Brian Pillman
Encyclopedia
Brian William Pillman (May 22, 1962 – October 5, 1997) was an American
football player
and professional wrestler
best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation
, Extreme Championship Wrestling
, and World Championship Wrestling
.
Pillman had a legacy as "The Loose Cannon", a wrestling gimmick that would see him do a series of worked-shoots
that would gain him a degree of infamy for his unpredictable character. He was also known for being extremely agile in the ring, although a car accident in April 1996 from which he received extensive ankle injuries limited his in-ring ability.
, a suburb of Cincinnati.
While attending Miami University
in Oxford, Ohio
, Pillman played football
for the then-Redskins
(now RedHawks) as a Defensive Tackle where he set records in the "tackles for loss" category. A two-time Second Team All-American, he went undrafted by the National Football League
, joining the hometown Cincinnati Bengals
as a free agent in 1984 (where he won the Ed Block Courage Award
for his team) and later the Canadian Football League
for the Calgary Stampeders
in 1986. He also played for the Buffalo Bills
in preseason action in 1985 but was the last player cut before the start of that season. His attempts to make the roster of the Bengals were covered in a series of articles in The Cincinnati Enquirer
.
and his sons. He debuted in November 1986 in Hart's Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling
promotion
.
Pillman quickly formed a tag team with Hart's son Bruce
known as Bad Company (not to be confused with Badd Company
). In April 1987, Bad Company won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
, defeating Ron Starr and the Cuban Assassin
in the finals of a tournament. Their reign lasted until October 1987, when the titles were held up following a controversial ending to a match between Bad Company and their opponents, Jerry Morrow and Makhan Singh
. Bad Company defeated Morrow and Singh in a rematch in November 1987 to regain the titles, eventually losing them to Morrow and the Cuban Assassin in July 1988.
While in Stampede Wrestling, Pillman had his girlfriend at the time, Trisa Hayes
(also known as Beulah McGillicutty), portray his sister in order to get him over as a face
by seating her at ringside and having heel
wrestlers taunt her so that he could rescue her.
, which evolved into World Championship Wrestling
, where he was known as Flyin' Brian due to his athletic ability and variety of aerial maneuvers. He was known for his missile dropkick and diving crossbody. Along with The Rockers
(Shawn Michaels
and Marty Jannetty
of the WWF), he was one of the first American wrestlers to incorporate a variety of Mexican lucha libre
moves into his arsenal. He held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship
with "The Z-Man" Tom Zenk
between February 1990 and May 1990. Pillman later feuded with Barry Windham
, who he harassed while dressed as the masked Yellow Dog after losing a Loser of the fall-leaves-WCW match (Pillman was eventually reinstated). He also held the short-lived WCW World Light Heavyweight Championship
twice between October 1991 and February 1992, feuding with Brad Armstrong, Jushin Liger
, Richard Morton
, and Scotty Flamingo
.
Pillman turned heel in September 1992, frustrated by Brad Armstrong's knee injury and vacating the WCW World Light Heavyweight title, when he was scheduled to wrestle Armstrong for the title at the Clash of the Champions
. In November 1992, he formed a team with Barry Windham, gunning for the NWA
and WCW World Tag Team Championship
s held by Ricky Steamboat
and Shane Douglas
. Windham and Pillman lost to Steamboat and Douglas at Starrcade on December 28. Their team lasted until January 1993, as Windham had his sights on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
. Pillman continued the tag team title hunt by forming a tag team with "Stunning" Steve Austin
known as the Hollywood Blonds. On the March 27, 1993 edition of WCW Power Hour
, the duo won the championships from Steamboat and Douglas. The team quickly became popular for their brash attitudes, and critically acclaimed matches with Steamboat and Douglas through the spring of 1993.
After the feud with Steamboat and Douglas ended, they went on to feud with The Four Horsemen
, mainly Ric Flair
and Arn Anderson
, mocking their ages and parodying Flair's interview show "A Flair for the Gold", with their own "A Flair for the Old". They would lose the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Titles to Anderson and Paul Roma
at Clash of the Champions XXIV (Lord Steven Regal substituted for Pillman, who sufferd a leg injury in a tag team match on an episode of WCW Main Event prior to the Clash of Champions). After the Hollywood Blonds separated in October 1993, Pillman became a face, feuding with his old partner Austin. He would also go after the WCW World Television Championship
, held by Lord Steven Regal, with whom he wrestled to a 15-minute time limit draw at Spring Stampede.
in 1994, as part of a talent exchange between ECW and WCW. His most notable match there was teaming with Shane Douglas, replacing an injured Steve Austin, with Sherri Martel
as their manager, losing to Ron Simmons
and 2 Cold Scorpio
.
