That Was Then 7.06.07: Stars Of The 90s - Scott Hall

Posted by Sam Caplan on 07.06.2007

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Scott Hall may be remembered more for his personal problems than anything he did in the ring, but during the 90s he was one of the most popular and enigmatic wrestlers on the scene. After bouncing around the lower card in WCW as the Diamond Studd, he went to the WWF in 1992 and was repackaged as a Cuban refugee called Razor Ramon. Though it might seem like another in a long line of lame gimmicks that pervaded the WWF at the time, and while it's true that he didn't immediately set the world on fire, he went on to win a then-record four Intercontinental Titles and have a pair of famous ladder matches with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 10 and Summerslam 95. After that, he headed to WCW where he started the hostile invasion that led to the creation of the revolutionary New World Order. The entire direction of both the WWF and WCW could have been radically different without him.

Part I: The Bad Guy

Scott Hall made his debut as Razor Ramon in the Summer of 1992 and was immediately thrust into the main event scene, helping Ric Flair defeat Randy Savage to regain the WWF World Title and joining Flair in his ongoing feud with Savage, culminating in a tag match pitting Flair and Razor against Savage and Flair's former Executive Consultant Mr Perfect at Survivor Series 92. Flair and Razor lost the match by disqualification and the feud petered out after that, but Razor remained in the main event scene, challenging Bret Hart for the WWF World Title (which Hart had won from Flair) at Royal Rumble 1993.

Razor lost that match and began to stagnate as a directionless midcarder afterward. He beat Bob Backlund at Wrestlemania 9, but nothing much happened for him until he was upset by the 123 Kid on an episode of Monday Night Raw in May of 1993. The Kid was just a jobber at that point, and Razor dominated the match but missed a blind charge and Kid caught him with a moonsault for the win. Razor was humiliated and began offering the Kid large amounts of money to get back in the ring with him, and when the amount offered hit $10,000, the Kid agreed to a rematch. Razor laid a beating on the Kid, but was again embarrassed when the Kid grabbed the money and ran out of the arena and into a waiting car which sped away, leaving Razor standing there looking like an idiot. This embarrassment actually led to a face turn for Razor, who now had to deal with the mockery of Ted Dibiase and IRS, who took every opportunity to needle Razor over his inability to defeat the Kid. Razor returned the favor by causing both of them to lose preliminary opponents (Dibiase to the Kid and IRS to PJ Walker), then went on to defeat Dibiase at Summerslam 93.

Following Summerslam, Razor Ramon/Scott Hall would begin his greatest success in singles competition as he won the first of four Intercontinental Titles, a record at the time. He won the vacant title by defeating Rick Martel after both had survived a battle royal and began to redeem himself after suffering through a lackluster first part of 1993. He defeated Martel in rematches and also scored wins over IRS, Adam Bomb, and Crush. During his first reign he would have what would probably be his best match ever against possibly his greatest opponent ever when he faced Shawn Michaels in the famous Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 10. Michaels, the previous IC Champion, refused to recognize Razor as the IC Champion since he had never been defeated for the title, and the Ladder Match was set up to settle the dispute.

Razor won the match, but was defeated a month later by Shawn's bodyguard Diesel, another man who would go on to become closely associated with Hall throughout his career. Razor kept up his winning ways afterward, making the finals of King Of The Ring 1994 and then regaining the IC Title from Diesel at Summerslam 94. His second IC Title reign came to an end at the hands of Jeff Jarrett at Royal Rumble 95 thanks to interference from Jarrett's Roadie. They feuded through the entire Spring of 1995, with Razor scoring a DQ win over Jarrett at Wrestlemania 11 and beating Jarrett and the Roadie in a handicap match at the first In Your House PPV, and finally regained the IC Title for the third time in a Ladder Match against Jarrett in Montreal in May of 1995, but Jarrett won it back three days later and then went on to lose the title to Shawn Michaels shortly afterward.

