1 00:00:06,130 --> 00:00:08,150 Previously on Dark Side of the Ring. 2 00:00:08,490 --> 00:00:11,790 Sure, you can watch the Hollywood Blondes, and we could have been a great 3 00:00:11,790 --> 00:00:12,910 team if we'd been left together. 4 00:00:13,210 --> 00:00:17,850 But if you can watch Flyin' Brian in his total element, being the loose cannon, 5 00:00:18,110 --> 00:00:22,530 you're seeing one of the true, really, really bright minds in the business of 6 00:00:22,530 --> 00:00:23,530 professional wrestling. 7 00:00:23,790 --> 00:00:24,790 What are you doing? 8 00:00:24,890 --> 00:00:29,930 Easy! He was on track to becoming the biggest star in wrestling by convincing 9 00:00:29,930 --> 00:00:32,630 people that he was the only one that wouldn't do what he was told. 10 00:00:34,410 --> 00:00:39,190 I have been fired by Eric Bischoff! 11 00:00:40,590 --> 00:00:43,450 Brian and I talked about it. I can't give you what you want. 12 00:00:43,990 --> 00:00:48,790 Raise the value in your stock so that when you come back, it'll give me the 13 00:00:48,790 --> 00:00:51,750 ability to pay you more because you've raised your own value. 14 00:00:52,110 --> 00:00:56,870 Brian Pillman masterminded a cutting -edge character the wrestling world had 15 00:00:56,870 --> 00:00:57,870 never seen. 16 00:00:57,950 --> 00:01:03,050 Laying the system at its own game, he single -handedly turned the industry on 17 00:01:03,050 --> 00:01:03,979 its head. 18 00:01:03,980 --> 00:01:06,100 in order to manipulate his way to the top. 19 00:01:06,420 --> 00:01:09,580 If he played one side against the other in the middle of the burgeoning 20 00:01:09,580 --> 00:01:14,020 wrestling war, then he would come out much better, six figures per year 21 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,680 But did he want it for himself? He didn't care about himself. 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:18,260 He cared about those little kids. 23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:24,040 Lost inside his manic performance art, Bryan's real life spirals out of 24 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:28,700 He was dependent on to provide for several different mothers and families, 25 00:01:28,700 --> 00:01:30,060 think that does weigh on a man. 26 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,960 A tragic turn of events would not only alter the course of Brian's career 27 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:39,300 indefinitely, but also the lives of those closest to him. 28 00:01:39,500 --> 00:01:43,120 I really believe that if it was not for the Humvee wreck, that everything would 29 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:44,120 have turned out differently. 30 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,040 Melanie called me. 31 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,240 And she called to tell me that Brian had an accident and it was bad. 32 00:02:08,780 --> 00:02:15,700 And he was airlifted to University Hospital and was in the 33 00:02:15,700 --> 00:02:16,700 emergency room. 34 00:02:17,060 --> 00:02:19,960 So, again, I was the lucky one to go to the hospital. 35 00:02:21,260 --> 00:02:23,440 And I thought, oh, Jesus, here we go again. 36 00:02:24,900 --> 00:02:28,200 When I got to the hospital, I walked right by the room. 37 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,520 And then Linda's like, that's his robe, Melanie. I'm like, that's not my 38 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:33,520 husband. 39 00:02:33,620 --> 00:02:35,700 She's like, I know. It doesn't look like him, does it? 40 00:02:38,380 --> 00:02:40,520 And his hair was red with all the blood. 41 00:02:40,940 --> 00:02:42,400 And they hit him in the neck brace. 42 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:45,680 I mean, his head was swelled up like a beach ball. 43 00:02:46,700 --> 00:02:47,820 I thought, oh, my God. 44 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:55,200 It was really bad. His eyes were red. Like, I didn't see any color than red. 45 00:02:55,260 --> 00:02:57,240 Like, blood. His eyes were just, ugh. 46 00:02:59,690 --> 00:03:02,250 He had six different doctors for his face. 47 00:03:03,110 --> 00:03:07,890 There's one that just does the forehead, the lower mandible, the upper mandible, 48 00:03:07,990 --> 00:03:09,590 the nose, the eye sockets. 49 00:03:10,110 --> 00:03:12,010 Everything in his face was shattered. 50 00:03:12,910 --> 00:03:19,590 They had to put plates in his face, and they peeled his scalp back to make the 51 00:03:19,590 --> 00:03:22,650 incision and peeled his face down to put the plates in. 52 00:03:24,670 --> 00:03:28,870 Word travels quickly that Brian has been in a terrible car accident. 53 00:03:29,370 --> 00:03:31,770 And there's talk of him losing a foot. 54 00:03:32,490 --> 00:03:33,950 His ankle was shattered. 55 00:03:34,250 --> 00:03:38,470 In fact, the nurse told me that it was just like hanging off the table. She had 56 00:03:38,470 --> 00:03:40,230 to pick it up to put it back on the table. 57 00:03:43,290 --> 00:03:47,950 And then the doctor said, you know, that they would have to diffuse it into a 58 00:03:47,950 --> 00:03:54,670 walking position that he wouldn't probably be able to run or even wrestle 59 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,960 I show up, and he goes, I said, don't talk, Brian. It's all right. Hey, I'm 60 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:06,960 you. I'm with him. 61 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:14,120 And he's got a titanium mask, and he's got things holding his legs together. 62 00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:21,300 And once he kind of gained consciousness, what was his reaction to 63 00:04:23,060 --> 00:04:28,340 I remember him crying in the hospital, just saying, I really messed up. I 64 00:04:28,340 --> 00:04:29,340 messed up. 65 00:04:29,420 --> 00:04:31,400 Because he thought, you know, his career was over. 66 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,760 And I said, just be grateful you were by yourself. There was no kids in the car. 67 00:04:36,980 --> 00:04:37,980 It'll be fine. 68 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,180 But he was crying, saying, I really messed up. 69 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,860 So, to the best of your knowledge, what took place with the accident? What 70 00:04:50,860 --> 00:04:55,960 happened to Brian? Oh, he fell asleep at the wheel. He had been up, and he went 71 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:57,240 and picked up some... 72 00:04:57,630 --> 00:05:01,970 of his medication and i guess it hit him too soon before he got back to the 73 00:05:01,970 --> 00:05:07,690 house and yeah he just um drove into a uh into a tree trunk off the side and it 74 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:14,490 threw the humbee totaled the humbee was there awful maybe like was there 75 00:05:14,490 --> 00:05:20,610 substance abuse issues with him no just uh muscle relaxers 76 00:05:20,610 --> 00:05:23,310 maybe a few pain pills 77 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,160 Well, we are turning the microphone over to you, sir. We don't need any police 78 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,380 reports or doctor reports. Can you tell us, in your own words, what happened? 79 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,760 70 miles per hour, and I instantly became evil Knievel. 80 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:41,360 Shot up in the air, then proceeded to come straight down, nose first. 