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Scott Hall says WWE should welcome back Hulk Hogan
It’s been a little more than a year since Hulk Hogan was fired by WWE for the racist comments he made on a 2007 sex tape, but Scott Hall is adamant that Hogan will and should return to WWE.
“Yes, Hulk will be back,” said Hall. “After a thirty-three year relationship with the WWE, he had a bad day—and that bad day was nearly ten years ago. That sex tape happened during a brutal time in his life. He was going through a divorce, his son Nick was in a car crash, paralyzed his buddy, and was facing jail time. His daughter was starting her hip-hop career, and Hulk was backing that, paying money out of his own pocket for that. The whole world was coming down on him, and he slipped up. He said the wrong thing. I’ve been around Hulk a lot and never seen that side of him. I’ve only seen a kind, generous guy. If the door is not open for him, it should be.”
Hogan remained in the discussion when Hall harkened back to WCW’s World War 3 pay per view from November of 1997. Hall won the 60-man World War 3 match, which—allegedly—assured him a future title shot with the WCW champion.
“I won at World War 3, and I was supposed to get the title shot at SuperBrawl,” explained Hall. “That was traditionally a big draw for WCW, and I was supposed to be the main event there vs. Sting. But Hulk c---blocked that and he took the main event spot and I never got the title match. That’s WCW in a nutshell.”
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Hall looks good, sounds even better, and is currently keeping busy by working assorted independent shows across the country. He always had a sharp mind for the business, and he offered his take on the progress of United States champion Roman Reigns.
“I would have kept pushing the guy,” said Hall. “I didn’t like what they did when he put Finn Bálor over on Raw and they humbled him after the match. He had to do an interview in the aisle after he lost and put Bálor over again. But that was on the heels of something happening with him and the Wellness Program. There is only one place to work now, so things have tightened up. If you don’t like it, what are you going to do? So Vince is cracking the whip, and everybody’s got to get in line. When I was there, they drug tested. Sometimes, in a ten-day loop, we’d have four drug tests. They cracked the whip then too, and everybody got in line. If you want to work in the United States, there is only one place to work—and that is WWE. If they’re running a tight ship, then get in line.”
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Hall recently suffered a relapse with alcohol, and explained that every day is a battle to remain clean and sober.
“I’m not where I want to be, but I thank God I’m not where I used to be,” said Hall. “It’s a slippery slope. I’ve fallen in the past, and I may fall again in the future, but I get up now. There were times in the past when I’d fall and I’d just stay there. Now, when I fall, I get up.”
Hall also addressed the question of whether Seth Rollins is dangerous in the ring. Rollins has dealt with allegations of recklessness after he broke John Cena’ nose, severely injured Sting’s neck, and tore Finn Bálor’s right shoulder during matches.
“No, Seth is not dangerous,” countered Hall. “Certainly Seth was never intending to hurt anybody, and you’ve got to remember that Sting hadn’t wrestled much in the past five years and he was in his fifties. It’s really becoming en vogue for a lot of these new guys to do moves on the apron. That’s becoming really trendy, and that’s where the ring is really hard. Powerbombing someone on the apron or into the turnbuckle, those are not moves Sting and I grew up with. He wasn’t really conditioned to take it, he hadn’t practiced it, and I think he whiplashed his 56-year-old neck. It’s a shame to see a guy of that caliber go out with an injury, but he had a great run. But no, Seth is not reckless.”
The Bálor injury was especially devastating, Hall admitted, because he is enamored with the former NXT champion.
“The guys who I currently follow start with Finn Bálor,” said Hall. “I’m such a fan of his, and I was so sorry to see him get hurt right at the zenith of his push.”
Hall’s list of favorites also includes Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura.
“I’m also a big Kevin Owens fan, and Shinsuke Nakamura is over like a rock star,” said Hall. “People want him pulled up right away, but at the same time, they’ve got to keep NXT alive. NXT is working better than anticipated. When guys leave NXT and go to the main roster, those guys are already over. Before, a lot of guys languished in FCW and OVW. Now that Triple H is running it from head to toe, it’s the hottest show out there—so everything is going better than planned.”
On a more personal level, Hall’s son, Cody, has returned after reportedly suffering a head injury this past April while working with New Japan.
“Cody is back to Japan,” reported Hall. “He’s back at the dojo, ready to go. He’s not looking back, just looking forward.
“Once you learn how to work inside the ring—once you learn how to tell a story—then you can come to a big company like the WWE and learn the extra stuff, like the video, the pyro, the music, and that adds to everything you can do. But it all comes down to how you work in the ring, so Cody is focused on learning the basics over there. It’s all about what you do when you hit the curtain, when you walk the aisle and when you step through the ropes. All the extra stuff is just gravy added to it.”
As for the next step in the life of Scott Hall, his dream job remains working as a trainer with NXT.
“In a perfect world, I’d end up at NXT,” revealed Hall. “I also realize that getting clean is one thing, but staying clean is another. I need to stay clean for a long time. The best thing I can do is keep showing up places with a clear head and see what happens.”
And, for those wondering, Hall is very impressed by The New Day’s 437-day tag team title run, though he claims that the “Power of Positivity” would stand no match for The Outsiders.
“That match would have been a lot of fun,” said Hall. “It would have been great, and Xavier Woods—he’s the fall guy, right?—would have taken the Razor’s Edge.”
more unreturned PPV wins over Hogan than anyone in history.
