As the son of the legendary Larry “The Axe” Hennig, Curt developed into one of the greatest young superstars in the AWA. Debuting in 1985, he won the AWA World Tag Team Championship with Scott Hall on January 18, 1986; then defeated Nick Bockwinkle for the AWA Heavyweight Championship on May 2, 1987. He lost the title to Jerry Lawler in May 1988, but the best was yet to come for Curt Hennig.

Following his success in the AWA, Hennig came to attention of Vince McMahon and the WWE. They billed Hennig as the perfect athlete, which was demonstrated with a series of vignettes that saw him bowl a perfect game, hit several home runs; sink a forty foot putt, and many others. He made his in-ring debut as Mr. Perfect at the 1988 Survivor Series as part of Andre the Giant’s team, as they took on a team headed by “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. For the remainder of 1988 and early 1989, Hennig would feud with such 80’s stars like: Koko B. Ware, The Red Rooster, The Blue Blazer (Owen Hart), and Brutus Beefcake. He won the Intercontinental Championship on April 23, 1990 when he defeated Tito Santana. At one point, Hennig was said to be undefeated in 150 matches, but that streak came to an end when he lost to Hulk Hogan on April 28, 1990. Hennig would lose the IC Title to Kerry Von Erich (The Texas Tornado) at SummerSlam, but regained the title a few months later. He would hold on to the title up until SummerSlam 1991 where he lost it in an epic encounter with Bret “Hitman” Hart. Following his match with Hart, a serious back injury kept Henning out of the ring for an extended period of time, but would work as a colour commentator and then became Ric Flair’s executive consultant, aiding The Nature Boy in key matches with the likes of Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior. He turned face in 1993 when he teamed with Savage to face Flair and Razor Ramon at Survivor Series. Hennig and Flair would continue their program up until January 25, 1993 when Hennig defeated Flair in a Loser Leaves Town match. He would face Lex Luger at WrestleMania XI, and then feud with Shawn Michaels over the IC Title. Following his loss to Michaels, Hennig re-aggravated his back injury and took another leave of absence from the WWE.

He would return in 1996 as a mentor to Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H), who was one of the WWE’s rising stars at the time. They worked an angle where Hennig and Helmsley had a falling out, which saw Hennig cost Hunter matches and side with his nemesis, Marc Mero. When Hennig was set to face his protégé, Hunter attacked him and injured his knee. Mero, looking to avenge Hennig, faced Hunter in a match for the IC Title. When it looked as though things were going well for Mero, when the perfect swerve happened. Hennig turned on Mero and once again sided with Helmsley. The two were set to have another encounter, but a contract dispute forced Hennig to leave for WCW.

Shortly after his arrival in WCW, Hennig replaced Arn Anderson in the legendary Four Horsemen, but he turned on the Horsemen and joined the nWo on September 14, 1997. He would feud with Steve McMichael and Ric Flair for most of 1997, while also having matches with Diamond Dallas Page, Bill Goldberg and Dean Malenko. He would later team with Bobby Duncum Jr. and Barry and Kendall Windham to form the West Texas Rednecks to feud with Master P and his No Limit Soldiers.

When Hennig’s WCW contract expired in 2000, he worked the independent scene for a few years, with stops in the XWF, IWP, 3PW and others. He would return to the WWE in 2002 as a participant in the Royal Rumble match. He made it to the final four, until he was eliminated by Triple H. This stint wouldn’t last, however, as Hennig would be released following a drunken altercation with Brock Lesnar on a flight back from Europe. He would later work for TNA Wrestling, and feuded with the likes of Ron Killings and Jeff Jarrett.

Following his stint in TNA, Hennig went to work on the independent circuit again with a stop in Tampa as part of an event promoted by Jimmy Hart. On February 10, 2003, the wrestling world was stunned when Curt Hennig was found dead in his Florida hotel room. He was only 44 years old. A toxicology report found Hennig died due to acute cocaine intoxication, but his father stated that painkillers and steroids may have also contributed to his son’s death.

But the legacy of Mr. Perfect would live on. In 2007, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his friend, Wade Boggs. His family accepted the award on his behalf. His son Joe is currently training with Harley Race, in hopes of following in his dad’s footsteps. The WWE also announced they will be releasing a DVD chronicling the life and career of Mr. Perfect, which is scheduled to be released later this year.

Curt Hennig was the most gifted athlete in the history of professional wrestling, and seemed perfect in every way. But in a world where painkillers and steroids run rampant, nobody can overcome the temptation, not even Mr. Perfect. But despite that, he remains one of the best performers in wrestling history. As his wife Leonice stated in her husband’s induction speech: “Curt was exactly what he said he was…absolutely perfect.”

