Dean Malenko Recalls Honoring Wish Of Late WCW Referee, Placing His Ashes In Ring Turnbuckles So Pyro Would Scatter The Ashes
The late referee’s wish was honored.
A story about the late Brian Hildebrand, a.k.a. Mark Curtis, was told by Dean Malenko during a virtual signing with Signed By Superstars.
Hildebrand, a former referee for ECW and WCW, passed away in 1999 after a two-year battle with cancer. Malenko revealed that one of Hildebrand’s dying wishes was to have his ashes placed in ring turnbuckles so the pyro at a WCW show would scatter them. Malenko made sure to honor that wish.
“Did you ever hear the story of how we put him away? So Brian (Hildebrand) told me and Chris, ‘I wanna go — my ashes, put it in the turnbuckles so when the pyro goes off, it could blow up.’ I forget the town but I think maybe Atlanta. So we put ‘em in all four corners, and when the pyro blew, you see the dust coming out. So, it was a really cool night.”
Hildebrand started his career in wrestling as a heel manager, and at one point, he managed Mick Foley when he was Cactus Jack. Hildebrand moved to Smokey Mountain Wrestling as a referee/wrestler and then made his way to ECW and eventually WCW to be a referee.
If the quote in this article is used, please credit Signed By Superstars with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
