Stephen "Steve" Paul Keirn^[2] (born September 10, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for being part of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, with Stan Lane, and later for a run in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Skinner, a gimmick that portrayed him as a tobacco spitting alligator hunter from the Everglades.^[1] During his time in WWF, Steve was also one of a number of wrestlers to play the role of the masked Doink the Clown.^[3] He is currently signed with WWE, and works as President of Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Much of Keirn's early career was spent wrestling as part of a tag team. While wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), he held the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship twelve times; once each with Bob Backlund, Jimmy Garvin, and Brian Blair, and nine times with Mike Graham.^[4] In addition, the team of Keirn and Graham won the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship three times.^[5]

In 1980 and 1981, Keirn focused on his career as a singles wrestler. He won many titles in Florida and Georgia, including the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title by defeating Chavo Guerrero Sr..^[6][7] This title reign was recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as the Los Angeles and Florida NWA territories, but not by the NWA as a whole, which considered the title vacant and held a tournament to crown a new champion. The title Keirn held was later renamed the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title.^[7] Keirn also won the NWA National Television Championship twice, defeating Terry Funk and Kevin Sullivan.^[8]

In 1981, Keirn began wrestling with the Tennessee-based Continental Wrestling Association (CWA). He was successful as a singles wrestler, winning a tournament to claim the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.^[9] He also held the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship on two occasions.^[10] As in CWF, Keirn found his greatest success in the tag team division. He held the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship 17 times, including 14 reigns as one half of the Fabulous Ones with Stan Lane. Keirn and Lane also teamed to win the CWA World Tag Team Championship twice.^[11]

The Fabulous Ones competed in various promotions over the next decade. In 1984, the team won the Southwest Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship while wrestling in Australia.^[12] In the United States, they won the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship twice.^[5] In 1991, the pair wrestled in the United States Wrestling Association, defeating Tony Anthony and Doug Gilbert to win the USWA Tag Team Championship.^[13]

World Wrestling Federation (1991–1993)[link]

In the summer of 1991, Keirn debuted in the WWF as Skinner, an alligator hunter from the Florida Everglades.^[14] He was portrayed as a generally nasty individual, always chewing on tobacco and sometimes spitting it on his opponent. He carried an alligator claw to the ring with him, which he would often use as a weapon against his opponents. He competed in the 1991 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Virgil in the first round but losing to Bret Hart in the second round.^[15] While still being billed as undefeated, he challenged Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at This Tuesday in Texas on December 3, 1991 but lost by submission.^[16] At WrestleMania VIII, Skinner was defeated in one minute and eleven seconds by Owen Hart.^[17]

While in the WWF, Keirn also portrayed Doink the Clown on occasion. At WrestleMania IX, Keirn helped the original Doink defeat Crush by attacking Crush dressed as Doink during the match.^[3]

World Championship Wrestling (1994)[link]

Along with Bobby Eaton, Keirn wrestled in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994 in a tag team known as "Bad Attitude".^[15] Despite the tag team success both Keirn and Eaton enjoyed in the past (with The Fabulous Ones and the Midnight Express respectively), the team made little impact, losing dark matches to Brian and Brad Armstrong at Bash at the Beach 1994 and Fall Brawl 1994.^[18][19] While in WCW, Keirn was also involved in an angle in which masked men attacked Hulk Hogan. Several times in October 1994, Keirn wore a black mask to attack Hogan during and after Hogan's matches.^[20][21]

Retirement and FCW[link]

Since the late 1980s, Keirn has run a school to train wrestlers. Originally located in Tampa, Florida, Keirn's "Professional Wrestling School of Hard Knocks" is now located in Brandon, Florida.^[22] Keirn helped train many wrestlers, including Mike Awesome, Dennis Knight, Joe "Destiny" Clapp, Diamond Dallas Page, Dustin Rhodes and Tracy Smothers.^[22]

The school has since been incorporated into the WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). Keirn makes regular appearances on the FCW television show where he is referred to as the President of FCW.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Gatorbreaker^[1][15] (Inverted DDT)

