Melanie Pillman Passes Away

Melanie Pillman, wife of the legendary "Flyin'" Brian Pillman, and mother to current AEW performer Brian Pillman Jr, passed away Wednesday, according to her son.

Melanie made a pair of appearances on WWE programming in relation to her husband. She was part of the infamous 1996 TV angle where Steve Austin tried to break into the Pillman home while Brian wielded a gun in self-defense. A year later, one day after Brian's sudden passing, Melanie took part in a controversial interview with Vince McMahon on Monday Night Raw via satellite.

In May of 2021, Melanie appeared on a two-part Dark Side of the Ring documentary focused on the life and times of her husband.

Brian Jr's Instagram tribute to his mother reads, in full:

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Yesterday at approximately 1:00pm my mother, Melanie Pillman, was pronounced dead.

Those of you who know our family story understand that I didn’t have the best relationship with my mother, though my sister and I had recently been in touch with her, working to improve that relationship.

While I didn’t spend too much time with her, she would ALWAYS tune into my twitch streams and interact with my fans, often times sharing with them old stories about my father and the wrestling business. She had been helping out my sister with her son Asher by purchasing him baby clothes, and was on relatively good terms with everyone as of late.

Her death, while unexpected, was not surprising. Her lifestyle choices that dominated the better part of the last 25 years of her life had ultimately caught up with her.

She was as intelligent as she was beautiful and her dark sense of humor could make even the biggest prude burst out in laughter.

Although I had my built up resentment towards her, I was very proud of her for taking part in the DSOTR documentary and sharing the truth about our family story. That was the beginning of us mending our relationship.

I do have regrets. I regret not giving her the time of day when she was trying so hard to be in our lives again. I regret not texting her back even though I had the time to. I regret not trying harder to break her of her bad habits and help her get the help she needed.

A couple weeks ago she had been tuning into my twitch stream when she told me in chat that she was coming over to Linda’s house to drop off some trading cards. I didn’t see it in chat so I was annoyed at her for showing up un-announced. I met her outside and accepted the gift and gave her a hug and she went on her way. I truly regret not sitting down with her for a little bit or going to grab lunch with her. I regret being upset with her simply because she wanted to see her son. She actually looked really healthy and sober. That was the last time I saw her.

Thank you mom for bringing me into this world and for trying your absolute best. You were my number 1 fan in wrestling and on Twitch.

Rest In Peace. I love you .

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Cultaholic offers its condolences to the entire Pillman family.