Sources: obsessedwithwrestling.com, Tributes II (Meltzer), WWE.com, USAToday.com (2004),
Wrestling Digest (August 2002)

Scott Hall made his wrestling debut in 1984 as part of a tag team with Dan Spivey called, American Starship. He was later signed by Verne Gagne, who wanted to make him the AWA’s next big star after Hulk Hogan’s departure from the company. He was paired with Curt Hennig, where they won the AWA World Tag Team Championship on January 18, 1986. When his teaming with Hennig ended, Hall was pushed for main events, but ended up leaving the promotion in 1989. He returned to WCW in 1991 where he was pushed as Diamond Studd, a gimmick similar to “Ravishing” Rick Rude. After floundering as Diamond Studd, he was to be a part of Paul E. Dangerously’s Dangerous Alliance. However, that idea fell through and Hall headed to the WWE.

The WWE is where Hall made most of his success. Being dubbed Razor Ramon, he debuted on August 10, 1992 by defeating Virgil. Ramon continued to gain momentum following his debut. He faced Bret “Hitman” Hart for the WWE Title at the 1993 Royal Rumble, then qualified for the King of the Ring Tournament, but lost in the second round to Hart. Ramon turned face later that year and won the Intercontinental Championship on September 27, 1993 by defeating Rick Martel. He would hold the title three more times, while feuding with the likes: Diesel, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, and Goldust. In 1996, he became part of The Kliq, which was a group that consisted of: Kevin Nash (Diesel), Shawn Michaels, Paul Levesque (Triple H), and Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid). After losing the IC Title to Goldust at the 1996 Royal Rumble, he was scheduled to have a rematch at WrestleMania XI, but was suspended due to a drug violation. When he returned, he was set to return to WCW; but had to finish his dealings with the WWE. His last match came at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1996 where he lost to Hunter. When the event ended, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Triple H and Ramon broke character and embraced in the centre of the ring, which is a no-no in the wrestling business. This became known as the “Curtain Call” or the “MSG Incident”. This was back when the Monday Night Wars were heating up, and things would only get hotter from there.

On May 27, 1996, Hall made his Nitro debut claiming that a war was coming for WCW. At Bash at the Beach, Hall along with Kevin Nash and a mystery partner were to face Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage. Their mystery partner turned out to be Hulk Hogan and the trio would form the New World Order (nWo). Calling themselves The Outsiders, Hall and Nash won the WCW Tag Team Championship on several occasions. When the nWo split into two factions, Hall turned on Nash and cost them the tag team titles to The Giant, who joined Hall in nWo Hollywood, and Sting. After a seesaw battle for the tag titles, Hall and The Giant defeated Sting and Nash and brought the titles back to nWo Hollywood.

Hall’s behaviour began to change for the worse. They did an angle where he brought what was believed to be alcohol to the ring, and would stagger around in a drunken manner. This mirrored Hall’s own personal problems with alcohol, and many saw this as distasteful. Hall would sporadically appear on WCW TV, but injuries or personal problems kept him out of action for unforeseeable lengths of time. In early 2000, the nWo would return and consisted of: Hall, Nash, Bret Hart, Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett. Hall made his final WCW appearance at SuperBrawl on February 20, 2000, where he lost a triple threat match involving Sid and Jarrett for the WCW Title. What happened next, no one could predict.

When the WWE defeated the Alliance, which consisted of stars from ECW and WCW, Ric Flair and Vince McMahon became co-owners of the company. Losing full control of the WWE made Vince want to kill his creation with a “lethal dose of poison”; that poison being the nWo. Hall, along with Nash and Hogan returned at No Way Out 2002 when they interfered in the WWE Championship match between Chris Jericho and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Hall faced Austin at WrestleMania X-8, then feuded with Bradshaw, and briefly feuded with Austin again before being released due to a drunken altercation on a plane ride back from the United Kingdom.

Following his release from the WWE, Hall went to work for TNA Wrestling, where he later teamed with Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett, calling themselves The Kings of Wrestling. When the group disbanded, Hall quietly left TNA. After being absent for nearly three years, Hall made a surprise appearance on an episode of iMPACT! where he was rumoured to be Sting’s mystery partner for Genesis. Hall continued to make more appearances for TNA and was scheduled to team with Nash and Samoa Joe to face the Angle Alliance at Turning Point, but no-showed the event. Many feared the worst until someone received a text message from Hall saying he was suffering from food poisoning. This led to Samoa Joe cutting a shoot promo that basically ran down Hall, which didn’t sit too well with Nash. This caused a heated confrontation between the two that almost got out of hand, but Joe eventually apologized for his comments. Since then, there have been numerous reports and theories as to why Hall no-showed Turning Point. Some say it was food poisoning, while recent reports state Hall may have been suffering from depression. Whatever the case may be, it seems that any hopes of a last run in wrestling are slim to none, at least with TNA anyway.

Scott Hall remains of wrestling’s sad, yet remarkable stories of survival and redemption. But despite his success and numerous championships, he has become more famous for his life outside the ring. From drug and alcohol abuse to run-ins with the law, many are still amazed how he has persevered through it all. Hopefully he can overcome his demons and continue to live a happy life.

Sources: The Death of WCW (Reynolds and Alvarez), Wrestling Digest: August 2002, WNW: December 2007