• Signature moves
  • Forearm smash^[15]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Century Wrestling Alliance

• CWA Television Championship (1 time)^[23]

• Championship Wrestling from Florida

• NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version) (1 time)^[24]
• NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (5 times)^[25]
• NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (12 times) - with Mike Graham (9),^[4] Jimmy Garvin (1),^[4] Bob Backlund (1),^[4] and Brian Blair (1)^[4]
• NWA Florida Television Championship (1 time)^[26]
• NWA North America Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) - with Mike Graham^[27]
• NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (2 times)^[28]
• NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (5 times) - with Mike Graham (3)^[5] and Stan Lane (2)^[5]

• Georgia Championship Wrestling

• NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[29]
• NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mr. Wrestling^[30]
• NWA National Television Championship (2 times)^[8]

• NWA Hollywood Wrestling

• NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[31]

• NWA Mid-America / Continental Wrestling Association

• AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[9]
• AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (17 times) - with Stan Lane (14),^[32] Bill Dundee (2),^[32] and Terry Taylor (1)^[32]
• CWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mark Starr^[33]
• CWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Stan Lane^[11]
• NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[10]

• Southwest Championship Wrestling

• SCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Stan Lane^[12]

• United States Wrestling Association

• USWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Stan Lane^[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• Memphis Wrestling History

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (February 2011)

Scott Hall
Scott Hall in 1999.
Ring name(s)	Big Scott Hall[1] The Diamond Studd[1] Razor Ramon[1] Scott Hall[1] Starship Coyote[1]
Billed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1][2]
Billed weight	287 lb (130 kg)[1][2]
Born	(1958-10-20) October 20, 1958 (age 53)[1] Chuluota, Florida
Resides	Chuluota, Florida
Billed from	Miami, Florida[1][2]
Trained by	Hiro Matsuda[3] Al Snow[3] Barry Windham Mike Rotunda Christopher Adams
Debut	October 13, 1984

Scott Oliver Hall (born October 20, 1958) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF ̶ now WWE) in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name. Since the late 2000s, Hall has become known for his much publicized battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, which he initially struggled with in the late 1990s during his time in WCW.

Hall began his career in 1984 in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), before working in territories across Jim Crockett Promotions as part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In 1985, Hall moved to the American Wrestling Association (AWA), winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship once with Curt Hennig in January 1986. Following further stints in the NWA and the World Wrestling Council - where he would briefly hold the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship - Hall signed with the World Wrestling Federation in 1992. Hall would wrestle as Razor Ramon, a Latino-heel persona modeled after the characters of Tony Montana and Manny Ribera from the movie Scarface. While in the WWF, Hall would win the WWF Intercontinental Championship four times, before leaving for WCW in 1996.

Shortly after arriving in WCW, Hall became one of the three original members of the New World Order (nWo) stable along with Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash. The stable's gimmick was a group of unsanctioned wrestlers aiming to "take over" and control WCW in the manner of a street gang. The storyline helped skyrocket WCW's television ratings and reinvigorated interest in the promotion. Over the course of his time with WCW, Hall became a seven time WCW World Tag Team Champion, two time WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, one time WCW World Television Champion, and winner of WCW World War 3 1997. Following the demise of WCW in 2001, Hall would briefly reprise the nWo stable with Nash and Hogan in the WWF in 2002.

Since being released from the WWF, Hall has wrestled in various other wrestling promotions including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, International Wrestling Association and Juggalo Championship Wrestling. Hall is a two time world heavyweight champion, having won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship once and the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once.

Professional wrestling career[link]

National Wrestling Alliance (1984–1985)[link]

Hall began his career in 1984 in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) and soon began a feud with Dusty Rhodes.^[4] Scott Hall and his workout buddy Dan Spivey were trained in Florida mainly by Dusty Rhodes but also received training from Rick Martel and Barry Windham. When it was time for the team's debut Dusty Rhodes made a deal with Jim Crockett for the two to work in Crockett's territory based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. While wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions as part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1984 and 1985, Hall formed a tag team with Dan Spivey, known as American Starship ("Starship Coyote" and "Starship Eagle", respectively).^[1][3] With their furry boots, massive stature, bright masks and Hulk Hogan-esque t-shirt ripping routine the two men were easy to spot on any card.