81 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:46,840 And luckily for me, I didn't have a seat belt on because it shot me straight 82 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:52,700 out, and I pierced the convertible top of that vehicle with my head like a 83 00:05:52,700 --> 00:05:54,260 bullet. It was shot out. 84 00:05:54,780 --> 00:05:58,880 50 feet away from the vehicle would end up doing two end -over -end flips. 85 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:00,200 Oh, my Lord. 86 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:08,880 When he came home from the hospital, I do remember him being in the living 87 00:06:08,980 --> 00:06:13,260 and I had a gift, and I wanted to give it to him, and I was just terrified 88 00:06:13,260 --> 00:06:15,340 because I'm like, that's not my dad. 89 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,240 I don't know who that is. You know, as a child and seeing my father like that, I 90 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,360 think it just kind of freaked me out a little bit. 91 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,620 I do have some small memories there of just seeing those bolts and how they're 92 00:06:28,620 --> 00:06:32,520 just screwed into his leg. And I'm thinking, what's going on here, you 93 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,840 it's like, they look like they're greased up, but it's like, not greased, 94 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:42,100 it's like blood and, like, just it's all hardened. And it was just a wild sight 95 00:06:42,100 --> 00:06:45,660 to see, you know, just some rusty bolts sticking out of your dad's leg. 96 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,640 Yeah, I just, I really remember him just being, like, so exhausted. 97 00:06:52,550 --> 00:06:53,990 And run down. 98 00:06:54,870 --> 00:07:00,530 I was just too young to really understand, like, what was really going 99 00:07:00,530 --> 00:07:04,050 him and, like, how ragged his life had become. 100 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,160 The loose cannon thing had gone so far at this point that a lot of the guys 101 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,180 convinced there was no wreck and it was Brian working again. And they're just 102 00:07:18,180 --> 00:07:20,980 trying to figure out what the angle is. How does he expect to get more money out 103 00:07:20,980 --> 00:07:24,460 of this or more attention out of this? Or, you know, was it really a wreck? Or 104 00:07:24,460 --> 00:07:28,220 maybe he just ran his car off the road and wrecked it to get, you know, 105 00:07:28,220 --> 00:07:29,220 publicity. 106 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:34,440 He had created so much not only mystery but confusion about himself that even 107 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,160 the guys that were his friends weren't exactly sure how to take him. 108 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:40,520 Perhaps he would have done that for attention. 109 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,960 And then Kim, who would not work me, Kim is just like, no, no, no, it's real. 110 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,420 And I told people, it's real. And I think most people didn't believe me 111 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,720 He was, you know, there's the Andy Kaufman thing in him. 112 00:07:52,980 --> 00:07:56,420 Faking an auto accident, perhaps he would have done that for attention. 113 00:07:56,780 --> 00:08:00,420 There was even at one point a rumor that some of the wrestlers put out that he 114 00:08:00,420 --> 00:08:05,140 was having plastic surgery to look just like Shawn Michaels so he could go into 115 00:08:05,140 --> 00:08:08,820 the World Wrestling Federation and be the evil Shawn Michaels and fight him 116 00:08:08,820 --> 00:08:09,659 the title. 117 00:08:09,660 --> 00:08:13,400 Guys believed that because they thought Brian was nuts. 118 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:18,540 While the wrestling rumor mill is speculating the authenticity of the 119 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,920 media outlets also questioned Brian's intentions. 120 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,460 Brian, now you're not having plastic surgery and, you know, going to go into 121 00:08:26,460 --> 00:08:30,220 WWF as Shawn Michaels' twin or something. I don't know what goes on in 122 00:08:30,220 --> 00:08:32,620 online. Think about that statement. 123 00:08:32,820 --> 00:08:37,980 It's preposterous, but just... Right now, I am owner of four... 124 00:08:46,079 --> 00:08:52,400 I can look back, and Brian was pretty honest with me most of the time, but the 125 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:57,720 one where I know that he wasn't was right after the accident. And Brian, you 126 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,260 know, said like, oh, yeah, the doctors told me, you know, it's like, it's going 127 00:09:00,260 --> 00:09:04,860 to take a while, but I will be 100%. The doctors have told me, and I know that 128 00:09:04,860 --> 00:09:06,360 the doctors told him the exact opposite. 129 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:09,800 The wreck happened during the negotiations. 130 00:09:10,020 --> 00:09:13,580 He kept it pretty quiet how badly he was hurt. 131 00:09:13,820 --> 00:09:19,880 And if the real story of that wreck had come out at that point, I don't think he 132 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,860 would have got a contract from either company. He could never again do 133 00:09:23,860 --> 00:09:26,160 physically what he had been able to do before. 134 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:27,980 And he didn't want anybody to know that. 135 00:09:29,660 --> 00:09:33,100 The object was to play Vince for money. 136 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:35,880 And he did. Only he was... 137 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:37,680 Near dead when he did. 138 00:09:37,900 --> 00:09:40,020 Vince signed him. And he signed him for more money. 139 00:09:43,420 --> 00:09:47,860 Vince McMahon offers Brian a guaranteed three -year contract. 140 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,860 And although Eric Bischoff offers him more money, his deal is subject to be 141 00:09:52,860 --> 00:09:54,880 renegotiated every three months. 142 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,760 Brian knew at that point, because of the extent of the injury, that if he had an 143 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,320 out clause in a contract, that at some point fairly early, it was going to get 144 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:05,320 exercised. 145 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:10,100 The events that have taken place in my life just in the past eight weeks have 146 00:10:10,100 --> 00:10:16,520 really changed the future of my life. And 147 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:23,080 from going from a point not knowing if I was going to live or not to standing 148 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:29,500 here, signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation, it's a dream come 149 00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:30,500 true. 150 00:10:32,020 --> 00:10:35,460 What changed about Brian coming into our company at that time? 151 00:10:35,820 --> 00:10:41,040 Well, he's not going to be able to wrestle to any degree or even comparably 152 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:42,040 what he was. 153 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:48,980 Although Brian is still in rehabilitation for his injuries, he 154 00:10:48,980 --> 00:10:55,560 the WWF in 1996 with the loose cannon persona already in full force. 