The Diamond Studd, Starship Coyote, Bad Guy, Outsider, and "Last Call" Scott Hall was the most overlooked wrestling superstar in the '90s and early 2000s. Indeed, he was often overlooked by fault of his own; that is utterly undeniable. However, Razor catapulted the wrestling industry uniquely, more so than any other character that graced the screens of our televisions while, we, anxious fans, yearned for something different than traditional leg drops, scoop slams, and extensive posing after every match. Foremost, Scott Hall entered the WWF riding his Pacino-like, Scarface gimmick under the pretense of being a "Bad Guy." He managed to surface as a heel in his WWF infancy with this character, even battling Bret Hart at Royal Rumble 1993 for the WWF Title (and, of course, jobbing). The WWF had better plans at WrestleMania IX for a new titleholder--a sumo fighter that could not wrestle whatsoever and weighed more than two Scott Halls, maybe five, combined. Fair enough; perhaps Ramon needed to utilize a Banzai Drop that required an unthinkable amount of innovation and talent.

Now, flash forward twelve months, if you will. If you had the figurative remote control in your hand, you would witness the twenty minutes that changed wrestling entirely. Kliq affiliates, Scott Hall and Michael Hickenbottom, were picked to participate in a mid-card match at Madison Square Garden that involved a "ladder." One, if a true wrestling fan, needs no play-by-play of this match. All one needs to know is this match absolutely created the edgier, hardcore style of wrestling. Edge, Christian, The Hardys, and anyone claiming to be hardcore, should record this match and place it in his/her inventory.

So, The Bad Guy won both Intercontinental titles at WrestleMania X, albeit Michaels' supposed title was merely conjured out of his own desire. Razor would become a four time IC champ before jobbing to Memphis' own, Jeff Jarrett, time and time again. Certainly, Jarrett garnished help from The Roadie--a man that would later be called the Road Dogg--an individual that made a career of never taking his shirt off because he possessed zero muscular definition and insisted upon stealing numerous catch phrases from the likes of Snoop Doggy Dogg to gain notoriety from a crowd that was truly "gangsta" and knew all about Death Row Records.

Then, Scott Hall breaks Kayfabe and heads down south to Dubya-See-Dubya. He crashes a match involving complete jobbers, only to tell the wrestling world, "You, people, know who I am, but you don't why I'm here." He announces the hostile take over, and subsequently, his big sexy friend joins him to slaughter the old men headlining WCW.

And, the premier old man, Hulk Hogan, finds his time to turn heel--courtesy of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash's appearance. We loved it. No longer was wrestling about arm bars, sleepers, and slaps across the chest. It became all about the drama. We thought Hall and Nash were belligerently taking over a company. Make no mistake, they took over a company.

Yet, here is where the injustice develops. Hogan was given the green light to Leg Drop his way to gold, due to Hall and Nash. The Outsiders tore apart the tag team division, rightfully so. What if Hurricane and Rosey were to face The Outsiders" Who would win" Maybe it could be a mask match, where Hall and Nash would force Hurricane and Rosey to unveil their faces just as they did to Rey Mysterio at Superbrawl IX.

Hogan runs wild, scoops slams, vicious pointer fingers and all. The Outsiders reign supreme in the tag division. The nWo incorporates Steiner, Buff, The Giant, Sting, and several fake Stings. Yet, November 1997 summarizes it all. Scott Hall, with help from Kevin Nash, wins World War 3. He is on his way to face Sting at Starrcade.

But, that never happens. Scott Hall lays down for Hogan, reluctantly; Hogan gets the shot against Sting.

And, that is the standard process. Scott Hall gives his charisma, gives all of his mic skill efforts to his buddies, and they take the limelight.

Hogan holds the title many times during the nWo reign. Nash wins the title because of the fateful tazer a Yellow Shirted security man, Scott Hall, inflicted upon the Georgia football stud at Starrcade '98.

Scott Hall then faces Goldberg in Ladder/Tazer Match at Souled Out '99. Hall jobs. Shocked"

The nWo returns to kill WWE in 2002. Hall has the esteemed privilege to face Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XVIII. Stone Cold claims to be a beer drinker yet never drinks more than 1/2 of a single beer when he cheerfully celebrates after stunning a predictable pawn. Thus, Steve O'Douls has a match against Big Scott Hall.

Hall jobs, pretty surprising. Stone Cold wins. Rock tears out Hogan. McMahon's good guys are the victors.

Scott Hall gave us the term "man" and changed it to "main." He offered "Hey, yo," "Survey says," "Prove it," "Don't sing it, bring it," and "Down there." If you have an old PPV with The Rock in a match, watch his punches. Who do they remind you of" Scott also said "Jabrone" long before Rock called anyone a "Jabroni." Who else does the Outsider's Edge" Even Buff Bagwell called Scott Hall the greastest wrestler in the world in a VHS interview in 1999, probably because of the Outsider's Edge, fallaway slam, chokeslam, abdominal stretch, discus lariat, toothpick flick, belly to back suplex from the top rope, top of the head slap, the tazer, creating the ladder match, doing the Stunner on Stone Cold himself, revolutionary punch style, and selling an opponent's moves like none other (insert Stone Cold O'Douls Stunner at WM 18),

Scott Hall was overlooked, large in part because of his alcoholic antics. Nonetheless, he changed wrestling, never got his proper push to the title, but remains an icon because he is simply, Scott Hall--not an icon, but an instrumental component to what we watch every Monday and Thursday night. He, along with Kevin Nash, pushed the envelope and changed everything.

by Dustin Auman ..