Initially, American Starship worked only sporadically. At first they were booked so sparingly that the two were given a job for the Charlotte Orioles (which Jim Crockett owned at the time) as part of the ground crew. When the two men did get into the ring it was with little success, the highlight of their stay in Crocket's Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling was being defeated by Arn and Ole Anderson when the rookies challenged for the NWA National Tag Team Championship. After working in MAW the duo joined Bob Geigel's NWA Central States territory based in Kansas City in 1985.

The duo had a shot at the NWA Central States Tag Team Champions Marty Jannetty and "Bulldog" Bob Brown but did not manage to win the titles. Spivey’s stay in the Central States territory was short lived, according to Scott Hall Spivey did not like Kansas City. Spivey returned to the Carolinas and the recently redubbed "Jim Crockett Promotions" where he worked as "American Starship" Eagle as a jobber. Hall however stayed and got a big push and gained the respect of several big names including Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zbyszko who went to a time limit draw with a rookie Hall, and he also developed a friendship with Curt Hennig.

American Wrestling Association (1985–1989)[link]

Scott Hall next moved on to the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1985, where he was named "Magnum" Scott Hall, name checking Magnum T.A., and later "Big" Scott Hall and was pushed as a babyface wrestler.^[1][5] Verne Gagne, the owner and promoter of the AWA, tried to push another younger superstar to the same heights as Hulk Hogan following Hogan's departure to Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF).^[4][5] Gagne had Hall use mannerisms and moves similar to Hogan.^[4]

Hall eventually formed a tag team with fellow future-superstar Curt Hennig, and together they defeated "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal for the AWA World Tag Team Championship on January 18, 1986 in an "epic" 58 minute match in Albuquerque, New Mexico.^[1][6] Referred to as the "Perfect Combination" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the team gained victories over "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers, Konga the Barbarian and Boris Zhukov, and Bill and Scott Irwin.^[1][4][5] They eventually dropped the belts to Rose and Somers by countout (even though in all wrestling, including the AWA, belts didn't change hands on DQ's or countouts; This was never explained) on May 17, due to interference by Colonel DeBeers.^[4] After losing the title, Hall and Hennig soon parted ways, with the AWA pushing Hall into matches for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship with Stan Hansen and Rick Martel.^[4][5] Although Gagne wanted to put the AWA world title on Hall, he hated the cold, and recognized the sinking ship and moved on to the NWA in 1989.^[4]

Return to NWA (1989)[link]

Scott Hall was brought in, under his real name, to the National Wrestling Alliance's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) territory by Jim Ross in 1989, when the NWA was beginning to focus on developing new, young superstars such as Brian Pillman and Sid Vicious.^[4] His first and only pay-per-view appearance during this time was at The Great American Bash: The Glory Days, which saw Hall participate (unsuccessfully) in a King of the Hill battle royal.^[7] Scott Hall made little impact during this run and soon after he began jobbing regularly, after which he went on hiatus.^[4][8]

World Wrestling Council (1991)[link]

Hall made a brief stint in 1991 in the Puerto Rican promotion World Wrestling Council (WWC).^[8] On March 3, he defeated Miguel Pérez, Jr. for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship,^[9] holding it for one month before losing the title to Super Medic III on April 20, 1991.^[8]

World Championship Wrestling[link]

The Diamond Studd (1991)[link]

Hall returned to the NWA in 1991, although by then the region was known as World Championship Wrestling (WCW).^[10] He was named The Diamond Studd, whose gimmick was similar to Ravishing Rick Rude's with the added element of a monster big man heel, and he was managed by Diamond Dallas Page.^[10] He squashed Tommy Rich in his debut on the June 14 edition of Clash of the Champions,^[11] and he defeated Tom Zenk at The Great American Bash.^[12]

