Scott Hall
An article by Mike Mooneyham
Published November 2000
The sad saga of Scott Hall took yet another troubling turn when he was arrested on Nov. 22 on DUI charges after being involved in a three-car accident in Winter Springs, Fla.
Hall allegedly was driving on the wrong side of a six-lane highway when his Pathfinder caused a collision with two other vehicles.
Hall was taken to Winter Park Hospital with minor injuries. The extent of the injuries to others involved in the accident was not known, but one bystander called the scene “a bloody mess.”
Police discovered two open and one unopened beer bottle in Hall’s vehicle and went to the hospital to question Hall. Ac cording to the police report, officers smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage on Hall’s breath. Police performed a field sobriety test on Hall after he was released from the hospital. Hall told police that he didn’t remember how the accident happened but told them he hadn’t been drinking. Hall was later arrested for DUI after failing the field tests and registering 0.027 and 0.026 on two breathalyzer tests three hours after the accident. He declined requests to take a urine test.
[ad#MikeMooneyham-336×280]A witness said Hall had been despondent about personal matters and had been up drinking all night before the accident. He had been scheduled to pick up his two children for the Thanksgiving holiday on the morning of the accident, but failed to show.
The accident occurred two years to the day after Hall totaled his Cadillac on Thanksgiving Eve 1998 when he fell asleep at the wheel, drove off the road and flipped into a ditch.
Hall had made his return to wrestling less than two weeks earlier on a pair of ECW shows in New York, but had not been signed to any contract. Hall recently was released by WCW.
Longtime partner Kevin Nash, who has lobbied for Hall’s return to WCW despite his out-of-ring problems, was joined by Diamond Dallas Page last week on Nitro in a call for Hall’s reinstatement.
“It is a shame that these so-called friends of Scott would persist in urging the fans to get Scott to return,” Hall’s estranged wife, Dana, said Friday. “It is only cruel of them to give the fans false hope & not to mention Scott. Obviously these men do not know all the facts or understand the seriousness of his most recent arrest. Obviously they do not wish to acknowledge that Scott did not start drinking because he lost his job, but lost his job because of his addiction. He did not start drinking after our divorce, but we divorced because of his addictions and infidelities. They obviously do not understand or care that their friend and my husband and father of our children is on a very self-destructive path and is in need of help from his friends, not urgings to return, or even believe he can return to what has contributed to further destroy his marriage, our family and his life.
“Obviously they do not understand or care that he could have been killed, killed others or his children. They do not understand or care that if he continues on this path without intervention, they will be attending his funeral the next time they see their friend. Then they can explain to his children how much they cared or tried to help their father. Drinking with, doing drugs with and cheating with him have definitely not contributed to his children a well-being or future. This is not what a friend does. These kinds of friends have done more damage.”
Hall, 42, was also arrested several weeks ago at the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla., where he was attending a child visitation hearing, and was taken out in handcuffs after it was discovered that he had violated probation given to him for an arrest on Oct. 2, 1998, for keying a limousine after leaving a topless bar in Orlando. Hall and his attorney had called the Oct. 26 hearing after filing a motion to gain sole custody of his two children, Cody, 9, and Cassidy, 6, from his wife of 10 years.
At a recent hearing Hall agreed to his wife’s request that he pay for counseling for the children and himself, while Dana will continue to pay for her own counseling. Hall agreed to provide dental and health insurance for his children. The ruling also decreed that the Halls had to meet in a neutral public place when the children were exchanged. Scott also agreed not to drink or consume drugs in front of the children, and signed a written statement that there would be no further offenses.
Hall’s visitation rights have been canceled until a judge reviews the case.
`If these men were real friends and had one ounce of human decency, respect or responsibility, not to mention morals, integrity or common sense, they would be urging their friend to get help before he dies and I have to bring his two children to their father’s funeral. It is not only wrong of these men to encourage this, but irresponsible of WCW to even allow this. Fans should be praying for him. Friends should be helping him, and if they think lobbying for him to return to wrestling would help him, they are sadly mistaken. Scott is very sick, and denial is not an option anymore. His recent arrest, accident and behavior are proof of that and cannot continue to be ignored any longer.
“He is getting worse and his friends must be blind to not see this. I pray for these men to just leave Scott alone if they cannot be a true friend to him. The last thing Scott needs is another `friend’ like Kevin Nash. He has stood beside him while he destroyed himself, his career and his marriage. I guess he feels he might as well help finish him off.
“Their past and present actions have resulted in damage to Scott as well as their own lives. Scott does not need friends like this anymore if he wants to continue to live. I will pray for Kevin Nash and others as well as WCW to cease this `game’ they are playing for themselves or for ratings. Scott’s life as well as others are at stake. This is sick and repulsing, but what I would expect of this business.”
Earlier this year she had demanded that her husband sign a clause stating that he must exhibit moral and Christian behavior around their children.
According to an agreement Hall signed on Jan. 31, “The father agrees with, and does acknowledge, that the children are being raised by the mother in a Christian home with Christian instruction and values. The father does agree to exhibit moral conduct and to provide a moral environment while in the presence of, and during all contact with the children, in support of what would be in the best interest of the children … It is further agreed that the father will not consume any unprescribed medication, illegal substances or alcohol within 24 hours of the contact time”
Documents provided by certified addiction counselor Freddie Carrero stated:
“In my estimation, the need for counseling has always been there based on my knowledge of the problems of Mrs. Hall and Scott Hall. Both seem to suffer from conditions that threaten a relationship with each other and put the children at risk from knowing what is normal. Scott’s chemical dependency problem is certainly a major factor contributing to the family dysfunction, as well as Mrs. Hall’s co-dependency condition which keeps her tied into this family problem. Without treatment for both of these conditions, the family will continue to suffer. The kids will certainly be traumatized by these experiences.
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“The need for counseling has always been there … Scott’s chemical dependency problem is certainly a major factor contributing to the family dysfunction”
Hall served 30-day rehab stints in 1997 and 1998, along with outpatient rehab, for substance abuse. He also has been arrested twice for sexual assaults and battery, criminal mischief, along with a number of car accidents.
The Halls were first married in February 1990, divorced in May 1998 and remarried in March 1999.
“I remarried him because of my faith and knowing that God can work miracles, and that’s what we needed,” Dana said recently. “I was born again in ’98 and I didn’t want a divorce. I’ve just been praying. I’ve been torn between reality and my faith in knowing that God can work miracles. The reality right now is that Scott Hall isn’t going to change.”
Scott filed for divorce in September 1999. The two reconciled in January and separated again in April. Scott asked Dana for another reconciliation the night before a scheduled hearing on Oct. 19. Dana told him that she would be willing to discuss it, and a lunch meeting was scheduled following the hearing, which was canceled. The two made plans to meet on Oct. 23, but Scott never showed.
Hall’s lawyer recently requested that the two attend mediation sessions in another attempt to save the rocky relationship.
Prior to the most recent accident, Dana had been cited with two contempt of court charges for refusing her husband visitation rights. Friends and family members claim that Hall had been drinking during visitation with his children on July 28, skidded off a country road and nearly hit a pole.
“Where is the bottom?” asked Dana Hall recently. “He has the gall to call me unfit and all that stuff, and I don’t even have a parking ticket. It’s ridiculous that he thinks he can do things like that and continue to hurt the people who love him the most. Somebody needs to show him what the word `denial’ means in the dictionary.”
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