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#RIPRazor: Not WWE's Razor Ramon, it's Ralph Barbieri; here's how Internet mixed up radio legend's death

San Francisco radio personality Ralph Barbieri died at 74 after a long battle with Parkinson's but internet confused his death with Razor Ramon's

San Francisco radio personality Ralph Barbieri died at his home in Novato on August 3 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 74. Barbieri was one of the founding members of KNBR (680 AM) and was battling the disease since 2005.

He spent 28 years at KNBR, where he used to take interviews where he projected a highly opinionated and abrasive approach that rankled some listeners. But this style of his is what drew quite a fan brigade. In his last 15 years with KNBR, he teamed up with former NBA player Tom Tolbert in a highly popular afternoon talk show called, 'The Razor and Mr. T' where Barbieri was nicknamed 'Razor' for his distinctive voice and delivery. The radio host made a strong fanbase over the years with this show. When the news of his death came in, #RIPRazor started trending but some netizens confused it with wrestling star Scott Hall, who is also known as Razor Ramon. 

One confused internet user said, "Saw RIP Razor and thought 2020 took Razor Ramon." 

Another Twitter user, who seemed to be Razor Ramon's fan said, "Why my heart just dropped thinking 'RIP Razor' was talking about my boy Scott Hall aka Razor Ramon." 

While some users were even 'thankful' that it's not Razor Ramon who died, one internet user said, "I saw RIP Razor trending and I thought something happened to Razor Ramon #MasakiSumitani YouTube it, you’ll thank me later!!"

While another user asked others to 'chill' as it wasn't Ramon who died, he said, "RIP Razor? Yall gotta chill. I swear I thought my man Scott Hall met his maker. I feel like Twitter should color code the trending topics."

Some Internet users even said that 'luckily' Razor Ramon is still alive, "When you see RIP Razor is trending on Twitter and immediately think the 'Bad Guy' was gone. Luckily Razor Ramon is still with us, for now."

While people went all mean on the social media platform and were thankful that it wasn't Ramon who lost his life, some users slammed such people saying, "I understand being comforted that it's not a celebrity you were personally attached to, but can we not say s**t like 'OMG thank god it's just some radio host' in reference to the 'RIP Razor' trend? I don't know s**t about the guy either, but he's still a real person who died."

One user posted, "'RIP Razor' is trending 100% of the tweets are 'omg i thought it was someone else!!!!!!! thank god!' someone f*****g died."  

Another shocked user said, "Wait people are ACTUALLY doing that?"

While some internet users went down the memory lane and remembered the late Radio host, one user said, "I was 16 years old in 1993 when he let me sit next to him in the newly installed bleachers at the Stick. I told him that I wanted his job when I grew up. I will never forget how he spoke to me like I was his peer and not some annoying high school kid. RIP Razor."

Barbieri informed the KNBR team and listeners of his diagnosis in 2011 and was fired the following year after which he sued the station for wrongful termination. The suit was later settled in 2013.