, Alex Wright
, and Marcus Bagwell
. In September 1995 Pillman formed a team with Arn Anderson, and began feuding with Ric Flair. After costing Flair a match to Arn Anderson at Fall Brawl, Flair Recruited the help of Sting
to team up against Pillman and Anderson at Halloween Havoc. Pillman and Anderson attacked Flair before the match, forcing Sting to come out alone. When Sting needed a tag the most, Flair came out at the last minute with a bandage on his head, tagged Sting, and immediately turned and attacked him removing the fake bandage from his head to show it was all plan between Pillman, Anderson and Flair from the start. These actions signaled the reuniting of the Four Horsemen
. This incarnation was Flair, Anderson, Pillman, and Chris Benoit
. On September 4, 1995, Pillman wrestled the first match on the very first episode of WCW Monday Nitro
, defeating Jushin Liger in a SuperBrawl II rematch.
At the end of 1995, Pillman developed his "Loose Cannon" gimmick, cultivating a reputation for unpredictable behavior. During this period of time, Pillman changed his once Hollywood Blond and Flyin' Brian clean athletic look for an edgy, out of control image. Even his allies in the Horsemen, especially Anderson, were wary of his behavior and tried in vain to keep him in check. Almost all of the time Pillman could be seen wearing leather vests, sunglasses, jewelry and graphic T-shirts with skulls, monsters and sayings on them. Pillman frequently blurred fact and fiction with his worked-shoots
. In a match with Eddie Guerrero
on the January 23, 1996 edition of Clash of the Champions, Pillman grabbed commentator Bobby Heenan
by the collar, causing Heenan (who had a history of neck problems) to blurt out "What the fuck are you doing?" live on the air (Heenan has since stated that he didn't know it was Pillman grabbing him and he blurted out the remark because he thought he was a fan grabbing him).
Pillman outed Kevin Sullivan
as booker during the February 1996 SuperBrawl VI pay-per-view
in an I Respect You Strap match where the loser announces that they respect the other wrestler, much like an "I Quit" match. Pillman grabbed the microphone, saying, sarcastically, "I respect you, booker man". The words "booker man" were cut from the commercial tape. Pillman was fired by WCW President Eric Bischoff
in February 1996 after SuperBrawl VI. In Bischoff's autobiography he said that Pillman was fired so that he could go and develop the "loose cannon" gimmick in ECW
then return to World Championship Wrestling with more legitimate heat
. Bischoff claims it was a plan he and Pillman came up with together. It would later backfire on Bischoff as Pillman did not return.
-based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, appearing at the annual Internet
convention
, ECW CyberSlam, on February 17, 1996. During an interview conducted in the ring by Joey Styles
, Pillman insulted Bischoff, calling him a commentator, a "gofer
", and a "piece of shit". He turned his attention to the ECW audience, derisively calling them "Smart Marks". After Styles attempted to end the interview, Pillman threatened to "yank out [his] Johnson
" and urinate
in the ring. Pillman was confronted by ECW owner Tod Gordon
, booker Paul Heyman
, and wrestler Shane Douglas
, who had him removed from the ring by security guards. While being dragged from the arena, Pillman attacked a plant sitting in the audience with a fork
he produced from his boot. Although he did not wrestle for ECW, Pillman made several further appearances with the promotion, engaging in a war of words with Douglas, setting up a proposed feud.
He gained the backstage ire of New Jack
when he referred to the tag team consisting of New Jack and Mustafa
(The Gangstas) as "Niggas with Attitudes" (not as a racist comment, but in reference to the rap group N.W.A) when crashing one of their interviews. With his "Loose Cannon" persona, Pillman became the talk for all three major promotions, as he successfully left WCW, he was on his way to the WWF, and he was scheduled to wrestle Shane Douglas in ECW, until tragedy struck on April 15, 1996 when Pillman was badly injured after falling asleep while driving his Hummer H1
in Kentucky
and driving into a tree trunk, flipping the vehicle. He was in a coma
for a week and suffered a shattered ankle, forcing doctors to fuse it together in a fixed position.
on June 10, 1996, with the signing announced in a press conference
. He was the first wrestler to sign a guaranteed contract with the WWF, indicative of the period in which Vince McMahon
began to protect the company from abruptly losing talent to WCW, with Lex Luger
, Kevin Nash
, and Scott Hall
all previously doing so. Pillman acted as a commentator while recovering from his broken ankle, transitioning to a wrestling role after attacking a fan during an episode of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night
.
