A Look Back On A Young Scott Hall’s Career Before He Became WWE’s Razor Ramon
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Scott Hall is a legend of the professional wrestling business, and is often included in the conversation of the greatest wrestlers to have never been given the chance of holding the WWE Championship. A career filled with ups and downs saw him become a controversial figure at times, but still someone who remained beloved by fans in multiple different promotions. One of the most notable stints of his career, where he rose to stardom prominently for the first time, was when he became “Razor Ramon” in WWE. However, there is a chapter in his legacy before donning that character, and it is interesting to look back on a young Scott Hall prior to that.
Scott Hall Competed In Several Promotions In The 1980s
Scott Hall made his wrestling debut all the way back in 1984, making a start in MACW in the tag team “American Starship”, which was ultimately a failure. His next steps saw him arrive in AWA, with promoter Verne Gagne wanting Hall to be the next Hulk Hogan, after “The Hulkster” had made the move to WWE. This project didn’t work out too well, as Hall didn’t reach that level of prominence. Hall would then team with Curt Hennig, winning the AWA World Tag Team Titles. In an interview with Wade Keller of PWTorch, Hall made note of Hennig helping him during his early days in the business.
RELATED: Origins Of The Bad Guy: A Look At Scott Hall's Early Wrestling Career In AWA
Over the next couple of years, Hall would also wrestle in NJPW, which many did to help further their experience and careers. He competed in the 1987 IWGP League and the Japan Cup Tag Team League, teaming with Seiji Sakaguchi in the latter. Over the next three years, Hall spent time in and out of NJPW and other promotions, before eventually landing in NWA/WCW, where his name value would further begin to rise.
Scott Hall Became “The Diamond Studd” In WCW
He started out as “Scott Hall” in WCW, but it wasn’t long until he was repackaged as “The Diamond Studd”, managed by Diamond Dallas Page. Hall’s iconic toothpick came into play during his time under this gimmick, which went on to become a staple of his character for many years to come. He would also become a part of the Diamond Mine faction, alongside the likes of Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash) and Scotty Flamingo (Raven).
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Hall developed a winning streak early on in WCW, defeating several lower card members and jobbers for a few months - perhaps his most notable win was against The Blue Blazer (Owen Hart). His first PPV appearance came at the 1991 Great American Bash, which was a notably awful event. His match against The Z-Man was perhaps one of the highlights on the card, though that isn’t saying much. Hall was still gaining experience so he wasn’t entirely polished just yet. It didn’t exactly help that DDP’s interference was messy, but it was a fine match nonetheless.
Other notable matches for Hall during his time in WCW included the infamously awful Chamber of Horrors match, which is among the most horrendous gimmick matches in history. As his time progressed in WCW, Hall didn’t exactly do too much in the company. His televised matches were mostly relatively short, with him not given the chance to ever steal the show or have a proper feud. He never received a title shot in any division, though he did compete in a tournament to earn a shot at the WCW United States Title, but that was it. He would also compete in a War Games match on a house show, but when it came to TV, he was an afterthought much of the time.
Scott Hall’s Failed WCW Run Led To Him Becoming “Razor Ramon” In WWE
In 1992, Hall entered a feud with Dustin Rhodes, with this looking to potentially be a feud which would propel him up to the next level. However, nothing came of this as he made the call to move to WWE. This came at the right time, because his character was beginning to lose a lot of matches in quick fashion, with his push diminishing quickly.
RELATED: Every Major Razor Ramon WWE Feud, Ranked Worst To Best
It wasn’t long until Hall was revamped in WWE, debuting under the “Razor Ramon” persona, which did take some influence from his previous character work, with more added on as well to make him much more badass, allowing him to showcase plenty of personality. In a look back at Hall’s life and career, Inside The Ropes agreed with this and noted that the Diamond Studd character “laid the very foundations upon which he would create the ‘Bad Guy’ under Vince McMahon’s empire.” It was under this gimmick that he managed to unlock a side to him which would begin his rise up the wrestling ladder, becoming one of the most successful and notable Intercontinental Champions in WWE history.