155 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:01,620 There's Brian Tillman. What's he doing? Brian Tillman, recently signing with the 156 00:11:01,620 --> 00:11:02,620 World Wrestling Federation. 157 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:08,700 I just remember him coming in and I was like, OK, let's see what he can do here 158 00:11:08,700 --> 00:11:11,980 in the land of, you know, WWF. 159 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,220 They'll let you go out there and push the envelope. 160 00:11:16,580 --> 00:11:19,520 But, you know, how strong is he? Can he do it? 161 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:24,160 And I would have if I was going to bet on Brian, I'd like, oh, yeah, if he 162 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,540 just get healed up, he's going to go right to the top. 163 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:31,700 I'm going to rape, pillage and plunder this entire generation. 164 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,440 When Brian came home, he still had an IV. 165 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:48,840 And he unhooked himself from the IV, go do the show, and then come back and hook 166 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:49,900 himself back up again. 167 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,840 He had to do that because of work. 168 00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:55,520 So then it wasn't fun for him anymore. 169 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:58,600 You know, I don't think he enjoyed it anymore. 170 00:11:59,260 --> 00:12:02,820 You know, that was what I consider the beginning of the end. 171 00:12:08,810 --> 00:12:13,950 As Brian Pillman continues to struggle with his crippling injuries, an upcoming 172 00:12:13,950 --> 00:12:16,650 surgery keeps him out of any in -ring action. 173 00:12:16,930 --> 00:12:23,510 To disguise this from fans, the WWF devises a shocking storyline involving 174 00:12:23,510 --> 00:12:25,630 his old tag team partner. 175 00:12:25,930 --> 00:12:29,690 I needed to do something to get some heat. We were in Cincinnati in his 176 00:12:29,690 --> 00:12:30,890 hometown, so... 177 00:12:31,150 --> 00:12:34,970 It's always great to attack somebody in a hometown, especially him being in a 178 00:12:34,970 --> 00:12:35,970 compromised position. 179 00:12:36,310 --> 00:12:39,650 Steve and Brian were still friends, and they still wanted to see each other 180 00:12:39,650 --> 00:12:43,750 succeed. Steve was still on his way up, so we decided to put them together 181 00:12:43,750 --> 00:12:47,870 because we thought that they would enjoy it, and at the same time, the people 182 00:12:47,870 --> 00:12:48,870 would enjoy it as well. 183 00:12:50,730 --> 00:12:57,590 I laid into him and started kicking the hell out of him. I broke that cane 184 00:12:57,590 --> 00:12:58,770 on his ankle. 185 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,380 That brass duck had flew into the crowd. 186 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:02,940 Oh, my God! 187 00:13:03,220 --> 00:13:08,200 I stomped a mud hole in his ass and walked it dry. That was a stiff beating 188 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:13,920 gave him because it had to be. My character was a vicious, cold -blooded 189 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:15,820 was ruthless and remorseless. 190 00:13:16,100 --> 00:13:20,940 So had I not given him the beating that I gave him, who would have cared? 191 00:13:21,380 --> 00:13:23,980 They cared about Brian because I hurt his ass. 192 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,900 He may have repunked and killed his ankle here! 193 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,520 He gets Brian Pillman down and he puts a metal folding chair around the bad 194 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,680 ankle and then stomps the seat of the chair. 195 00:13:36,060 --> 00:13:40,880 And Brian screams, oh my God, he's re -injured the ankle. 196 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,460 There's a way you can do that. I won't give away any secrets. 197 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,680 But that was an excuse for Brian to have continued problems with the ankle 198 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:54,840 publicly on television. It became in the industry known as Pillmanizing. 199 00:13:55,580 --> 00:13:56,580 A body part. 200 00:13:56,700 --> 00:14:00,780 Brian took that ass whooping like a damn man. He knew what I had to do, and he 201 00:14:00,780 --> 00:14:02,180 sold it like a million bucks. 202 00:14:03,340 --> 00:14:10,340 In the midst of a TV ratings war with WCW, Vince strives to produce edgier 203 00:14:10,340 --> 00:14:14,740 content to further capitalize on the feud between Pillman and Austin. 204 00:14:15,380 --> 00:14:22,300 Somehow they decided, and I was not consulted on this, but they decided that 205 00:14:22,300 --> 00:14:23,880 it would be a wonderful thing. 206 00:14:24,750 --> 00:14:30,210 If they did a remote from Brian Pillman's house in Cincinnati... We are 207 00:14:30,710 --> 00:14:33,450 Austin is outside of Brian Pillman's home! 208 00:14:33,690 --> 00:14:39,590 Steve Austin came to find him and staged a home invasion on Monday Night Raw. 209 00:14:39,730 --> 00:14:43,350 Austin trying to get into the house of Brian Pillman. 210 00:14:43,870 --> 00:14:47,910 Were you excited to do something that felt so real and gritty at that time? I 211 00:14:47,910 --> 00:14:50,330 always wanted to do something that felt real and gritty, especially something 212 00:14:50,330 --> 00:14:52,630 that's going to have the, you know, the... 213 00:14:52,990 --> 00:14:57,850 The volume turned up, the testosterone, the adrenaline turned up. I mean, hell, 214 00:14:57,870 --> 00:15:01,670 man, if you're just casually, if you're not a wrestling fan and you're kind of 215 00:15:01,670 --> 00:15:06,370 just flipping channels and all of a sudden you watch the 10 seconds of this 216 00:15:06,370 --> 00:15:08,570 scene, you're not going to change a channel. 217 00:15:08,910 --> 00:15:13,210 Steve is a dead man walking because when Austin 316. 218 00:15:21,639 --> 00:15:26,180 all of a sudden man i start bashing in that window with that woman of baseball 219 00:15:26,180 --> 00:15:32,740 bat what the hell is that and there's melon energy shrieking 220 00:15:32,740 --> 00:15:38,460 i remember events was like all right we're gonna have a stone call and y 'all 221 00:15:38,460 --> 00:15:39,460 just wing it from there 222 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:47,880 Nothing like that had ever been done before in wrestling. It was kind of 223 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,640 groundbreaking, whether it was in a good way or a bad way. 224 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,420 People weren't ready for it. They weren't ready for it. 225 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,100 The reaction was pretty negative to it. I mean, it was pretty darn negative. 226 00:15:57,380 --> 00:16:02,180 I didn't like it. I didn't like the idea of using a gun. It seemed going really 227 00:16:02,180 --> 00:16:04,120 extreme, but that's the direction wrestling went. 228 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:05,740 Oh, my God, he's back! 229 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:07,679 That's Brian. 230 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:09,400 I don't know whose idea it was. 231 00:16:09,980 --> 00:16:13,240 And how much input he had on the idea, he never really told me that, but he was 232 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,920 absolutely really into it. And they had to apologize for it the next week 233 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,000 because the gun thing, you know, Vince had to actually go on television and 234 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,280 apologize for that angle because it got so much negativity. 