between Hall and Nash was as real as it gets.
His brothers in the Kliq had heard the story that he killed someone and tried to help him and assure him it wasn’t his fault but in the end it was easier to not dig in deep and just cover it in pills and booze. It would break my heart when another video of Scott messed up at a wrestling show would surface, esp the one for Top Rope Promotions man that was really, really sad. There was only 1 video I actually kind of liked and that was at some panel where people started making fun of Owen Hart’s death and Hall lost it and started giving them shit for it. I felt the same passion and loved that he stood up for Owen. But you could tell he was wasted and when the people there started to cheer him on, he got into work mode and started doing crotch chops and stuff like that just making himself look bad instead of the assholes making fun of Owen. You just wanted to help him but that’s the brutal thing about addiction, you can’t do it for them and it doesn’t just end when they defeat that demon, they have to make that choice every single day. Nash said that things got so bad that he bought a suit to wear at Scott’s funeral and I know the feeling. When my brother was at his worst with his addictions, it got to the point where I remembered this story so i sat myself down and told myself, “Ok you need to prepare yourself for the worst to happen so you aren’t blindsided if it does.” Thank God my brother was able to use the strength of the Holy Spirit to pull his nose up and stay on the path of sobriety. You need that strength bc even after they are defeated, the demons will never stop.
Things got so bad that X-Pac reached out to DDP and Jake the Snake to let them know that Scott was in a really bad place and he believed that Scott was really gonna kill himself. DDP was in the process of helping Jake defeat his demons and they were documenting the journey to try and inspire as many people as possible so they decided to record themselves reaching out to Scott. Man the video of the phone call is so sad but is such an amazing moment and thank God it happened. They offer to help him and Scott says ‘I need it, I’m dying man. I’m dying.’ They got Scott to DDP’s place and he looked so rough, nothing like the mountain of charisma that oozed machismo, mang. But you can’t get back if you don’t get started. They shot a video of Scott trying to do a DDP Yoga workout with DDP and the audible cracks/popping from his hip were unbelievable. As a massage therapist, I was shocked having a good idea of what was going on lol this was definitely something only surgery could fix. DDP arranged a Go Fund Me to raise funds for hip surgery and the goal of 80k was reached in 2 days ending with a total of 109k. Shows how much everybody loved him.
Scott got surgery and started thriving with his physical, mental and spiritual recovery. DDP’s workouts, meal plans and support was exactly what Scott needed and the improvements were incredible. No other way to say it, DDP saved Scott’s life but Scott did the work and made the choice to be sober. In 2015 for the DVD, Scott went back to the strip club to face that moment and man you can actually see the crushing weight he carries. And of course there was an incident at the strip club the night before so we see police tape all over just adding to everything Scott had to face. satan was absolutely terrified of the best version of Scott Hall and did everything he could to prevent that and bring out the worst in Scott. But Scott battled through that moment which had to be huge for his continued recovery. DDP was pushing HHH to put Scott in the Hall of Fame to give his recovery that crowning moment and it finally happened at WM 30 in 2014.
Scott had to turn down an invitation to HBK’s Hall of Fame induction bc he was not in the condition to be in that environment but now he was ready for the moment he had earned with so much hard work. A surprise to no one, Nash inducted Scott and Dusty was there in the crowd to see it. Some serious demons tried to stop it from happening but somehow, someway that 8 year old kid that fell in love with wrestling bc of a hair vs hair match ended up standing on a stage being honoured into the Hall of Fame. To steal a quote from Zangief in Wreck It Ralph lol “just bc he was the Bad Guy, doesn’t mean he was a bad guy.” The Bad Guy made good. He fought and earned his sobriety. He fought and changed the wrestling business. Standing on that stage, he delivered an amazing speech and ended it with a legendary line like only the Bad Guy could;
Hey yo. When I was 8 years old, I attended my 1st pro wrestling show and I fell in love. When I was in my early 20’s, I had my first pro wrestling match and i discovered something I never knew about. No matter how my life was going in the real world or in the locker room, when I stepped through that curtain, I have a certain amount of power. I have some control and i was diggin it. Later in my life as my career developed, if you asked Razor how he was doing, the standard response was, ‘better than you, chico.’ I learned that when i stepped through that curtain, that I could have a relationship as performer with an audience and it was a powerful thing to me. Whether I was the hated villain or the beloved hero and that was something that I’ve always treasured. So thank you to all the wrestling fans here and all the fans watching around the world, thank you Razor I’ve had the luxury of wrestling against, working with some great talent. I had the privilege of being guided along the way and mentored by great talent, to those people I say thank you regains composure In my lifetime I’ve learned, hard work pays off, dreams come true. Bad times dont last, but bad guys do!