He received a significant push in his early days with WCW, but by the end of 1991 this began to fade, starting with the September 2 edition of Clash of the Champions, where Studd was defeated by Ron Simmons.^[13] At Halloween Havoc: Chamber of Horrors, the team of Studd, Abdullah the Butcher, Cactus Jack, and Big Van Vader lost to Sting, El Gigante, and the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott).^[14] On the November 19 edition of Clash of the Champions, Studd lost to Zenk in a rematch from The Great American Bash.^[15]

Diamond Mine (1992)[link]

In 1992, he formed short-lived tag teams with Vinnie Vegas and Scotty Flamingo during his time in the Diamond Mine stable, while also teaming with members of Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance.^[10] The idea of adding him to the Dangerous Alliance fell through, however, and he left WCW shortly after.^[10]

World Wrestling Federation[link]

Debut & Main event push (1992–1993)[link]

Hall signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1992 and his character evolved from Scott Hall to that of Razor Ramon, a shady, but stylish Cuban American bully from Miami.^[4][16] The Latino-heel persona was modeled after Tony Montana and Manny Ribera (Al Pacino and Steven Bauer's characters from the movie Scarface, respectively).^[16] Hall's nickname (The Bad Guy) and catchphrase ("Say hello to The Bad Guy") derive from quotes from the movie; "Say hello to my little friend" and "Say goodnight to the bad guy".^[16]

Hall as Razor Ramon.

Later in his career, Hall claimed he pitched the idea of a Scarface-like character during a meeting with Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson, as a joke.^[4] Hall quoted lines with a Cuban accent and gave ideas for vignettes (also inspired by the movie) that would involve Hall recreating several scenes, such as Ramon driving around South Florida in a convertible with a leopard-skin interior.^[4] Although his pitch was taken right from the film, Hall claims McMahon and Patterson were nevertheless floored by the ideas and called Hall a "genius."^[4] Hall later learned that neither McMahon nor Patterson had ever seen or heard of the film, and thus believed that Hall was coming up with the ideas himself. Patterson and McMahon came up with the name Razor, but agreed with Hall's suggestion that "Razor" should be a nickname, and that the character needed an actual given name. Hall later asked Tito Santana for a Latino sounding name that starts with R, and when he suggested "Ramon" Hall promptly brought it back to McMahon and the name stuck.^[4]

Hall's WWF debut was preceded by his vignettes, with his in-ring debut coming on the August 8, 1992 edition of Superstars, defeating local jobber Paul Van Dow with his finishing move, the Razor's Edge (Hall had used the finisher in his run in WCW, under the name "Diamond Death Drop").^[17] Early on, Ramon would wear large gold chain necklaces to the ring; upon handing them to an attendant at ringside he would threaten "Something happens to this, something gonna happen to you.", and then flick his toothpick at the hapless attendant.^[4]

Hall's first major angle began on the September 14 edition of Prime Time Wrestling, where Ramon interfered in a WWF Championship match between the champion Randy Savage and the challenger Ric Flair. Ramon helped Flair win the title after attacking Savage on the floor.^[18] As a result, Ramon and Savage started a feud with each other, which then went on to include the Ultimate Warrior after Warrior saved Savage from a post-match beating by Ramon.^[18] Ramon and Flair were scheduled to face the Ultimate Maniacs (Savage and Warrior) at the Survivor Series; however, Warrior was fired from the WWF prior to the event and was replaced by Flair's executive consultant, Mr. Perfect, who had made a face turn. At Survivor Series, Ramon and Flair went on to lose to Savage and Perfect after being disqualified by the referee for constantly double-teaming their opponents.^[16][19]