235 00:16:22,860 --> 00:16:26,340 And on behalf of the World Wrestling Federation, for those of you who were 236 00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:30,800 offended, those viewers, we humbly apologize for the incident that took 237 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:32,540 last Monday night on Raw. 238 00:16:32,940 --> 00:16:35,360 And I think that's the only angle Vince ever apologized for. 239 00:16:35,870 --> 00:16:40,730 The donuts here at ringside. While still recovering from the car wreck, Pillman 240 00:16:40,730 --> 00:16:43,610 is temporarily sidelined as a broadcast announcer. 241 00:16:44,190 --> 00:16:47,830 Yeah, I'm going to cut through all your duplicit rhetoric and cut right to the 242 00:16:47,830 --> 00:16:53,150 chase. Tell them like it is. And hey, if the censors don't like it, you're going 243 00:16:53,150 --> 00:16:58,350 to get fired. Not me. I'm Brian Pillman. I'll just go somewhere else and feed 244 00:16:58,350 --> 00:16:59,169 people up. 245 00:16:59,170 --> 00:17:01,330 He looked at being an announcer as a covenant. 246 00:17:01,790 --> 00:17:03,770 It was less bad. It's not being a man. 247 00:17:04,010 --> 00:17:05,010 When I said. 248 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:07,079 Look, you can make a great living. 249 00:17:07,780 --> 00:17:09,280 You can take care of your health. 250 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:10,520 He didn't want to hear it. 251 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,619 The only thing he wanted to hear was me to encourage him that you could come 252 00:17:14,619 --> 00:17:18,280 back and be what you were for really, really close to it. 253 00:17:18,619 --> 00:17:21,720 And I never told him because I was going to lie. 254 00:17:22,980 --> 00:17:26,920 You know, the competitor in him wanted just to get back in the ring and work. 255 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:28,800 was working matches, but he was in a lot of pain. 256 00:17:29,140 --> 00:17:32,960 The former Cincinnati Bengals had two major surgeries on his leg. 257 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,740 Even though he was able to sometimes have decent matches, just because he was 258 00:17:36,740 --> 00:17:39,580 smart enough to know how and he would fall on his face, do things that were 259 00:17:39,580 --> 00:17:42,680 dangerous in a different way but not hurt the body parts that were hurt, it 260 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:43,680 really sad to watch. 261 00:17:44,020 --> 00:17:45,560 He wasn't the same at all. 262 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,580 Brian needed to stay medicated more often than he should because of the pain 263 00:17:49,580 --> 00:17:50,580 was in. 264 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:52,080 Because he was doing things. 265 00:17:52,510 --> 00:17:53,730 that he shouldn't have been done. 266 00:17:56,370 --> 00:18:01,810 He made it through because he said, I'm okay. I'm good. I'm fine. 267 00:18:03,070 --> 00:18:04,110 He wasn't fine. 268 00:18:04,990 --> 00:18:09,670 Consistently performing well beyond what his body can handle, Brian's dependency 269 00:18:09,670 --> 00:18:15,490 on painkillers and the pressure to provide for his family is pushing him to 270 00:18:15,490 --> 00:18:16,790 point of no return. 271 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:27,820 While rushing through recovery, Brian Pillman hampers any progress on his 272 00:18:27,820 --> 00:18:32,840 injuries by choosing to still perform in the ring, which results in his pain 273 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:34,420 becoming all -consuming. 274 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:40,660 The only thing Brian ever told me was that if he had an ache or pain, he took 275 00:18:40,660 --> 00:18:43,700 pill. He said if it didn't go away, he took another one. 276 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,960 And he took a pill until it went away. 277 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,080 He was sick, physically sick. 278 00:18:51,590 --> 00:18:58,070 With infection in his ankle because he was going to shows and not recouping it 279 00:18:58,070 --> 00:18:59,070 properly. 280 00:19:00,730 --> 00:19:05,750 I would talk to guys in WWF and they would tell me how he couldn't get 281 00:19:05,750 --> 00:19:06,409 the airport. 282 00:19:06,410 --> 00:19:08,950 You know what I mean? Couldn't walk through the airport and he's out there 283 00:19:08,950 --> 00:19:12,310 taking bumps in a wrestling ring. It's like he cannot walk through the airport. 284 00:19:14,510 --> 00:19:18,830 I'd see him kind of walk around with his suitcase and he wasn't moving so well. 285 00:19:19,420 --> 00:19:23,860 But Brian is one of those guys that, like a man's man, you just figure, 286 00:19:23,860 --> 00:19:26,260 it is, Brian's got it. He's Brian Feldman. 287 00:19:28,940 --> 00:19:32,720 You know, and I could have seen the writing on the wall, but because of the 288 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,840 regard that I held him in, I thought it was going to be just fine. 289 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:41,300 When you have wrestlers that are missing shows or obviously unable to perform 290 00:19:41,300 --> 00:19:45,640 when they get there, then you know you've got problems. It wasn't that 291 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:46,640 with Brian. 292 00:19:47,470 --> 00:19:51,350 How were you able to tell where the loose cannon ended and the real person 293 00:19:51,350 --> 00:19:52,350 began? 294 00:19:52,970 --> 00:19:54,370 How was your guys' relationship? 295 00:19:54,810 --> 00:19:57,550 We had some problems. We were having problems because he kept wrecking rental 296 00:19:57,550 --> 00:20:01,230 cars. He was definitely, like, nodding out at the wheel. 297 00:20:01,490 --> 00:20:03,150 He was definitely having issues. 298 00:20:03,530 --> 00:20:07,370 He acted as though he wasn't going to be around much longer. He used to say 299 00:20:07,370 --> 00:20:11,210 things like... If anything happens to me, make sure you move back to Atlanta 300 00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:13,010 don't stay up here if you're not comfortable here. 301 00:20:13,210 --> 00:20:16,890 And make sure you find somebody so the kids have a father. I'm like, why would 302 00:20:16,890 --> 00:20:18,270 you even say something like that? 303 00:20:18,550 --> 00:20:20,570 And then the next day he wrecked a rental car. 304 00:20:22,330 --> 00:20:26,750 I had become a bit estranged from him because he was tough. 305 00:20:28,030 --> 00:20:33,150 And one time he came to my house and he had a big welt. You could see the hole. 306 00:20:34,030 --> 00:20:38,310 It was like, you know, the syringe. It was a horse needle syringe that went in 307 00:20:38,310 --> 00:20:40,670 there. And it was growth hormone or something. 308 00:20:41,010 --> 00:20:42,010 But he was up. 309 00:20:42,250 --> 00:20:45,370 He was like, he kept repeating himself. And I said, this is it, Brian. 310 00:20:45,990 --> 00:20:50,570 I'll give you to 10 and get out of my house. My kids are upstairs sleeping. 311 00:20:50,670 --> 00:20:52,230 Don't ever come here in this state. 