Brian Pillman

[Johnny Vegas]

What is the big deal about the guy? I remember him a little bit back in the mid 90s, but not that much. I guess i am stirring up this question from the "wrestlers who haven't shown their full potential" thread. Why is this guy loved so much??






-PEANUT BUTTA JELLY

[Zen v.W.o.]

He is loved simply because he fucking ruled.

And he ruled because of these factors:

His look.
His style.
His incredible mic and promo skills.
Great wrestling ability.
His intelligence. Adavanced thinking.
He seemed legitimately psycho, and played that role better then any other "psycho" could dream to try.
He was a part of the Hart Foundation as bonus points, along with the Horsemen, the two greatest stables in the history of wrestling.
He was ahead of his time.

If this does not convince you, then videos shall be procured for you, and you will fully understand. If not, then I dont know what to say, help should be provided for you.

[Johnny Vegas]

Yea, i was about to say..i need to see some of these promos and footage because people can have opinions...but this guy according to TPWW was a GoD

[Zen v.W.o.]

I have quite a few. I'll up them in a bit.

[Johnny Vegas]

WPRD UP

[94 SVT Cobra]

He is loved simply because he fucking ruled.


He was ahead of his time.

.

Light years ahead, right now, hed still be 3443049040 years away from being near his time if he was alive.

[Zen v.W.o.]

Pillmans ecw debut:

http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3JRLXVSB0QYTI3S5HBQEOJB6S1

Pillman with another ecw promo, fights a pencil:

http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0TIK1N03A1VCI3J8C2A7XATVX7

Pillman vs Liger at superbrawl:

http://s40.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3B6WNLMMGSUMQ12TBUTT40L8MV

Pillman vs Mankind, Raw is war:

http://s40.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3JP6FY42YRQAK25TKW8UKQO9RO

More to come later, as I got a pretty good amount of shit.

[mrslackalack]

He is loved simply because he fucking ruled.

And he ruled because of these factors:

His look.
His style.
His incredible mic and promo skills.
Great wrestling ability.
His intelligence. Adavanced thinking.
He seemed legitimately psycho, and played that role better then any other "psycho" could dream to try.
He was a part of the Hart Foundation as bonus points, along with the Horsemen, the two greatest stables in the history of wrestling.
He was ahead of his time.

If this does not convince you, then videos shall be procured for you, and you will fully understand. If not, then I dont know what to say, help should be provided for you.

:y:

[mrslackalack]

His DVD is scheduled for release this year. That will prolly help in getting an idea and respect of Pillman because he had great promos and matches.

[Rob]

Where's LC when you need him?



But Pillman was awesome. Hopefully the DVD will come close to showing it.

[Zen v.W.o.]

2 more matches for now, till I get more up:


Pillman vs Flair:

http://s42.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3861KNIK3NN1Y1CVFK2BO0DEZX


Pillman vs Mean Mark(Now known as the undertaker):

http://s42.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3C2TF8TS6LRAT2BQZLKEUQJPSZ

[Nervous Ferret]

stfu LC

[Loose Cannon]

I dunno, he's not really an "god" here on TPWW really. Just me and mostly the posters in this thread are the ones that put him in that light I guess.

It's always tough for me to explain Pillman to people who haven't seen most or all of his career. Especially 95-97. He was just so different that you just had to put him on a whole other planet compared to everyone else at that time. I always say that around that time there was wrestling and then there was Pillman.

You really have two versions of Pillman. Early on, Pillman was a fantastic wrestler. He was a great high flyer and worked a technical style as well. Him and Liger had some tremendous matches for the Lightheavyweight Title. He was the perfect babyface during this time. Then he showed how awesome he could be as a heel with Austin. The Hollywood Blondes could of went down as the greatest team ever had they been given more time. Pillman showed true "character" abilities as a Blonde and could also wrestle as good as anyone else.

Then he fucked up his ankle and that's where his "wrestling" career went downward. He could no loger move and fly like he used to. But the thing is, his wrestling took a backseat to his ability to play a character starting in 95. He became the Loose Cannon. He rarely won matches, but everything he did on TV was like nothing you had seen before. He basically fooled everyone, from wrestlers to smarks, into believing he was actually insane. Everyone thought it was real. The "I respect you bookerman" line he mouthed off on PPV to Kevin Sullivan (WCW booker at the time) was something that was unheard of in 1996. He broke Kayfabe on live TV, a huge no no at that time.

