SCOTT HALL INTERVIEW

Scott Hall joined Inside The Ropes this past Thursday to talk about getting sober and his career in professional wrestling. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

About being a top guy in the WWE today and his son Cody going there:

“I don’t get to watch a lot of WWE, but through this internet thing, Some people comment about a guy becoming the World Champ or the US champ and a couple of weeks later he’s down the card in the opening match. I think that kills the image of being a top guy. But I guess the promoters, the guys in the WWE calling the shots are seeing it like ‘We’re giving you a chance and if you don’t produce, you don’t produce and back down you go’ I’ve talked to Cody about it a lot and he’s in no hurry to go there. He’d rather be seasoned and polished before he makes a move like that.”

On what Scott and Kevin knew the night of the Bash at the Beach 96:

“We had no idea who it was going to be. The whole third guy thing came up by accident. I remember Kev and I called Bret and I spoke to him, Kev spoke to him and we told him it was really fun working at WCW. It was really laid back, guaranteed money, it was easy. We were so used to being in a shark tank in New York. Coming to Atlanta was like being in a country club. It was really tame in the locker room in WCW compared to New York. We told Bret he should come down. Bischoff was interested, he was offering him a pretty sweet deal but Bret wasn’t interested. We wanted it to be Hulk, but Hulk had creative control in his contract so he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do. We went to the ring, we hadn’t even met Hulk yet, I met him briefly at WrestleMania 9 but I didn’t know Hulk, we actually went to the ring in Daytona and Hogan wasn’t even there yet. He was on a jet, flying cross country from shooting a movie. Bischoff wanted it to be Hulk but before we went out, Bischoff told us “If Hulk doesn’t show, I’m gonna send out Sting.”

How he became sober, with the assistance of Diamond Dallas Page:

“I didn’t have any purpose in my life. My goal had been to be a top star in wrestling and I did that. Then I thought the natural progression would be me working in the office but it didn’t happen. I had a little heart episode about 7 weeks ago, I ended up in the hospital in intensive care for a week. The doctor commented ‘you’re a freak, you’re a genetic freak, your heart is normal again’ While I was there, there was this kid who brought me my food and he was a big wrestling fan, and the kid kept coming back and one time he whipped out his iPhone and he had the before and after pics of Jake The Snake. I’d heard things but never seen the pictures. I’d talked to Jake and I knew good things were happening and Dallas was at the root of it and I thought, Do I go to rehab again? Or do I try something else? Instead of treading water in rehab, I don’t know what triggered it and to be honest i don’t question it. I’m moving in the right direction finally, for the first time in so long. I’m 65 days now without any alcohol or drug. I’ve had longer times, but I’ve always been in a facility. I have no cravings and I feel great.”