WWF Champion Bret Hart was scheduled to defend his title against the Ultimate Warrior at the Royal Rumble, but the Warrior's departure from the WWF left Hart without a challenger, and Razor Ramon replaced him. During the feud, Ramon continued his heel persona by disrespecting Hart and the Hart wrestling family.^[4] Like his previous attempts to win the AWA Championship in the late 1980s, Ramon was unable to defeat Hart at the Royal Rumble, submitting to the Sharpshooter.^{[1][4][16][20]} Ramon won a 16-man battle royal the following month after Giant González—who was not a participant in the match—entered the ring and eliminated Tatanka and El Matador. Ramon made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania IX, defeating former WWF Champion Bob Backlund with a roll-up.^{[1][4][16][21]}

Ramon defeated Tito Santana to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament in 1993, but lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual tournament winner and the man he lost to at the Royal Rumble, Bret Hart.^[1][16][22] On the May 17 edition of Monday Night Raw he had an upset loss to jobber "The Kid" (who would later gain the nickname the "1-2-3 Kid" following the upset).^[1][16][23] As a result, a small feud between himself and the 1-2-3 Kid began; it carried with him into the King of the Ring tournament; and it also began a slow face turn for Ramon, who had gained both respect for The Kid and support from the crowd.^[1][4][16] Ted DiBiase, however, did not show respect for Ramon and instead began making fun of Ramon for losing to such a small jobber. Ramon's face turn was solidified after helping the 1-2-3 Kid defeat DiBiase.^[24] The feud culminated in a match at SummerSlam, where Ramon defeated DiBiase in DiBiase's final WWF match before going to Japan.^[25]

Intercontinental Champion (1993–1996)[link]

On the October 4, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw, a 20-man battle royal for the vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship was held; the last two participants would face other the following week for the title. Ramon and Rick Martel were the final two.^[26][27] The next week on Raw, Ramon came out on top following a Razor's Edge to win the vacant Intercontinental Championship.^[28] Ramon would go on to have successful defenses against the likes of Martel and Irwin R. Schyster (IRS).^[16] At Survivor Series, Ramon teamed with Marty Jannetty, Randy Savage, and the 1-2-3 Kid to take on the team of Martel, IRS, Adam Bomb, and Diesel. Razor, captaining his team, went on to eliminate the opposing captain, IRS, after scoring a pin following a Razor's Edge. Although he was later eliminated from the match after being counted out when IRS hit him with his briefcase, Razor's team went on to win the match, beginning a feud between the two captains. Ramon's feud with IRS culminated at Royal Rumble where he defeated IRS to retain the Intercontinental title following the Razor's Edge.^[29][30]

At the same time, Ramon was in the early stages of a feud with Shawn Michaels over who had the real claim to the Intercontinental champion. Michaels had been stripped of the title months before due to "inactivity" (he was actually on suspension at that time), but began appearing on television with his own version of the belt, claiming he had never been beaten for it.^[29] Their feud was showcased with Ramon defending the Intercontinental Championship against Michaels in a ladder match at WrestleMania X, where Ramon retained the championship after retrieving both belts.^[31] This match was voted Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Match of the Year in 1994.^[29] It was also the first WWF match to receive a five star rating from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.^[29] On WWE.com, this match is rated as the #5 match in the top 22 matches in WrestleMania history.^[32] Ramon continued to feud with Michaels and his bodyguard Diesel and on the April 30 edition of Superstars, he dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Diesel after interference from Michaels.^[33]

Hall wrestling as Razor Ramon.

Ramon went on to defeat Kwang to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament in 1994.^[29] At King of the Ring, he defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in the quarterfinals of the tournament^[34][35] and Irwin R. Schyster in the semifinals,^[34][35] before a loss in the finals of the tournament to his old rival Bret Hart's younger brother, Owen.^[34][35] At SummerSlam, Ramon (with Walter Payton in his corner) defeated Diesel to win his second WWF Intercontinental Championship after Shawn Michaels accidentally hit Diesel with Sweet Chin Music.^[36][37] At Survivor Series, he captained a team dubbed "The Bad Guys" consisting of himself, the 1-2-3 Kid, Davey Boy Smith, and The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Sione) against The Teamsters (Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Jeff Jarrett). Ramon ended up as the sole survivor of the match and by the end of 1994, he began a feud with Jeff Jarrett which led into the next year.^[29][38]

