Thank You Scott Hall…

“Hey yo…”

I debated with myself for a while on this.  In no way did I want this to come across as a ploy to capitalize off of the unfortunate events of an individual.  But I’ve personally wanted to do a  “my love letter to wrestling” piece for awhile now and since Scott Hall plays such a big part of that, now seemed like the best time to do so.

“Bad times don’t last but bad guys do.”

Razor Ramon wasn’t my first introduction to wrestling.  Scott Hall was never my overall favorite wrestler.  He rarely comes up during the discussion of my all-time favorites. He’s usually sitting at number 5 or 6 and since it’s usually a Mount Rushmore debate, he sadly gets left off more often than not.  When he left wrestling, it didn’t really phase me at the time.  And I know all of this doesn’t seem like the way to start a thank you letter to Scott Hall but I feel it’s important to be honest and open about how Razor/Scott transcended into one of the biggest influences on me as a wrestling fan so that you can get a true glimpse into my journey to where I’m at now.

“Say hello to the bad guy.”

As a kid, I would watch wrestling periodically.  Macho Man caught my attention and when he wasn’t on, my interest was minimal at best.  But then one day, that changed.  Razor Ramon happened.  Because of him, I had decided to pay more attention although it still didn’t turn me into a full fledged fan.  As a kid, I can’t explain what made me gravitate towards him but to try and put it in the simplest terms possible, he was just so fucking cool.  And I think everybody who has ever had the privilege of watching him during his time would agree that that cool factor was his biggest asset.  But before I travel down a rabbit hole, let’s get back on track… Macho Man set the bait for me but it was Razor Ramon who got me on the hook.  To put it in terms that the kids today might understand, he was a game changer.  From there, we all know of the ladder matches he had with Shawn Michaels.  They were revolutionary for the business.  That would be twice in his young career to this point that Razor was making history within the business, with the first being making bad “cool” so much to the point that everyone had no choice but to love him.  And even though he would never reach the mountain top in WWE, his runs as Intercontinental Champion were enough to leave a large enough impact on fans for generations to come.

“I was Razor Ramon, and I started the nWo.”

Fast forward to World Championship Wrestling.  The New World Order would not only be the most successful storyline that WCW ever produced but would go on to become the single most important angle in the history of professional wrestling as well.  You could debate it’s the most popular angle too. I will every single time until I’m blue in the face.

At a time when wrestling was on a massive decline, the nWo would arrive and change the business forever.  That change wasn’t just in front of the camera, but behind the scenes as well as it paved the way for future superstars to get better contracts.  And who was the first man to debut with the nWo moniker… Scott Hall.  He would enter through the crowd during the middle of a match, grab a microphone and change not only the business but my life forever.

“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 get even get in the building.  I can go wherever I want, whenever I want.  And where oh where is scheme Gene?  Cause I got a scoop for you.  When that Ken Doll look alike, when that weatherman wannabe comes out here later tonight, I got a challenge for him, for billionaire Ted, for the Nacho Man and for anybody else in uh, dubya c dubya.  Hey, you wanna go to war?  You want a war?  You’re gonna get one.”

It was that moment in history that I went from a kid who watched just wrestling to becoming a full-fledged professional wrestling fan. That hook that I was caught on? Well, now I was reeled in and I became obsessed.

Razor was completely out of character and I had no idea what was going on.  At the time, I was oblivious to how monumental that segment would bevbut whenever I look back on it now, and I do so quite often, I can’t help but get goosebumps and become a kid again knowing that I got to see that historical moment as it unfolded.  And it does not work for me with anyone other than Scott Hall.  Nash cuts that promo, I don’t know if I’m sitting here today writing this.  But, the rest is history and all wrestling fans knows what would happen following that moment, whether they are seasoned veterans or new fans.

“Survey says…”

From 1992 to 2002, Scott did more for the business than most will ever give him credit for.  His mind for professional wrestling is one of the all time best and his respect for it is something that a lot of young talent could learn a lot from.  A man who never had a problem doing the “job” to get someone over and understanding that the show is bigger than himself.  I doubt there will ever be another interview that captivates me like his with the raw honesty and wit that he displayed inside and outside of the ring.  But now here we are today in what could be his final moments on this earth.  To say it’s a sad time would be an understatement.  I’m not ashamed at all to admit I’ve wiped a tear away on more than one occasion over the last 24 hours.  It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how important Scott was to the business but it wasn’t until March 13th, 2022 that I realized how important he was to me as a person.  I know that’s a weird thing to say about someone you have never met but we can’t dismiss the fact that it can and does happen.

“You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends.”

Like a lot of others, I have not had the perfect life and that is why I will never judge Scott for those “demons” that others have and still do to this day.  But in that imperfect life, I was able to find my love for professional wrestling and that love will always be associated with the Bad Guy.

All those times as a teenager where I was left alone, I turned to wrestling to fill an empty void.  My friends growing up, I have to thank wrestling and more importantly the nWo because if it wasn’t for that nwo shirt I wore 3 times a week, nobody might have said hey to me.  Even today, I have made more friends over the last year due to wrestling than I have in the last 15 years because of the IWC(yes, there are some good people on there).  If Razor Ramon doesn’t catch my attention on that day as a kid, I’m not sure any of that happens and for that, I can’t say thank you enough to the man.

“4 Life”

I’m going to enjoy those “too sweet” moments I share with strangers that aren’t really strangers in public when I catch them in a black and white nWo shirt a little more.  Those smirks that come across my face whenever I see a wrestler hit the Razors/Outsiders Edge are going to be a little bigger.  The toothpick tosses, “oozing” ring gears and Razor salutes are all going to hit just a bit harder now, but it will be well worth it when those memories start pouring in. I just wish I could have been a better fan for him when he was still wrestling.

So if this is it, it’s time I say goodbye to the bad guy… cause we’re never gonna see a bad guy like him again.

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