Bruce Prichard on The Death of Brian Pillman 

Rest in peace to the man who doesn't get credit for really starting the Attitude Era. His Loose Cannon character was brilliant.

Stone Cold Steve Austin still wears the gold chain that Brian Pillman gave him when they were the Hollywood Blonds

I can't even begin to comprehend how much better would the Attitude era be with Brian Pillman in it.

I didn't appreciate Brian Pillman when he was alive, but I have come to really appreciate what he was able to do. Listening to Bruce talk about the situation, touches my heart cause you know he genuinely cared and was deeply affected by the ordeal. R.I.P. Brian Pillman "The Loose Cannon"

Loved the dark side if the ring episode. Brian pillman was so underrated 🙏

I beileve Jim Ross when he says that Brian Pillman died of a broken Heart because everything that has happend in his life at that time left him Heart broken.

"Nothing you do will be right." Boy, that's the truth.

He was so talented. I used to watch him every weekend when he was in WCW. Flyin Brian pillman..I was excited to see him in wwf. He would've been something great and man this was so sad. RIP

brian pillman will always be a legend he should be in the w.w.e hall of fame soon 2020.

Brian Pillman rest in peace

It was his heart but I wonder how much the car accident speed up his death. He probably self medicated and put a lot of stress on himself during that time period.

I’m so glad that his son got into wrestling and is doing an amazing job in MLW with the rest of the Hart family. At least his amazing legacy can go on RIP Brian

October 5, 1997. The day I reported to my first duty station, the USS Nicholson.

Brian was from my home town of Cincinnati OH, so I always liked Brian even as an onstage "heel" loved his last story line against Goldust as he was my favorite wrestler at the time. RIP BRIAN PILLMAN

Why did Vince try to speculate on the cause of death anyway? All he had to say was that Pillman had passed away, and they didn't have information about the details at the time. It's just kind of strange

According to Corny he was the first to know that Pillman had died

I work in the oil industry. Twice we have had guys die during the job, once on my crew. He had a seizure while working 50 ft in the air, he knew something was wrong and untied to begin coming down when it happened. Anyways, one of the times we had to continue doing the job. It was a decision that was highly criticized and the company ended up going bankrupt due to the incident. We had worked with Phil for a long time and I was part of the decision to continue, which we had all of 10 minutes to make while the crew continued. I brought the news to them, I had to explain it to them. They all understood, we did what we had to do, and we shut everything down the next 3 days for an OSHA investigation. Obviously this wouldn't happen today. Everyone supported our decision and praised us for what we'd done, until the heat came. Then all of a sudden we were ostracised. I resigned after 7 years and within 18 months the company was closed due to law suits and inability to get work based on the incident. We had very, very little choice in the matter, it really had to go on for everyone else's safety as there was no way of stopping the flow of hazardous gases without completing the job. But when people who were not there began giving their opinion we were heartless, money hungry, pieces of shit. If we had left that well uncapped we risked exposing many others to H²S, Benzene, and many other deadly gases. We had checked the area prior to beginning and H²S specially was present in lethal amounts. The crew was already dressed in chemical suits and hooked up to 300ft fresh air hoses. H²S will kill you instantly if it is concentrated at over 1,000 parts per 1,000,000. That means if you take a breath and any more than .001% of what you intake contains H²S, you will be dead immediately. You can not see, taste, or smell this gas at those concentrations, if the wind blows the wrong way the entire crew can die as well as God knows who else down wind from it....Unfortunately in life people that are lucky enough not to have to make the hard calls don't always realize the reality of a situation...RIP Phillip L. As your friend I believe in my heart that you understand why we did what we did and I hope anyone in my shoes would do the same thing and I consider the men on that crew to be some of the most exemplary men on the planet.

The ticking time bomb. Even with his foot messed up, he still put on a solid match every time he fought. The attitude era would have been better with Pillman in it. Rest in peace to The Loose Cannon.

The original version of Stone Cold when they tried making him a heel, Brian Pillman as the Loose Cannon & Goldust were like the 1st characters that started pushing the limit more towards the attitude era.

