Wrestler Scott Hall died this week at the age of 63.
Being surprised that a wrestler died seems kind of odd. They drop like flies, to this day. This post won't mean much to somebody who never really followed wrestling. But if they at least saw the movie "The Wrestler," they have a good idea of what the life is like for the performers. It should be no Suprise.
A grueling life on the road, with no off seasons. Getting to a town after a several hours drive. Hitting the gym. Then hitting the bar. Maybe some legal and not so legal substances consumed. Iffy women cavorted with. Maybe a violent encounter in that bar. ("hey, aren't you one of those fake wrestlers?"). Get up the next morning and go to the arena. Do a show that night. Hit the road. Rinse repeat.
Scott Hall experienced the classic progression of a self-destructive wrestler. He started out clean enough, working in the smaller promotions before moving on to fame in the WWE. Becoming popular ("over") with the fans. Becoming part of a group of hard partying travelling friends. More and more fame. Dealing with the fame, the injuries, the pain in the body and often the heart.
Scott had his demons. Prior to his career he was a young man working as a bouncer (like many wresters do before the big time). He was confronted in a strip club parking lot by a jealous boyfriend of some girl or another, and had a gun pulled on him. He ended up getting the gun and killing the guy. The court declared it self-defense.
But Scott Hall was left with demons. For the rest of his life he was haunted by demons of that fateful night. Tortured in his dreams; never being able to get over taking a life and almost losing his. Classic PTSD. So the substance abuse began, and often ran rampant.
Didn't stop him from becoming a star though. In WWE he rose to fame, got "over," by creating what I think is an amazing character, or "gimmick" as they say. A fan of the movie Scarface, he imagined a muscle-bound, six and a half foot Tony Montana. His original promos, videos showing the character doing gimmick things prior to debuting in the ring, were awesome. Fans ate it up. They were over like Rover.
So Scotts career as an endless bad guy was born.
I was in and out of wrestling fandom. I first bought into it with the "Rock and Wrestling" connection. Appearances of celebs like Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper brought big media attention. I would watch for a year or two, get bored, and come back with peaked interest at some point. Many gimmicks sucked. Wrestling clowns, garbage men, and even dentists were common. It was for kids. But the coming of Razor Ramon was a new angle. Something for the adults. Out of my teens, I finally discovered the movie, Scarface, loved it; and I loved Razor Ramon.
In his early time in WWE, Scott became part of the Kliq. A name his road buddies were given. They were made up of new wrestlers who would one day go on to be huge stars. Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Triple H, Sean "1 2 3 Kid" Waltman. They rode for hours talking business. Each supporting the other in the cutthroat business, in the meeting room and the locker rooms. The Kliq grew in power as time marched on, gaining the ear of owner Vince McMahon. The locker room boys hated them for their loyalty to each other. But they were becoming huge stars, and that is all that mattered.
Scott Hall was an agitator. He loved to rile up the locker room. By all accounts he liked to "stir it up" in not always nice or even fair ways. But he was also said to be a help to lesser non-Kliq guys. Guys struggling to make it he barely knew. He was clearly a man of two sides, as those with demons often are.
Scott Hall eventually ended up going to WCW, Ted Turners rival promotion, with his best friend Kevin Nash.
They teamed up with a newly bad guy Hulk Hogun for the NWO (New World Order) and took the promotion by storm, while Shawn Michaels and Triple H got huge in WWE. The Kliq was mastering two promotions, become more hated by others in the back as they grew and grew in power. They were practically running the business. They were literally changing the business. Thing unheard of in wrestling, like guaranteed contracts and creative control, were becoming reality thanks to them.
Scott's abuse of substances grew as well. In and out of rehab, he was often a mess, even wrestling drunk.
When WCW lost the "Monday Night Wars" and was bought out by Vince McMahon around 2000 or so, Scott and his buddy Kevin Nash more or less retired from the ring outside the occasional appearance. But free time let the demons in more, and Scott did what he did to fight them more and more. His life was going down the tubes chop chop.
But Scott was saved. Daimond Dallas Page, a former wrestler and now life coach who was most famous for saving Jake the Snake Roberts from the demons eating his body and soul. Scott cleaned up (mostly), devoting himself to staying alive. He got into holistic living. Organic food. He sometimes fell. But that is part of the process of those with demons who go on living. Tumbling down and getting back up is part of the process.
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| Scott and Page |
Scott apparently had multiple hip replacements, and in his latest one a blood clot got the better of him.
Fame is a bitch, but it may well have been what saved Scott from his demons. If he had just continued as a bouncer, would that work have occupied him enough to keep him from swift self-destruction? It can be said that the busy life of a popular wrestler, long hours travelling and many drinks in bars, is not conducive to living clean. But many do it clean. Kliq member Triple H was asked to join the group of hard partyers because he didn't drink, and they needed a designated driver while they pounded the drinks and the drugs. But for someone like Scott it probably had two sides of a coin. Partying with your pals, but also needing to get up for a big show the next day. Wreslemania's and Survivor Series. Moving moving moving. A non-stop roller coaster. You need to kind of have your shit together. Sometimes, anyway.
The life or a wrestler can be hard on those who choose it. But to come out of the life Scott Hall was living, to reach the age of 63 with all the damage he caused himself; The chair shots, the body slams, the pain killers, the harder drugs, the booze, the wild women, the likely steroids.
You can look down on that life. But there is cause for admiration there. Scott lived longer than many who lived like him. Hell, I only have a few drinks on the weekend, and I wonder if I'll manage to hit that age. But if I do, then and beyond, I will always be a Scott Hall fan. As the NWO liked to say...
Note: Scott did many "shoot" interviews over the year where he talks a lot about the old times and great stories. Go to youtube and search "scott hall shoot interview"
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