Wrestling legends manage to last for a long time after they fade, and many of them are revered for quite a while after their passing. In the case of Scott Hall, or Razor Ramon, as many WWE fans will remember him, the exploits of his life might stand out as a success as well as a cautionary tale. In all fairness, Hall started out as a face during his wrestling career as much of his work, that many people might know next to nothing about, was as a hero in the ring. That feels out of place with what people know of him now, right? But sadly, Hall passed away recently, and his legacy is bound to be based largely around what people saw of him during his time in WCW and the WWE, as a member of the Kliq and the NWO, and as the all-around heel that people had no trouble believing in. Sometimes it feels as though he might have stepped into a character far too often when he wasn’t in the ring, since the heel act apparently followed him into his personal life as well. But with all due respect to Hall, he knew how to put on a show.
Surprisingly enough, this larger-than-life personality was a jobber for much of his time during the early years of his career and didn’t get a huge push until he’d paid his dues so to speak. Even after he’d been in for a while it does appear that he had to wait for a while to get over with the fans, who tend to make and break stars depending on their reactions. What a lot of people are likely to remember about Hall starts in the 90s when he became the heel that he would be for much of his career moving forward. The damning part of his personal life however was the fact that he faced several arrests for behavior that many would expect of his character in the ring, but might not think he was capable of elsewhere.
This is, unfortunately, the reality of some individuals that make their living by entertaining an audience with a fictional character. One might have to ask those that were closer to Hall what he was really like, and it’s easy to think that people would get several different answers depending on who they ask. But what was presented to the public was a figure that could be decent at times, but was often someone that was in trouble of some sort, either on the show or in his personal life. Sadly, this line blurred at times since trying to figure out if Hall was acting at times or if he was being his usual self was kind of tough. In the ring though, well, he entertained people at times, but he also made them wonder if he was acting as himself or as his character. He was entertaining, that much is easy to say, as he came out with a very aggressive and bullying character that people enjoyed cheering for and against whenever the mood struck them. In other words, as an entertainer, he was good at his job and knew how to work the crowd.
Saying that he was a one-dimensional character doesn’t feel fair, but it feels accurate when it comes to describing him as Razor Ramon or Scott Hall since depending on who he came out as he was all-in when it came to the role. Razor Ramon, as memorable of a character as he was, is easily explained as a rip-off of Tony Montana from Scarface, as Hall even went on to explain how this character came to be at one point in his career. Pitching the idea to Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson and asking Tito Santana about a useful name is a great story, but he apparently took Razor’s personality straight from the movie, not just for the character, but also for the promos it would appear. There’s nothing wrong with this obviously, as this has been done quite often in the history of the WWE. It’s simply interesting to learn. But once he stuck with his own name and personality it felt as though he’d come back to basics, which was nice to see.
No matter how a person feels about Scott Hall, it’s fair to say that the “Hey yo…” line is going to be missed, as will his thuggish style of entering the ring. Like I’ve said, you can feel any way about the wrestler and the man that you like, but the fact is that he did make an impact at one point in his career, and while he had a lot of snags that came and went, Scott Hall, turned out to be a hall of fame recipient in the WWE and a name that people are going to remember for a long time to come. Rest in peace sir, you’ll be missed.