Following Scott Hall’s death on March 14, the WWE was the first to break the news on WWE Raw by opening the show with a “In Memory Or” image.
From there, the news spread across social media as site after site cited the WWE’s announcement of his passing as they recapped why he was in the hospital and how things turned from there.
What caught our attention was that there wasn’t another announcement made that we could find, so it seemed like the WWE was contacted first so they could plan a tribute to him.
From the start of the show, Kevin Owens was the only one to mention Scott Hall though his comments as the first words spoken were him saying, “Hey yo” in a subdued manner.
He then paraphrased Hall’s Hall of Fame speech when he told Seth Rollins backstage, “Tough times don’t last, but tough guys do.”
The tribute continued
Given how big a part Hall played in the WWE history as well as wrestling in general, it makes sense that they’d want to be the ones to break the news to as big a platform as possible and a couple of hashtags trended because of it.
Damian Priest gave his own tribute with a standing Razor’s Edge that’s part of his arsenal when he dropped Finn Balor onto the announce table during their match.
But we had to wait until nearly 10:30 to post their tribute video, but again, that’s understandable given the time frame. The fans appreciated it and gave a resounding chant in Hall’s honor.
Owens wasn’t finished with his tribute. During his and Rollins’ main event match, he caught Rollins’ dive through the ropes. He then hit a fallaway slam ala Hall and sent Rollins into the barricade.
It was a series of subtle things from Owens and the type of thing the WWE and their stars often do to pay tribute to a fallen friend and inspiration.
Saying goodbye
It was pretty cool seeing Owens embrace it so well and his respect and love for the last is one of the things we love about him.
Scott Hall was a one of a kind and as Hulk Hogan said, “he made being a bad guy cool.” He opened the doors for many others like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and other anti-heroes and heels to become enormously popular.
This is a difficult time for many and our hearts go out to Hall and his friends and family, and we’re going to look back at the memories he gave us and enjoy them with a new nostalgia.
What’s your favorite Scott Hall memory? Let us know in the comments below.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