Story was chilling! Just picturing it go down in my mind as he tells it. RIP. Flyin Brian.

Flyin Brian Pillman was one of my favorites as a kid in WCW man what a loss RIP

The Loose Cannon, one of my favorites of all-time, I was only born 2 years after he passed but I remember watching Raw is War on 24/7 on Demand and the night they showed his tribute I was shocked.

A great talent that never got a world title run for either WWF or WCW or ECW I’m sure he would’ve been a great heel champion, wonder what he would be doing now if he was alive

The tone of both guys brings a level of realism to this situation that makes this a VERY serious podcast. No joking, no laughing, just the facts. Conrad makes a very legit argument about towing the company line and Vince setting his company up as a victim. The reason I love Something to Wrestle is Conrad isn’t afraid to point out the obvious and challenge Bruce. At times it’s adversarial, but only because Conrad doesn’t mind playing Devils Advocate. Whereas Bruce doesn’t wanna step on toes, which is admirable as well. I’m a fan because, both parties in the podcast keep it real. Conrad is the Arn Anderson of podcasting. Put him with anyone and it’s successful. He does his homework and he has NO fear.

Wow! Bruce is being very forth coming and to be treated like shit is really screwed up. Guess some people don't have respect which is a damn shame.

He was the first of The Hart Foundation tragedies. Owen was next than Bulldog years later The Anvil

I don't blame Vince for saying what he said. The cops / media put it out there they found empty script bottles doors gonna be assumed he died from it.

Brian Pillman died on my BDay! I STILL Remember the day, Sunny day in S.Carolina and was in middle of BDay party when I found out! I will never forget how great he was!! Im fortunate to own a piece of him, A signed WCW Photo he signed! Will ALWAYS TREASURE IT!

Not only was he taking drugs but he had the same heart problem as his father who died years earlier.

It kind of was both. Pillman had a heart attack, but with the levels of pills he had in his system can only hurt your heart. He didn't OD, but the pills certainly didn't help.

I find it strange that bruce and conrad sound a lot alike lol

a pre-injury pillman was one of the most fun wrestlers to watch

Was a sad day for me to I loved his loose cannon gimmick and I thought he was a cool guy also and a great performer in the ring as well rip brian

Listen to Brian Pillman jr talk about his mother . She certainly didn't mourn the death , she brought her new boyfriend a new truck with the money

Watched him at the Scope in Norfolk,VA perform against Sid Vicious. Such an amazing athlete with loads of charisma. 😓RIP

Thank You Sir! I Very Happy That You Cleared This Up!!

As a kid I LOVED ME SOME FLYING BRIAN, HE had as much STARPOWER as STONE COLD, I'm rooting for his son to succeed.......

Conrad is just being ridiculous. In that situation Vince was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Let's say that pillman did die of a drug overdose and Vince knowing his history with drugs didn't say anything about it and then the media gets a hold of the story and they try to say that Vince is trying to cover up some drug scandal and that he clearly doesn't care about his performers lives and that he must not care about the health of said performers. Vince would have been screwed either way so coming out with it as soon as it happened was probably the best way for him to handle it. Vince was not trying to make pillman look bad.

When someone dies it's sad. To me the reason doesn't really matter. And when you're young it's even sadder.

It's sad how much of a painful like he had. Riddled with throat problems his whole life then the accident and riddled with infection. It's like his life was one big ball of pain, I can't blame him for the pills honestly.

I really got into his loose-cannon character...the pillmans got a gun episode really got me with great anticipation of what Austin was going to do...the cop out of the video feed going black and everybody being ok really lost me...sure brought it all back down to earth reality.

RIP flyin Brian!

"Hey, Vince, Brian Pillman is dead." "Get over it, pal." "Is that all you can say?" "No. I think we're going to put the Blue Blazer gimmick on Owen Hart again. We've got money to make."

