10 WCW Fates Worse Than Death
3. Having Personal Demons As Your Gimmick
Sadly, Scott Hall passed away in March 2022. He'd battled personal problems for decades, but had managed to kick out when all looked bleak thanks to the help of Diamond Dallas Page. Hall also cleaned up his act enough to look dapper as he was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2014. His fans would be grateful for that memory.
His 'Last Call' run in WCW was a disgrace though.
The group handed Scott that gimmick in 1998. His story hit too close to the bone to be entertaining. WCW's story was that Hall’s real-life alcohol issues were affecting his in-ring work. The thing is, that was true, but WCW didn’t need to drag his personal life out in front of the cameras. On TV, Hall acted visibly drunk (or might’ve actually been under the influence) at Fall Brawl vs. Konnan and in other featured matches.
It was in poor taste, especially considering the fact that Scott wasn’t in the best place away from the ring. In effect, he was brought into work, asked to sit down, then told: ‘Hey, we know you’re going through some stuff, but we’re going to put that on television and exploit it. The fans will love it!'. Nah, they didn't love it. This didn't need to happen.
Hall must've slapped a green light on this idea somewhere along the way, but he probs wasn't of sound mind at the time. In retrospect, it would've been best had WCW kayfabe killed off his character and moved on completely. The man needed professional help, not a few beers during his matches so he could throw up all over the place.