All language subtitles for Dark.Side.Of.The.Ring.S03E02.WEBRip.x264-BAE

previously on Dark Side of the Ring.

Sure, you can watch the Hollywood
Blondes, and we could have been a great

team that had been left together.

But if you can watch Flyer Bryan in his
total element, being the loose cannon,

you're seeing one of the true, really,
really bright minds in the business of

professional wrestling.

What are you doing?

Easy! He was on track to becoming the
biggest star in wrestling by convincing

people that he was the only one that
wouldn't do what he was told.

Have been fired by Eric Bischoff!

Brian and I talked about it. I can't
give you what you want.

Raise the value in your stock so that
when you come back, it'll give me the

ability to pay you more because you've
raised your own value.

Brian Pillman masterminded a cutting
-edge character the wrestling world had

never seen.

Playing the system at its own game, he
single -handedly turned the industry on

its head.

in order to manipulate his way to the
top.

If he played one side against the other
in the middle of the burgeoning

wrestling war, then he would come out
much better, six figures per year

But did he want it for himself? He
didn't care about himself.

He cared about those little kids.

Lost inside his manic performance art,
Bryan's real life spirals out of

He was dependent on to provide for
several different mothers and families,

think that does weigh on a man.

A tragic turn of events would not only
alter the course of Brian's career

indefinitely, but also the lives of
those closest to him. I really believe

it was not for the Humvee wreck that
everything would have turned out

differently.

Melanie called me.

And she called to tell me that Brian had
an accident and it was bad.

And he was airlifted to University
Hospital and was in the

emergency room.

So, again, I was the lucky one to go to
the hospital.

And I thought, oh, Jesus, here we go
again.

When I got to the hospital, I walked
right by the room.

And then Linda's like, that's his road,
Melanie. I'm like, that's not my

husband.

He's like, I know. It doesn't look like
him, does it?

And his hair was red with all the blood.

And they hit him in the neck brace.

I mean, his head was swelled up like a
beach ball.

And I thought, oh, my God.

It was really bad. His eyes were red.
Like, I didn't see any color than red.

Like, blood. His eyes were just, ugh.

He had six different doctors for his
face.

There's one that just does the forehead,
the lower mandible, the upper mandible,

the nose, the eye sockets.

Everything in his face was shattered.

They had to put plates in his face, and
they peeled his scalp back to make the

incision and peeled his face down to put
the plates in.

Word travels quickly that Brian has been
in a terrible car accident.

And there's talk of him losing a foot.

His ankle was shattered.

In fact, the nurse told me that it was
just like hanging off the table. She had

to pick it up to put it back on the
table.

And then the doctor said, you know, that
they would have to just fuse it into a

walking position that he wouldn't
probably be able to run or even wrestle

I show up, and he goes, I said, don't
talk, Brian. It's all right.

Hey, I'm with you. I'm with you.

And he's got a titanium mask, and he's
got things holding his legs together.

And once he kind of gained
consciousness, what was his reaction to

I remember him crying in the hospital,
just saying, I really messed up. I

messed up.

Because he thought, you know, his career
was over.

And I said, just be grateful you were by
yourself. There was no kids in the car.

It'll be fine.

But he was crying, saying, I really
messed up.

So to the best of your knowledge, what
took place with the accident? What

happened? What happened to Brian? Oh, he
fell asleep at the wheel. He had been

up and he went and picked up some.

of his medication and i guess it hit him
too soon before he got back to the

house and yeah he just um drove into a
uh into a tree trunk off the side and it

threw the humvee totaled the humvee was
there also maybe like was there

substance issues no just a muscle
relaxer

maybe a few pain pills

Well, we are turning the microphone over
to you, sir. We don't need any police

reports or doctor reports. Can you tell
us, in your own words, what happened?

70 miles per hour, and I instantly
became evil Kniez.

Shot up in the air, then proceeded to
come straight down, nose first, and

luckily for me, I didn't have a seat
belt on because it shot me straight out,

and I pierced the convertible top of
that vehicle with my head like a bullet.

was shot out.

