Eric Bischoff On His Reaction to Brian Pillman’s Death, Addressing Drug Issues in WCW

– On the latest 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed his reaction to Brian Pillman’s passing in 1997 and meeting with talent to discuss drug issues afterward. Pillman passed away in October of that year, just before he was set to face Mick Foley at Badd Blood. There was speculation at the time that Pillman’s death may have been caused by drugs. His death was ultimately ruled to be a heart attack caused by caused by previously undetected arteriosclerotic heart disease, though it was believed that his drug issues may have contributed.

Discussing the matter, Bischoff discussed the meeting he had with the WCW roster in which he asked wrestlers to come to him if they had problems, and that the company would treat it like an injury, not a punitive issue. Highlights from the discussion and the full podcast are below:

On his reaction to Pillman’s death: “My own personal reaction, I was — devastated may be too strong a word. Brian and I weren’t that close and I don’t want to suggest that we were. But I was really saddened by it, obviously. Brian was someone who I considered a friend, regardless of the business issues that we may or may not have had from time to time. And you know, you’re always going to have those in business, especially in an entertainment business where people are fighting for as much spotlight and leverage as they can possibly get. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. But that comes with the territory. But beyond those issues, Brian was just someone that I dug being around. He was a guy that I got to know a little bit in WCW prior to getting into management. Spent a little bit of time with him on a European tour, and had quite a bit of fun. And like I said, as I got into management, Brian and I had a pretty good working relationship, so it really saddened me in a big way. I know a lot of guys that Brian worked with in the locker room and were part of the WCW roster were, a lot of them were devastated. Some of them were very close to Brian, and it was — I would say shocking, but not surprising, is unfortunately probably the most accurate to state most people’s reactions. But regardless of what was going on in Brian’s personal life, he was a very well-liked individual.”

On meeting with talent about drug issues afterward: “It was my decision, but fully supported by corporate. There was nobody that didn’t want to try to do the right thing. I think we were all well aware, and obviously we weren’t clairvoyant enough to know the depth of the issue, both in WCW and in WWF or E at the time. WWF I guess, still. But the fact that it got so much publicity forced us to really look internally and make a commitment to address the issue, and not just look at it as a one-off type of a thing. It was apparent to us even back then that there was just too much drug use going on. And what I said was true in that meeting. I never — and it stands to reason, nobody’s going to do drugs around the boss. I didn’t see anybody doing anything illegal. And the illegal drugs really weren’t the issue. It was the prescription drugs that were obvious to me even back then — and as we know now in 2019, prescription drugs are one of the biggest crises in America. But in 1997 at this point, it was apparent to me that it really wasn’t cocaine, it wasn’t pot, it wasn’t any other type of typical, you know, meth or heroine or anything like that. It was prescription drugs [that] were the issue. And they were just way too easy to get, they were way too easy to abuse. There were guys going to Mexico on a regular basis and coming back with small garbage bags filled with stuff that they were buying over the counter, that would be otherwise a prescription-only drug here in the States. So it was an issue, and it was my attempt — our attempt as a company — to address it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.