With the recent passing of Scott Hall, many fans have reflected on the contributions made by “The Bad Guy”. Hall is commonly seen as a backstage politician of note, which makes sense considering his role in The Kliq and refusal to allow anyone to kick out of his Razor’s Edge (with the exception of Crush) yet he often let those below him on the ladder get a win over him when he really did not need to. These are those workers Hall put over out of generosity, raising the stock of these wrestlers with one simple act of kindness.
#10. Tom Zenk | November 19th, 1991
Debuting live on Pay-Per-View at the inaugural SuperBrawl in mid-1991, Hall was brought in as a member of Diamond Dallas Page’s Diamond Mine faction under the name The Diamond Studd.
Hall was pushed strongly in the gimmick including building block PPV wins including a debut squashing of former NWA World Heavyweight champion Tommy Rich. Hall had even beaten Tom Zenk at The Great American Bash event, a big win to display Hall’s dominance, in which he beat the ex-Can-Am Connection member with a bridging back suplex.
Hall’s push slowly subsided by late 1991, whilst Zenk had lost significant matches to Lex Luger, Steve Austin, and Rick Rude (The Halloween Phantom) – the latter’s arrival perhaps a reason for Hall’s diminished role, as his gimmick drew parallels to “Ravishing” Rick’s.
At Clash Of The Champions XVII in November 1991, “The Z-Man” earned back some of his lost credibility as the recent holder of the Six-Man Tag Team championships beat The Diamond Studd in just over a minute.
The match was very one-sided as Hall dominated, with the majority of it taking place in a small split-screen as Sting had a leg injury treated backstage. Zenk pinned Hall with a crucifix; the result was treated as somewhat of an upset although it was by no way the main focus of the segment. Hall hit a chokeslam and the Diamond Deathdrop (Razor’s Edge) after the match.
On the 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff said such a result may have been dictated by the fact that Studd would soon be off. He says: “My guess is that Scott Hall was probably already on his way out of the door [or] thinking about it at this point. It wasn’t too long afterwards that he did leave.”
#9. The Kid | May 17th, 1993
The early days of Raw followed in the pattern of other syndicated shows such as Superstars or Wrestling Challenge, largely consisting of enhancement squash matches.
The Kid was the wrestler who seemed like he was going to become mince-meat as he stood opposite Razor Ramon, who had just fallen short in a WWF World title match to Bret Hart. The Kid had appeared on previous week’s editions of Monday Night Raw, going as The Kamikaze Kid to lose to Doink and The Cannonball Kid when beaten by Mr. Hughes.
The most famous upset in history, after Ramon had tossed The Kid around the ring for a while, The Kid moved out of the way of a charge in the corner. After running head-first into the post, The Kid hit a moonsault on a standing Razor for the win.
The crowd went crazy for the win. It helped propel the career of The Kid who soon became The 1-2-3 Kid. An ally of Razor’s up until his death, the future X-Pac joined The Kliq and has become one of the greatest undercard workers in WWE history.
This episode of Raw was the most memorable of the first year as not only did the surprise win of the decade take place but Marty Jannetty won the Intercontinental belt from Michaels. Later that year, Razor helped jobber PJ Walker (Justin Credible) get a win over on-screen rival Irwin R. Schyster, helping two journeymen a year to have huge wins on their CVs.
#8. Goldust | January 21st, 1996
In Dustin Rhodes’s own words, Ramon “wasn’t keen” on the Goldust character, further explaining: “even though this business is a work, people take it seriously…to have Razor be a kind of a speed bump, it was frustrating but we got through it and it ended with a Roddy Piper special because Razor left.”
At the 1996 Royal Rumble, Ramon was set to lose his IC belt to Goldust. Considering his uncomfortable feelings toward the storyline and backstage pull, Ramon more than likely could have turned down the offer to lose.
Ramon also had a foot out of the door of the WWF and towards WCW. It is more than likely Ramon would have won back the belt at WrestleMania anyway had he stayed, in which case the loss to Goldust to give him a rub was not required but just to put him over, whilst Ramon himself was on the way.
Ramon would enhance the bizarreness of the Goldust character whilst himself protected in defeat as the match at the event featured a run-in, ironically by ally-turned-rival The 1-2-3 Kid.
This first title win would set “The Grandson Of A Plumber” for a very successful WWE career that lasted for nearly a quarter of a century.
#7. Hector Garza | September 22nd, 1997
On the same night that Bill Goldberg made his televised debut, WCW saw one of their most surprising upsets as Scott Hall suffered a loss to Hector Garza.
Garza had been a fixture of the WCW cruiserweight scene, which although they were no joke, they always lived a few runs below the ‘real stars’, such as Scott Hall.