50 feet away from the vehicle would end
up doing two end -over -end flips.

Oh, my Lord.

When he came home from the hospital, I
do remember him being in the living

and I had a gift, and I wanted to give
it to him, and I was just terrified

because I'm like, that's not my dad.

I don't know who that is. You know, as a
child and seeing my father like that, I

think it just kind of freaked me out a
little bit.

I do have some small memories there of
just seeing those bolts and how they're

just screwed into his leg. And I'm
thinking, what's going on here, you

it's like, they look like they're
greased up, but it's like, not greased,

it's like blood and like just, it's all
hardened. And it's just, oh, it was just

a wild sight to see, you know, just some
rusty bolts sticking out of your dad's

leg.

Yeah, I just, I really remember him just
being like so exhausted.

And run down.

I was just too young to really
understand, like, what was really going

him and, like, how ragged his life had
become.

The loose cannon thing had gone so far
at this point that a lot of the guys

convinced there was no wreck and it was
Brian working again. And they're just

trying to figure out what the angle is.
How does he expect to get more money out

of this or more attention out of this?
Or, you know, was it really a wreck? Or

maybe he just ran his car off the road
and wrecked it to get, you know,

publicity.

He had created so much not only mystery
but confusion about himself that even

the guys that were his friends weren't
exactly sure how to take him.

Perhaps he would have done that for
attention.

And then Kim, who would not work me, Kim
is just like, no, no, no, it's real.

And I told people, it's real. And then,
you know, I think most people didn't

believe me either.

He was, you know, there's the Andy
Kaufman thing in him.

Faking an auto accident, perhaps he
would have done that for attention.

There was even at one point a rumor that
some of the wrestlers put out that he

was having plastic surgery to look just
like Shawn Michaels so he could go into

the World Wrestling Federation and be
the evil Shawn Michaels and fight him

the title.

Guys believed that because they thought
Brian was nuts.

While the wrestling rumor mill is
speculating the authenticity of the

media outlets also questioned Brian's
intentions.

Brian, now you're not having plastic
surgery and, you know, going to go into

WWF as Shawn Michaels' twin or
something. I don't know what goes on in

online. Think about that statement. It's
preposterous, but just... Right now, I

am the owner of four...

steel, titanium plates bolted to my face
to hold everything together. I look

like Brian Devin Pillman with a swollen
face and black eyes.

I can look back, and Brian was pretty
honest with me most of the time, but the

one where I know that he wasn't was
right after the accident. And Brian, you

know, said like, oh yeah, the doctors
told me, you know, it's like, it's going

to take a while, but I will be 100%. The
doctors have told me, and I know that

the doctors told him the exact opposite.

The wreck happened during the
negotiations.

He kept it pretty quiet how badly he was
hurt.

And if the real story of that wreck had
come out at that point, I don't think he

would have got a contract from either
company. He could never again do

physically what he had been able to do
before.

And he didn't want anybody to know that.

The object was to play Vince for money.

And he did. Only he was...

Near dead when he did.

Vince signed him. And he signed him for
more money.

Vince McMahon offers Brian a guaranteed
three -year contract.

And although Eric Bischoff offers him
more money, his deal is subject to be

renegotiated every three months.

Brian knew at that point, because of the
extent of the injury, that if he had an

out clause in a contract, that at some
point fairly early, it was going to get

exercised.

The events that have taken place in my
life just in the past eight weeks have

really changed the future of my life.
And

from going from a point not knowing if I
was going to live or not to standing

here, signing a contract with the World
Wrestling Federation, it's a dream come

true.

What changed about Grime coming into our
company at that time?

Well, he's not going to be able to
wrestle to any degree or even comparably

what he was.

Although Brian is still in
rehabilitation for his injuries, he

the WWF in 1996 with the loose cannon
persona already in full force.

There's Brian Tillman. What's he doing?
Brian Tillman, recently signing with the

World Wrestling Federation.