On the November 4, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw, Pillman took part in the infamous "Pillman's got a gun" angle with Steve Austin. When Pillman initially arrived to the WWF, he aligned himself immediately with his longtime friend and former tag team partner Austin, serving as his lackey while he recovered. However when Pillman began noticeably favoring Austin's nemesis, Bret Hart, Austin had enough and brutally attacked him in the ring during an interview on an episode of WWF Superstars in October 1996. Austin and Pillman had been feuding for several weeks, and Austin had finally decided to take matters into his own hands and visit Pillman, whom he had already injured, at his home in Walton, Kentucky. WWF interviewer Kevin Kelly sat in Pillman's house with a camera crew and the Pillman family, while Pillman's friends surrounded the house to protect him. Austin was attacked by Pillman's friends as soon as he arrived but quickly subdued them. He then proceeded to break into Pillman's home and advance on his nemesis. Pillman responded by producing the same 9 mm pistol that he had displayed earlier and pointing it at a hesitant Austin, while Kelly and Pillman's wife Melanie screamed for help. The camera feed was then disrupted, with the scene fading to black. The on-scene director contacted commentator Vince McMahon and reported that he had heard "a couple explosions." The transmission was restored shortly before the end of Raw, and viewers witnessed Pillman's friends dragging Austin from the house while Pillman aimed the gun at him and announced his intention to "kill that son of a bitch!" Pillman also slipped up by making the mistake of saying "fuck" on live television, which meant that it could not be edited out. The WWF (and Pillman personally) eventually apologized profusely for the entire angle, with Pillman claiming that the profanity "just slipped out".
Following WrestleMania 13
, Pillman aligned himself with his friends Bret Hart
, Owen Hart
, Davey Boy Smith
, and Jim Neidhart
as part of the anti-American Hart Foundation, all of whom he was familiar with from his Stampede Wrestling roots. He began feuding with his former partner, Steve Austin. In the course of the feud, Austin was given on-screen credit for damaging Pillman's ankle in October 1996 after placing it in between the seat and backrest of a folded chair and then jumping on the chair (this particular style of attack has since been dubbed "The Pillmanizer," in honor of this incident, despite Shane Douglas
performing exactly the same maneuver to Raven
in ECW nearly a full year earlier). After his feud with Austin, he feuded with Goldust over Marlena
until his death.
Pillman dated Terri Runnels
while they were in World Championship Wrestling
together before her marriage to Dustin Rhodes. He later married Melanie on March 17, 1993. She already had two children at the time, Alexis and Jesse. At the time, he also had two children, his daughters, Danielle and Brittany. Brian and Melanie had two children together, Brian Jr. & Skylar. Pillman never learned that Melanie was pregnant with Skylar, who was born on May 5, 1998, seven months after Pillman's death in October 1997.
Pillman was scheduled to wrestle with his long-time rival, Goldust, on October 5, 1997. However, Pillman was late that night. Eventually, some WWF staff searched for him and discovered his body in a Bloomington, Minnesota
hotel room, where he had died sometime during the day. Pillman was 35 years old. An autopsy found that a previously undetected heart condition, arteriosclerotic
heart disease
, had led to his death; the condition had also led to the death of his father. Pillman's use of drugs and alcohol also contributed to his death.
In early 2008, Pillman's stepdaughter, Alexis Reed, started her wrestling career as a valet and ring girl under the name "Sexy" Lexi Pillman. Alexis died, aged 26, on Thanksgiving night, November 26, 2009, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
football player
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
, and World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
.
Pillman had a legacy as "The Loose Cannon", a wrestling gimmick that would see him do a series of worked-shoots
Shoot (professional wrestling)
A shoot in professional wrestling is a term that refers to any unplanned, unscripted or real-life occurrence within a wrestling event. Contrary to popular belief, the name does not originate from "shooting in" for a takedown, as in amateur wrestling - rather it is a carny term shortened from...
that would gain him a degree of infamy for his unpredictable character. He was also known for being extremely agile in the ring, although a car accident in April 1996 from which he received extensive ankle injuries limited his in-ring ability.
Football career
Brian graduated from Norwood High School in Norwood, OhioNorwood, Ohio
Norwood is the second most populous city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The city is an enclave of the larger city of Cincinnati. The population was 21,675 at the 2000 census. Originally settled as an early suburb of Cincinnati in the wooded countryside north of the city, the area is...
, a suburb of Cincinnati.
While attending Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
in Oxford, Ohio
Oxford, Ohio
Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...
, Pillman played football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
for the then-Redskins
Miami RedHawks football
The Miami University RedHawks, known as the Miami Redskins before 1996, are a NCAA Division I FBS college football program that competes in the Mid-American Conference...
(now RedHawks) as a Defensive Tackle where he set records in the "tackles for loss" category. A two-time Second Team All-American, he went undrafted by the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, joining the hometown Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
as a free agent in 1984 (where he won the Ed Block Courage Award
Ed Block Courage Award
The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to selected players in the National Football League , who are voted by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a well-liked humanitarian and trainer for the Baltimore Colts, the...
for his team) and later the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
for the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
in 1986. He also played for the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in preseason action in 1985 but was the last player cut before the start of that season. His attempts to make the roster of the Bengals were covered in a series of articles in The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati (Ohio) and Northern Kentucky. The...
.
