Scott Hall has passed away at the age of 63. WWE announced the news at the beginning of WWE RAW; the two-time WWE Hall of Famer passed on after he was taken off life support on March 14.
Hall suffered three heart attacks after a blood clot got loose following a hip replacement surgery last week, and his best friend Kevin Nash took to social media on Monday morning to announce that Hall would be taken off life support once his family was in place to say their goodbyes. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer and confirmed by Sean Waltman that Hall continued to live the better part of four hours following the removal of life support.
Scott Hall first got his start in pro wrestling after running into Barry Windham in a Tampa grocery store. From a military family, Hall traveled a lot in his youth, but he eventually found himself calling the state of Florida home. He first broke into wrestling starting in 1984 and was trained by Hiro Matsuda.
“I was living in Tampa bouncing in bars and I used to go to the wrestling shows every Tuesday night in Tampa,” Hall told Eric Bischoff in a July 2021 interview. “Every Wednesday morning I’d go down to the Sportatorium on North Albany and watch the TV tapings and I ran into Barry Windham who’s a huge star at that time, still is to me, but at that time, red hot.”
Hall traveled the road with Windham during that time and credited him and Dusty Rhodes as mentors for life in the business. Hall did some work in the NWA territories, but first ended up finding success in Verne Gagne’s AWA, tagging up with the late Curt Hennig and being tabbed to become the promotion’s next big star. Hall however saw the writing on the wall with AWA and left the promotion despite the plans for a world title run. “The Bad Guy” continued to find work in wrestling, making his debut in WCW as Scott “Gator” Hall, but he was never a prominent figure in the company until fans saw early signs of his Razor Ramon persona in the Diamond Studd.
When he was managed by Diamond Dallas Page, Hall first donned his signature jet-black hairstyle that he became known for, though he didn’t truly receive the major push he wanted until he jumped over to WWF in 1992. There, he pitched the Razor Ramon persona to Vince McMahon. Hall previously noted that McMahon was unaware of the Al Pacino film Scarface, but that’s what Scott used as a foundation for the character that he was going to debut with the company. Hall was heavily promoted with vignettes as Ramon before making his debut on an episode of WWF Superstars on August 8, 1992. Hall continued to establish himself as one of WWF’s top stars, as he became an Intercontinental Champion four times in his career, something that was unprecedented at the time. He feuded with the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Jeff Jarrett, and Goldust during his first run with WWF, but along with Michaels, he became synonymous with the ladder match after their historic WrestleMania X battle in Madison Square Garden.
In April of 1996, Hall had his last match in WWF, and the following month he made his return to WCW after being offered guaranteed money by the company (as well as some extra days off), something that was practically unheard of at the time. On May 27, 1996, a denim-clad “Bad Guy” came through the crowd on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro to interrupt the program and plant the seed for what become the NWO. Hall, along with Kevin Nash and newly heel-turned Hulk Hogan set the industry aflame with the hot new faction. Positioned as invaders in WCW, The Outsiders and Hogan ran roughshod on the WCW brand until they found a major on-air adversary with Sting. Hall is credited for proposing the “Crow” look to Sting, which gave the NWO its definitive babyface foe.
Despite being pro wrestling’s hottest angle to date, the NWO eventually became oversaturated with members and long in the tooth. From a personal perspective, Hall suffered from substance abuse issues which had him on and off WCW television. Once WCW was bought by Vince McMahon in 2001, Hall didn’t make a return to the mainstream spotlight until McMahon “injected” the NWO into WWE during early 2002. Here, Hall had his final in-ring run with WWE as he went on to feud with Steve Austin; the two stars clashed in singles action at WrestleMania X8 in Toronto. Hall followed that program up by having a short feud with Bradshaw, but Hall was eventually let go by WWF that May following more substance abuse issues.
“The Bad Guy” continued to wrestle in TNA and IMPACT Wrestling, but substance abuse continued to plague Hall. He found himself in and out of rehab and suffering from an array of health issues. Later, in 2013, long-time friend and former manager Diamond Dallas Page invited Hall into his home in an effort to rebuild the Bad Guy from the ground up. With plenty of love and support, Hall became clean and sober. 20 years removed from his famous ladder match with Michaels, Hall was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. The legend kept his speech short, but in turn made it significant by stating: “Hard work pays off. Dreams come true. Bad times don’t last, but bad guys do.”
Hall would be inducted once again into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as one of the four core members of the original NWO. Aside from a few appearances, Hall had relatively remained out of the spotlight in recent years, but the influence and mark he continued to leave on the business was indelible. Modern-day stars such as Damian Priest, Xavier Woods, Ethan Page, and countless others have paid homage to Hall. Plenty credit Scott for his excellent mind for the business and his great ability to coach young talent from an in-ring and charisma perspective. Hall always had expressed interest in coaching or doing commentary, but he never received an opportunity to do so. Hall’s son Cody became an active wrestler, and he also has a daughter by the name of Cassidy. Hall was married twice to his ex-wife Dana and also had another marriage in 2006.
Earlier in the day, Nash had the following words to say about his best friend.
“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. Scott always felt he wasn’t worthy of the afterlife. Well God please have some gold-plated toothpicks for my brother. My life was enriched with his take on life. He wasn’t perfect but as he always said “The last perfect person to walk the planet they nailed to a cross ” As we prepare for life without him just remember there goes a great guy you ain’t going to see another one like him again. See Ya down the road Scott. I couldn’t love a human being any more than I do you.”
We here at Indy Pro Wrestling send our deepest prayers and condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Scott Hall at this time.