on august 28 2014, he got sick during a flight from atlanta to las vegas where he was supposed to attend a birthday event for wrestler nick cvjetkovich. it was first reported that roberts had become unconscious but it was later confirmed that he was both alert and awake during the flight and had notified the flight attendant of pain and shortness of breath. it was stated that he was in a 'coma-like' state in order to treat pneumonia. after he was taken to the icu in las vegas, he was diagnosed with pneumonia, which was something his own doctors missed. it was also confirmed that doctors had found an abnormality on his brain which they feel could be a result of all the bumps robert's took over his career.