On Nitro on September 22nd, Garza scored the upset of a lifetime, performing a schoolboy on a cocky Hall who was busy distracted by the referee. The crowd went wild for the shock, fluke win.
Hall quickly got his heat back, hitting a Razor’s Edge on both Garza and the referee. A rematch on the Nitro two weeks later saw Hall beat Garza in under two minutes. Whilst the initial win would not matter to Hall as he still proved dominant and the win was presented as a fluke, it would be the biggest win of Garza’s North American career.
On an interesting aside, the nephews of the late Garza are WWE superstars Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo – the latter’s forename a tribute to Hector’s father.
#6. Chris Jericho | November 3rd, 1997
Shortly after his loss to Garza, Hall again suffered a loss, this one unscripted and one that got him into some trouble.
Similar to Garza, Jericho was not ‘in’ with the main WCW scene, largely competing in the cruiserweight scene and lower/mid-card – wrestling the likes of Eddy (later Eddie) Guerrero, Alex Wright, and Chris Benoit.
Hall himself had not been in the top position by the time of Jericho and Scott Hall’s match, having lost the WCW World Tag Team titles and losing a PPV match to Lex Luger.
“Lionheart” Jericho later went on to comment on the heat between him and Hall over Scott’s condensing and arrogant tone with younger and smaller talent. Hall was booked to beat Jericho but believed the white-meat babyface character would not get over in Philadelphia, even in spite of the fact it was popular in ECW, based in Philadelphia. The nWo member pitched the idea for Jericho to win the match behind the back of creative.
In the match, when Scott tried for the Razor’s Edge, Jericho slipped out and instigated an inside cradle. Zbyszko came out afterwards to develop a feud with Hall.
Backstage, Bischoff was mad at Hall for changing the ending, booking not in his own favour and going against the script.
Similarly to the Hall/Garza situation, Scott Hall lost by roll-up which would protect him somewhat, attack after the match to regain dominance, and also win a rematch shortly after. Hall went on to win the World War 3 battle royal, so it did not hinder his career too much!
This win would not put Jericho on the map straight the way but it was an early big win in the career of a future megastar.
#5. Ray Traylor | January 8th, 1998
On January 8th 1998, WCW aired the first episode of new B-show Thunder.
The first match saw an upset as “Gentleman” Chris Adams beat Randy Savage, although this was later overturned by President J.J. Dillon after interference by Lex Luger. A match result that did stick however was Ray Traylor scoring a win over Scott Hall.
Always a threat but never a top-level star, Ray Traylor had a hard time of it in WCW. Having to alter from his Big Boss Man character, he became The Boss but had to become The Guardian Angel due to legal reasons but this did not still so he became Big Bubba Rogers and then reverted to his birth name.
Hall however had been a huge presence on WCW TV as a founding nWo member. Although Traylor, under his Big Bubba Rogers name, was briefly in the nWo, he would be kicked out and sought revenge on his ex-stablemates.
In the match, Traylor won in just over four minutes, even managing to kick out of a well-placed title shot with one of his World Tag Team title belts. Bossman pinned after his patented Big Boss Slam, following a distraction from Larry Zbyszko which took the former Razor Ramon off of his A-game.
Whilst not exactly an upset, it was a surprise result that helped built the Zbyszko/Ramon feud. Traylor did little else of note in his WCW run with this being one of his most stand-out moments.
#4. Konnan | September 13th, 1998
Fall Brawl 1998 was a pretty dismal PPV and what certainly did not help was a match featuring the ‘Last Call Scott Hall’ gimmick.
By Fall Brawl, Hall had legitimately fallen on hard times. Having just been divorced, Hall developed a real-life drinking problem, exploited on-screen by WCW.
Konnan was a member of the nWo at this point, in the Wolfpack incarnation of the group whilst Hall was in the Hollywood iteration. This meant Konnan was associated with the likes of Kevin Nash, Sting, and Lex Luger whilst Hall was in and around Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and The Giant, amongst others.
The match was in poor taste, only making Hall’s drinking more significant.
That said, Konnan did force Hall into submission with the Tequila Sunrise in a clean finish. Not Scott Hall’s finest moment but one that helped solidify Konnan, etching a big win in the quiver of the luchador.
#3. Sal E. Graziano | November 11th, 2000
In real life, Scott Hall’s demons that caused him to show up drunk, no-show, or get arrested which led to him becoming persona non-grata in the company before an exit. In his forgotten ECW run, he wrestled three matches, only losing to Sal E. Graziano.
There are a few things ECW’s Sal E. Graziano is remembered for: the henchman of The Full Blooded Italians (FBI), a memorably stiff chairshot from Balls Mahoney, and his large size – at 6’9 and 600lbs.