I just remember him coming in and I was
like, OK, let's see what he can do here

in the land of, you know, WWF.

They'll let you go out there and push
the envelope.

But, you know, how strong is he? Can he
do it?

And I would have if I was going to bet
on Brian, I'm like, oh, yeah, if he

just get healed up, he's going to go
right to the top.

I'm going to rape, pillage and plunder
this entire federation.

When Brian came home, he still had an
IV.

And he unhooked himself from the IV, go
do the show, and then come back and hook

himself back up again.

He had to do that because of work.

So then it wasn't fun for him anymore.

You know, I don't think he enjoyed it
anymore.

You know, that was what I consider the
beginning of the end.

As Brian Pillman continues to struggle
with his crippling injuries, an upcoming

surgery keeps him out of any in -ring
action.

To disguise this from fans, the WWF
devises a shocking storyline involving

his old tag team partner.

I needed to do something to get some
heat. We were in Cincinnati in his

hometown, so...

It's always great to attack somebody in
their hometown, especially him being in

a compromised position.

Steve and Brian were still friends, and
they still wanted to see each other

succeed. Steve was still on his way up,
so we decided to put them together

because we thought that they would enjoy
it, and at the same time, the people

would enjoy it as well.

I laid into him and started kicking the
hell out of him.

I broke that cane on his ankle. That
brass duck had flew into the crowd.

I stomped a mud hole in his ass and
walked it dry. That was a stiff beating

gave him because it had to be. My
character was a vicious, cold -blooded

was ruthless and remorseless.

So had I not given him the beating that
I gave him, who would have cared?

They cared about Brian because I hurt
his ass.

He may have re -broken.

He gets Brian Pillman down and he puts a
metal folding chair around the bad

ankle and then stomps the seat of the
chair.

And Brian screams, oh my God, he's re
-injured the ankle.

There's a way you can do that. I won't
give away any secrets.

But that was an excuse for Brian to have
continued problems with the ankle

publicly on television. It became in the
industry known as Pillmanizing.

A body part. Brian took that ass
whooping like a damn man. He knew what I

do, and he sold it like a million bucks.

In the midst of a TV ratings war with
WCW, Vince strives to produce

edgier content to further capitalize on
the feud between Pillman and Austin.

Somehow they decided, and I was not
consulted on this, but they decided that

it would be a wonderful thing.

If they did a remote from Brian
Pillman's house in Cincinnati... We are

Austin is outside of Brian Pillman's
home!

Steve Austin came to find him and staged
a home invasion on Monday Night Raw.

Austin trying to get into the house of
Brian Pillman.

Were you excited to do something that
felt so real and gritty at that time? I

always wanted to do something that felt
real and gritty, especially something

that's going to have the, you know,
the...

The volume turned up, the testosterone,
the adrenaline turned up. I mean, hell,

man, if you're just casually, if you're
not a wrestling fan and you're kind of

just flipping channels and all of a
sudden you watch the 10 seconds of this

thing, you're not going to change a
channel.

Steve is a dead man walking because when
Austin 316 meets Pillman. Oh, my

God. Oh,

my God.

All of a sudden, man, I start bashing in
that window with that woman of baseball

bat. What the hell is that?

And there's Melanie and they're just
shrieking.

I remember Vince was like, all right,
we're going to have a phone call and y

'all just wing it from there.

Nothing like that had ever been done
before in wrestling. It was kind of

groundbreaking, whether it was in a good
way or a bad way.

People weren't ready for it. They
weren't ready for it.

The reaction was pretty negative to it.
I mean, it was pretty darn negative.

I didn't like it. I didn't like the idea
of, like, you know, using a gun. And it

seemed going really extreme, but that's
the direction wrestling went.

Oh, my God, he's back!

That's Brian.

You know, I don't know whose idea it
was.

And how much input he had on the idea,
he never really told me that. But he was

absolutely really into it. And they had
to apologize for it the next week

because the gun thing, you know, Vince
had to actually go on television and

apologize for that angle because it got
so much negativity.

