Author: The Fight Between Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash
Professional wrestling keeps many wrestlers on the road for more than 300 days a year. For many in the business, sharing this time on the road with others creates camaraderie and a bond akin to being in a family.
One example of this is the renowned friendship of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, two Kliq "brothers" that would have each other’s back no matter what.
Signing Scott Hall
Scott Hall was battling his demons at the time, and Impact Wrestling (then TNA) knew this, but it was a risk they were willing to take.
The signing of Scott Hall had its high and low moments, and in November 2007, Scott Hall’s return drew the highest-watched segment since TNA switched to a 2-hour format.
Not only that, but it was also the highest-rated segment ever in the ‘men aged 18-49’ bracket at the time. Merely a month after this milestone, Scott Hall no-showed the Turning Point pay-per-view, leaving TNA in an awkward position.
No-Show Damage Control
Samoa Joe, who was feuding with Nash and Hall at the time, was told to go out there and address Hall’s no-show. If you’ve seen Joe work the mic before, you know he can do a great job of it, and that was no different a decade ago.
Samoa Joe laid into Scott Hall for his non-appearance, doing all of it while Kevin Nash stood opposite to him in the ring.
Samoa Joe Lays Into Scott Hall
Here is Samoa Joe’s promo in full:
"You know what? I’ll tell you what. Backstage, I was told to come out here, and they said, ‘Joe, the fans love ya, and if there’s one thing they trust, it’s you… And we want you to go out there, and we want you to tell these people something that’ll make them satisfied with the fact that Scott Hall no-showed this event tonight.’
“You know, I would love, I would LOVE to tell you, people, that he’d be coming down that ramp a little bit later on, but the fact of the matter is he punked out on me, and he punked out on every single fan in this building tonight.
“And then it got me thinking. I was back there, and I said, ‘Well, you know what? I could walk out there. I could go two on three with Kevin and make the best of it. But you know what else? I realized another thing: they just gave me a live mic on pay-per-view."
Joe Keeps Ripping
Samoa Joe keeps the promo going with a visibly frustrated Kevin Nash looking on.
"So, if you all don’t mind, I’d love to get a few things off my chest.
“Number one, in TNA, we have two types of wrestlers. We have TNA die-hards who come here and entertain and bust their [butts] for these fans every night of the week! And we got superstars who think they can come and do whatever they want, however they feel like.
“We have superstars who come out here and not only screw us, the hard-working wrestlers of TNA, but they screw each and every fan who paid to see them, no matter how old they are.”
Joe Speaks From the Heart
“So let me make this real simple, let me explain to you what TNA is — TNA is The Motor City Machine Guns coming out here and busting their [butts] and trying to make a break in this business.
“TNA is Black Machismo doing his [darndest] to entertain every single fan in this building.
“TNA is Samoa Joe coming in here and doing what he does best, wrestling and being the best [dang] professional wrestler in the world.
TNA is a bunch of hard-working young athletes who are looking to change the wrestling world, guys who held down this while others profiteer from it.
“TNA is the men who come in here, risk their lives on scaffoldings on wires while others show up and pass their pensions.
“So I’ll tell you what, Scott Hall. Chico, kiss my [butt]. You punked out, and you’re a punk.
“Are you mad? No, go ahead, fire me, I don’t care."
Kevin Nash Becomes Frustrated
Samoa Joe then announced his tag team partner for the night, Eric Young, further annoying Kevin Nash by expressing that even when Eric is an old man, he will still be ready to fight, unlike Kevin’s best friend, Scott Hall.
Kevin wasn’t only hot over the disrespect his friend Scott Hall was being shown up by Samoa Joe on live television, but the disrespect was also being shown to himself.
Nash Smacks Joe Backstage
When the segment finished and the boys went to the backstage area, an already livid Kevin Nash grew increasingly frustrated after learning that the promo wasn’t scripted.
Nash responded by smacking Joe in the face. When Samoa Joe went to stand up, Kevin retaliated by smacking him again. Joe then backed off.
