Scott Hall: Former Vols center Kevin Nash pays touching tribute to his longtime wrestling partner

Former Tennessee basketball center Kevin Nash revealed early Monday morning on Instagram that his longtime wrestling partner would be taken off life support. Scott Hall, also known as Razor Ramon, passed away later that evening, WWE confirmed on Twitter.

Hall and Nash were wrestling partners with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which is now World Wrestling Entertainment, along with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action (TNA). They notably formed the New World Order (NWO) as “The Outsiders” in the mid-1990s with Hulk Hogan.

Ironically, Nash played for the Vols the last year they won the SEC Tournament Championship before Sunday, back in 1979. You can see his Instagram post celebrating Scott Hall’s life and talking about how he would miss him by clicking here.

This post was exactly what fans of these two needed to read. Nash is obviously sad about his Hall’s passing, but he was able to mix it in with a level of positivity that’s necessary when dealing with such a devastating loss. It truly was a touching tribute.

Nash was initially set to play for Ray Mears when he joined the Vols in 1977, but Mears retired due to health reasons, so he played for them under Cliff Wettig. The next year, Don DeVoe took over, and in addition to winning the SEC Tournament, he helped them reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament two years in a row.

Reggie Johnson, Terry Crosby, Howard Wood, UT color commentator Bert Bertelkamp and most notably Dale Ellis as a freshman were all teammates of Nash during his three years on Rocky Top. He averaged over four points a game all three years there, and as a junior, he became a starter, averaging over six points and nearly five rebounds.

He didn’t finish his career with UT due to other issues but was still part of some of its best success. A decade later, he got into wrestling, and he and Hall became partners in WWF in 1995. A year later, they changed wrestling forever.

In 1996, Nash and Hall joined WCW as “The Outsiders,” creating a storyline that they were coming to take over the business. Eventually, in a summer pay-per-view match with Lex Luger, Sting and Macho Man Randy Savage,  Hulk Hogan was revealed to be their surprise third member in a heel turn. Those three formed the NWO.

That propelled WCW to a direct rival to WWF and created the Monday Night Wars, which lasted into 1999. Eventually, WCW was bought out by WWF to create the WWE, but that “Outsiders” narrative was one of the most critical moments in wrestling history. Nash and Scott Hall were the catalysts for it happening.