Although an ECW faithful, Graziano wrestled a limited amount of matches. These were largely few second squashes in which he was beaten by “The Giant Killer” Spike Dudley. In his few matches however, he did mix it up with the likes of The Sandman, John Kronus, Tommy Dreamer, Mikey Whipwreck, The Dudley Boyz, and New Jack, to name just a few.
Strutting out to The Fugees’s ‘Ready Or Not’, Hall debuted in ECW at a live event (he never made it to TV) on November 10th 2000, teaming with Jerry Lynn to defeat Hall’s real-life friend Justin Credible and Rhino. The next night in Poughkeepsie, Hall main evented, defeating Credible in a singles match.
Yet in the opener, Hall lost to the faux Italian, with FBI interference allowing Sal to get a win after hitting a Bonzai Drop.
In an interview with WZWA Network, Graziano revealed Hall specifically wanted to work with him and even planned for Sal to go over. Graziano explains:
“He was so super cool, he was to chill with me. [I] had a great time…this was a moment…I was just like “wow.””
Both men seem to have said “sod that for a game of soldiers”, neither again wrestling in ECW after that night.
#2. Hiroshi Tanahashi | September 9th, 2001
By April 2001, WCW and ECW had closed and Hall had started a brief run in New Japan Pro Wrestling. After teaming with the likes of Scott Norton and Masahiro Chono in TEAM2000, Hall embarked on some solo outings.
On September 9th, 2001 at the Togane Arena, Hall faced off against a young 23-year-old rookie who Hall put over believing him to have a strong future. That youngster? Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Hall mopped the ring with Tanahashi for about three minutes. Hall hit his Razor’s Edge before being overcome by confidence. The ex-Diamond Studd then grabbed a microphone to call out Keiji Mutoh (The Great Muta), whilst Hiroshi laid motionless behind him. This excessive exuberance cost him as Tanahashi then hooked in a deep school boy pin and got the then-biggest win of his career. Hall was a heavyweight, giving Tanahash his first major win outside the cruiserweight scene which he was then part of.
Hall’s career was not affected, with Scott going on to challenge for perhaps the most prestigious Japanese title, the Triple Crowd championship. He challenged for the belt but lost to Mutoh.
Tanahashi went on to become a record-setting eight-time IWGP Heavyweight champion, on top of 13 other titles in NJPW, various G1 Climax wins, and a smorgasboard of other accomplishment which have arguably and statistically made him the most successful and decorated wrestler in the history of New Japan.
“The Ace Of The Universe” would show his appreciation of the impact the nWo member had on his career. He commented: “The match with Mr. Hall had a great influence on my life as a wrestler and my way of thinking about professional wrestling. I think Mr. Hall taught me the answer to the question, ‘What is a true professional?’…I will hold on to and cherish that memory.”
#1. Ron Killings | October 30th, 2002
In 2002, Hall had entered and exited the WWE within a few months like Abe Simpson walking in and out of a club. Hall’s run in TNA was similarly short.
After a few wins at TNA’s early weekly PPVs, Hall got a shot at NWA World Heavyweight champion Ron Killing’s title belt.
At this time, Killings had developed a heel character with the nickname “The Truth” – a paranoid and aggressive moniker driven by the belief he was held back by his race. He went on to prove this wrong by winning the world title, becoming the only ever African-American NWA champion.
Keep in mind that at this point Killings was best-known for, and fighting the stigma of, his previous K-Kwik gimmick. In the WWF, Kwik was a lower-card rapper who played second-fiddle to Road Dogg as an attempted ‘hip’ tag team duo.
At the 19th TNA PPV, the still-unproven yet with-potential Killings got a huge elevating win over Hall, pinning him with his iteration of a gourdbuster to get the win.
Other wins over Curt Hennig, Ken Shamrock (who he won the title from in the first place), and Jerry Lynn all too aided in legitimising the titleholder.
This win would not alone have set Killings on a path to superstardom but would be a departing salute from a giant of the industry to a prospect of tomorrow.
Scott Hall Was The Business
“The Bad Guy” certainly knew his worth and, more important, how his worth could be used to benefit others. Hall was happy to be staring at the lights if he knew others could be helped as a result of such a rub from such a prominent name. Despite often clashing with workers, Hall was smartened up to the wrestling industry, having his losses putting others over whilst not hindering his own stock.
For all here, it was either their most memorable moment or a launchpad into a more high-profile position. I guess in that sense, he’s a Hall of famer!
“Hard work pays off, dreams come true. Bad times don’t last but bad guys do.”
Rest In Peace, Scott Hall (1958-2022)