At the Royal Rumble in 1995, Ramon lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jarrett, although the match ended in controversial fashion; Jarrett had originally won the match by count-out, but demanded that the match be restarted so he could win the title. Jarrett then pinned the champion with a small package.^[39][40] He faced Jarrett in a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XI. Ramon won the match by disqualification after Jarrett's assistant The Roadie interfered; thus, Jarrett retained the title as a title cannot change hands by count-out or disqualification.^[41] Ramon later defeated Jarrett and Roadie at In Your House 1 in a handicap match.^[42] On May 16, Razor qualified for the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Jacob Blu.^[40] He later defeated Jarrett in a ladder match on May 19, 1995 at a live event to win his third WWF Intercontinental Championship.^[43] At that time, this was a record because Ramon was the first man to hold the Intercontinental title three times.^[43] Three days later on May 22, he lost the title back to Jarrett.^[43] (Actually, this win of the IC title was "accidental." Jarrett was booked to win the ladder match, but was legitimately injured during the match and could not prevent Razor from retrieving the title belt. To avoid breaking kayfabe, Razor had no choice but to win the match. As a result, Jarrett was booked to regain the title on the May 22 event.) On June 9, Ramon suffered a rib injury during a ladder match rematch against Jarrett.^[40] During this time, he formed a team with Savio Vega, and Vega defeated Irwin R. Schyster in the Free for All match at the pay-per-view to fill Razor's vacancy.^[40] Razor managed Vega throughout the tournament, who ultimately lost to Mabel in the finals.^[40]

Razor and Vega lost to Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo) at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks,^[44] and a Tag Team Championship match against Owen Hart and Yokozuna on the August 7 edition of Raw.^[45] Razor received an Intercontinental title ladder match against the new champion Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam, in what was considered to be their WrestleMania X rematch.^[1][4][40] Razor went on to lose the match against Michaels,^[46] and then started a feud with Dean Douglas. Ramon defeated Douglas at In Your House 4 for the Intercontinental Championship. Michaels had just forfeited the title to Douglas.^[47][48]

In early 1996, Ramon started a feud with newcomer Goldust, leading to an Intercontinental title match at the Royal Rumble. Ramon lost the title to Goldust after Ramon's former partner the 1-2-3 Kid (who had previously made a heel turn) cost him the match.^[49] He became a member of the WWF's off-stage The Kliq which consisted of Kevin Nash (Diesel), Paul Levesque (Hunter Hearst Helmsley), Michael Hickenbottom (Shawn Michaels), and Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid).^[50] Razor was originally scheduled to face Goldust in a rematch for the title at WrestleMania XII, but had been suspended by the WWF in the weeks prior due to drug abuse.^[50] He was not seen on WWF television again until April's In Your House 7 where he jobbed to Vader.^[51] Hall was also a participant in the MSG Incident. As Hall and fellow Kliq member Kevin Nash were departing for WCW, the pair along with Hickenbottom (Shawn Michaels) and Levesque (Triple H) broke kayfabe, celebrating and embracing in the ring together.

World Championship Wrestling return[link]

The Outsiders and the New World Order (1996–1998)[link]

Hall's first appearance on May 27, 1996 on WCW television after leaving the WWF was an unannounced interview where he appeared from the crowd in street clothes, claiming to be "an outsider."^[52] He was then joined in the following weeks by Kevin Nash, the two claiming they were going to undertake a hostile takeover of WCW, slamming Eric Bischoff through the announcer's table in the process.^[52] The angle directly paralleled the real-life competition between WCW and the WWF.^[52] At the following pay-per-view, Bash at the Beach, Nash and Hall, known as The Outsiders,^[53] challenged Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage to a '3 vs. 3' match, announcing a 'mystery partner' as their third partner. The mystery partner turned out to be Hulk Hogan, and the three formed the New World Order (nWo).^[54] The stable stormed WCW, enlisting such stars as Syxx (Kliq member Sean Waltman) and The Giant.^[54]