Wow man what a moment to see Scott Hall come full circle to that speech and knock it out of the park. That is the legacy of Scott Hall. After that, Scott got a chance to guest coach at the performance center and really shined getting his chance to mentor young talent and pass on his knowledge. He got to bond with his son Cody as he went on his journey to be a wrestler. By his own admittion he was a much better Father than husband and def wasn’t perfect but always tried his best. Scott made his 1st appearance on regular WWE TV for the first time since 2002 when he appeared on RAW in July 2014 to reunite the nWo for Hogan’s birthday. In January 2015, we saw Scott with the nWo, APA and New Age Outlaws beat down the Ascension on RAW. During the HHH/Sting match at WM 31, Scott along with Nash and Hogan, interfered on Sting’s behalf and fought with DX outside the ring. Scott the performer that he was even took a fn backdrop on the floor lol can’t express how happy I was to see Scott in the condition to be at these Legend events
Scott was at WM 32 backstage where he celebrated with Zack Ryder who just won the IC Title in a Ladder Match. Ryder was in the crowd for WM X and met Razor after so it was a big moment to win his own IC Title Ladder Match and get to celebrate with the Bad Guy. At RAW 25 in 2018 in the Manhattan Center, Scott truly brought things full circle returning as Razor Ramon and joining DX and the Balor Club beat up the Revival. Oh man what a match the Outsiders vs FTR would have been. He would make another appearance at the RAW reunion show in 2019 and his last appearance on WWE TV was at his second induction into the Hall of Fame as part of the nWo. Kind of ridiculous for the nWo, the ultimate rogue faction being inducted into a Hall of Fame, the ultimate establishment lol but I mean obviously everyone knows that if any faction was deserving of a Hall of Fame spot, it’s the nWo. Scott Hall deciding to leave the WWF, getting guaranteed money from WCW and starting a war with his character might be the most important sequence of events in wrestling history. The wrestlers were taken care of better than ever before from that point on and it sparked what might be the biggest Boom period in wrestling history. Without the Monday Night Wars, I don’t know if pro wrestling is the global entertainment force it is now.
Given everything that Scott Hall did for wrestling and how wide his influence reached, I am beyond disgusted that he didn’t get one 10 bell salute. The 10 bell salute is the biggest honour that wrestling can pay its fallen brothers and sisters, everyone should get it but especially the people that had the biggest impacts. The world will look to us for guidance learning about an industry they don’t know so if we as a wrestling culture don’t treat the extraordinary people/events/moments as extraordinary, then they won’t be. Obviously it’s not a big deal but man Razor Ramon was a character that made his debut in 1993, almost 30 years ago yet people in 2022 still use his mannerisms and lingo. WWE has been living off and taking for granted the millions of hardcore fans that were created during the Monday Night Wars. Like him or not, Scott Hall was as important as Hogan to the success of the nWo and WCW’s boom period. Hopefully his struggle with addictions wasn’t the reason it didn’t happen bc that would be a really shitty way to say goodbye to someone that battled his demons to the end. I def didn’t like or agree with a lot of things Scott Hall said/did and I saw behaviour that made me shake my head at times but those things could never out balance the good.
