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
NJPW

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.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.