Jim Ross On Finding Out Brian Pillman Had Passed, The Death Taking Place Just Before Badd Blood

– On the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed the tragic death of Brian Pillman on the night before the Badd Blood PPV. Pillman was scheduled to face Dude Love at the October 5th, 1997 PPV, but the night before the show he died in his hotel room in Minnesota. An autopsy eventually named a heart attack as the cause Pillman’s death, though Steve Austin said in his book The Stone Cold Truth that the heart attack was caused by arteriosclerotic heart disease, which had previously gone undetected. Pillman’s father also died of a heart attack brought on by the disease when Pillman was just three months old.

Highlights from the discussion, and the full podcast, are below:

On when he found out Brian Pillman had passed: “Late that night. I think one of the agents called me, might have been Jack Lanza. It was shocking, especially with such a weekend that we had planned there in St. Louis. You know, with all the former NWA champions coming back, and the first-ever Hell in a Cell match that nobody knew exactly how it was processed, how it was going to be produce. And a new structure, the roof on it, the extra size, all that stuff. So it monopolized our thoughts, and least it certainly did mine. Because I was instrumental in bringing Brian to WCW and to WWE. I considered him my friend. He was an ornery little bastard, but boy he was talented and I loved him. I still miss him. A great mind for the business. But that kind of overtook — it affected the sizzle of the weekend. ’cause for a lot of us old-school guys, going back to St. Louis with a major show was a big deal. It’s like going to the Garden. St. Louis was the New York City of the midwest as far as wrestling was concerned. So it was a big deal there. I heard about it [in] the middle of the night. I was already in St. Louis.”

On his reaction to the news: “It was sad, man, it was just shockingly sad. And I still think about what could I have done along the way to help Brian. And you know, I had him drug tested randomly, we did all kinds of things in that respect to try to curb the tide there. But you know, he just had these issues, and God bless him, he never got to live his dream. And I think that Humvee accident where he got his ankle fused was one of the major nails in the coffin. Because he couldn’t be as athletic with a fused ankle as he was prior to that, obviously. And that hurt him, because his athleticism, being Brian’s, was one of his calling cards. In addition, his face looked fresh, his attitude, his promos. But his amazing athleticism was incredible.”

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