Michaels regaining the title created a great opportunity for Razor to regain the title, because Michaels pushed for a rematch of their Wrestlemania 10 Ladder Match which had been haunting him for a year and a half. The Ladder Rematch happened at Summerslam 95 and they pulled out even more innovative spots than the first match, but this time Michaels won. Even though he lost, the IC Title was soon back around the waist of Razor when Michaels was injured and unable to defend the title against Dean Douglas at the In Your House PPV in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Razor substituted for Michaels and defeated Douglas to win his record fourth IC Title. This would turn out to be another short title reign, as he lost the title just three months later to Goldust, who had been playing mind games with Razor by making gay advances on him. The mind games and interference from the 123 Kid (who he had befriended and later been doublecrossed by) cost Razor the title at Royal Rumble 96.

Following the Royal Rumble, Razor Ramon was suspended for reasons which were never made clear, although knowing what we learned about his problems later on, it's pretty easy to guess at what those reasons were. He missed Wrestlemania 12, returned at Good Friends, Better Enemies to put over Vader, and then left the WWF afterward.

Part II: You Want A War?

Scott Hall signed with WCW, and his debut on May 27, 1996 was a shocking and memorably moment, as he emerged from the crowd on an episode of Monday Nitro and challenged WCW to a war. The WWF had never publicly acknowledged that Razor Ramon had left the promotion, so the implication was that Hall was challenging WCW on behalf of the WWF, an implication the WWF soon legally prevented WCW from making. But Hall was still employed by WCW and just like when he entered the WWF four years earlier, he thrust himself right into the spotight, only this time around it would turn the tide of the promotional war in WCW's favor for the first time. Hall, Kevin Nash (the former Diesel) and Hulk Hogan formed the original NWO, and were revolutionary in that they became the heels that stood their ground and fought instead of cowering and running from the babyfaces, and that combined with their flippant attitudes led to them becoming the prototype for the cool heel that the fans cheered even though they were supposed to be the bad guys.

Hogan, as WCW World Champion, was the centerpiece of the NWO, but Hall and Nash carved out a nice little niche for themselves as well, winning the WCW World Tag Team Title from Harlem Heat at Halloween Havoc 1996 and then going on to hold the title for a full year. At the end of that year, they traded the title a couple of times with the Steiners, but came out with the gold in the end and held on to the titles for several more months. The long reigns are impressive, but came with an asterisk, as Scott Hall was often mysteriously absent, as he would just disappear for weeks or months at a time. Though we later found out that this was due to major personal problems that were often related to substance abuse, Hall's absence just added to his mystique and made the pops that much louder when he did show up.

The decision was eventually made to split the Outsiders, and Hall turned on Nash as they defended the World Tag Team Title against Sting and the Giant at Slamboree 98, essentially handing the title to Sting and the Giant. The feud never went anywhere, as Hall disappeared again and they had a half-hearted pair of PPV matches when he returned, but they soon reunited with a streamlined, elite version of the NWO. Hall finally began to win some singles gold in 1999, defeating Roddy Piper for the US Title at Superbrawl, but he suffered a stroke of misfortune after the show when a car ran over his foot, and he had to give up the title. He returned months later and won the title a second time (in yet another Ladder Match), then also won the TV Title. He lost the US Title, but he and Nash regained the World Tag Team Title yet again shortly afterward.

Conclusion

Unfortunately for Hall, that would be the last major title he would ever hold, as he was suspended again only weeks into 2000, and this final suspension led to his termination. Despite all his personal problems, if there was one word which could describe Scott Hall's career, it is influential. His ladder matches with Shawn Michaels became the template on which all ladder-based spotfests since have been patterened, and the New World Order changed wrestling and the face/heel lines forever. Regardless of what the WWE Hype Machine will tell you about Steve Austin, Scott Hall was the original cool heel that you cheered even though you weren't supposed to. It's a shame that he was never a World Champion and that his personal problems probably were a major reason he never did hold the big belt, but he undoubtedly left his mark on the business despite being often overlooked as one of the most important figures of the decade.