“Say Hello To The Bad Guy” – Remembering Scott Hall

Unless you are new to the world of wrestling, you know the name Scott Hall, a.k.a. Razor Ramon, a.k.a. “The Bad Guy.” Sadly and quickly, it’s been a little over two years since he passed away on March 14, 2022, due to heart failure.

The Start…

I first saw Scott Hall in the AWA promotion (American Wrestling Association, based out of Minneapolis, MN) in the mid 1980’s, where he became an AWA Tag Team champion with the future Mr. Perfect, Curt Henning. In the AWA, Hall resembled a burly lumberjack and sported a Tom Selleck/Magnum PI inspired hairstyle and mustache.

From the AWA, Hall went to WCW (World Championship Wrestling) for a rather unsuccessful stint as the Diamond Studd, a member of the Diamond Exchange, a stable led by Diamon Dallas Page (DDP). It was Page’s suggestion to Hall that led him ditching the AWA lumberjack look and mustache and adding the new slicked-back hair, stubble, and the now infamous toothpick. It was this new look that would eventually become his calling card. In 1992, Hall would debut with the WWE (then known as WWF) under the name Razor Ramon. This new character was directly based on the Al Pacino character from the movie Scarface.

The Peak…

From this point forward, most wrestling fans know the career of Scott Hall. In the WWE, as Razon Ramon, he was a 4x Intercontinental Champion, whose reign is highlighted by his Wrestlemania X ladder match against Shawn Michaels, recognized by many as one of the best matches of all-time. In May of 1996, he would return to WCW and be a part of arguably the greatest angle/storyline in wrestling history, the NWO invasion. Back to using his name, Scott Hall, along with Kevin Nash (his ‘Outsiders’ tag team partner) and Hulk Hogan led the New World Order invasion against WCW and changed wrestling forever. To this day, many still remember when Hall walked through the audience, into a WCW ring, in blue denim jeans and a blue denim vest, and said, “You know who I am, but you don’t know why I’m here…”

The End…

Scott Hall was not a perfect man. Like the rest of us, he was flawed. His issues with alcoholism are well noted. Hall would continue to wrestle after WCW, but he was never the same. His performance was never the same. Respected by many within in the business for his wrestling mind, both in the ring and storytelling wise, he gave all he could to the wrestling industry.

Scott Hall is a 2x member of the WWE Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 2020 as a member of the NWO, but he was initially inducted in 2014, as Razon Ramon. He ended his 2014 speech with the following words, which seem to wrap up his career just perfectly…

“Hard work pays off. Dreams come true. Bad times don’t last, but Bad Guys do.”

[Featured Image Source: ESPN]