12 Wrestlers Who Competed Under The Influence

9. Scott Hall

Kurt Angle Mr Intense Face
WWE Network

Art imitated life when WCW booked Scott Hall to act out some of his darker nights under the bright spotlights of Nitro and Thunder in a desperate grab to reclaim notoriety during the Monday Night Wars.

By 1998, 'The Bad Guy' was having a bad time keeping his addictions under control, and - in a creative call Eric Bischoff himself has since regretted - the company introduced his struggle on television with the former Razor Ramon completely unable to control his drinking in the face of his weekly pro wrestling responsibilities.

Perhaps conceived as punishment booking to somehow intervene on screen before Hall's off-screen antics went a fatal step too far, the direction instead just trivialised his troubling times. Hall staggered out to matches late looking unkempt, took cheeky swigs in between moves and even vomited over himself and others as he endured entire nights out on fast forward to try and pop a quarter hour rating. 

It'd be 15 years later before he'd get to his Diamond Dallas Page-led turnaround in 2013. WCW was foreshadowing the sadder times still to come.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett