Scott Hall has unfortunately died at age 63, after hip replacement surgery led to blood clot complications that proved fatal.



I'm sure the primary thing that people will rush to credit him for is his part in the nWo, and I agree wholeheartedly that his contribution, in kicking off that angle and remaining an integral part throughout, was invaluable, a massive boost to the entire industry. No way to get around that being an industry-changing angle.

But my first impulse is to give him credit for his part in what still holds up as the GOAT ladder match, the WrestleMania X classic with Shawn Michaels. When I last dialed up this match, I did not expect it to have aged well. I expected it to be more of a Citizen Kane, a groundbreaking piece in its time that had long-term influence in the film industry, but not the most exciting thing to watch today. This expectation was wrong.

The Razor-HBK WM X match is still a legitimate five-star classic, and has not been outdone by any subsequent ladder-match efforts. Of course its spots were not as frequently flashy as those you would see in a match today, but these guys got together and put on a masterpiece of storytelling. The ladder was essentially a third character in the story, and they used it to perfection. It was probably inevitable that these two in a ladder match was always going to be highly entertaining to some degree, but they REALLY set the bar in a way that ensured that WWF was going to go back to that well time and again, and we gained many more highly entertaining matches from it.



RIP to one of the great wrestlers of the New Generation/Monday Night Wars era.

My father forced me to be in Cub Scouts for a few years. I hated every second of it. Having said that, there was a house show where anyone wearing their Cub Scouts uniform got to go backstage and meet Razor Ramon circa 1993.

Of course, it was the one time I forgot to wear my uniform. Regret it to this day.

RIP to "The Bad Guy".

A small memory: A time when social media wasn't around and I had no idea Razor was going to WCW. I was mesmerized when he hopped the guard rail and cut a promo. As I taped every second of wrestling on tv back then, I watched that (and the other future pre-NWO antics) probably hundreds of times.

WMX was one of the few ppvs I was able to convince my mom to buy. I watched their ladder match as many times as that promo. That was breathtaking at the time.

LKJ, I just saw that image on the TLF page and I sense a great but awfully sad episode coming up. Though, I'm sure some levity will come from Mabel vs. Diesel as a main event.

The last tweet from TLF indicates they're doing the Razor Ramon coliseum video, not SummerSlam '95.

Hall's disruption of the Nitro match was elite, but one of the other great memories during that initial run-up to BATB '96 was that confrontation with Eric Bischoff at Great American Bash, and especially Hall suddenly unloading a really violent-looking punch to Bischoff's stomach. It really put over the Outsiders angle as something different.

Yes, I was gonna mention that. The punch looked really real for lack of a better word. One of my favorite moments of the mid-90's because I loved seeing people thrown through tables and Eric took a ride after that punch.

I saw the picture and assumed they were doing SummerSlam 1995.

Still remember watching this one live. The other match I can think of in the Brock/Taker WM 30 tier of shocking results.

Lkj, would you say the Razor was the greatest wrestler to never wear the world title belt?

He'd be on the list, and I think you could easily make a case for him.

While I'd like to vouch for Curt Hennig on that point, he didn't show the same ability to be over in both roles the way Razor was; the face turn only halfway worked for him. My appreciation for Roddy Piper has grown as I see and hear about more of his early 80s work, and he would be on the list too. Ted DiBiase is another; it's increasingly clear to me from watching his territory work that he was excellent as a babyface also, but WWF just happened to use him as a heel for his whole run there.

I think Hall would have been world champion in one of the two companies if the companies felt they could trust him to be the face of a company, but obviously his substance abuse issues really hampered him there. It is surprising, though, that after the '93 Rumble he didn't really even get a high-profile title shot. Certainly you'd have to think he could have helped to sell a PPV main event.

I'm not sure any 'wrestling move in the swimming pool' worked quite as well as the Razor's Edge.

I ate way too many of them as a kid growing up with an older brother. A decade later I got my revenge back as a camp counselor, the kids lined up daily to take the Edge.

I'll be doing it to my kids one day. That move is eternal.

RIP.

Granted that Mick Foley is the nicest guy in the world and only ever says kind things about anyone - it made for a funny dynamic in the "Heat Seekers" episode of Legends of Wrestling - but I like seeing his endorsement for Hall all the same.

Was surprised to learn that Hall was 63. Thought he was still in his late 50s, but then recall first seeing him in wrestling mags and ESPN in the mid-80s. "Gator" Scott Hall was one-half of the tag champs with Curt Hennig. If you haven't seen this version, it's probably hard to picture. White meat, baby face...bulkier and almost a clone of Magnum T.A. with the hair and mustache.

Ladder match between him and HBK at WrestleMania X one of the best matches of all time. McMahon is truly a piece of **** though. Making these guys wait until 65 to collect retirement is a death sentence already.

RIP Scott Hall, def needs a thread

Shout out to one of the great theme songs too, oozing machismo was a magic tune. Really sad to see him pass away so soon

Would 100% not surprise me to hear Eric told Scott to punch him for real. That confrontation there was the most important moment of the road to BatB, and it had to look perfect.

DDP and Jake remember Scott....

Lol. My brother gave me a Razors Edge onto a bed, I bounced off the bed and landed flat on my back on the floor. I stood up and spewed spaghetti all over the floor.