Its been rumored he was partying the night before

I watched Bret Hart's documentary Wrestling With Shadows. It hit me in the feels because so many wrestlers in it are now dead. The worst bit was that Brian was in it and then they showed the Montreal Screwjob. I didn't know until recently that Brian died in October and then the Screwjob happened a month later. So throughout that documentary being made Brian died and there was no mention of it at all. Man, that's brutal. R.I.P sorry I was born too late. I never had a real chance to appreciate you x

When he wus born he had like throat cancer basically an had i believe 30 some surgerys because of this. I got his dvd his sister an mother talk about it.He wus basically family to the harts wrestled and trained by stu hart bret an owens father.He wus a NFL PLAYER I BELIEVE THE BENGALS A FOUR HORSEMEN MEMBER AND A MEMBER OF THE HART FOUNDATION AN IN 90'S WRESTLED FOR ECW WCW AND WWF RIP PILLMAN 🕯

Conrad knows that EVERYONE would speculate drugs whether Vince said it or not on the Pay Per View.

I'll never forget it. I was watching the Free For All and Vince comes on and announces Pillman's death and you have remember this was when the Attitude/edgy-era was starting and Pillman had already been involved in quite a few crazed angles that blurred the line between what's real and what isn't. So I was thinking, "Man, they're REALLY going hardcore with this Goldust/Pillman feud! To actually say he died! Are they going to say Goldust killed him?". It wasn't like today, internet and cellphones weren't as prevalent, and I didn't actually watch the PPV. So I was still wondering if it wasn't real. I remember thinking if Nitro acknowledges it tomorrow it's real and, yep, Nitro opened with a card about Pillman's death. It was a bit stunning.

The show must go on.

To be fair, a physical fit male in his 30s dead in his hotel room with no foul play, is an instant thought overdose. I was 14 when this happened and even a 14 year old has questions when a man just dies with no foul play. Conrad is just grilling, or just has an agenda against vince..

I give Vince a pass on how he handled everything with Brian Pillman. Do I think it was right? No but the guys only human and we have seen for ourselves that he learned from this mistake because it’s not like he handled all the other wrestler deaths after this the same way. The problem is when Vince McMahon makes a mistake it’s recorded live on TV for everyone to watch from now until the end of time. I am pretty sure that if all my mistakes were recorded and put on television or RU-vid or something that it would be hard for me to explain how I was wrong as well. One thing I am tired of, and wrestling fans are at the top of the list of people who are like this is when someone makes a mistake wrestling fans in particularly judge very harshly and unfairly. I can promise you that if we were to go to every wrestling fan in America and went to all of their jobs and sat there and watch them and broadcasted them at work and criticize them for every mistake they made they would probably run away crying.

OK the guy with Bruce is sort of losing his shit, it sounds odd.

Brian Pillman worked it better than most.

can tell bruce is still very effected by it

Cornette's recollection of this is a little different.

OD is usually not intentional.

Conrad is the definition of a backseat driver.

RIP pillman he lloked like kenny omega b4 kenny did

People die at any age with hart attacks and strokes .I had a work mate did not turn up to work no one could get hold of him after the 2nd day no show at work contact was made with his parents who went to his house and found him hanging on to life he had a stroke at 35 years old he had been a top swimmer who had just missed out on the Olympics in his younger days and two days at home with out help was the final act for that lads life

Man, Conrad was hot as fuck here. Damn.

I've seen a lot of my favorite wrestlers die over the years. Losing Pillman hit me the hardest, it felt like I lost a friend for some reason. 😞

This discussion escalated quickly, damn. Breathe Conrad.

is Conrad playing Devil's Advocate ? cause he sounds like a jerk with a vendetta otherwise

He had been popping pills like mad and was dr and pharmacy shopping all over the Cincinnati area. So it wasn't a reach to see overdose as a possibility.

I always thought he died of a drug overdose. I guess i always believed that because of Vince's announcement.

What’s with Conrad? Why is screaming at Bruce?

The biggest tragedy in wrestling history in my mind

I would love to know the reaction from the hart foundation and what they thought wen they heard he die. I remember Owen walking out to his match that night and you can tell the look on his face he was hurting bad and then Bret and Davey during the interview they couldn barley even talk right cause of pillman death. Would love to know what they thought about it

I continue to further dislike Conrad. He's a "know-it-all" without knowing it all.