Stampede Wrestling (1986–1989)
Following the end of his football career, Pillman remained in Canada and began training as a wrestler under Stu HartStu Hart
Stewart Edward "Stu" Hart, CM was a Canadian amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, promoter and trainer. Hart founded Stampede Wrestling, a promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, and was the father of famous wrestlers Bret and Owen Hart...
and his sons. He debuted in November 1986 in Hart's Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
.
Pillman quickly formed a tag team with Hart's son Bruce
Bruce Hart (wrestler)
Bruce Dennis Luis Hart is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. The second son of Stu Hart, Hart is a member of the large Hart wrestling family.Hart substitute teaches for the Calgary Board of Education.-Career:...
known as Bad Company (not to be confused with Badd Company
Badd Company
Badd Company was a professional wrestling tag team in the American Wrestling Association in the late 1980s, which later went by the name the Orient Express. It is rumored that the team name was derived from the rock band Bad Company...
). In April 1987, Bad Company won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
The Stampede International Tag Team Championship is the main tag-team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag-Team Championship...
, defeating Ron Starr and the Cuban Assassin
Angel Acevedo
Angel Acevedo is an American filmmaker.-Biography:Acevedo attended Hofstra University where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Film Studies and Production and won Best Screenplay for his thesis film Cheesecake...
in the finals of a tournament. Their reign lasted until October 1987, when the titles were held up following a controversial ending to a match between Bad Company and their opponents, Jerry Morrow and Makhan Singh
Mike Shaw
Mike Shaw was a professional wrestler who was best known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling as Norman The Lunatic, and as Bastion Booger in the World Wrestling Federation...
. Bad Company defeated Morrow and Singh in a rematch in November 1987 to regain the titles, eventually losing them to Morrow and the Cuban Assassin in July 1988.
While in Stampede Wrestling, Pillman had his girlfriend at the time, Trisa Hayes
Trisa Hayes
Trisa Hayes Laughlin is an American professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Beulah McGillicutty. She is best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s...
(also known as Beulah McGillicutty), portray his sister in order to get him over as a face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
by seating her at ringside and having heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
wrestlers taunt her so that he could rescue her.
National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling (1989–1994)
In 1989, Pillman returned to America and began wrestling for the National Wrestling AllianceNational Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
, which evolved into World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
, where he was known as Flyin' Brian due to his athletic ability and variety of aerial maneuvers. He was known for his missile dropkick and diving crossbody. Along with The Rockers
The Rockers
The Rockers were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty that teamed from 1985 to 1992. The team worked for Central States Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestling Federation, Continental Wrestling Association and the World...
(Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
and Marty Jannetty
Marty Jannetty
Frederick Marty Jannetty is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as part of tag team The Rockers with partner Shawn Michaels, and later as a singles competitor. While in the WWF, he became a one time Intercontinental Champion and a one time...
of the WWF), he was one of the first American wrestlers to incorporate a variety of Mexican lucha libre
Lucha libre
Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling that has developed within those countries...
moves into his arsenal. He held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship
NWA United States Tag Team Championship
The NWA United States Tag Team Championship is a name used by several championships that were or currently are under the National Wrestling Alliance 's supervision:...
with "The Z-Man" Tom Zenk
Tom Zenk
Thomas Erwin "Tom" Zenk is a former Mr. Minnesota Bodybuilder, and most notably a American professional wrestler, also known by his nickname Z-Man.-Early career:...
between February 1990 and May 1990. Pillman later feuded with Barry Windham
Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling ....
, who he harassed while dressed as the masked Yellow Dog after losing a Loser of the fall-leaves-WCW match (Pillman was eventually reinstated). He also held the short-lived WCW World Light Heavyweight Championship
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
twice between October 1991 and February 1992, feuding with Brad Armstrong, Jushin Liger
Jushin Liger
, better known as and later, is a Japanese professional wrestler who primarily works for New Japan Pro Wrestling.He has wrestled and beaten many of the top smaller wrestlers in both Japan and the United States, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest and most revolutionary junior...
, Richard Morton
Ricky Morton
Richard Wendell "Ricky" Morton is an American professional wrestler who has worked for such wrestling organizations as Jim Crockett Promotions, the American Wrestling Association, Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and Total Nonstop Action...
, and Scotty Flamingo
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...
.
Pillman turned heel in September 1992, frustrated by Brad Armstrong's knee injury and vacating the WCW World Light Heavyweight title, when he was scheduled to wrestle Armstrong for the title at the Clash of the Champions
Clash of the Champions
The Clash of the Champions were a series of professional wrestling television specials aired by World Championship Wrestling. The specials were supercards intended to feature pay-per-view caliber matches, similar to World Wrestling Federation's Saturday Night's Main Event.The first Clash of the...
. In November 1992, he formed a team with Barry Windham, gunning for the NWA
NWA World Tag Team Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
and WCW World Tag Team Championship
WCW World Tag Team Championship
The World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
s held by Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...
and Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...