And on behalf of the World Wrestling
Federation, for those of you who were

offended, those viewers, we humbly
apologize for the incident that took

last Monday night on Raw.

And I think that's the only angle Vince
ever apologized for.

The donut's here at ringside.

While still recovering from the car
wreck, Pillman is temporarily sidelined

broadcast announcer.

Yeah, I'm going to cut through all your
implicit rhetoric and cut right to the

chase. Tell them like it is. And hey, if
the censors don't like it, you're going

to get fired. Not me. I'm Brian Pillman.
I'll just go somewhere else and feed

people up.

He looked at being an announcer as a
condemn.

It was less than. It's not being a man.

When I said, Look, you can make a great
living.

You can take care of your health.

He didn't want to hear it.

The only thing he wanted to hear was me
to encourage him that you could come

back and be what you were for really,
really close to it.

And I never told him because I've been
lying.

You know, the competitor in him wanted
just to get back in the ring and work.

was working matches, but he was in a lot
of pain.

The former Cincinnati Bengals had two
major surgeries on his leg. Even though

was able to sometimes have decent
matches, just because he was smart

know how, and he would fall on his face,
do things that were dangerous in a

different way, but not hurt the body
parts that were hurt. It was really sad

watch. He wasn't the same at all.

Brian needed to stay medicated more
often than he should because of the pain

was in.

Because he was doing things.

that he shouldn't have been doing.

He made it through because he'd say, oh,
I'm okay. I'm good. I'm fine.

He wasn't fine.

Consistently performing well beyond what
his body can handle, Brian's dependency

on painkillers and the pressure to
provide for his family is pushing him to

point of no return.

While rushing through recovery, Brian
Pillman hampers any progress on his

injuries by choosing to still perform in
the ring, which results in his pain

becoming all -consuming.

The only thing Brian ever told me was
that if he had an ache or pain, he took

pill. He said if it didn't go away, he
took another one.

And he took a pill until it went away.

He was sick, physically sick.

with infection in his ankle because he
was going to shows and not recouping it

properly.

I would talk to guys in WWF, and they
would tell me how he couldn't get

the airport.

You know what I mean? He couldn't walk
through the airport, and he's out there

taking bumps in a wrestling ring. It's
like he cannot walk through the airport.

I'd see him kind of walk around with his
suitcase, and he wasn't moving so well.

But Brian is one of those guys that,
like a man's man, you just figure,

it is, Brian's got it. He's Brian
Feldman.

You know, I could have seen the writing
on the wall, but because of the regard

that I held him in, I thought it was
going to be just fine.

When you have wrestlers that are missing
shows or obviously unable to perform

when they get there, then you know
you've got problems. It wasn't that

with Brian.

How were you able to tell where the
loose cannon ended and the real person

began?

How was your guys' relationship?

We had some problems. We were having
problems because he kept wrecking rental

cars. He was definitely, like, nodding
out at the wheel.

He was definitely having issues.

He acted as though he wasn't going to be
around much longer. He used to say

things like... If anything happens to
me, make sure you move back to Atlanta

don't stay up here if you're not
comfortable here. And make sure you find

somebody so the kids have a father. I'm
like, why would you even say something

like that?

And then the next day he wrecked a
rental car.

I had become a bit estranged from him
because he was tough.

And one time he came to my house and he
had a big welt. You could see the hole.

It was like, you know, the syringe. It
was a horse needle syringe that went in

there. And it was growth hormone or
something.

But he was up.

He was like, he kept repeating himself.
And I said, this is it, Brian.

I'll give you to 10 and get out of my
house. My kids are upstairs sleeping.

Don't ever come here in this state.

Oh, yeah, but I got to do that.

I said,

no, I can't. I'm sorry. Your friend
would get away from me right now.

And he did.

Some of his friends had come to me when
I was in charge of town relations and

say that this was becoming a bigger
issue and I needed to intervene.

And it was going to be tough because he
was not going to appreciate that

intervention.

I called the agent, lead agent. I said,
you know, I'm going to have a drug

tester there tonight to test Philman.

