For the old-school wrestling fam
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Antonio Inoki, arguably the most influential wrestler of all time, passed away this past year at the age of 79. Outside of the ring, he is also arguably the second greatest promoter of all time behind Vince McMahon. His whole story is way too long to tell in a single episode but we will do the best we can.
Continue reading “Vol. 47: Antonio Inoki (1943-2022)”Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
“Hey yo!” Scott Hall made that common greeting a trademark catchphrase. With his signature toothpick and slicked-back hair, Scott Hall was arguably one of the greatest and most influential wrestlers of all time who never held a world championship. He was trained by the legendary Hiro Matsuda, who had also trained the likes of Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and The Great Muta.
Hall started wrestling for Eddie Graham’s Championship Wrestling from Florida in 1984. He and Dan Spivey formed a tag team called American Starship, with Hall known as Coyote and Spivey as Eagle. Both men had impressive looks but were way too green to connect with the crowd. The team disbanded with Hall going to work for Verne Gagne in The AWA.
Gagne repackaged Hall as “Big” Scott Hall and gave him a look similar to Magnum TA. The TV show Magnum PI was a huge hit that made Tom Selleck (and his impressive mustache) a household name. Plus, Magnum TA was already a fan favorite in the Crockett territory. Scott was put in another tag team, this time with Curt Hennig, with the plan being to eventually make him a major singles star. While the duo did win the AWA tag team championship, it was actually Hennig that became the singles star. Hall left the AWA in the late 80s to join Jerry Jarrett’s CWA in Memphis.
Hall finally saw success as a singles star in Memphis. However, since he was an outsider, he would only get pushed so far because Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee were the hometown heroes. Around this time, he started doing tours with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Hall finally saw work on a national stage when he signed with WCW. He became a heel called The Diamond Studd and Diamond Dallas Page became his manager. This is also where he met Kevin Nash, who at the time had been using gimmick names like The Great Oz and Vinnie Vegas. While the two were a physically impressive duo, they didn’t see much success in the ring, and both signed with The World Wrestling Federation in the early 90s.
Hall made his WWE debut in 1992 as Razor Ramon, a character inspired by Tony Montana from the movie Scarface. He was an instant hit with the fans and quickly became one of the company’s top stars. This is the look and persona that would stay with him for the rest of his career. It also brought him his first high-profile money feud in the form of “Macho Man” Randy Savage since Ramon claimed to be “Oozing Machismo”.
By the Fall of 1992, Razor was headlining shows against Savage. He also challenged then WWE Champion Bret “The Hitman” Hart for the title at the 1993 Royal Rumble. Razor turned babyface in the summer of 1993. He would go on to hold the WWF Intercontinental Title for a then-record four times. This is also where he gained a reputation backstage along with friends Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sean “1-2-3 Kid” Waltman, and HHH as a “clique”.
Hall and Nash signed with WCW in the spring of 1996. Their final WWE appearance was with the rest of their fellow clique members. This was the infamous “Curtain Call” incident in Madison Square Garden where they all broke character and embraced in the ring.
In May 1996, Scott Hall shocked the world by appearing on WCW Nitro to start the NWO invasion angle. He interrupted a match between Mike Enos and Steve Dunne and cut a promo that made several references that made some fans think there actually was a WCW vs. WWE program happening. We go into a lot more detail regarding The NWO in Volume 8. The first year or two of The NWO struck gold and put WCW over the top of WWE in The Monday Night War. Unfortunately, it also led to a multitude of financial problems with the company, as well as the personal issues that plagued Hall throughout his career.
WCW became a revolving door for Hall in the late 90s due to his personal issues and substance abuse. He finally left the company for good in 2000. After sporadic appearances in ECW and a short-lived WWE return in 2002, he stopped wrestling full-time. He made occasional appearances in different promotions over the next decade. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame as Razor in 2014.
We at Classic Wrestling Memories extend our deepest condolences, thoughts, and prayers to Scott Hall’s family.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
The wrestling world has lost another legend with the passing of multi-time World Champion Big Van Vader, aka Leon White. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they pay tribute to arguably the greatest “Big Man” to step foot into the squared Circle. White was born on May 14, 1955, in Lynwood California. He was a two-time All-American football player for the University Of Colorado. After college, he was drafted into the NFL by the Los Angeles Rams where he played Center for two years. He was part of the NFC Championship team that played in Super Bowl XIV. Shortly after that, he was forced to retire from the NFL due to injury White began his professional wrestling career in 1985 for Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association. There he was given the name “Baby Bull” Leon White, a babyface who eventually challenged Stan Hansen for the AWA World Championship.
It was his time in Japan where White truly gained his stardom. In New Japan Pro Wrestling, he was christened “Big Van Vader”, and given the now-famous mask and headgear that would become a definitive look for the rest of his career. On April 24th, 1989, Vader became the first “gaijin” (foreigner) to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by winning a tournament, defeating Shinya Hashimoto in the finals. Vader would win the title on two more occasions, in 1989 and 1991. During this time, he also wrestled for Otto Wanz’s Catch Wrestling Association in Austria, and Universal Wrestling Association in Mexico. With World Title wins in all three promotions, Vader became a world champion on three continents simultaneously. He and fellow gaijin Bam Bam Bigelow won the IWGP Tag Team Championship under the name Big, Bad, And Dangerous.
Upon losing the tag titles to The Steiner Brothers in 1992, Vader began wrestling full time for World Championship Wrestling. There he defeated Sting for the WCW Title at The Great American Bash and feuded with top stars such as Ric Flair, Ron Simmons, and Mick Foley. Vader would hold the WCW Title on three occasions, with reigns totaling 377 days. After a successful run in WCW, Vader was hired by Vince McMahon to work for the then World Wrestling Federation, where he was given a much-hyped debut at the 1996 Royal Rumble. While he did not win any championships in the WWF, he did have high-profile feuds against The Undertaker and World Champion Shawn Michaels.