. Windham and Pillman lost to Steamboat and Douglas at Starrcade on December 28. Their team lasted until January 1993, as Windham had his sights on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...
. Pillman continued the tag team title hunt by forming a tag team with "Stunning" Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
known as the Hollywood Blonds. On the March 27, 1993 edition of WCW Power Hour
WCW Power Hour
WCW Power Hour was the original Friday night wrestling show for World Championship Wrestling, airing on TBS.Unlike most television shows that started their program either at the top or bottom of the hour, WCW Power Hour aired 10 minutes before the bottom of the hour at 10:20 p.m...
, the duo won the championships from Steamboat and Douglas. The team quickly became popular for their brash attitudes, and critically acclaimed matches with Steamboat and Douglas through the spring of 1993.
After the feud with Steamboat and Douglas ended, they went on to feud with The Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)
The Four Horsemen were a professional wrestling stable in the National Wrestling Alliance and later World Championship Wrestling that was disbanded in 1999. The original group featured Ric Flair, Arn and Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard...
, mainly Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
and Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
, mocking their ages and parodying Flair's interview show "A Flair for the Gold", with their own "A Flair for the Old". They would lose the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Titles to Anderson and Paul Roma
Paul Roma
Paul Roma is a professional wrestler who is known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling primarily as a tag-team wrestler alongside such partners as Jim Powers, Hercules, Arn Anderson and Paul Orndorff.-World Wrestling Federation :Paul Roma entered...
at Clash of the Champions XXIV (Lord Steven Regal substituted for Pillman, who sufferd a leg injury in a tag team match on an episode of WCW Main Event prior to the Clash of Champions). After the Hollywood Blonds separated in October 1993, Pillman became a face, feuding with his old partner Austin. He would also go after the WCW World Television Championship
WCW World Television Championship
The World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
, held by Lord Steven Regal, with whom he wrestled to a 15-minute time limit draw at Spring Stampede.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994)
Pillman would venture into Extreme Championship WrestlingExtreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
in 1994, as part of a talent exchange between ECW and WCW. His most notable match there was teaming with Shane Douglas, replacing an injured Steve Austin, with Sherri Martel
Sherri Martel
Sherri Schrull was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by her ring names, Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri....
as their manager, losing to Ron Simmons
Ron Simmons
Ronald "Ron" Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He is recognised as being the first Black world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling and the first of only two African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,...
and 2 Cold Scorpio
2 Cold Scorpio
Charles Scaggs is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio . Scaggs has competed in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment and Pro Wrestling Noah...
.
World Championship Wrestling (1994–1996)
Pillman made his return in late 1994 as a face, but slowly progressed into a tweener, feuding with wrestlers such as Brad Armstrong, Eddie GuerreroEddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...
, Alex Wright
Alex Wright
Alex Wright is a German-British former professional wrestler. He wrestled professionally in Germany and Japan before signing with World Championship Wrestling in 1994...
, and Marcus Bagwell
Buff Bagwell
Marcus Alexander Bagwell is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Buff Bagwell. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling between 1991 and 2001, where he was a five time World Tag Team Champion.-Professional wrestling career: Bagwell...
. In September 1995 Pillman formed a team with Arn Anderson, and began feuding with Ric Flair. After costing Flair a match to Arn Anderson at Fall Brawl, Flair Recruited the help of Sting
Sting (wrestler)
Steven James "Steve" Borden , better known by his ring name Sting, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
to team up against Pillman and Anderson at Halloween Havoc. Pillman and Anderson attacked Flair before the match, forcing Sting to come out alone. When Sting needed a tag the most, Flair came out at the last minute with a bandage on his head, tagged Sting, and immediately turned and attacked him removing the fake bandage from his head to show it was all plan between Pillman, Anderson and Flair from the start. These actions signaled the reuniting of the Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)
The Four Horsemen were a professional wrestling stable in the National Wrestling Alliance and later World Championship Wrestling that was disbanded in 1999. The original group featured Ric Flair, Arn and Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard...
. This incarnation was Flair, Anderson, Pillman, and Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
. On September 4, 1995, Pillman wrestled the first match on the very first episode of WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
, defeating Jushin Liger in a SuperBrawl II rematch.
At the end of 1995, Pillman developed his "Loose Cannon" gimmick, cultivating a reputation for unpredictable behavior. During this period of time, Pillman changed his once Hollywood Blond and Flyin' Brian clean athletic look for an edgy, out of control image. Even his allies in the Horsemen, especially Anderson, were wary of his behavior and tried in vain to keep him in check. Almost all of the time Pillman could be seen wearing leather vests, sunglasses, jewelry and graphic T-shirts with skulls, monsters and sayings on them. Pillman frequently blurred fact and fiction with his worked-shoots
Shoot (professional wrestling)
A shoot in professional wrestling is a term that refers to any unplanned, unscripted or real-life occurrence within a wrestling event. Contrary to popular belief, the name does not originate from "shooting in" for a takedown, as in amateur wrestling - rather it is a carny term shortened from...
