Scott Hall, a former professional wrestler who rose to fame in the early 1990s as the arrogant “bad boy” Razor Ramon, known for wearing gold chains and flicking toothpicks at opponents, has died. He was 63 years old.
In Monday’s announcement of his death, World Wrestling Entertainment called Mr. Hall an “extremely powerful superstar”. The statement did not say when or where Mr. Hall died, nor did it give a reason.
Mr. Hall was part of a cohort of wrestlers who rose to fame in the 1990s and early 2000s under the scrutiny of Vince McMahon, Chairman of WWE. The era produced stars such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “Cold Stone” Steve Austin, and The Undertaker.
Mr. Hall had complications from his hip replacement surgery this month. The site said he was on life support in Georgia after suffering three heart attacks over the weekend.
Kevin Nash, another former professional wrestler, said in an Instagram post Sunday that Mr Hall’s family intended to take him off life support.
“I will lose the only person on this planet with whom I have lived more of my life than with anyone else,” Mr. Nash wrote. “I love Scott with all my heart, but now I need to prepare my life without him in the present.”
According to WWE, Mr. Hall began his wrestling career in 1984 and joined World Championship Wrestling in 1991 as Diamond Studd. The following year, he joined WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation, as Razor Ramon, a character he says was influenced by Al Pacino’s Tony Montana in Scarface. Standing over 6 feet tall, he often towered over his rivals in the ring and was known for his sleek black hair and golden chains around his neck, inside and out of the ring.
Mr. Hall became a four-time Intercontinental Champion during his time with WWE. Two of his most famous performances were ladder matches – competing for the championship belt, hovering over the ring using a ladder – against Shawn Michaels for this title at WrestleMania X and SummerSlam 1995.
Mr. Hall returned to World Championship Wrestling in 1996 as a heel or villain under his own name and co-founded the New World Order along with Mr. Nash and Hulk Hogan.
According to a 2017 interview, outside of the ring, Mr. Hall has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse and has been in rehab at least a dozen times. He said WWE was partially supportive of his treatment and thanked another wrestler, Diamond Dallas Page, for helping him recover.
Scott Hall was born into a military family on October 20, 1958. In a 2011 ESPN short film, he described growing up with family members abusing substances. “I was the head of the family at about 15,” Mr. Hall recalled. “My dad used to tell me, ‘You will slip. You know you will fall. He said, “Try to fall forward.”
In 1983, Mr. Hall was bartending at a strip club in Orlando, Florida when he became involved in a fight in which another man was fatally shot, according to an ESPN movie and The Orlando Sentinel.
“The guy pointed a gun at me, I took it away and shot him,” Mr. Hall said in 2011, describing it as a fight over a woman. “I should have asked for advice right then, but I didn’t know anything. I was a child.”
Hall was charged with second-degree murder, according to The Sentinel. According to the film, the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Mr Nash said Sunday that Mr Hall is “not perfect.” He added: “But as he always said, ‘the last perfect man to walk the planet, they nailed to a cross.’
Mr. Hall was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as Razor Ramon in 2014 and again in 2020 as a member of the New World Order.
“I realized that when I stepped behind that curtain, I could have a relationship as a performer with the public,” Mr. Hall said in his 2014 opening speech. “And that was powerful for me, whether I was a hated villain or a beloved hero. It was something I have always cherished.”
He ended the speech: “In my life, I’ve learned that hard work pays off, dreams come true, bad times don’t last, and bad guys stay.”
Johnny Diaz provided the reporting and Alain Delaquerière did the research.