10 Things You Didn't Know About Scott Hall
Looking back at the life and times of the legendary Bad Guy.
The wrestling world is currently in a state of mourning following the tragic passing of the legendary Scott Hall.
Once he arrived in the AWA in 1985, Hall marked himself as a talent to keep an eye. There was 'Magnum' Scott Hall, 'Big' Scott Hall, the Diamond Studd, Razor Ramon, and simply just Scott Hall as monikers used by this two-time WWE Hall of Famer across a storied career that took in the likes of WWE, WCW, TNA and New Japan Pro Wrestling. And for those with a penchant for Championship Wrestling from Florida, there was even the early Starship Coyote moniker that saw Scott paired with Dan Spivey.
Sadly, the death of the iconic Bad Guy was announced on 14 March, with Scott's family taking him off life support after a loose blood clot had caused the nWo founder to suffer three heart attacks the prior night following hip surgery. Hall had spent decades fighting his well known demons, and he'd got himself into a great place in the past few years, partly in thanks to Diamond Dallas Page and the great work Page does.
While we all know about the big title wins, the marquee matches, the nWo years and the countless highs and lows of Scott Hall's time in and out of the squared circle, here are ten facts that you may well not be aware of when it comes to this true gamechanger of the wrestling business.
10. He Was The AWA's Hulk Hogan Replacement
When Hulk Hogan departed the AWA and headed to the World Wrestling Federation in late-1983, part of the reason for that was that Hogan had become disillusioned with Verne Gagne and Verne's refusal to put the AWA World Title on the Hulkster. Regardless of how fans clamoured for it, Gagne would always tease the big title win for Hogan, then ultimately pull back on it due to Verne's feelings on Hulk not having a legitimate amateur wrestling background.
Eventually realising the error of his ways once Hogan became the biggest name in the business, Verne decided to go all-in on someone he viewed as having the same appeal as Hulk Hogan: 'Big' Scott Hall.
Upon landing in the AWA in 1985, Hall was slowly groomed to be that next huge babyface star, with Gagne having Big Scott mimic certain Hulkster mannerisms as he gradually worked his way up the card, from the tag ranks paired with Curt Hennig, to eventually getting a shot at the AWA World Championship.
Despite Verne deciding that he wanted to strap the rocket to Scott Hall, make him the AWA World Champ and position him as the promotion's Hogan, it was down to Scott that this ultimately didn't come to pass. Becoming tired of the bitterly cold winters of the Minneapolis area - and seeing that the AWA was falling further behind the WWF and JCP/WCW - Hall decided to leave the territory in early-1989 rather than stay and become the AWA's top star.