Scott Hall: Living on a Razor's Edge

After pondering over ideas and looking over my notes the last couple of days, I concluded I had no idea how to go about my entry for today’s blog that is for WWE’s 2016 BluRay release of Scott Hall: Living on a Razor’s Edge (trailer). I am presuming most people reading this probably are well aware of some of Scott Hall’s personal struggles throughout the years. WWE’s documentary on his life and career attempts to cover it all within 81 minutes. If you have not seen it yet, nor have that time to spare then before reading on I encourage you to at least check out ESPN’s much more condensed 18 minute mini-doc they did of Hall on a 2011 edition of E:60.

That E:60 piece was where Hall first publicly revealed he inadvertently shot and killed a man during his job as a bouncer when he attempted to grab a gun away from a person who pulled a gun on him. Living on a Razor’s Edge opens with Hall revisiting the scene where it happened and him getting instantly emotional over the memories. Hall’s mother and brother are interviewed throughout and both mentioned how that day forever changed him. It is the first of many dark tales from Hall’s personal life that he reflects on.

From that hook of an opening scene the feature then transitions to Hall’s childhood where he reminisces growing up as a military kid and always being on the move. Hall recalls idolizing Dusty Rhodes in the Florida territory is what convinced him to go into wrestling. I saw Hall interviewed in a few other nWo and Kliq retrospectives released by WWE over the years, but in those I believe he never touches on his early days in the business debuting in the Kansas territory as part of the American Starship tag team and to more success as a tag team champ with Curt Henning in the AWA. Seeing that vintage footage accompanied with Hall elucidating about how Dusty got him his first pair of wrestling boots and how he refused to be AWA champ because he realized the promotion was a sinking ship he wanted to abandon were fun new anecdotes from Hall I never heard before.

Seeing Hall talk about his meager success as the Diamond Studd in WCW was another interesting early facet of his career. DDP, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon were all interviewed here about their early memories of Hall and provide extra quotes on why this made Hall more determined to land a job in WWE. Hearing Hall and Vince remember the days of coming up with the Razor Ramon character and brainstorming the ideas of the iconic vignettes introducing Razor to the WWE in 1992 are more noteworthy highlights from the interviews here.

Hall goes into detail of his early WWE years with some key angles such as the first televised WWE ladder match at Wrestlemania 10 and when 1-2-3 Kid got the shocking upset in ’93 that is still an iconic memory of RAW all these years later (it even made WWE’s official list of Top 25 RAW Moments for RAW’s 25th anniversary earlier this year). One early highlight from the Razor run was when Hall discusses appearing on Jerry Springer for a surprise visit to children with AIDS where Hall spontaneously gives his Intercontinental Title to the kids because it felt like the right thing to do and hearing Hall and Springer interviewed here remember that moment along with the footage is pretty powerful stuff. From here the doc then jumps to the controversial time when Hall and Nash left WWE in 1996. Both of them and McMahon break down how it all came to pass, and hearing them all give their side of the story is still fascinating to this day. I say that because I still recall being a huge WWF kid at that time and getting crushed upon hearing both guys were leaving the company to go to the ‘competition.’ Yes, Hall makes sure to address the introduction of the fake Razor and Diesel later on in 1996 too.

A part of me wishes WWE would have done a separate deep dive on Hall’s four year run as Razor Ramon. There were so many memorable feuds they did not address in the doc. I would have loved to hear Hall recall feuding with Jeff Jarrett, Diesel and Goldust for the Intercontinental title. Also from watching the bonus matches it brought back memories of how Hall was a master of ring psychology and he perfected the gradual build of a match where there were several times where fans were quiet at the beginning to becoming a hot crowd by the match’s final moments. HBK and Nash both have some interesting quotes about Hall’s wrestling IQ and how they helped him during those old early-to-mid90s years.

WWE has already done a couple nWo biographies so I was curious to how they would cover his career in WCW on Hall’s solo documentary. I like how they went about it as they had Nash, Hall and Waltman all interviewed and they give the abbreviated version of their nWo heydays reigning supreme over the Monday night rating wars. Hall touches on a couple of things he introduced to his solo-act in WCW such as the pre-match ‘survey’ and how Rocky II was the impetus for ‘Hey, Yo.’ Hall and Eric Bishoff both recount the art-imitates-life storyline where WCW brought Hall’s behind-the-scenes drinking problems as a on-screen WCW storyline and hearing Bishoff regret that booking decision is another poignant scene in this feature. Hall essentially admits to those dark days carrying over to his return to the WWE in 2002 and why it did not last that long. There is no mention of Hall’s handful of brief TNA/Impact stints, which is probably for the best.