. In a match with Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...
on the January 23, 1996 edition of Clash of the Champions, Pillman grabbed commentator Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
by the collar, causing Heenan (who had a history of neck problems) to blurt out "What the fuck are you doing?" live on the air (Heenan has since stated that he didn't know it was Pillman grabbing him and he blurted out the remark because he thought he was a fan grabbing him).
Pillman outed Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)
Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
as booker during the February 1996 SuperBrawl VI pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
in an I Respect You Strap match where the loser announces that they respect the other wrestler, much like an "I Quit" match. Pillman grabbed the microphone, saying, sarcastically, "I respect you, booker man". The words "booker man" were cut from the commercial tape. Pillman was fired by WCW President Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
in February 1996 after SuperBrawl VI. In Bischoff's autobiography he said that Pillman was fired so that he could go and develop the "loose cannon" gimmick in ECW
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
then return to World Championship Wrestling with more legitimate heat
Heat (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, heat refers to both crowd reaction and real-life animosity between those involved in the professional wrestling business. In terms of crowd reaction, heat is usually either cheers for a babyface or boos for a heel...
. Bischoff claims it was a plan he and Pillman came up with together. It would later backfire on Bischoff as Pillman did not return.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996)
Immediately following his departure from WCW, Pillman returned to the Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
-based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, appearing at the annual Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
convention
Fan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
, ECW CyberSlam, on February 17, 1996. During an interview conducted in the ring by Joey Styles
Joey Styles
Joseph Carmine Bonsignore better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator and former professional in the field of advertising sales...
, Pillman insulted Bischoff, calling him a commentator, a "gofer
Gofer
A gofer or go-fer is an employee who is often sent on errands. "Gofer" reflects the likelihood of instructions to go for coffee, dry cleaning, or stamps, or to make other straightforward or familiar procurements. The term gofer originated in North America...
", and a "piece of shit". He turned his attention to the ECW audience, derisively calling them "Smart Marks". After Styles attempted to end the interview, Pillman threatened to "yank out [his] Johnson
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...
" and urinate
Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
in the ring. Pillman was confronted by ECW owner Tod Gordon
Tod Gordon
Tod Gordon is the President of Carver W. Reed Co. Inc, a Philadelphia jewelry store and loan office that was established in 1860. He is also the founder of both defunct Professional wrestling promotions Eastern Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling...
, booker Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....
, and wrestler Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...
, who had him removed from the ring by security guards. While being dragged from the arena, Pillman attacked a plant sitting in the audience with a fork
Fork
As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines on one end. The fork, as an eating utensil, has been a feature primarily of the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more prevalent...
he produced from his boot. Although he did not wrestle for ECW, Pillman made several further appearances with the promotion, engaging in a war of words with Douglas, setting up a proposed feud.
He gained the backstage ire of New Jack
New Jack
Jerome Young is an American professional wrestler, better known by his stage name New Jack in ECW.He is known for his willingness to take dangerous bumps and his stiff hardcore wrestling style, often taking high risks and "shooting" on opponents, though he is only known to shoot on opponents who...
when he referred to the tag team consisting of New Jack and Mustafa
Jamal Mustafa
Jamal Mustafa is a professional wrestler who once worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico and Smoky Mountain Wrestling as one half of The Gangstas with New Jack...
(The Gangstas) as "Niggas with Attitudes" (not as a racist comment, but in reference to the rap group N.W.A) when crashing one of their interviews. With his "Loose Cannon" persona, Pillman became the talk for all three major promotions, as he successfully left WCW, he was on his way to the WWF, and he was scheduled to wrestle Shane Douglas in ECW, until tragedy struck on April 15, 1996 when Pillman was badly injured after falling asleep while driving his Hummer H1
Hummer H1
The Hummer H1 is a civilian off-road vehicle based on the M998 Humvee, which was created by AM General. The vehicle was produced from 1992 through 2006, and was the first of what became the Hummer line...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and driving into a tree trunk, flipping the vehicle. He was in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
for a week and suffered a shattered ankle, forcing doctors to fuse it together in a fixed position.
World Wrestling Federation (1996–1997)
Pillman signed a contract with the World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
on June 10, 1996, with the signing announced in a press conference
News conference
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
. He was the first wrestler to sign a guaranteed contract with the WWF, indicative of the period in which Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
began to protect the company from abruptly losing talent to WCW, with Lex Luger
Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell "Larry" Pfohl , better known by his ring name Lex Luger, is an American former professional wrestler and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy...
, Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
, and Scott Hall
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...
all previously doing so. Pillman acted as a commentator while recovering from his broken ankle, transitioning to a wrestling role after attacking a fan during an episode of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It aired from January 4, 1997 through August 21, 1999 as a syndicated broadcast...
