I guess it’s safe to say that pro wrestling doesn’t necessarily guarantee one an exceptionally long life. We’ve lost so many legends over the years. The things these men and women have to go through just to be able to perform are unheard of in any other realm or business.
Scott Hall ran the road with the best of them, and along the way he became one of the best of them many believe. As mentioned in yesterday’s piece, he had a massive hand in changing the business in many ways, and he did so in WWE, WCW and even TNA. His verse…the story he had to tell…was always handed over to the crowd with authenticity and a care for the business overall. It was obviously appreciated by many out there.
He passed away yesterday several hours after his loved ones took him off of life support. So he went out fighting; that is quite clear. He was 63. We here at Pro Wrestling News Hub want to profess our deepest sympathies to his loved ones.
The wrestling world lost a legend and a giant in the industry and the outcry of sympathy and support for his family and close friends was incredible and extremely heartwarming to see. So many people had something kind to say, even AEW.
AEW stated:
“AEW joins the wrestling world in mourning the passing of a true legend Scott Hall. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans.”
via AEW
WWE, the company he gave so much to had this to say:
“WWE is saddened to learn that two-time WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall has passed away. A hugely influential Superstar, Hall began his career in 1984, performing with various organizations across the country before joining World Championship Wrestling in 1991 as The Diamond Studd…
In 1992, Hall signed with WWE and introduced fans all over the world to the character of Razor Ramon, becoming a four-time Intercontinental Champion and one of the most enduring personas of WWE’s ‘New Generation.’ He participated in memorable rivalries against Kevin Nash, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and countless others, with his two Ladder Matches against Michaels at WrestleMania X and SummerSlam 1995 both considered all-time classics by fans and industry insiders alike…
In 1996, Hall re-joined World Championship Wrestling and joined Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan as the founding members of the nWo (New World Order), revolutionizing the sports-entertainment industry and ushering in the ‘Monday Night Wars.’ …
After retiring from the ring, Hall capped off a one-of-a-kind career by being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as Razor Ramon in 2014 and again as a member of the nWo in 2020. WWE extends its condolences to Hall’s family, friends and fans.”
– WWE
The NWA:
“The NWA would like to send condolences to the friends and family of Scott Hall as well as the wrestling community who loved him.”
NWA
Impact Wrestling:
“IMPACT Wrestling is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Scott Hall. We send our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
via Impact Wrestling
So many wrestlers got in on the outcry of loving and adoring messages to the fallen legend of the squared circle, and I’ve tried to paste as many of their social media messages here, but I can’t post them all sadly, but they are all beautiful.
Chris Jericho had this to say:
“#ScottHall and I didn’t always see eye to eye when we worked together, but I’m happy to say we cleared the air and became friends over the last few years. He even joined us on the Chris Jericho Cruise in 2020 and we had a great conversation for #TalkIsJericho! …
It’s a drag we didn’t have more time together, because Scott Hall was a pretty cool cat with a WICKED sense of humor. The dude was seriously razor sharp hilarious. I have many memories of him going back to watching him with my Dad in #AWA in the mid 80’s…
What an amazing worker he was in the ring and out! He was One of the biggest stars I’ve encountered during my career….and he was by far the BEST pro wrestler I’ve ever seen to NEVER hold a world title! Love and respect forever. God bless you #BadGuy….I’ll never forget you.”
via Chris Jericho
But perhaps my personal favorite message comes from another legend of the ring, DDP (Diamond Dallas Page). He said:
“My brother has gone on to Valhalla to raise some hell. The bad guy till the end. ‘YO Death, what’s your finisher? Can’t wait to kick out’ He may not have kicked out, but he wasn’t gonna put that MF’er over clean … @realkevinnash love you & miss you more! God Speed RIP. Dally.”
via Diamond Dallas Page
Of course my heart goes out to all members of The Kliq; they were certainly a band of brothers that went through a lot together, as has been well documented. All members had words to contribute to the litany of condolences online. Our condolences go out to them as well.
I’m often asked why I contribute articles on the subject of professional wrestling. I always answer simply by stating: “Because I like it.” But today, I feel it necessary to add that wrestlers to me are, or rather have always seemed more heroic than super heroes in comic books.
When I was a child that was what wrestlers did for me. Introduced to the realm of pro wrestling by my closest friend, Antonello, at a young age, I haven’t looked back since. My main focus of the journalistic pieces I write—especially over the last two years—has been pro wrestling. So yeah, I still buy into it.
I always favored the good guys…the guys that fought for something…because the good guys showed me that there were some out there still willing to fight the good fight; still willing to do good and face off against bullies and adversity. Especially in the Ruthless Aggression era, where the world was changing drastically around us…where the definition of what was good was changing from day to night; heroes like John Cena showed me that it still meant something to fight for the greater good.
But today…today we honor a bad guy…the bad guy in all of professional wrestling. And even me, a rooter of those that did good in their day, I can even say, he was so bad…he was good.
Rest in peace. Thank you for all of your sacrifices and all of your contributions in the squared circle. You will live on like all legends do on any art platform.
“This world is shrouded in darkness. Here, only a few can see their way free. These few birds escape from the net, and fly away to the heavens.”
-Buddha