WBAL-TV in Baltimore, MD is reporting that a student at a Severn, MD professional wrestling school is dead from a head injury sustained while training.
25-year-old Quentin V. Jackson died in the hospital's shock trauma unit on Friday, January 20. On Thursday, January 19, Jackson was training at "Gillberg's Pro Wrestling Academy" in Severn, MD.
Jackson's fellow students at the school said he was doing repetitions of what is defined as a "back bump". During training, students are instructed to do large sets of "back bump" repetitions on the wrestling canvas where they repeatedly fall on their back in a specific manner. Those at the school during the incident said Jackson did not tuck his chin properly on a back bump attempt and slammed his head on the canvas. An ambulance was called to take him to the hospital, where he died the next day.
Police are ruling the death an accident and no foul play is suspected. At the time of his admittance to the school, Jackson (and all other students) signed a waiver, clearing the school of any liability for injuries.
The school, run by former professional wrestler Duane "Gillberg" Gill, has been operating since July 2010 and has had no records of severe injuries until now. Gill, 52, wrestled on national television frequently in the 1980s and 1990s for the World Wrestling Federation (now known simply as WWE) and World Championship Wrestling. Gill achieved his highest fame in the late-90s WWF as "Gillberg", a parody of rival WCW's top star, Bill Goldberg. Gill, under his Gillberg persona, won the WWF Light-Heavyweight Championship and held the title for a record-setting 14 months.
