Scott Hall was one of the most successful stars on WCW programming when he returned for a second run, from 1996 to 2000, and played a major role in the Monday Night Wars as a member of the NWO. But, then WCW President Eric Bischoff was apprehensive about signing him from WWE.
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During his run in WWE as Razor Ramon, Hall became one of the most decorated Intercontinental Champions in history and feuded with some of the best the company had to offer such as Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. Come 1996, Hall and Kevin Nash made the jump from WWE to WCW, but Bischoff stated on the “83 Weeks” podcast that he was hesitant to hire “The Bad Guy.”
“I was so afraid because of the things that I had heard and read about Scott. That he was going to come in and disrupt, which was an incredible, cool vibe in the locker room on May 27, 1996,” said Bischoff. “When Scott was coming in to make the show, I could have arranged for him to get a ride to the arena, but I wanted to drive down to the arena with Scott myself. I wanted that one-on-one time to, number one, get to know Scott a little bit, but let him know that one of the things I want to see is him be successful and us be successful, but I also want to maintain the vibe in the locker room, and I had that conversation with Scott.”
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Bischoff explained there was frustration rising among talent backstage when he first arrived in WCW and compared that lack of direction to AEW’s atmosphere behind the scenes today.