Samoa Joe Tells His Side of the Story
In an interview hosted by Dan The Cannon of AllWrestling.com, Samoa Joe spoke of what happened that night.
"There was an incident where Scott Hall no-showed. They handed me the mic and said, "Get him!’ That’s what I was told. I went out there and got him.
“I ruffled a lot of feathers that day, in particular, Kevin Nash. Kevin knew about the demons Scott was facing. But none of us knew the extent of Hall’s issues."
Did Kevin Nash Have a Hissy Fit?
In a YouShoot interview, Kevin Nash responded to a fan that claimed he had a hissy fit that night.
"Was it a hissy fit? Smacking someone in the face twice? I smacked him in the face twice. I said, ‘Was what you said out there, was it yours or was it Russo’s?’ He said, ‘It was mine.’ So I smacked him in the face.
"I said, ‘Don’t disrespect me, don’t disrespect Scott.’ [Joe] got up; I thought he was gonna come at me, so I smacked him in the head again, and he didn’t do anything."
Kevin Nash continued. "The next day [Samoa Joe] apologized in front of the whole crew. That’s a hissy fit on my behalf? I mean, Joe and I are friends, but you’re not gonna be a ***** to me."
Joe Explains the Situation
Samoa Joe understood why Kevin acted out the way he did and had no problem with it.
"[Scott Hall] showed up here and there, and we didn’t know how serious the issue was. And you know, Kevin, as much as I feel about guys like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Homicide, Punk…
"Scott Hall is Kevin’s brother, and he’ll love that guy ’til the day he dies. He’s made several, several attempts to save Scott’s life. You know, to have a brother like that, kind of just torn apart like that, it was really hard for him and knowing Kevin.
"I have a really great relationship with Kevin now and knowing how honest and how true and how much he believes in and loves his friends, you know, I couldn’t help but apologize because I understand the pain and the anguish and all the heartache that he was going through in trying to saves Scott’s life."
Joe Knows the Depth of the Relationship Between Nash and Hall
Samoa Joe also expressed his understanding of friendship.
"You know, wrestling is wrestling, and then there’s real life, and I’d like to think that I have an appreciation for the problems and the issues that people go through in real life, and I offered my apology to Kevin based on that because Kevin’s an honorable guy.
"He’s a good guy doing everything in his power to save his best friend’s life. He’s going to do what he needs to do to help Scott and to have to sit out there and just hear those words. It’s just- it was everything that he didn’t want to hear.
"I can understand why when he’s in this battle, and I mean a battle, a literal battle to save your friend’s life."
The Aftermath
Scott’s health continued to decline after being released from TNA in 2010. Soon after, he was checked into rehab, thanks to WWE. Later that same year, Hall had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted in his chest.
Also, dealing with double pneumonia twice in 2010, it wasn’t any easier in 2011. Hall would suffer seizures.
DDP offered a helping hand, almost a final chance at life, with the help of DDP Yoga. Jake’ The Snake’ Roberts was on the mend from addiction problems himself, and DDP wanted to help them get through it together.
In The Resurrection of Jake the Snake documentary, DDP and Jake can be seen picking up Scott Hall from the airport. Hall was in a wheelchair, in desperate need of help.
Scott Hall’s Declining Health and Death
A year later, after being picked up in a bad state of health, he was a WWE Hall of Famer. Hall got in good shape, and got his mobility back before sadly passing away at 63 on March 14th, 2022.
After falling and breaking a hip in early March 2022, Hall had hip replacement surgery but suffered complications due to a blood clot.
Hall, also lovingly known as "The Bad Guy" Razor Ramon, suffered three heart attacks in the aftermath.
In a heartfelt message on Instagram, fellow wrestler and close friend Kevin Nash conveyed that Hall’s family intended to take the legend off life support once his loved ones were able to say goodbye one final time.
And as for Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash, they now consider each other to be friends.
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