Obituary Scott Hall

On March 14, 2022, in the evening hours, the wrestling universe received the sad news that Scott Hall had passed away. Even before that, the Internet was abuzz with memories, RIP and the wish for a miracle. But this one did not happen.

As Scott Oliver Hall he was born in 1958 in Maryland, USA, son of an officer who was later stationed in the German Ramstein, which gave Hall a stay at a school in Munich. He knew a bit of German, as he repeatedly proved in interviews or at brief fan meetings. Back in America, he studied medicine and actually wanted to become a pediatrician. Later, it would have been hard to imagine that, seeing him as Razor Ramon, one of his ring names, hair damp, almost greasy shiny, three-day beard, a curl hanging in his forehead and always chewing on a toothpick. I think if there are no toothpicks in the afterlife, he’ll come back to us, ring the bell of his old friend and companion Kevin Nash and say, “I’m staying here!”

A coincidence helped him to a wrestling career, he was discovered in the supermarket by Barry Windham, trained with Dusty Rhodes and finally made his debut in 1984 under the ring name Starship Coyote. Hall moved on to the AWA, NWA and in 1989 he was one of WCW‘s promising newcomers alongside Sid Vicious. At the side of Diamond Dallas Page, he unfortunately had little success, switched to WWF (now WWE) in 1992 and got his ring name Razor Ramon, which should make him famous. He looked like an Al Pacino in Scarface, a gangster, a daredevil, a womanizer who didn’t let anyone tell him anything and went his way. Hall became Bad Guy, looked up to by men and desired by women. Three-day beard, toothpicks, a feigned Cuban accent. In 1994, he made himself a legend, standing in the ring with Shawn Michaels for almost 30 minutes and offering a great, unforgettable ladder match at Wrestlemania 10. Hall was the first wrestler to receive the WWF Intercontinental Championchip four times. Together with Kevin Nash, who became an inseparable duo and loyal friends even outside the ring, he again moved to WCW. At that time I was a young girl and celebrated the feuds, the upbeat mood in the league, as far as you could follow in Germany, loved Nash and Hall as The Outsiders and found the nWo absolutely strong.

But unfortunately Scott Hall suffered the same fate as so many other pro wrestlers before and after him. Private problems from a lot of traveling, divorces, not seeing the kids grow up, being absent from family functions, it all takes its toll. Sleeping, training, eating, sleeping, standing in the ring, traveling on. What seems like a dream on the outside, and what many work hard for so they can call themselves a WWE Superstar, is a dreary, stressful, loveless daily routine behind the facade. Family are the colleagues you always have around you. Feelings, longings, guilt, despair and joy are numbed with alcohol and drugs. Hall has been to rehab several times to get his addiction problems under control. The self-proclaimed Bad Guy went through dark, difficult times, buoyed by his friends, but he always lost that one battle. He was eventually considered unreliable, stayed away from events and pissed off big-name promotions. Only his friend Kevin Nash kept putting in a good word for him, always standing by his side, straightening him up, making sure he got booked after all. In 2010 his wrestling career came to an end. But the legend remained. With the help of friends and former colleagues, he tried again and again to get a grip on his addiction problems and managed to do so regularly. He soon looked old, scarred by an excessive life, by training, by drugs, by alcohol. At one point he admitted that it was hard to ask for help, but even harder to accept it when it was offered.

Scott Hall always remained the public’s favorite and, despite everything, was highly appreciated by his colleagues. Many took him as a role model, saw him as an incentive to want to become a professional wrestler as well. The best and most recent example is Damian Priest, who not only adopted the surfer walk (albeit for different reasons), but also paid tribute to the graying role model with the Razor’s Edge move. In 2014, the Bad Guy was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. During the acceptance speech he said the legendary sentence: “Hard work pays off, dreams come true. Bad times don’t last, but bad guys do.” In 2021, he was again inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the nWo.

In early March 2022, it was announced that Scott Hall had suffered a fractured hip after a fall, and on March 12 he had suffered three heart attacks and was then placed on life support equipment. This news spread like wildfire and shocked the wrestling world. Kevin Nash finally announced that they would only wait for the family to arrive and then the measures would end. The news that Scott was still alive afterwards gave some hope, but in vain.

Scott Hall passed away on the evening of March 14, 2022.