And I said, make sure it gets done.

He felt like I had betrayed him. That's
what he told me.

I can't believe you of all people would
betray me.

And that you always had my back.

You were always there for me.

And now this.

I said, Brian, I'm trying to save your
life.

That's all I'm trying to do.

And Brian just called me up, I hate Jim
Ross, why is he singling me out? Do you

know how many guys in this company are
doing drugs?

And he goes, they're not going to find
anything on me, nothing but my

prescription pain pills.

They're not going to find any illegal
drugs in me.

And in fact, you know, the only thing
that they found in him was prescription

pain drugs and steroids, which, you
know, in an extent, you know, I don't

that that really counts for what they
were looking for.

I had to lead Brian out of the path that
he was on.

to no avail. I failed.

I needed to convince him that he's so
talented that he was going to be a star

in other areas of pro wrestling.

I failed.

In October of 1997, at the Kiel Center
in St. Louis, Missouri, Bryan is

scheduled to compete at WWF's pay -per
-view event, Bad Blood.

In those days, the call time for talent
at the pay -per -views was 1 o 'clock.

And sometimes guys would be late,
oversleep, miss their flight, traffic,

whatever. But by 5 o 'clock, everybody
was accounted for except for Brian.

And that was egregiously late to be for
a pay -per -view. So Bruce Pritchard

asked me, I'm in talent relations.

He said, call, try to find where he
might be. Call the hotel where he stayed

last night in Minneapolis, see what time
he checked out.

I get on the phone, and boom, the guy
answers.

I said, I'm with the World Wrestling
Federation. We're looking for one of our

wrestlers. He stayed there last night,
Brian Pillman. Can you tell me what time

he checked out?

And the guy said, hold on a second. And
he put me on hold.

Okay, is he checking his records?

And he answered, he said, sir? I said,
yeah. He said, Mr. Pillman's dead.

And the first flash that I had, what is
Brian doing now?

I said, is this a rib?

And the guy said, no, the police are
here now.

I said, okay.

So I told one of the production
assistants, I said, go get Bruce.

And he said, oh, Bruce is busy. He's
doing that. I said, Brian is dead. Go

Bruce.

And Bruce came in and got on the phone,
and I just kind of walked off because I

did not want to hear that news right
now. 23 years later, I didn't want to

that news.

On October 5th, 1997,

Brian Pillman was found dead in his
hotel room in Bloomington, Minnesota.

He was 35 years old.

It's hard for me to still think about it
today and think of that heart of that

athlete, that performer, stopping.

Just doesn't seem believable.

It almost didn't register with me
because I'm like, eh, Brian ain't dead.

Because he couldn't die. If you knew
Brian, this force field of energy that

was, I thought could never be stopped.

I honestly thought that.

State police showed up on the door and
said that he had to tell me that my

husband was found deceased.

As a kid already in the show business
world, I was thinking, like, is this

Like, is he really dead? Like, no, he's
surely coming back. Like, I didn't even

know what to think. I didn't even cry
when my dad died.

And I just remember, like, my family,
we're all sitting on the bed, like,

hugging each other and crying. And
everybody's crying. And I'm looking

I'm like, where's the camera crew?

It's got to be around here somewhere,
you know. I was like, all right, I'll

the spot here. You know, we'll all just
hug and pretend we're sad. But then,

like, reality set in. I'm like, oh,
shit, he's really not coming home. Like,

holy crap.

As a kid, that's just kind of what I
thought. I figured, you know what, he

to work that day, and he decided to stay
there.

The next night on Monday Night Raw, the
news of Brian's death is broadcast live.

Yesterday afternoon, Brian Pillman...

was found dead in a hotel room in
Bloomington, Minnesota.

I remember when we told the bell ten
times. That was when I got emotional. I

remember very emotional, and that's when
I was like, he's gone.

He's gone.

And then I remember talking to, I think,
Jim Roth. I said, hand the phone to

Owen. And then Owen says, I don't know.
I don't know what happened.