312 00:20:52,470 --> 00:20:54,010 Oh, yeah, but I got to do that. 313 00:20:54,610 --> 00:20:55,610 I said, 314 00:20:56,610 --> 00:21:01,070 no, I can't. I'm sorry. Your friend would get away from me right now. 315 00:21:01,410 --> 00:21:02,410 And he did. 316 00:21:04,140 --> 00:21:07,440 Some of his friends had come to me when I was in charge of child relations and 317 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:12,020 say that this was becoming a bigger issue and I needed to intervene. 318 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,740 And it was going to be tough because he was not going to appreciate that 319 00:21:17,740 --> 00:21:18,740 intervention. 320 00:21:19,700 --> 00:21:23,100 I called the agent, lead agent. I said, you know, I'm going to have a drug 321 00:21:23,100 --> 00:21:25,140 tester there tonight to test Pillman. 322 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:27,480 And I said, make sure it gets done. 323 00:21:29,820 --> 00:21:33,560 He felt like I had betrayed him. That's what he told me. 324 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,720 I can't believe you of all people would betray me. 325 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,780 And that you always had my back. 326 00:21:44,060 --> 00:21:45,500 You were always there for me. 327 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:47,040 And now this. 328 00:21:48,580 --> 00:21:50,300 I said, Brian, I'm trying to save your life. 329 00:21:51,460 --> 00:21:52,500 That's all I'm trying to do. 330 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:59,160 And Brian was calling me up, I hate Jim Ross, why is he singling me out? Do you 331 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:00,960 know how many guys in this company are doing drugs? 332 00:22:01,300 --> 00:22:04,440 And he goes, they're not going to find anything on me, nothing but my 333 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:05,440 prescription pain pills. 334 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:07,680 They're not going to find any illegal drugs in me. 335 00:22:07,940 --> 00:22:11,360 And in fact, you know, the only thing that they found in him was prescription 336 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:15,920 pain drugs and steroids, which, you know, in an extent, you know, I don't 337 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,140 that that really counts for what they were looking for. 338 00:22:19,940 --> 00:22:22,640 I had to lead Brian out of the path that he was on. 339 00:22:23,530 --> 00:22:25,290 to no avail. I failed. 340 00:22:26,050 --> 00:22:32,890 I needed to convince him that he's so talented that he was going to be a star 341 00:22:32,890 --> 00:22:35,230 in other areas of pro wrestling. 342 00:22:35,670 --> 00:22:36,690 I failed. 343 00:22:37,690 --> 00:22:44,230 In October of 1997, at the Keele Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Brian is 344 00:22:44,230 --> 00:22:48,970 scheduled to compete at WWF's pay -per -view event, Bad Blood. 345 00:22:49,250 --> 00:22:52,830 In those days, the call time for talent at the pay -per -views was 1 o 'clock. 346 00:22:53,050 --> 00:22:58,050 And sometimes guys would be late, oversleep, miss their flight, traffic, 347 00:22:58,210 --> 00:23:03,590 whatever. But by 5 o 'clock, everybody was counted for except for Brian. 348 00:23:04,050 --> 00:23:09,410 And that was egregiously late to be for a pay -per -view. So Bruce Pritchard 349 00:23:09,410 --> 00:23:11,630 asked me, I'm in talent relations. He said, call. 350 00:23:12,170 --> 00:23:16,750 Try to find where he might be. Call the hotel where he stayed last night in 351 00:23:16,750 --> 00:23:18,310 Minneapolis. See what time he checked out. 352 00:23:19,850 --> 00:23:22,290 I get on the phone, and boom, the guy answers. 353 00:23:22,610 --> 00:23:26,310 I said, I'm with the World Wrestling Federation. We're looking for one of our 354 00:23:26,310 --> 00:23:29,790 wrestlers. He stayed there last night, Brian Pillman. Can you tell me what time 355 00:23:29,790 --> 00:23:30,790 he checked out? 356 00:23:31,130 --> 00:23:34,990 And the guy said, hold on a second. And he put me on hold. 357 00:23:35,490 --> 00:23:37,550 Okay, is he checking his records? 358 00:23:37,810 --> 00:23:39,910 And he answered, he said, sir? I said, yeah. He said. 359 00:23:40,929 --> 00:23:42,010 Mr. Pillman's dead. 360 00:23:44,490 --> 00:23:49,430 And the first flash that I had, what is Brian doing now? 361 00:23:49,690 --> 00:23:50,890 I said, is this a rib? 362 00:23:53,790 --> 00:23:56,210 And the guy said, no, the police are here now. 363 00:23:57,430 --> 00:23:58,430 I said, okay. 364 00:23:59,730 --> 00:24:04,090 So I told one of the production assistants, I said, go get Bruce. 365 00:24:04,430 --> 00:24:08,510 And he said, oh, Bruce is busy. He's doing it. I said, Brian is dead. Go get 366 00:24:08,510 --> 00:24:09,510 Bruce. 367 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,440 And Bruce came in and got on the phone and I just kind of walked off because I 368 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:18,600 did not want to hear that news right now. 23 years later, I didn't want to 369 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:19,600 that news. 370 00:24:25,340 --> 00:24:27,700 On October 5th, 1997, 371 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,820 Brian Pillman was found dead in his hotel room in Bloomington, Minnesota. 372 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:35,620 He was 35 years old. 373 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,760 It's hard for me to still think about it today. 374 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:44,240 And think of that heart of that athlete, that performer, stopping. 375 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,440 Just doesn't seem believable. 376 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,980 It almost didn't register with him because I'm like, eh, Brian ain't dead. 377 00:24:54,380 --> 00:24:58,960 Because he couldn't die. If you knew Brian, this force field of energy that 378 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,620 was, I thought could never be stopped. 379 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:03,180 I honestly thought that. 380 00:25:04,460 --> 00:25:07,280 State police showed up on the door. 381 00:25:08,969 --> 00:25:11,830 And he had to tell me that my husband was found deceased. 382 00:25:14,990 --> 00:25:21,770 As a kid already in the show 383 00:25:21,770 --> 00:25:23,690 business world, I was thinking, like, is this work? 384 00:25:23,930 --> 00:25:27,150 Like, is he really dead? Like, no, he's surely coming back. Like, I didn't even 385 00:25:27,150 --> 00:25:30,510 know what to think. I didn't even cry when my dad died. 386 00:25:30,850 --> 00:25:35,050 And I just remember, like, my family, we're all sitting on the bed, like, 387 00:25:35,090 --> 00:25:36,090 hugging each other. 388 00:25:36,510 --> 00:25:39,050 and crying, and everybody's crying, and I'm looking around, and I'm like, 389 00:25:39,070 --> 00:25:40,069 where's the camera crew? 390 00:25:40,070 --> 00:25:41,570 It's got to be around here somewhere. 391 00:25:41,790 --> 00:25:45,590 I was like, all right, I'll play the spot here. We'll all just hug and 392 00:25:45,590 --> 00:25:50,190 we're sad, but then reality set in. I'm like, oh, shit, he's really not coming 393 00:25:50,190 --> 00:25:51,450 home. Like, holy crap. 394 00:25:52,310 --> 00:25:55,850 As a kid, that's just kind of what I thought. I figured, you know what, he 395 00:25:55,850 --> 00:25:57,950 to work that day, and he decided to stay there. 396 00:25:59,690 --> 00:26:04,950 The next night on Monday Night Raw, the news of Brian's death is broadcast live. 397 00:26:05,610 --> 00:26:12,470 Yesterday afternoon, Brian Pillman was found dead in a 398 00:26:12,470 --> 00:26:15,150 hotel room in Bloomington, Minnesota. 