Scott Hall Discusses His Storied Career, Problems With Vince McMahon, Alcohol Addiction

WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall recently sat down with The Whig, and gave a lengthy interview, covering a wide span of topics. His initial interest in the business, financial and personal problems with Vince McMahon, and his addiction to alcohol, were among several topics that were covered.

Below are some highlights from the interview:

On why he wanted to be a professional wrestler:

“I was always fascinated by it,” Hall said from his home in Atlanta. “I was more attracted to the lifestyle. I just wanted a cool job. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that (wrestling) went global and there’s video games and merchandise and all of this stuff (but) I just liked the lifestyle. You did something cool, you had your days free, you were an entertainer in the evening, that’s what really attracted me.”

On his departure from WWE, and the relationship with Vince McMahon at the time:

“Vince took it personally when I left, to the point where I didn’t get royalties,” he said, adding that while he didn’t receive royalties, McMahon and WWE did pay for several of his rehab attempts. “He still was showing me love. He wasn’t going to give me money that I could do bad things with was what it came down to. ‘I’ll pay for your hospital, I pay for your rehab, I’m not sending you money that you might go buy booze or drugs with,’ was what it came down to.”

“As soon as I made the decision, I was dirty on a piss test that was six weeks old,” Hall said. “I mean Vince came after me with everything. It was really brutal man.”

“I feel good about what I did,” he said. “I went to him man to man, months in advance, asked for the money, gave a written notice, 90 days in advance, and the notice was only that I didn’t want to leave, but I just didn’t want my contract to keep rolling over. Initially, the contracts that the WWE offered was 10 days, 10 matches you were guaranteed in one year; 10 matches at $150 a match, which means you’re guaranteed $1,500, but you give up everything — you can’t wrestle, or promote, or do an interview or an appearance or anything for anybody but Vince. But he’s only guaranteeing you $1,500. I just didn’t want that contract to roll over, I wanted to talk, but he was furious.”

On his addiction to alcohol and pills:

“I was one of those guys who didn’t drink and stuff until really late in life,” Hall said when asked when his addiction issues surfaced. “Of course as a teen I tried stuff, a sip of beer and stuff like that, (but) I didn’t start really drinking what I would call abusively or alcoholically until my mid-30s, which is kind of late. And I (had even) worked in bars.”

“I was in Winnipeg, with a group of the guys when I took my first pill,” he said, adding he took it and didn’t feel anything immediately. “I was sitting down, I was the youngest guy in the room and the most inexperienced guy, so I’m sitting on the floor at a big party in the hotel. And in that hotel in Winnipeg, there was a strip club in the lobby of the hotel. So everybody else is drinking and when people get drinking, they start laughing at stuff that’s not really funny and stuff like that so I said, ‘I’m just going to wander on down to the bar, see you guys later.’ I had taken the pill a half hour before. When I stood up, it was like whoa, I felt it … and I liked it,” he said.

You can find the entire interview at this link.

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