Then Vince got on the phone and he said,
do you want to talk on camera?

And then I just thought, well, you know
what?

With Brian, the show must go on.

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, in
suburban Cincinnati, the wife of Brian

Pillman, Melanie Pillman. Melanie, thank
you so much for joining us tonight. I

did say to Vince, please don't ask me
about drugs or anything like that

I do not exactly know why he died yet.

Brian, because of his injuries.

I've had to take a great deal of
prescribed medicine.

And that first thing he does is start
talking about pain pills. And then I'm

like, that's good. It's all right. I
made like a really funny face. And I

remember that the only clear part of
that interview, I can remember thinking,

which is Moe was standing here so I
could smack him.

Because he swore, he swore he wouldn't
say anything like leading down that

direction until the death certificate
came out.

I think all athletes to a degree.

experienced a reliance on pain medicine.

And, you know, I knew it was just a
matter of time before it happened to

someone. And fortunately, it was my
husband.

And I just want everyone to know that I
hate to wake up calls of some of

you because it could be your husband
next or it could be you. And, you know,

don't want to leave behind a bunch of
orphans.

Like my husband did.

I absolutely despised the grieving widow
interview.

I didn't like it on a wrestling program.

I was uncomfortable with it. I didn't
know why she had to go out there and

to answer these questions that were
obviously meant to elicit tears and et

cetera for television, say for good
television.

I thought he should have sent her a
check for $100 ,000 and kept her ass off

is what I thought.

Have you had any opportunity to think
about what you now as a single parent

do to support your five children?

Vince, I don't even really know what day
it is, you know.

So I don't know what I'm going to do.

Yeah, and everybody's like, oh, that was
so horrible what you did to her. I

barely remember it.

I didn't really, I didn't really.

Think about not doing it. But nobody
pressured me into it.

I hated it.

I didn't want to relive and relive and
regurgitate and regurgitate this matter

to pop a rating.

And to me, that's what it's all about.

And what was the official cause of
death?

Heart disease.

And see, my father died of a massive
heart attack at 55.

What were your memories of his funeral?

We got there early before people came in
because it was supposed to be family

and friends.

And when we walked in there was a camera
crew there.

And I walked up to him and I said, who
are you?

And I said, you're not supposed to be
here.

They said, well, Melanie said we can't.
And I said, well, I'm Brian's sister,

and I'm telling you, no, you can't.

And they left.

Did many wrestlers show up?

No.

Just Vince and Jim Ross were there.

They had an open casket, and I knew then
it was going to be really tough.

There's the last time I saw him.

That's the last time I would see Brian,
lying in a casket.

And that was just gut -wrenching.

Absolutely gut -wrenching.

I just stared.

And I had memories floating back when I
was looking at the courts. I'm thinking,

this shouldn't be a part of my pro
wrestling career.

This shouldn't be a part of my journey
in this crazy business.

And we shouldn't be burying a guy that's
this young and also a young family

around him.

At the very end, everyone's gone except
for, you know, a couple family members,

and the little girls, they're kind of
running around, and they're not, like,

crying or anything.

They're just little kids, and they go,
we've got to say goodbye to Daddy, and

they all run to the casket. Goodbye,
Daddy. Goodbye, Daddy.

It's like, oh.

And I think for me, I was just in
complete shock. I just, you know, I

put it all together. I just couldn't
believe it because, like, I lost my mom

now my dad, you know, and I was just a
lost little girl.

What do you remember from that day?

Going through the motions and pretending
I was still alive and I had a soul.

I felt like I didn't know what to do.

Right now, like, it's the same day
almost.

What do you mean? I mean, I can bring
myself back to that same pain in my

If I let go too long, which I'm just
going to stop now, if that's okay for a

second.

He had such an impact, such an influence
on so many people's lives. It had to

have hurt everybody to see him go. It
had to have hurt everybody to lose him.

But the person that hurt the most was
Melanie, was my mother. She dealt with

losing what was ultimately the love of
her life.