399 00:26:18,830 --> 00:26:24,150 I remember when we told the bell ten times. That was when I got emotional. I 400 00:26:24,150 --> 00:26:30,430 remember very emotional, and that's when I was like, he's gone. He's gone. 401 00:26:31,020 --> 00:26:35,200 And then I remember talking to, I think, Jim Ross. I said, hand the phone to 402 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,960 Owen. And then Owen says, I don't know. I don't know what happened. 403 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:43,260 Then Vince got on the phone, and he says, do you want to talk on camera? And 404 00:26:43,260 --> 00:26:44,760 then I just thought, well, you know what? 405 00:26:45,380 --> 00:26:47,720 With Brian, the show must go on. 406 00:26:48,020 --> 00:26:52,540 Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, in suburban Cincinnati, the wife of Brian 407 00:26:52,540 --> 00:26:56,300 Thelman, Melanie Thelman. Melanie, thank you so much for joining us tonight. I 408 00:26:56,300 --> 00:26:57,300 did say to Vince. 409 00:26:58,129 --> 00:27:02,690 Please don't ask me about drugs or anything like that because I do not 410 00:27:02,690 --> 00:27:04,150 know why he died yet. 411 00:27:04,430 --> 00:27:10,250 Brian, because of his injuries, has had to take a great deal of prescribed 412 00:27:10,250 --> 00:27:15,290 medicine. And that first thing he does is start talking about pain pills. And 413 00:27:15,290 --> 00:27:18,430 then I'm like, nonsense, all right. I made like a really funny face. And I 414 00:27:18,430 --> 00:27:21,710 remember that the only clear part of that interview, I can remember thinking, 415 00:27:21,930 --> 00:27:25,470 which is mother was standing here so I could smack him. 416 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:31,640 Because he swore he wouldn't say anything like leading down that 417 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,880 the death certificate came out. 418 00:27:34,300 --> 00:27:40,000 I think all athletes, to a degree, experience a reliance on pain medicine. 419 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:45,720 And, you know, I knew it was just a matter of time before it hit up into 420 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,620 someone. And, fortunately, it was my husband. 421 00:27:49,860 --> 00:27:52,400 And I just want everyone to know that. 422 00:27:54,510 --> 00:28:00,110 I hate to wake up calling some of you because it could be your husband next or 423 00:28:00,110 --> 00:28:05,090 it could be you. And, you know, you don't want to leave behind a bunch of 424 00:28:05,090 --> 00:28:07,230 orphans like my husband did. 425 00:28:08,210 --> 00:28:13,050 I absolutely despised the grieving widow interview. 426 00:28:13,490 --> 00:28:15,770 I didn't like it on a wrestling program. 427 00:28:15,970 --> 00:28:19,270 I was uncomfortable with it. I didn't know why she had to go out there. 428 00:28:20,190 --> 00:28:26,650 and have to answer these questions that were obviously meant to elicit tears and 429 00:28:26,650 --> 00:28:30,010 et cetera for television, say for good television. 430 00:28:31,090 --> 00:28:34,910 I thought he should have sent her a check for $100 ,000 and kept her ass off 431 00:28:34,910 --> 00:28:35,910 is what I thought. 432 00:28:36,470 --> 00:28:41,630 Have you had any opportunity to think about what you now as a single parent 433 00:28:41,630 --> 00:28:43,530 do to support your five children? 434 00:28:45,770 --> 00:28:48,970 Vince, I don't even really know what day it is. 435 00:28:49,630 --> 00:28:52,970 So I don't know what I'm going to do. 436 00:28:53,210 --> 00:28:56,470 Yeah, and everybody's like, oh, that was so horrible what you did to her. I 437 00:28:56,470 --> 00:28:57,470 barely remember it. 438 00:28:57,810 --> 00:29:04,630 I didn't really think about not doing it, but nobody pressured me into it. 439 00:29:06,310 --> 00:29:07,310 I hated it. 440 00:29:08,130 --> 00:29:13,970 I didn't want to relive and relive and regurgitate and regurgitate this matter 441 00:29:13,970 --> 00:29:17,970 to Papa Rady and to me. 442 00:29:18,540 --> 00:29:19,540 That's what it's all about. 443 00:29:26,780 --> 00:29:28,800 And what was the official cause of death? 444 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,700 Heart disease. 445 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,160 And see, my father died of a massive heart attack at 55. 446 00:29:39,220 --> 00:29:41,360 What were your memories of his funeral? 447 00:29:43,430 --> 00:29:47,590 We got there early before people came in because it was supposed to be family 448 00:29:47,590 --> 00:29:48,590 and friends. 449 00:29:48,750 --> 00:29:51,110 And when we walked in there was a camera crew there. 450 00:29:51,810 --> 00:29:53,910 And I walked up to them and I said, who are you? 451 00:29:54,550 --> 00:29:56,410 And I said, you're not supposed to be here. 452 00:29:56,970 --> 00:30:00,410 They said, well, Melanie said we can't. And I said, well, I'm Brian's sister and 453 00:30:00,410 --> 00:30:01,750 I'm telling you, no, you can't. 454 00:30:02,370 --> 00:30:03,370 And they left. 455 00:30:04,370 --> 00:30:05,790 Did many wrestlers show up? 456 00:30:06,570 --> 00:30:07,570 No. 457 00:30:10,090 --> 00:30:11,630 Just Vince and... 458 00:30:12,179 --> 00:30:13,420 Jim Roth were there. 459 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,180 They had an open casket, and I knew then it's going to be really tough. 460 00:30:20,180 --> 00:30:21,460 There's the last time I saw him. 461 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,960 That's the last time I would see Brian, lying in a casket. 462 00:30:27,060 --> 00:30:30,680 And that was just gut -wrenching, absolutely gut -wrenching. 463 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:36,520 I just stared, and I had memories flooding back when I was looking at the 464 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,080 corpse. I'm thinking, this should be a part of my pro wrestling career. 465 00:30:40,780 --> 00:30:44,320 This should not be a part of my journey in this crazy business. 466 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,540 And we shouldn't be burying a guy that's this young. 467 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:51,520 And there's a young family around him. 468 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:57,680 At the very end, everyone's gone, except for, you know, a couple family members. 469 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,720 And the little girls, they're kind of running around, and they're not, like, 470 00:31:01,780 --> 00:31:02,539 crying or anything. 471 00:31:02,540 --> 00:31:05,560 They're just little kids. And they go, we've got to say goodbye to Daddy. And 472 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,160 they all run to the casket. Goodbye, Daddy. Goodbye, Daddy. 473 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:09,720 It's like, oh. 474 00:31:12,610 --> 00:31:17,030 And I think for me, I was just in complete shock. I just, you know, I 475 00:31:17,030 --> 00:31:22,070 put it all together. I just couldn't believe it because, like, I lost my mom 476 00:31:22,070 --> 00:31:26,070 now my dad, you know, and I was just a lost little girl. 477 00:31:28,350 --> 00:31:30,210 What do you remember from that day? 478 00:31:31,290 --> 00:31:35,030 Going through the motions and pretending I was still alive and I had a soul. 479 00:31:36,550 --> 00:31:38,990 I felt like I just didn't know what to do. 480 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,480 Right now, like, it's the same day almost. 481 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:50,300 What do you mean? I mean, I can bring myself back to that same pain in my 482 00:31:52,260 --> 00:31:55,600 If I let it go too long, which I'm just going to stop now, if that's okay for a 483 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:56,600 second. 