Like I said it's hard for me to explain why is was so good. Zen's clips may help, but it's like you needed to live through it. That ECW interview at Cyberslam (which I think is Zen's 1st clip) was insane for that time. People really thought he was fired from WCW and then he starts taking shots at "Smarks." He actually said the term and blasted them on PPV. Unheard of. And just look at the Gun Incident from WWE. Unheard of for 1997.

All in all, Pillman was just real different. He changed the business a lot and that's what I'll mostly remember him for.

[NeanderCarl]

Actually, I have to slightly disagree with some of you guys. Pillman was always a great wrestler, but I don't think he'd be light years ahead of his time if he were still around today. The madman gimmick would have lost its novelty long ago by now, and that's where Pillman would have a problem... reinventing himself. It took him many bland years in the business to establish an entertaining gimmick (not counting the tag team, The Hollywood Blondes). That he stumbled upon a gimmick that was gold was great. But could he have done that again?

Plus, his matches after his injury were not up to his previous standard. Not his fault, of course (his ankle was completely fused together, I believe), but I seriously doubt Pillman would still be wrestling, or certainly not at a main event level, if he were still around today. IMO.

Great in his day, though, and one day... Hall of Fame??

[Nervous Ferret]

wooooo see what I did there, I told LC to stfu before he even replied. stalker_style.

[Loose Cannon]

WTF? That makes zero sense. How do you talk about "today" to a guy that died almost ten years ago. You can't do that. That's like me saying, how would we know Babe Ruth would of been a .356 hitter with 700+ homeruns in today's era? Hall of famer?

Yea, the gimmick probably would of lost its novelty. It's been ten years. That's like a no brainer. Who's to say whether or not he would of been great today. He would of probably retired around 2000 anyway.

[NeanderCarl]

I was just referring to 94 SVT Cobra's post, when he suggested that Pillman would still be light years ahead today if he were alive.

And if I can't speculate where Pillman would be in the business today if he had lived, then how can you speculate that he would have retired in 2000?

[Loose Cannon]

cause he was in so much pain and all fucked up that it's not really far fetched.

Just like a gimmick losing its novelty after 7-10 years is not really that far fetched.

[NeanderCarl]

I know it would probably lose it's novelty. Where did far-fetched come into it? Don't get all defensive, I'm not knocking the guy. I was just pondering whether Brian could have re-invented himself again with the same success. If he was still alive (and for the sake of argument, then, if he had never suffered his injuries) I just wonder if he'd still be "light years ahead" even to this day, or if it was right time, right place and that was his lucky break back in 1996.

[NeanderCarl]

Now I sound like I'm suggesting Brian was just lucky.

For the record, can I just clarify: I believe Brian Pillman was an excellent wrestler for the majority of his career, and his "Loose Cannon"/"Time Bomb" gimmick was superbly crafted and performed, to the point of genius. There.

It's just a rhetorical "what if..." that we're dealing with. Could he have done it again?

[Chuck Jones]

The wrestling world needs someone like Brian Pillman today, to offer his insight. He could teach guys how to cut promos.

I still miss the guy.

[Stickman]

If he wasn't around, who would've paved the way for all "loose cannon" wrestlers?

[Johnny Vegas]

LOL That ECW debut promo, what did he stab that "fan" with?

[Rob]

Actually, I have to slightly disagree with some of you guys. Pillman was always a great wrestler, but I don't think he'd be light years ahead of his time if he were still around today. The madman gimmick would have lost its novelty long ago by now, and that's where Pillman would have a problem... reinventing himself. It took him many bland years in the business to establish an entertaining gimmick (not counting the tag team, The Hollywood Blondes). That he stumbled upon a gimmick that was gold was great. But could he have done that again?

Plus, his matches after his injury were not up to his previous standard. Not his fault, of course (his ankle was completely fused together, I believe), but I seriously doubt Pillman would still be wrestling, or certainly not at a main event level, if he were still around today. IMO.

Great in his day, though, and one day... Hall of Fame??

His injuries did seriously stamper his career but he still could have worked to a good enough level since he was only a good enough worker and other guys with similar problems (Kerry Von Erich and Scott Steiner to name two) worked great matches despite foot problems. Also, Pillman's gimmick definately would have run it's course but the thing is he would have been huge by the time it did so it would have been time for a change anyway and he could have done it. He already reinvented himself enough to prove it from Flyin Brian to the Hollywood Blondes to the Loose Cannon.

