10 Things You Didn't Know About Scott Hall
4. He Was The First Major Win Of A Young Hiroshi Tanahashi's Career
Hiroshi Tanahashi is one of the greatest wrestlers of the modern era, and most would likely throw the Ace of New Japan in the mix when it comes to the all-time greatest, period.
Like most legends of the business, Tana wasn't always the superstar that we see today, with him coming through the NJPW Dojo and paying his dues as one of the company's Young Lions. While he made his formal New Japan in-ring debut in 1999, the first several years of Tanahashi's career were spent extensively wrestling his fellow Young Lions - such as Katsuyori Shibata, Wataru Inoue and Kenzo Suzuki - or doing the J-O-B to a veteran.
So, when Tanahashi was matched up against Scott Hall in September 2001, it was presumed that the 23-year-old Hiroshi was there to take some bumps and take the loss. What actually happened, was Hall was the one taking the L here.
After beating down Tana, the Bad Guy took the mic mid-match. From out of nowhere, Tanahashi rolled up the nWo founder for the 1-2-3.
There are plentiful stories about Scott Hall's behaviour behind - or in front of! - the scenes from his lengthy career, but there were times when he was incredibly generous with giving a rub to younger talents. Here, it was Hiroshi Tanahashi who got that rub of picking up a shock victory over such a huge name.
To reiterate how low on the totem pole Tanahashi was at this time, he was still two years away from winning any sort of championship gold, and he was five years away from capturing his first IWGP World Heavyweight Title.