484 00:32:00,940 --> 00:32:05,340 He had such an impact, such an influence on so many people's lives. It had to 485 00:32:05,340 --> 00:32:06,340 have hurt. 486 00:32:06,410 --> 00:32:10,290 Everybody to see him go. It had to have hurt everybody to lose him. But the 487 00:32:10,290 --> 00:32:15,670 person that hurt the most was Melanie, was my mother. She dealt with losing 488 00:32:15,670 --> 00:32:17,330 was ultimately the love of her life. 489 00:32:18,870 --> 00:32:24,230 After Brian is laid to rest, his children are jolted into their new 490 00:32:24,730 --> 00:32:31,050 I never really had a problem with Melanie until my father passed. And 491 00:32:31,050 --> 00:32:33,310 know, like her true character revealed itself. 492 00:32:37,550 --> 00:32:38,850 I spiraled out of control. 493 00:32:39,050 --> 00:32:40,830 I wasn't the best mother in the world. 494 00:32:41,090 --> 00:32:42,690 I always loved my kids. 495 00:32:43,990 --> 00:32:50,150 Up until this day, Melanie receives royalties from my father's legacy, which 496 00:32:50,150 --> 00:32:52,410 have seen zero since. 497 00:33:07,180 --> 00:33:11,140 We stayed at my dad's house for a while, and then things got really bad, and we 498 00:33:11,140 --> 00:33:15,500 moved, and, you know, running water would be turned off all the time. 499 00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:20,120 would be turned off. It's crazy how you go from having a silver platter growing 500 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,180 up to not even knowing when your next meal is going to be. 501 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:29,600 It took a downward spiral. I mean, there's no other way to put it. It got 502 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,500 and worse and worse and worse. 503 00:33:32,580 --> 00:33:36,040 Depressed a lot, sleeping a lot, drinking too much. 504 00:33:36,780 --> 00:33:41,360 Brian found me on, passed out one time and I almost died of alcohol poisoning. 505 00:33:41,620 --> 00:33:46,540 He was like 12 and found me on the floor with a bottle of vodka by my head. 506 00:33:47,020 --> 00:33:49,300 No kid would have to see something like that. 507 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:51,520 Craziness. 508 00:33:52,260 --> 00:33:56,540 When my mother remarried and my stepfather came into the picture, there 509 00:33:56,540 --> 00:33:59,980 lot of drug abuse on the side of them and there was a lot of neglect. 510 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:05,080 My stepfather was very physically abusive with my sister and myself. 511 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,699 I would be grounded to my room. Oh, you're grounded for the next six months. 512 00:34:09,699 --> 00:34:14,639 know, I better not see you out of your room. He had dogs more or less trained 513 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:18,960 abuse me as well. And if I was grounded, like these dogs would make sure I was 514 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:19,960 kept in my room. 515 00:34:20,100 --> 00:34:23,179 Like they would bark at me and they would bite me and they would physically 516 00:34:23,179 --> 00:34:27,080 keep me in my room because of how I was verbally and physically abused by my 517 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:32,460 stepdad. Like these dogs would adopt that mentality of like attacking me. 518 00:34:39,500 --> 00:34:45,380 And then I was just so abused that my social, developing socially was very 519 00:34:45,380 --> 00:34:46,380 for me. 520 00:34:46,699 --> 00:34:53,639 And that's how, you know, nobody took 521 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:55,679 me out to throw a baseball with me, you know. 522 00:34:57,820 --> 00:35:03,940 Nobody took me out to throw a football, you know. So I went to school. I didn't 523 00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:05,200 know how to play sports, you know. 524 00:35:06,420 --> 00:35:07,980 I wasn't very athletic. 525 00:35:08,190 --> 00:35:09,930 So I couldn't catch football. 526 00:35:10,210 --> 00:35:11,210 Couldn't throw a baseball. 527 00:35:12,130 --> 00:35:15,570 But I was big into games and video games and stuff. 528 00:35:15,810 --> 00:35:21,470 And I had a GameCube. And eventually he caught on to that. My stepdad would 529 00:35:21,470 --> 00:35:24,310 catch on to that shit. He'd unplug it. He'd throw it against the wall. 530 00:35:28,350 --> 00:35:31,750 It's like everything I ever latched on to or loved was taken away. 531 00:35:33,170 --> 00:35:36,010 It was hard. It was a hard time. 532 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:39,260 While Brian Jr. 533 00:35:39,660 --> 00:35:43,900 and Brittany grow up with Melanie, Danielle lives with her mother. As the 534 00:35:43,900 --> 00:35:47,140 siblings drift apart, their Aunt Linda takes action. 535 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:54,500 At least once or twice a month, I would get them together. And so they didn't 536 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:55,980 lose contact with each other. 537 00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:00,940 She is literally everything. 538 00:36:01,260 --> 00:36:04,260 I swear I think that she is a true angel. 539 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:08,800 I don't have a mom, but she's the closest thing I have to as a mom. 540 00:36:09,140 --> 00:36:13,620 I can call her at any time. I mean, she took me in. You know, she bought this 541 00:36:13,620 --> 00:36:15,920 house so we could have a home and a family. 542 00:36:16,900 --> 00:36:21,320 And I just, I don't know what I would do without her. I really don't. 543 00:36:26,340 --> 00:36:27,780 They'd all come to my house. 544 00:36:30,180 --> 00:36:32,360 There's a spider in the bathtub upstairs. 545 00:36:33,500 --> 00:36:38,220 I don't kill anything, you know. I always take them outside when I find 546 00:36:39,460 --> 00:36:42,560 Brian has a deadly fear of spiders. 547 00:36:45,140 --> 00:36:49,460 And there's one I saw this morning. I thought, oh, I'll get that later. I 548 00:36:49,460 --> 00:36:50,980 think he'd go to the bathroom. 549 00:36:54,580 --> 00:36:57,680 I love Linda to death, and she's helped the kids a lot. 550 00:36:58,060 --> 00:37:01,940 And I just want them to forgive me. 551 00:37:02,650 --> 00:37:04,910 Do I know if they will or not? I don't know. 552 00:37:06,530 --> 00:37:11,710 Brian Pillman lives on in the hearts and minds of his family, but his legacy 553 00:37:11,710 --> 00:37:14,890 would return to the ring in a way no one would anticipate. 554 00:37:21,950 --> 00:37:26,950 Brian Pillman's legacy in wrestling lives on in that he created a character 555 00:37:26,950 --> 00:37:30,550 people still remember to this day because it was in large part himself. 556 00:37:32,650 --> 00:37:37,950 He's a guy that overcame a lot of odds and totally kicked ass in an industry of 557 00:37:37,950 --> 00:37:41,010 guys that were much larger than him. 558 00:37:41,470 --> 00:37:45,650 I would have loved to see what the next 10 years would have played out for him 559 00:37:45,650 --> 00:37:47,370 had he never had that damn car wreck. 560 00:37:50,330 --> 00:37:55,050 He knew the hand that he was dealt after the accident. 561 00:37:56,490 --> 00:38:00,290 It wasn't a damn thing he could do about it, but you killed him. 562 00:38:01,450 --> 00:38:04,350 Figuratively, and I think eventually, literally. 563 00:38:06,510 --> 00:38:12,730 Brian's death started a domino effect that forced people to recognize the 564 00:38:12,730 --> 00:38:19,690 steroid issue, but put extra focus on the real cause of people dying too 565 00:38:19,850 --> 00:38:21,310 which is pills. 