.
On the November 4, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw, Pillman took part in the infamous "Pillman's got a gun" angle with Steve Austin. When Pillman initially arrived to the WWF, he aligned himself immediately with his longtime friend and former tag team partner Austin, serving as his lackey while he recovered. However when Pillman began noticeably favoring Austin's nemesis, Bret Hart, Austin had enough and brutally attacked him in the ring during an interview on an episode of WWF Superstars in October 1996. Austin and Pillman had been feuding for several weeks, and Austin had finally decided to take matters into his own hands and visit Pillman, whom he had already injured, at his home in Walton, Kentucky. WWF interviewer Kevin Kelly sat in Pillman's house with a camera crew and the Pillman family, while Pillman's friends surrounded the house to protect him. Austin was attacked by Pillman's friends as soon as he arrived but quickly subdued them. He then proceeded to break into Pillman's home and advance on his nemesis. Pillman responded by producing the same 9 mm pistol that he had displayed earlier and pointing it at a hesitant Austin, while Kelly and Pillman's wife Melanie screamed for help. The camera feed was then disrupted, with the scene fading to black. The on-scene director contacted commentator Vince McMahon and reported that he had heard "a couple explosions." The transmission was restored shortly before the end of Raw, and viewers witnessed Pillman's friends dragging Austin from the house while Pillman aimed the gun at him and announced his intention to "kill that son of a bitch!" Pillman also slipped up by making the mistake of saying "fuck" on live television, which meant that it could not be edited out. The WWF (and Pillman personally) eventually apologized profusely for the entire angle, with Pillman claiming that the profanity "just slipped out".
Following WrestleMania 13
WrestleMania 13
WrestleMania 13 was the thirteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
, Pillman aligned himself with his friends Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
, Owen Hart
Owen Hart
Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...
, Davey Boy Smith
Davey Boy Smith
Davey Boy Smith was a British professional wrestler, better known as "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, who was born in Golborne in North West England, United Kingdom. Smith is known for his appearances with Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling...
, and Jim Neidhart
Jim Neidhart
James Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...
as part of the anti-American Hart Foundation, all of whom he was familiar with from his Stampede Wrestling roots. He began feuding with his former partner, Steve Austin. In the course of the feud, Austin was given on-screen credit for damaging Pillman's ankle in October 1996 after placing it in between the seat and backrest of a folded chair and then jumping on the chair (this particular style of attack has since been dubbed "The Pillmanizer," in honor of this incident, despite Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...
performing exactly the same maneuver to Raven
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...
in ECW nearly a full year earlier). After his feud with Austin, he feuded with Goldust over Marlena
Terri Runnels
Terri Lynne Boatright Runnels is a former World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation professional wrestling manager, television host and occasional wrestler....
until his death.
Personal life and death
Pillman developed multiple throat polyps as a child and had over 40 operations before the age of three.Pillman dated Terri Runnels
Terri Runnels
Terri Lynne Boatright Runnels is a former World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation professional wrestling manager, television host and occasional wrestler....
while they were in World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
together before her marriage to Dustin Rhodes. He later married Melanie on March 17, 1993. She already had two children at the time, Alexis and Jesse. At the time, he also had two children, his daughters, Danielle and Brittany. Brian and Melanie had two children together, Brian Jr. & Skylar. Pillman never learned that Melanie was pregnant with Skylar, who was born on May 5, 1998, seven months after Pillman's death in October 1997.
Pillman was scheduled to wrestle with his long-time rival, Goldust, on October 5, 1997. However, Pillman was late that night. Eventually, some WWF staff searched for him and discovered his body in a Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota in Hennepin County. Located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, Bloomington lies at the heart of the southern...
hotel room, where he had died sometime during the day. Pillman was 35 years old. An autopsy found that a previously undetected heart condition, arteriosclerotic
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a condition in which an artery wall thickens as a result of the accumulation of fatty materials such as cholesterol...
heart disease
Coronary disease
Coronary disease refers to the failure of coronary circulation to supply adequate circulation to cardiac muscle and surrounding tissue. It is already the most common form of disease affecting the heart and an important cause of premature death in Europe, the Baltic states, Russia, North and South...
, had led to his death; the condition had also led to the death of his father. Pillman's use of drugs and alcohol also contributed to his death.
In early 2008, Pillman's stepdaughter, Alexis Reed, started her wrestling career as a valet and ring girl under the name "Sexy" Lexi Pillman. Alexis died, aged 26, on Thanksgiving night, November 26, 2009, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Air Pillman (Springboard clothesline)
- Signature moves
- Chop block
- Cross armbar with neckscissors
- Diving crossbody, sometimes while performing a corkscrew
- DropkickDropkickA dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
, sometimes from the top rope - Enzuigiri
- Leaping lariat
- Scoop powerslam
- Snap DDT
- Spinning heel kick
- Tornado DDT
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- MarlenaTerri RunnelsTerri Lynne Boatright Runnels is a former World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation professional wrestling manager, television host and occasional wrestler....