Brian never wanted to leave WCW. He was bluntly told by Eric Bischoff that if he could never take over Lex Luger's position because Luger made a stupid amount of money. So Pillman's idea was that if he ever wanted to main event (that was all he lived for) then he'd have to make main event money so the Loose Cannon was born. And don't believe what anyone says now, NOBODY knew it was a work. There were 3 guys in on it - Pillman, Bischoff and Kevin Sullivan. Not another soul. Not Steve Austin, Dave Meltzer (good friend of his) or Vince McMahon. Infact, there is a really funny story about the first time the Loose Cannon met Vince McMahon in public at a TV convention in Las Vegas where Vince wasn't clued in and Pillman was doing the full gimmick out in public.

[Loose Cannon]

LOL That ECW debut promo, what did he stab that "fan" with?

fork

[McLegend]

I thought it was pen

[Loose Cannon]

no, a fork.

Then there's this great little segment a few weeks after that where Pillman's in a restraunt and he's talking to the waiter and eating. The waiter says something to Pillman and Pillman says something back all nice and stuff.

Then Pillman says something like "It's all just a work you know, I'm not really the Loose Cannon."

The waiter walks away and Pillman turns to the camera and goes "It's all just thier perception of reality (I think that's the line. Rob knows it) and he starts stabbing his food with his fork while staring right into the camera with a pycho look.

That was awesome.

[Rob]

"Don't confuse perception with reality"

And it was awesome. Can't wait for this DVD now.

[Zen v.W.o.]

Pretty sure this is gonna be pretty cool for Pillman fans.

It's the final segment from Raw back on April 21st 1997. Pillman returns to try and break Austins ankle after so many months away. You also see Bulldog and Owen before beat on him, till HBK makes the run in. Full segment too.

http://s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3OGNAV20DAC9R1P7M2HIO5IZK7

[Loose Cannon]

Top 3 of my fav segments of all-time. If they ever make a figure of him in Jakks classic line, that's excatly the Pillman I want.

[Loose Cannon]

lol, I think that's where he smacks the guy wearing the Reeces Pieces shirt in the face after jumping the baracade. Don't know if that video shows it.

[redoneja]

Wow, I can't really say anything more than what Zen, LC, and Rob have put forth.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Was Pillman actually involved in his own storyline at the time of his death? Or was he just a member of the Hart Foundation and not in an angle of his own.

[Zen v.W.o.]

Yes LC he does smack the guy in the face. I think the long haired guy. There's also a smaller girl there that gets shoved around a bit with all the commotion, and she didnt look happy.

And yes, he was involved in his own storyline with Goldust and Marlena for a time, in fact I think Pillman and she were gonna actually pull a trick on Goldust and she'd in the end join Pillman. After that I'm not sure if Pillman would have remained as part of the Hart Foundation, as I cant see them hanging with marlena. I think he would have remained allies with them obviously, yet distance himself a tad from the Foundation, which is what he was doing essentially in that last month.

[Zen v.W.o.]

And just because, here's the gun segment from raw:

http://s62.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2UIPTTAIKEDFG2T4EADJ7PLF98

[Fox]

Short answer:

He was a good wrestler, and then he died, so his stock value shot up about 1,000 points post mortis (ala Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison in the music world).

No disrespect to the Loose Cannon, because he was an amazing talent, but come on. It's the Forever 27 syndrome.

[Loose Cannon]

no, because he's not even held in a "greatness" kind of light even today. He rarely gets mentioned as one of the greatest among wrestling fans today. Only a few people on here ever talk about him. Those singers you mentioned are like icons to millions of people. Pillman certainly is not. He's respected by the fans that saw him, not by a lot of these new age Post Attitude era fans, which make up a lot of the fan base today.

But at least people inside the WWE understood what an impact the guy had on the business for him to get his own DVD.

[Xero]

Like Owen Hart is.

(Had to get that in. :-\)

[hb2k]

Pillman was the talk of the wrestling community by creating a character that had people talking. Injuries made it so that he wasn't the phenomenal wrestler he once was, but it's a real shame he died, because Pillman was just starting to be used well after the crap where he had to wear a dress, by fucking with Goldust's mind with the whole Marlena thing...