The Tragedies And Triumphs Of Scott Hall
Winning multiple professional wrestling titles throughout his career, Scott Hall was one of the most exciting superstar wrestlers to watch. The former two-time WCW United States Heavyweight champion and four-time WWF Intercontinental champion would wrestle for multiple pro wrestling companies starting in the '80s and would rise to fame as Razor Ramone in the '90s, per Wrestling Data.
According to Wrestling Headlines, Hall had many of the tools necessary to become a successful star. He had charisma in the ring and he knew his way around a microphone, spitting promos with a unique flair that was all his own. Plus, he also had the technical ability during matches. Hall had all the traits needed for immense success on the pro-wrestling circuit.
Hall appeared in two of wrestling's biggest promotions, the WWF (now WWE) and WCW, and got in the ring against or alongside some of that era's biggest names, including a run as a member of the New World Order, or nWo, with legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan. However, despite all of his success, Hall found himself in a number of rough situations outside the ring, including run-ins with the law, health issues, and a long battle with substance abuse, the details of which were chronicled in a 2011 short documentary on ESPN's E:60.
Hall no doubt had a colorful life, but on March 14, 2022, WWE announced on Twitter that the wrestler died. TMZ reported that he'd been taken off life support after complications from surgery for a broken hip. He was 63.
Scott Hall killed a man in self-defense
Unfortunately, despite all the accolades and achievements, Hall suffered a great tragedy outside the squared circle. According to Bleacher Report, while working as a bartender at a gentleman's club, Thee Original Doll House, in Orland in 1983, Hall would end a man's life. After getting into a fight with the man over a woman, the man smashed Hall's car windows outside the club. After leaving the scene, Hall followed the man, caught up with him, and continued the altercation. The man took out a gun, turning into a fight for each other's lives. Hall took the gun from the man and shot him in the head.
After the man's death, Hall was charged with second-degree murder, but, due to lack of evidence, was found not guilty. Hall would later admit he should have gotten counseling, but never did. Eventually, Hall would begin a long struggle with alcohol and drug abuse. "There's got to be some reason that I'm still here," Hall told "E:60," per ESPN. "I should have been dead 100 times. I should have been dead 100 times."
The WWE tried to help Hall in his battle with addiction
Before the broadcast of "Scott Hall: The Wrestler," a documentary that detailed the wrestler's life, Hall had been to rehab at least 10 times after the WWE had spent over six figures trying to help him. Hall, who used a pacemaker, has talked about the way life on the road took a toll on his body and state of mind.
"It's the most amount of money we've spent on anyone," the WWE's Stephanie McMahon told ESPN. "I just want Scott to get help and to decide for himself that he needs help. It makes me sad. I don't want anybody to pass away prematurely or otherwise really. Scott was an incredibly talented performer, larger than life, charismatic. He's a father, he's a friend. I'm sure he means a lot to a lot of people and it would be a shame for him to pass away."
Hall discussed his struggles in the same ESPN piece. "I tell my kids this, 'I can't tell you not to drink and do drugs, they are fun. It's fun. They work,'" Hall said. "But what sucks is when you want to quit and you can't, and pretty soon you alienate or you hurt everyone around you. It's a family disease and then you can't keep a promise to anybody. What sucks the most is when you can't even keep a promise to yourself."
Hall was a member of the "Kliq"
Scott Hall was a member of the "Kliq," per Wrestling Headlines, a group in the then-WWF that also counted big names like Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (also known as Triple H) as members. The wrestlers that made up the Kliq were highly promoted by the company and all of them worked well with one another, both in tag team matched and against each other. Hall and Nash made for an especially good pairing and when the two moved over to WCW, they won 7 Tag Team titles, and they also both became original members of nWo alongside Hulk Hogan.
According to Sports Illustrated, members of the Kliq are still close, with Hall naming who he was still closest to. "For me, it's Kev and Pac (Waltman). Kev's been the big brother that I've never had, and Pac is like a little brother to me. Shawn has turned his life around so much that I was almost embarrassed to call him. He is doing so well, and I wasn't doing that good. But The Kliq was born with Shawn and I."
Scott Hall's triumphs
It would take many years before Hall would find a solution that would help him become sober, and he'd find that answer from wrestling titan Diamond Dallas Page (pictured above, right), per Bleacher Report. After creating the healthy training program called DDP Yoga, Page, along with wrestling legend Jake the Snake Roberts (above, left) — who was also saved by Page — would work with Hall to help get him into a better lifestyle. By 2013, Hall was on track to living a life without many of the addictions he'd struggled with for so long.
In 2014, Hall was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as Razor Ramone, per Wrestling Headlines. By 2020, there was a mix of good and bad news regarding the wrestling superstar. Hall, who was supposed to appear for a virtual meet-and-greet, showed up intoxicated, to the point where they were unable to go live, per Ringside News. However, that same year, Hall was once again inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, along with his friends from the nWo, a supergroup of wrestlers that originated in WCW.
Hall suffered complications duing surgery
In March 2022, it was announced that Hall had suffered complications while undergoing surgery on his hip after sustaining an injury in a fall (via TMZ). It was reported by PWTorch that Hall had suffered three heart attacks while recovering from surgery at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia, which were caused by a blood clot. This led to the 63-year-old Hall of Fame wrestler being placed on life support.
On March 14, 2022, Hall's close friend and wrestling colleague Kevin Nash announced via Instagram that he would be taken off life support. "Once his family is in place they will discontinue life support," Nash wrote. I'm going to lose the one person on this planet I've spent more of my life with than anyone else. My heart is broken and I'm so very f****** sad. I love Scott with all my heart but now I have to prepare my life without him in the present. I've been blessed to have a friend that took me at face value and I him. When we jumped to WCW we didn't care who liked or hated us. We had each other and with the smooth Barry Bloom, we changed wrestling both in content and pay for those ... a lot that disliked us. We were the "Outsiders" but we had each other."
According to the New York Post, Hall had been slated to appear at Wrestlemania in Dallas, Texas the same week he was placed on life support. Hall is survived by a son and a daughter.