- Beulah McGillicuttyTrisa HayesTrisa Hayes Laughlin is an American professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Beulah McGillicutty. She is best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s...
- Marlena
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "Flyin'" Brian Pillman
- "California" Brian Pillman
- "Brian "F'n" Pillman"
- "The Walking / Ticking Time Bomb"
- "The Rogue Horseman"
- "The Loose Cannon"
- Entrance themesMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- "RocketRocket (Def Leppard song)"Rocket" is a song recorded by British hard rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was the sixth and final single release, coming out in January 1989 and hitting the Top 15 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart.The song was considered one of the most experimental for...
" by Def LeppardDef LeppardDef Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
(NWA / WCW; 1989–1990) - "Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds" by RattRattRatt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...
(NJPW) - "Welcome to the JungleWelcome to the Jungle"Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on its 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. It was released as the band's second single on October 3, 1987, and reached number #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number #24 on the UK Singles Chart...
" by Guns N' RosesGuns N' RosesGuns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
(ECW; 1994) - "Shitlist" by L7L7 (band)L7 was an American rock band from Los Angeles, that was active from 1985 to 2000. Due to their sound and image, they are often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...
(ECW; 1996)
- "Rocket
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked him #84 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
- Stampede WrestlingStampede WrestlingStampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
- Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team ChampionshipStampede Wrestling International Tag Team ChampionshipThe Stampede International Tag Team Championship is the main tag-team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag-Team Championship...
(2 times) – with Bruce HartBruce Hart (wrestler)Bruce Dennis Luis Hart is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. The second son of Stu Hart, Hart is a member of the large Hart wrestling family.Hart substitute teaches for the Calgary Board of Education.-Career:... - Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
- World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
- NWA United States Tag Team ChampionshipWCW United States Tag Team ChampionshipThe WCW United States Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship contested for in the United States-based National Wrestling Alliance , Jim Crockett Promotions , and World Championship Wrestling promotions. The title was only contestable by male tag teams and in tag...
(1 time) – with Tom ZenkTom ZenkThomas Erwin "Tom" Zenk is a former Mr. Minnesota Bodybuilder, and most notably a American professional wrestler, also known by his nickname Z-Man.-Early career:... - WCW World Light Heavyweight ChampionshipWWE Cruiserweight ChampionshipThe World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
(2 times) - WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipWCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(1 time) – with "Stunning" Steve AustinStone Cold Steve AustinSteve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler... - NWA World Tag Team ChampionshipNWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
(1 time) – with "Stunning" Steve AustinStone Cold Steve AustinSteve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- 5 Star Match (1991) with Sting, Rick SteinerRick SteinerRobert Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Rick Steiner.Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling, where he was an eight time World Tag Team Champion...
, and Scott SteinerScott SteinerScott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...
vs. Ric FlairRic FlairRichard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
, Larry ZbyszkoLarry ZbyszkoLawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
, Barry WindhamBarry WindhamBarry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling ....
, and Sid ViciousSid EudySidney Raymond "Sid" Eudy is an American professional wrestler, best known as Sid Vicious in World Championship Wrestling, and as Sid Justice and Sycho Sid in the World Wrestling Federation...
(February 24, WarGames matchWarGames matchThe WarGames match was a gimmick match used originally in the National Wrestling Alliance and later held annually in World Championship Wrestling , usually at their Fall Brawl pay-per-view event in September.-History:...
, WrestleWar) - Feud of the Year (1997) with Bret HartBret HartBret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
, Owen HartOwen HartOwen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...
, Jim NeidhartJim NeidhartJames Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...
, and Davey Boy SmithDavey Boy SmithDavey Boy Smith was a British professional wrestler, better known as "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, who was born in Golborne in North West England, United Kingdom. Smith is known for his appearances with Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling...
vs. Stone Cold Steve AustinStone Cold Steve AustinSteve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler... - Most Underrated (1994)
- Rookie of the Year (1987)
- Tag Team of the Year (1993) with Steve Austin as The Hollywood Blonds
- 5 Star Match (1991) with Sting, Rick Steiner
See also
- Brian Pillman Memorial ShowBrian Pillman Memorial ShowThe Brian Pillman Memorial Show was an annual professional wrestling event held between 1998 and 2001 benefiting the children of Brian Pillman and featuring talent from World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship Wrestling, as well as local and indy...
- Hollywood Blonds
External links
- Brian Pillman at www.canoe.ca
- Brian Pillman at www.gerweck.net
- Brian Pillman at www.onlineworldofwrestling.com
- Brian Pillman at www.twnpnews.com