Sean Waltman/X-Pac revealed that Scott Hall was really struggling since the pandemic hit and had been drinking again which is what probably caused the fall that ultimately led to his death. Some might say that bc of that he didn’t defeat his demons but I want to squash that kind of talk. Defeating your demons doesn’t mean you become perfect and never have a set back. It means that you achieve a moment of redemption from the worst version of yourself. demons will never stop trying to get you back to the worst version of yourself but a set back doesn’t always mean the worst version of yourself. All the positive moments Scott Hall has had since re-connecting with DDP are victories over his demons that never die. That was the goal of making him have these setbacks in the pandemic, so people would focus on that and forget about all the good. But looking around, the demons have once again failed. People are posting the final line of his speech all over the internet. People are posting legendary promos and matches. People are sharing the Jerry Springer Show segment. Wrestling fans are making sure that Scott Hall is remembered for his best rather than his worst.
Scott Hall defeated his demons and it took a pandemic for them to break him down again. But that’s like being handcuffed to the ropes and then someone bragging about beating the shit out of you. It’s no victory. The real victory was the one Scott earned and no set back can ever change that. Even I fell hard into my addictions during the pandemic. My addictions aren’t booze and drugs, it’s food and Pepsi and the pandemic beat me down. I stopped limiting myself and over indulged and put weight back on I had fought so hard to lose. Without Jesus I would have never recovered but thanks to that strength I got back up and am now in the best shape of my life living a routine that will get me results if I put in the work. I hate to see people trying to battle demons without armour and weapons. The Armor of God is real and helps limit the strength of the demons influence. The Holy Spirit is real and helps you find the strength to unsheath the sword God gave you and sever the connections to the demons. Jesus is real and you will feel better after praying during weak moments and pouring out your thoughts and feelings to Jesus in prayer. I didn’t intend this to be a preaching moment, I just don’t know of any other way to talk about my experiences with addiction. Jesus is the only thing that allowed my brother to conquer his demons. Same with me. It’s the only advice I can give.
But unfortunately there is no more rehab, we have to say good night to the Bad Guy. But now we have that amazing documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake that covers both Jake and Scott’s journey that will help inspire generations of people struggling with addiction. We have the documentary that WWE did for Scott. We have hours and hours of matches and promos. We have hours and hours of road stories on podcasts and old shoot interviews. After hearing that he was really struggling with his addictions during the pandemic, I understand why God brought him Home now, God had seen enough of the demons attacking Scott. It was time for Scott to have peace and bc of his good heart he could never have it on earth after the strip club incident. As much as we all wanted him on the earth longer, I don’t think any of us would have denied him that and none of us can deny God’s will anyways. We just have to appreciate all that he left behind for us and try to highlite the good bc there will always be people that only want to talk about the bad.
I knew I was a big fan of Scott Hall but I never realized how big of an impact he had on me until he was gone and everything started flooding back. Then reading all the tributes from his colleagues, from strangers, from my friends, and talking with my Dad and brother about it, I finally realized just how significant his impact really was. “If you want to be like Razor, you got to do like Razor,” well we all wanted to be cool and Razor Ramon helped us get there. I don’t want to wrap this up and say good bye but I guess it’s time. I’m thankful that Scott Hall fought so hard to beat his demons and gave us a Hall of Fame career. I’m so thankful for the moment that he gave me. Scott Hall leaves this earth with a legacy that the world, esp wrestling was better off with him in it. None of us will ever forget the Bad Guy. I send up my strongest prayers of love, peace, comfort, good fortune and strength to his kids Cody and Cassidy, the Kliq, DDP n Jake, all of his family, friends and fans. Thanks for the cool, chico. Thanks for the Bad Guy. Thanks for the moments. Thanks for the matches. I am happy to know that in the afterlife, Scott Hall is gonna get everything he has got coming to him…Heaven, chico, and everything in it.