After Brian is laid to rest, his
children are jolted into their new

I never really had a problem with
Melanie until...

My father passed and then, you know,
like her true character revealed itself.

I spiraled out of control.

I wasn't the best mother in the world.

I always loved my kids.

Up until this day, Melanie receives
royalties from my father's legacy, which

have seen zero since.

Oh, yeah, they said I was a gold digger,
too, and I spent all the money I ever

got on crazy stuff.

Some of it was spent on crazy stuff, but
not the way they... We stayed

at my dad's house for a while, and then
things got really bad, and we moved.

You know, running water would be turned
off all the time. Electric would be

turned off.

It's crazy how you go from having a
silver platter growing up to not even

knowing when your next meal is going to
be.

It took a downward spiral. I mean,
there's no other way to put it. It got

and worse and worse and worse.

Depressed a lot, sleeping a lot,
drinking too much.

Brian found me on, passed out one time
and I almost died of alcohol poisoning.

He was like 12 and found me on the floor
with a bottle of vodka by my head.

No kid would have to see something like
that.

Craziness.

When my mother remarried and my
stepfather came into the picture, there

lot of drug abuse on the side of them,
and there was a lot of neglect.

My stepfather was very physically
abusive with my sister and myself.

I would be grounded to my room. Oh,
you're grounded for the next six months.

know, I better not see you out of your
room. He had dogs more or less trained

abuse me as well. And if I was grounded,
like these dogs would make sure I was

kept in my room.

Like they would bark at me and they
would bite me and they would physically

keep me in my room because of how I was
verbally and physically abused by my

stepdad. Like these dogs would adopt
that mentality of like attacking me.

And I was just so abused that my social,
developing socially was very hard for

me.

And that's how, you know, nobody took

me out to throw a baseball with me, you
know.

Nobody took me out to throw a football,
you know. So I went to school. I didn't

know how to play sports, you know.

I wasn't very athletic, you know. So I
couldn't catch football.

Couldn't throw a baseball.

But I was big into games and video games
and stuff. And I had a GameCube. And

eventually he caught on to that. My
stepdad would catch on to that shit.

unplug it. You know, he'd throw it
against the wall.

It's like everything I ever latched on
to or loved was taken away.

It was hard. It was a hard time.

While Brian Jr.

and Brittany grow up with Melanie,
Danielle lives with her mother. As the

siblings drift apart, their Aunt Linda
takes action.

At least once or twice a month, I would
get them together. And so they didn't

lose contact with each other.

She is literally everything.

I swear I think that she is a true
angel.

I don't have a mom, but she's the
closest thing I have to as a mom.

I can call her at any time. I mean, she
took me in. You know, she bought this

house so we could have a home and a
family.

And I just, I don't know what I would do
without her. I really don't.

They'd all come to my house.

There's a spider in the bathtub
upstairs.

I don't kill anything, you know. I
always take them outside when I find

Brian has a deadly fear of spiders.

And there's one I saw this morning. I
thought, oh, I'll get that later. I

think he'd go to the bathroom.

I love Linda to death, and she helped
the kids a lot.

And I just want them to forgive me.

Do I know if they will or not? I don't
know.

Brian Pillman lives on in the hearts and
minds of his family, but his legacy

would return to the ring in a way no one
would anticipate.

Brian Pillman's legacy in wrestling
lives on in that he created a character

people still remember to this day
because it was in large part himself.

He's a guy that overcame a lot of odds
and totally kicked ass in an industry of

guys that were much larger than him.

I would have loved to see what the next
10 years would have played out for him

had he never had that damn car wreck.

He knew the hand that he was dealt after
the accident.

It wasn't a damn thing he could do about
it, but you killed him.

Figuratively, and I think eventually,
literally.

Brian's death started a domino effect
that forced people to recognize the

steroid issue, but put extra focus on
the real cause of people dying too

which is pills.

The only hurdle he couldn't get across
was the last one, and it was his own

that had betrayed him.

