“Hard work pays off. Dreams come true. Bad times don’t last. But bad guys do.”
Scott Hall adopted a Cuban accent and oozed machismo as he rose to become one of the wrestling world’s biggest stars in the 1990s as Razor Ramon.
Hall, who has died aged 63, started his career in 1984 and caught his big break eight years later with his signature toothpick as the “Miami-Cuban character based on Scarface”.
It was a showbiz theft – from Brian De Palma’s 1983 Hollywood remake starring Al Pacino – he owned, with pride.
In 2017, he said: “Vince McMahon [WWE owner] hadn’t seen Scarface…
“One time Pacino was touring a newspaper in Montreal [where a wrestling referee Hall was friends with also worked as the entertainment editor].
“Pacino was there for the film festival.
“He saw a picture of me on the wall and said, ‘Oh that guy, he does a bad guy better than me!’”
Hall was a four-time Intercontinental Champion during his five-year run in the WWE before defecting back to long-time rival WCW in 1996 where he became a founding member of the New World Order faction alongside Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash.
He never won a world championship in a major promotion.
But Hall was nonetheless a world champion, having won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship in 1995 in a forgotten title match against Angus legend Bill Dundee.
Born William Cruickshanks in Kirriemuir in 1943, the youth that was to become ‘Superstar Bill Dundee’ was raised by his grandparents in the town.
By 15, he quit school and was working as a bothy loon at Balnagarrow Farm.
Two years later, during which time he was arrested three times for fighting, the Cruickshanks family emigrated to Australia.
He joined the circus as a trapeze artist before he started wrestling in 1962.
Dundee made his debut in Jim Barnett’s Australian promotion and wrestled there until the end of 1974 before moving to America.
He arrived as ‘Superstar’ Bill Dundee and wrestled mostly for southern territories including NWA Mid-South, Continental Wrestling Association and the USWA in Memphis where he regularly teamed and feuded with Jerry Lawler.
Razor Ramon
Dundee won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship in February 1995 after defeating Lawler but his reign with the gold was short-lived.
Step forward the man with the gold chains and the toothpick.
Hall was still wrestling with the WWE as Ramon but he also came over to the USWA during this time which was affiliated with the WWE at this stage.
They would eventually go up against each other for the world title on April 3 1995.
The venue was the Coliseum in Memphis and 1,100 fans watched Dundee and Ramon grapple each other in the main event on the packed card.
Ramon pinned Dundee to win the title following a classic match between the wrestling superstars but he would only hold the belt for another 28 days.
Ramon’s feud with Jeff Jarrett in the WWE continued during this time but he also returned to Memphis where he dropped his USWA belt to Jerry Lawler.
Razor Ramon,after defeating Bill Dundee for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship in Memphis,Tennessee back on April 3,1995.Razor held that Title for 28 days pic.twitter.com/C7A5wrtlKR
— Rasslin' History 101 (@WrestlingIsKing) June 1, 2019
Dundee wore sequined jumpsuits and movie star glasses and won over 60 championships during his illustrious career.
But could the Kirrie hero have joined Scott Hall in the WWE?
In addition to wrestling, Dundee was also a booker and promoter and that led to interest from WWE regarding a role in the 1990s.
The Undertaker
However, while his dinner with WWE chief McMahon apparently went well, Dundee was not hired allegedly due to a personal conflict with The Undertaker.
“Yeah, they were interviewing me for a job but the Undertaker didn’t want me to have that job,” Dundee said while laughing.
“Well, he and a couple other people.
“But, I think Undertaker did the most of it.
“I have no earthly idea why he don’t like me.
“He used to know a young lady and that ought to let you know some kind of idea.
“She gave him a version of me.
“But, I don’t know why he doesn’t like me.”
Dundee has kept grappling well in to his 70s.
In July 2019 he defeated Tony Deppen to win the WOMBAT Television Championship for Game Changer Wrestling in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
He frequently appears on radio and TV shows in West Tennessee and runs a podcast named: If You Don’t Want the Answer, Don’t Ask the Question.
Sadly his former opponent Hall – who was a two-time WWE Hall of Famer – struggled away from the canvas and battled with alcohol and drug issues.
The wrestling icon was haunted by the 1983 incident that saw him kill a man during an altercation at an Orlando strip club where Hall was working as a bartender.
He claimed he acted in self defence and second-degree murder charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.
After falling and breaking a hip in early March, Hall had hip replacement surgery but suffered complications due to a blood clot before he passed away.
He once said: “I’ve always said it ain’t Show Friends. It’s Show Business.”
Here was a man who should know.
Farewell Chico.
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