Studies say opoid overdose can lead to heart attack and it increases likelyhood when opiates are abused from what I read.

Last half got pretty contentious.

I was so heartbroken when Brian died I cried almost every night for the next 2 months

Remember when the newspaper hotline falsely reported Matt Borne died?

Wish all the Hart foundation could have been there during the attitude era. If there's one thing that was missing from the A.E it was wrestling

Conrad needs to calm down. He gets on my nerves when he starts twisting everything Bruce says and only lets him say half of what he meant before cutting him off yelling and cussing. I like Conrad but he needs to calm it.

I love the way Conrad calls out Bruce hard and heavy Vince loves to explode people for his financial gain.....

Got to watch one of Brians last matches live in Biloxi when he was in a dress wrestling Goldust

Conrad needs to calm down. There's a big difference between speculating and saying "I think" and up front saying "Authorities have speculated the possibility of." Now I hate Vince McMahon as much as the next guy. But give him shit he deserves, don't just shit down his neck by default. You only devalue the legitimate arguments against him. Seriously, really sit back an analyze your argument next time. Some of your stuff literally sounds like ranting just to rant and doing so not ironically.

Finally - I always wondered what happened.. and yes I figured it was a drug overdose...

I probably would had to walk out when Vince got snappy I understand he got a big buisness but no matter what money is money a life is much more

Pillman was known for going through others lockers for pills.

Who thought putting his wife on TV was a good idea? It was the most classless thing I have seen in the WWF and that is a high bar? Did Bruce or JR or anyone that wasn't wrestling talent have to take drug tests? We LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE You Bruce

That would be the worst position to be in Bruce is right. Pillman was a huge talented loss. Problem with wwe is they don't give their staff time to mourn like here and Owen Hart etc.

Jim Cornette said he called the hotel, and the desk clerk notified him. He then Bruno to get Pritchard, and told him. Pritchard always skews the truth just enough to give himself the most credit in the situation. He was born for the corporate world, that's for sure. Its always funny hearing a yuppie trying to curse casually, its like when a cop does, its different than when someone who casually curses a lot does it. It sounds rehearsed and insincere (as [in/]sincere as a curse can sound). Also, its odd hearing him actually criticize his Lord McMahon. Normally, Pritchard says he held the ladder while Vince hung the moon. As far as conrad accusing Vince of addressing the suggestion that drugs may have been involved: its called preemptive (potential) damage control. Vince is a billionaire bc he knows business, and PR work.

Why would Vince or anybody bring up the pills and beer? No reason for that but yea Vince put the idea out there the media picked up on it and ran with it.

His son needs to get pushed at aew

Yeah, I don't like how pushy this guy gets at times. Not cool.

RIP to the lose cannon Brian Pillman.

i remember the shameful interview wwe did with his widow not more than 24 hours later for some ratings,and vince asked her whats next? and she said i dont even know what day it is,real fukin classy vince

Conrad needs replaced

Proud of Conrad. Pritchard is so full of shit. We, everyone, have a right to assume prior to full knowledge when drugs are rampant in the business. However the owner of the fucking company has no place to smear a man's name with accusations when he doesn't know shit. Pritchard making excuses for Vince shows he still, still covering for the business. The company's biggest star was constantly messed up. Maybe giving Shawn a drug test could've helped this clean up this filthy business just a little. But no. Why? Simple because Shawn is Vince's main man. I love pro wrestling. However sometimes I'm ashamed to admit it. Who answers to and for the dead?

Someone's mad.

Who's had more to drink?

💨

I hate when the current WW"E" fanboy compares that lame ass Dean Ambrose to Pillman. Ambrose doesn't equal up to a shit stain in Pillman's trunks.

Every time he says "worth mentioning "... its not.

I once made the terrible terrible mistake of informing a loved one over the phone. It was pretty abrupt and definitely unnecessary since I could have easily driven to inform the person in person. I still feel like an ass... I thought of that as Bruce mentioned his call to Melanie. WTF was I thinking when I did that....?

I thought it was a drug overdose before Vince said anything...dude needs to calm down.

Conrad calm down Bro!

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