Growing up as a wrestling fan and keeping up with Hall’s struggles over the years made the final chapters of the doc especially powerful. There is a montage of the many arrests and controversies that Hall made news in from 2002-2012. Nash has some key details of Hall at his lowest moments and how he stuck by his side that stuck with me. Triple H, Michaels, and Bishoff also all chime in here about these hard years for Hall. Footage is shown of the 2011 independent wrestling show were Hall appeared heavily intoxicated and hearing Nash, Hunter and Hall all comment on it being a new low for Hall brought back many sad memories. This all was happening during the 2000s when a rapid number of early adult-to-middle aged wrestler deaths were transpiring and I recall wondering countless times during those years how in the heck Scott Hall was still alive.

Thankfully, there is redemption for Hall and it is tastefully covered here where Jake Roberts and DDP are interviewed about taking Scott Hall into DDP’s rehabilitation house and helped Hall kick his addictions. Hearing them and Hall reflect on this was a much needed and gratifying feel-good moment that culminates with Hall being interviewed again at that club where the shooting went down where he owns the guilt he carried all those years in the defining moment of this feature. The doc then winds down with how Hall got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and now helps coaches at the WWE Performance Center and how he helped got his son Cody started in the business too.

Living on a Razor’s Edge is easily one of the best of documentaries WWE has made. There are many gaps they could have filled in on his in-ring career but it feels wrong to ask for that given what Hall has went through and recovered from in his personal life. Since this is a home video release, WWE gave it their usual jam-packed assortment of bonus features with eight minutes of deleted scenes, the entirety of the several introductory Razor Ramon introductory vignettes and 27 matches, five of which that are exclusive to the BluRay.

Deletes scenes highlights have Nash detesting the mask he used for his ‘Oz’ character in WCW, Hall’s memories of wrestling his buddy, Justin Credible on a ECW PPV in 2000 and Michaels recounting Hall giving Nash some great in-ring advice he promptly followed. I have only seen a handful of Hall’s pre-WWF matches before this BluRay so seeing several matches from those days and how fast he evolved in the ring was a treat. I did not know Hall already had the Razor’s Edge perfected as the Diamond Death Drop in WCW. Since that is not addressed in the doc, I will link you to this clip instead where Hall reveals its origins.

Other standout matches in the extras include the aforementioned stunning upset at the hands of the 1-2-3 Kid, his ’93 WWE Title match against Bret Hart, a ’93 Coliseum Video bout against Michaels I have long forgotten, his first IC title win over Rick Martel and his still-iconic ladder match against HBK at Wrestlemania X. From 1993 through most of 1995 I fell out of wrestling for a bit due to being on the losing end of sibling wars for control of the television and the only wrestling I had access to during that time was a videotape of SummerSlam ’94 one of my dad’s coworkers taped for me. Razor vs. Diesel on that show was one of my favorite matches for many years (along with the Owen/Bret cage match!), so to see that included in this compilation earns bonus points from me!

Hall’s nWo highlights here contain a bunch of matches that have hokey finishes or disappointing run-ins and the only WCW matches included here that stood out are the Outsiders first tag titles win over Harlem Heat and Hall having an awesome match against Sting for the WCW World Title at Uncensored ’98. Hall’s match against Austin at Wrestlemania X-8 holds up better than I recalled, and it features Hall taking the best Stone Cold Stunner ever. Of the five BluRay exclusive matches I give high nods to check out his SummerSlam ’93 match against Ted Dibiase and a ladder match I completely forgot about that saw Hall square off against Bam Bam Bigelow from a 1999 episode of Nitro.

As you can tell by now I am giving Scott Hall: Living on a Razor’s Edge the highest of recommendations. Aside from one of the best documentaries WWE Home Video has produced, it has a ton of bonus matches that proves how Hall was one of the best workers of the ‘90s. Hall’s personal story is one that is a must-see that shows the highest highs and the lowest lows one can achieve, and to see Hall escape from that dark tunnel is a heartwarming tale well worth the viewing for any wrestling fan.

Past Wrestling Blogs

Best of WCW Clash of Champions
Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2
Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3
Biggest Knuckleheads
Bobby The Brain Heenan
Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes
DDP: Positively Living
Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials
ECW Unreleased: Vol 1
ECW Unreleased: Vol 2
ECW Unreleased: Vol 3
Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure
For All Mankind
Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection
Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan
Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story
The Kliq Rules
Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman
Legends of Mid South Wrestling
Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story
Memphis Heat
NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1
OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History
OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History
Owen: Hart of Gold
RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present
ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery
Sting: Into the Light
Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz
Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology
Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder
TNA Lockdown 2005-2016
Top 50 Superstars of All Time
Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season
True Giants
Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns
Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe
War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches
Warrior Week on WWE Network
Wrestlemania 3: Championship Edition
Wrestlemania 28-Present
The Wrestler (2008)
Wrestling Road Diaries Too
Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money
Wrestlings Greatest Factions
WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015
WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015
WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016
WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016
WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017