The biggest legacy, though,
unfortunately, is what would have been,

would have gone, what heights he would
have achieved, how much bigger and

he would have gotten.

He saw the end goal. He was so close to
really just completely making it in

wrestling. Would he have been, along
with The Rock and Steve Austin and a few

other guys, the biggest star in
wrestling five years later?

Probably. One of them.

Just rebuild my relationship with my
kids.

Have my kids not be mad at me by the
time I die.

We'll see if that happens.

You know, my dad's not here.

So if I got one parent left that I can
go, oh, well, you know, that's my mom.

That's just the way she is, you know.
Like, sure, I could live the rest of my

life hating her. But where does that get
me?

Ever since I've rekindled my
relationship with her, I've been happier

personal life. I've been better in my
relationships with women. I've been more

understanding of people's plights and
people's vices. I've been just a much

mature adult in general since I've
buried the hatchet with my mother, so to

speak. And in many ways, I'm very happy
that I have a parent left on this earth

to speak to and talk to, you know. I
called Mel a time or two, and, man, we

lost contact. And, man, I reached out
to...

You know, Brian Jr., a couple years ago,
I had one of Brian's old weightlifting

belts. Out of nowhere, a sign from the
wrestling gods comes in the form of a

cell phone call from Stone Cold Steve
Austin to tell me that he has a Cardillo

weightlifting belt that belonged to my
father and that he wants to mail it to

and give it to me. And I'm like, you
know what? If that's a sign, that's a

Following in his father's footsteps,
Brian Pillman Jr.

decides to become a professional
wrestler.

When he first said he was going to
wrestle, like, it struck terror in my

I was like, oh, my God, I'll have
fractured relationships.

His kids won't get the attention. He's
going to travel all the time. He's not

going to be able.

And then I saw him perform.

And I saw the look on his face when he
knew that he was creating homage to his

dad.

And I realized this is it. This is
what's supposed to happen.

He just woke up one day and he was going
to be a wrestler. And I literally

laughed. I'm like, you, a wrestler?

All you do is sit in your room and play
video games. There's no way that you're

going to be a wrestler.

And it was just crazy. Like, he was
determined and he quit his job that he

just graduated college.

And he was going to do it. And I was
very hesitant at first just because of

everything my dad went through. And I
didn't want my brother to fall into that

same lifestyle. So I was scared.

I think he'd be proud of it.

His son wants to carry on the Pillman
name.

He wants to make his father proud of
him.

He wants to accomplish something on his
own, but yet pay tribute to his dad.

I think Brian would be into that. I just
think he might be worried that Brian

Jr. is in it all by himself.

He's got some people looking out for
him, but I think Brian Sr.

would a whole lot rather be there and
keep an eye on him.

Great kid, looks a lot like his dad.

And I talked to him about these things.

There's a lot of great traits, Brian,
that your dad had that I hope to God you

can acquire.

And then there are some, not so much.

You have to learn where you draw the
line.

Use his passion, use his intellect, use
his athletic ability, use his love of

the game.

But then don't get too far off the
beaten path.

Don't be a loose cannon.

Brian Jr., don't be a loose cannon.

You know,

a lot of people, oh, you know, do you
think your dad would want you to

And it's like, well, he kind of put a
stamp of approval on me to be a wrestler

when he named me Brian Philman, you
know.

There's really no going back at this
point. So, no, it's just tragic to know

that we never got to have that ultimate
father -son relationship. But in a way,

it inspires me to...

to be a good father one day, you know?
So I think that's my goal in all of

through wrestling and everything, to be
a father.

Now, that photo is very symbolic to me,
you know?

He's kind of holding me up, and I always
look at it for inspiration, you know?

So I would hope that one day I would...

You know, have a son like that, you
know, to kind of hold up as the future,

know. It's like he's kind of giving me
his blessing there in the photo, so.

He contributed a whole lot to the
wrestling business.

He pushed the envelope. The loose cannon
gimmick is one of the best ones ever

created. And Brian was one of the best
friends that I had in business.

And I hope that he thought the same
about me. I love Brian.