Scott Hall: Former WWE Wrestler Serves as Cautionary Tale of Sports Stardom

Scott Hall is all too familiar with the tragic irony of professional wrestling.

Like so many stars of the "sport" before him and since, Hall avoided taking a beating in the ring thanks to staged fights and fake hits, but endured plenty of harm to his physical, mental and emotional health through drug and alcohol abuse.

Hall, who paraded around as "Razor Ramon", was the subject of a recent episode of "E:60" on ESPN, which delved into his checkered past amidst the height of his superstardom during the 1990s.

The special took a close look at Hall's long history of drug use and heavy drinking, problems that continue to plague him to this day. He even admitted during the show to the murder of a man outside of a nightclub in 1983, the chargers for which were later dropped due to a lack of incriminating evidence.

At 6'7" and 290 pounds, Hall was as imposing a figure as any in professional sports during his heyday but has since been rendered a shell of his former self by the lingering demons of substance abuse.

No longer is he the same man who became a star with the then-World Wrestling Federation and then a legend when he, Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash established the New World Order in World Championship Wrestling. No longer is he the man who once "battled" Shawn Michaels in the "Ladder Match" at Wrestlemania 10 or the one who helped to make Summerslam a national Pay-Per-View phenomenon.

Instead, Hall finds himself hanging onto the vitality, the humor and the swagger that once made him one of the most renowned figures in pro wrestling, all between stints in rehab programs.

What makes Hall's situation and those of his contemporaries that much more tragic, at least within the realm of sports luminaries, is the extent to which the harm is so often self-inflicted.

Granted, there is no such thing as a "lesser tragedy" when it comes to the early loss of life among former professional athletes.

There are no more or fewer tears wept for the memory of a former football or hockey player whose life is cut short by head injuries or that of a retired basketball or baseball player whose joints have been so damaged by years of intense wear and tear that they can no longer function normally in their 50s or 60s.

But there's something particularly unsettling about seeing a former star rendered a broken-down monster of sorts not because of injuries in the line of duty, but rather by the personal follies that have undone so many of Hall's peers.

Too often do we, as sports fans, forget about the immense pressure that our favorite stars put on themselves to perform for our entertainment. Some we build up as heroes, others we tear down as villains and more still do we subject to both sides of this destructive roller coaster.

That's not to say that stars like Hall aren't at fault for their own shortcomings and misconduct. Rather, it's important to understand that there are real life consequences behind all the smoke and mirrors that we see on TV every day.

There is a human toll to creating superhuman entertainment.

The confluence of fame and fortune is not a simple one to dissect, though one can only hope that Hall's story will resonate with those who seek it so ceaselessly, and remind people everywhere that there is much more to life than being rich and famous.