For a few years in the second half of the 1990s, World Championship Wrestling was on a tremendous hot streak, and crucial to that success was Kevin Nash and the late Scott Hall. Former WWE stars as Diesel and Razor Ramon, Nash and Hall jumped ship to WCW in 1996, kicking off the game-changing New World Order invasion storyline and dominating the tag team division as The Outsiders.
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Because of this, the two real-life friends are inextricably linked in the eyes of most wrestling fans. With that in mind, let’s explore the two wrestlers, evaluating not only their similarities, but their notable differences.
10 Similar: Wrestled For WCW In The Early 1990s
Remarkably, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were both in WCW in the early 1990s, but they weren’t strongly associated aside from wrestling a handful of tag team matches. At the time, Hall wrestled under the ring name of The Diamond Studd, a heel who was part of Diamond Dallas Page’s stable, The Diamond Mine, until he departed the company in 1992. As for Nash, he worked a number of gimmicks during his three years with the company: a tag team specialist in the Road Warriors-esque Master Blasters (as Steel), a gangster/gambler named Vinnie Vegas, and most infamously as Oz, who was literally The Wizard of Oz.
9 Different: Hall Was More Experienced
For Kevin Nash, WCW marked the beginning of his career, as he wrestled his first match ever in 1990. Born only about a year apart, Scott Hall got a bit of a head start on his future tag team partner, having debuted in the Championship Wrestling From Florida territory in 1984. After Florida, Scott Hall wrestled for the American Wrestling Association, where he tagged with Curt Hennig and appeared to be in line for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. However, he jumped ship to WCW in 1989, where he first debuted as Scott “Gator” Hall before becoming The Diamond Studd.
8 Similar: Great Promos
While both men were successful in WWE (see below), both Kevin Nash and Scott Hall became even bigger stars in WCW, where they were allowed to be themselves as opposed to performing as specific characters. In addition to allowing aspects of their actual personalities to shine, Nash and Hall proved to be amazing promos.
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With a microphone in his hand, Nash wasn’t just confident, but nonchalant, an attitude befitting someone so absurdly tall who could easily powerbomb anyone he didn’t like. Meanwhile, Hall showed off a different kind of swagger, getting a ton of mileage out of catchphrases like the simple greeting “Hey yo” and “Survey says,” which he jacked from Family Feud but totally made his own.
7 Different: Nash Was World Champion
When it comes to position on the card as singles wrestlers, however, Kevin Nash ended up being the main eventer of the two. As Diesel, Nash dethroned Bob Backlund in eight seconds to capture the WWE Championship, which he held for 358 days, and went on to be a five-time World Champion in WCW. Scott Hall was no slouch, either, but his singles accomplishments were always midcard titles, like the WWE Intercontinental Championship or the WCW United States Championship. Despite his skills and popularity, Hall never held a major world championship.
6 Similar: Stars In WWE During A Low Point
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall’s heyday in WWE was during the New Generation Era, a four-year period in the 1990s where the promotion struggled to build new stars and attract fans in the wake of Hulk Hogan’s departure. Alongside Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels, Diesel and Razor Ramon were among the top stars of WWE during this relative slump. And it’s that star-power that proved crucial to the nWo invasion angle in WCW, as the promotion generated a lot of buzz around these recognizable WWE stars seemingly infiltrating and antagonizing the competition.
5 Different: Hall Was Lauded For His In-Ring Skills
Even though Kevin Nash proved to be the main eventer of the two, it was Scott Hall whose in-ring skills were praised by many fans. While his abilities faltered by the late 1990s thanks to his own personal demons, at his peak Hall was considered one of wrestling’s great in-ring workers, with classic outings against equally formidable opponents like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. On top of that, Hall gets the credit for taking part in the first televised Ladder Match when he battled Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 10.
4 Similar: Part Of The Kliq
The New World Order wasn’t the beginning of the association between Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Before moving to WCW, the two stars were part of a backstage group called The Kliq, which also included Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Sean Waltman (a.k.a. 1-2-3 Kid or X-Pac).
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Together, The Kliq not only had a lot of power in terms of dealing with WWE management, but also developed a notoriety for backstage politicking. As a result, there are numerous stories of other wrestlers claiming that their careers were damaged because Nash, Hall, and their buddies didn’t like them.
3 Different: Nash Was Part Of WCW Creative
While The Kliq didn’t officially have backstage power in WWE, in late 1998 Kevin Nash found himself on the booking committee of WCW, thus having an influence on the creative direction of the promotion. After several months, Nash ended up becoming head booker of WCW in the spring of 1999. During his time being involved in booking — whether it was necessarily his sole decisions or not — Nash was part of some notable moments on screen, including the end of Goldberg’s winning streak and the unmasking of Rey Mysterio Jr.
2 Similar: Cool Heels
In WCW, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were crucial to the success of the nWo as a faction. Hulk Hogan’s heel turn was a very large cherry on top, but fans were ready to turn on him by 1996. Nash and Hall, however, were way too cool and likable for fans to truly despise. As previously mentioned, Nash and Hall were great at promos, with their sarcastic, disaffected attitude setting them apart from the average pro wrestling heel, especially compared to the rechristened Hollywood Hogan.
1 Different: Reputations
Despite their close, years-long association, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall actually have different reputations in the wrestling world among fans. Despite his popularity in the ‘90s, Nash is often criticized for what’s viewed as limited in-ring skills as well as for previously mentioned backstage politicking and supposed self-centered booking.
Conversely, Hall’s considered a more generous worker as far as making his opponents — even jobbers — look good, like he famously did for Chris Jericho. Unfortunately, Hall’s well-known struggles with alcoholism were also well known, and at one point even became a matter of kayfabe, resulting in a reviled feud with his former partner Nash.
