Such as world of wrestling I was collective Processing Scott Hall’s death Earlier this week, his speech from his introduction as Razor Ramon at the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame was widely shared and quoted. “Tough times don’t last, but bad times don’t,” was part of a story we were telling ourselves that, like Jake Roberts, Hall’s time with DDP in the early 2010s helped him achieve sobriety. We thought that while a lot of Hall’s life was spent fighting during those tough times, Bad Guy’s last several years have been good.
Unfortunately, a report on Hall’s death in Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter Makes this anecdote we can’t console ourselves with it anymore. The Dave Meltzer report, which includes accounts from Hall friends Sean “X-Pac” Waltman and Jared Saint-Lauren (aka MLW’s MSL), reminds us instead that there is no cure for addiction, and recovery is nothing but forgiveness for some addicts lucky enough to get on her .
Waltman told Meltzer that Hall has been able to put together some clean time over the past decade, but that the past two years have been “really bad.” Hall’s friends and family felt his death was imminent, but they couldn’t do anything about it—something that many who loved the alcoholic or addicts could relate to.
The Hall of Famer erected twice was in ‘bad condition’ in WrestleMania 37 Last year, when the nWo was introduced. This was also the case during his appearance at Stockton Comic Con last October, presumably why he didn’t make other recent bookings. She described recent years as a “fixed episode” of Hole “getting out of control” until a friend like Kevin Nash brought him back into focus.
When Hall fell and hip fracture Several weeks ago, he was said to have been lying on the floor for several days because he could not move or reach for his phone. When friends couldn’t access it, they called DDP to check it out. It was Paige who got him to the hospital.
Waltman said:
“The epidemic hit him. It was tough enough for him as is, but he was isolated in his home without any social interaction. He had been down to 210 pounds. We called Dali [Dallas Page] and gone. It was really bad.”
A wrinkle in this story aligns with this week’s story Remembrance of the hall Is that wrestling, and working with younger wrestlers, seems to have been the reason the bad guy got through his bad times. Saint Laurent told Meltzer:
“I lived down the road from it. We used to spend a few years hanging out every day. He lived alone in that big mansion and never really saw his family. So we ended up in the routine of going to the gym together every day, eating lunch and just bullshit unless I had a standalone reservation to go in. Scott was a very complex guy I think. I met him at a point in his life where he didn’t really care about himself anymore, but he still liked work very much and really liked helping others succeed.”
It’s heartbreaking information. As an alcoholic and recovering addict who works with others struggling like Scott, this is a reminder of the deadly nature of this disease. For anyone who has had one of us in your life, this is perhaps a reminder that you are not alone in your pain and frustration.
It’s hard to handle. All we can do is hope that Hall now goes through something like the peace he felt in the ring, and cherish the memories of how he made us feel when he was in one episode.
