5 Most Controversial WCW Gimmicks Ever

3. 'Last Call' ScottHall

It's often been said that the best and most successful gimmicks are the when the person that's portraying them turns their personality up to '11'. There's certainly some truth to that assessment, and you need only look at a guy like 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, one of the biggest stars ever in the business, as evidence.

It is never, however, a good idea to take a real-life personal problem and incorporate it into a person's character. That's exactly what WCW did in 1998, though, with the utterly dreadful and very controversial 'Last Call' Scott Hall.

The former Razor Ramon's battles with alcohol have been well-documented, and in 1998/99, Hall was arrested numerous times for drunken behaviour, including on October 2, 1998 when he was arrested for keying a limousine outside of a strip club.

He had been to rehab that year and the year previously for thirty-day stints, but they didn't have the desired effect. Hall continue to drink. A lot. And WCW decided to incorporate it into his character. He'd show up on Nitro and on pay-per-view with a beer or a cup of vodka in his hand, slurring his speech and vomiting outside of the ring, all while the announcers talked about how they were fearful for his life and how he needed to seek and receive professional help.

Which was true, of course, but WCW obviously weren't very serious about getting Hall the help he needed if they were having him portray an alcoholic on-screen. It was a shameful thing to do, and fans and critics rightly lambasted the company for going ahead with it.

People watch wrestling for an escape, not to be reminded of real-life problems that affect thousands of ordinary people every day.