566 00:38:22,310 --> 00:38:28,550 The only hurdle he couldn't get across was the last one, and it was his own 567 00:38:28,550 --> 00:38:30,530 that had betrayed him. 568 00:38:32,230 --> 00:38:37,810 The biggest legacy, though, unfortunately, is what would have been, 569 00:38:37,810 --> 00:38:42,730 would have gone, what heights he would have achieved, how much bigger and 570 00:38:42,730 --> 00:38:43,730 he would have gotten. 571 00:38:43,890 --> 00:38:48,470 He saw the end goal. He was so close to really just completely making it in 572 00:38:48,470 --> 00:38:53,690 wrestling. Would he have been, along with The Rock and Steve Austin and a few 573 00:38:53,690 --> 00:38:56,110 other guys, the biggest star in wrestling five years later? 574 00:38:56,550 --> 00:38:58,570 Probably. One of them. 575 00:39:12,350 --> 00:39:14,270 Just rebuilding my relationship with my kids. 576 00:39:16,090 --> 00:39:19,710 Having my kids not be mad at me by the time I die. 577 00:39:19,950 --> 00:39:21,050 We'll see if that happens. 578 00:39:26,250 --> 00:39:30,790 My dad's not here, so if I got one parent left that I can go, oh, well, 579 00:39:30,790 --> 00:39:32,430 my mom, that's just the way she is. 580 00:39:32,850 --> 00:39:37,070 Sure, I could live the rest of my life hating her, but where does that get me? 581 00:39:38,890 --> 00:39:42,730 Ever since I've rekindled my relationship with her, I've been happier 582 00:39:42,730 --> 00:39:46,470 personal life. I've been better in my relationships with women. I've been more 583 00:39:46,470 --> 00:39:50,870 understanding of people's plights and people's vices. I've been just a much 584 00:39:50,870 --> 00:39:54,450 mature adult in general since I've buried the hatchet with my mother, so to 585 00:39:54,450 --> 00:39:59,450 speak. And in many ways, I'm very happy that I have a parent left on this earth 586 00:39:59,450 --> 00:40:04,410 to speak to and talk to, you know. I called Mel a time or two, and man, we 587 00:40:04,410 --> 00:40:07,870 lost contact. And man, I reached out to... 588 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:12,220 You know, Brian Jr., a couple years ago, I had one of Brian's old weightlifting 589 00:40:12,220 --> 00:40:16,720 belts. Out of nowhere, a sign from the wrestling gods comes in the form of a 590 00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:21,600 cell phone call from Stone Cold Seaboss to tell me that he has a Cardillo 591 00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:26,240 weightlifting belt that belonged to my father and that he wants to mail it to 592 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:30,020 and give it to me. And I'm like, you know what? If that's a sign, that's a 593 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:34,500 Following in his father's footsteps, Brian Pillman Jr. 594 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,040 decides to become a professional wrestler. 595 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:43,120 When he first said he was going to wrestle, like, it struck terror in my 596 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:45,760 I was like, oh, my God, he'll have fractured relationships. 597 00:40:46,220 --> 00:40:49,060 His kids won't get the attention. He's going to travel all the time. He's not 598 00:40:49,060 --> 00:40:50,060 going to be able. 599 00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:53,000 And then I saw him perform. 600 00:40:53,460 --> 00:40:59,360 And I saw the look on his face when he knew that he was creating homage to his 601 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:00,360 dad. 602 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:07,760 And I realized this is it. This is what's supposed to happen. 603 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,880 He just woke up one day and he was going to be a wrestler. And I literally 604 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,780 laughed. I'm like, you, a wrestler? 605 00:41:14,180 --> 00:41:17,620 All you do is sit in your room and play video games. There's no way that you're 606 00:41:17,620 --> 00:41:18,620 going to be a wrestler. 607 00:41:18,860 --> 00:41:23,760 And it was just crazy. Like, he was determined and he quit his job that he 608 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:24,860 just graduated college. 609 00:41:25,140 --> 00:41:29,900 And he was going to do it. And I was very hesitant at first just because of 610 00:41:29,900 --> 00:41:33,360 everything my dad went through. And I didn't want my brother to fall into that 611 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:35,000 same lifestyle. So I was scared. 612 00:41:35,820 --> 00:41:37,920 I think he'd be proud of it. 613 00:41:38,390 --> 00:41:40,490 His son wants to carry on the Pillman name. 614 00:41:40,730 --> 00:41:42,810 He wants to make his father proud of him. 615 00:41:43,030 --> 00:41:49,310 He wants to accomplish something on his own, but yet pay tribute to his dad. I 616 00:41:49,310 --> 00:41:54,110 think Brian would be into that. I just think he might be worried that Brian Jr. 617 00:41:54,350 --> 00:41:55,350 is in it all by himself. 618 00:41:55,470 --> 00:41:58,690 He's got some people looking out for him, but I think Brian Sr. 619 00:41:58,950 --> 00:42:01,730 would a whole lot rather be there and keep an eye on him. 620 00:42:02,150 --> 00:42:03,850 Great kid, looks a lot like his dad. 621 00:42:04,610 --> 00:42:06,210 And I've talked to him about these things. 622 00:42:07,190 --> 00:42:11,750 There's a lot of great traits, Brian, that your dad had that I hope to God you 623 00:42:11,750 --> 00:42:12,870 can acquire. 624 00:42:14,510 --> 00:42:18,290 And then there are some, not so much. 625 00:42:19,690 --> 00:42:22,550 You have to learn where you draw the line. 626 00:42:23,530 --> 00:42:28,710 Use his passion, use his intellect, use his athletic ability, use his love of 627 00:42:28,710 --> 00:42:29,710 the game. 628 00:42:30,410 --> 00:42:32,910 But then don't get too far off the beaten path. 629 00:42:33,510 --> 00:42:34,570 Don't be a loose cannon. 630 00:42:35,479 --> 00:42:37,020 Brian Jr., don't be a loose cannon. 631 00:42:38,180 --> 00:42:43,900 You know, a lot of people, oh, you know, do you think your dad would want you to 632 00:42:43,900 --> 00:42:47,920 wrestle? But, well, he kind of put a stamp of approval on me to be a wrestler 633 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:49,660 when he named me Brian Philman, you know. 634 00:42:49,900 --> 00:42:54,460 There's really no going back at this point. So, no, it's just tragic to know 635 00:42:54,460 --> 00:43:00,140 that we never got to have that ultimate father -son relationship. But in a way, 636 00:43:00,220 --> 00:43:04,420 it inspires me to... 637 00:43:04,970 --> 00:43:11,090 to be a good father one day, you know? So I think that's my goal in all this, 638 00:43:11,210 --> 00:43:14,070 through wrestling and everything, is to be a father. 639 00:43:18,630 --> 00:43:22,190 Now, that photo is very symbolic to me, you know? 640 00:43:23,830 --> 00:43:30,070 He's kind of holding me up, and I always look at it for inspiration, you know? 641 00:43:30,170 --> 00:43:33,390 So I would hope that one day I would... 642 00:43:33,690 --> 00:43:39,590 You know, have a son like that, you know, to kind of hold up as the future, 643 00:43:39,590 --> 00:43:42,810 know. It's like he's kind of giving me his blessing there in the photo. 644 00:43:44,270 --> 00:43:48,370 He contributed a whole lot to the wrestling business. 645 00:43:48,770 --> 00:43:49,910 He pushed the envelope. 646 00:43:50,150 --> 00:43:53,890 The loose cannon gimmick is one of the best ones ever created. 647 00:43:54,410 --> 00:43:57,530 And Brian was one of the best friends that I had in business. 648 00:43:58,050 --> 00:44:01,510 And I hope that he thought the same about me. I love Brian.