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Brian William Pillman (May 22, 1962 – October 5, 1997) was an American professional wrestler.

Football Career

Pillman was born with throat cancer and underwent some thirty-six operations to remove it. As a result, his voice would be permanently raspy. Pillman would go on to survive this bout with illness and play football for Miami University, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Calgary Stampeders in the 1980s. In 1984, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran articles about Pillman attempting to make the Bengals' roster. It was at this time that he began to take steroids and painkillers to perform. He would have problems with addiction for the rest of his life.

Stampede Wrestling

Pillman broke into wrestling in 1986 for Stampede Wrestling, the Calgary-based promotion run by legendary wrestler/promoter Stu Hart. He was one half of the tag team Bad Company with Bruce Hart. He used his girlfriend at the time Beulah McGillicutty to get him over as a face. He put her at ringside and had the heels taunt her, so he could rescue her. This tactic worked, as Pillman became one of the top faces ever in Calgary.

World Championship Wrestling

After moving to WCW, he would be known as Flyin' Brian Pillman for his aerial style. He held the WCW United States Tag Team Championship with Tom Zenk and also held the short-lived WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (also known as the first incarnation of the WCW Cruiserweight Title), feuding with Brad Armstrong, Jushin Liger, Richard Morton, and Scotty Flamingo. He also had a gimmick where he was the masked Yellow Dog whom Barry Windham knew was Pillman but could not prove it. Pillman had lost a retirement match and then became the Yellow Dog to harass Windham. Pillman went on to become one half of the revolutionary tag team of the Hollywood Blondes, with "Stunning" Steve Austin. In March 1993, the duo won the (then-combined) NWA/WCW World tag team championship, which they would hold for five months. The team quickly became popular for their brash attitudes, pithy catchphrases, and critically acclaimed matches with Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. They also feuded with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, mocking their ages (even though Anderson was only thirty-five) and parodying Flair's interview show "A Flair For the Gold," with their own "A Flare for the Old."

After the demise of the Blondes, Pillman would flounder as a tweener in WCW (although he was generally considered a face, he often fought other faces such as Brad Armstrong, Eddy Guerrero, Alex Wright and Marcus Bagwell, which was rare in WCW) before joining the legendary Four Horsemen with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Chris Benoit in late 1995. During this time, Pillman began to transition into his "Loose Cannon" gimmick. He was, as the name would suggest, known for his unpredictability. He did one of the first "worked shoot" gimmicks, blurring the lines of reality and storyline, and he famously outed Kevin Sullivan as a backstage booker in their strap match at Superbrawl VI in 1996. Pillman's erratic behavior also caused legendary manager/commentator Bobby Heenan to ask him "What the f*** are you doing?" on live broadcast television during a televised WCW event after Pillman grabbed him by the collar.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Pillman used his "Loose Cannon" gimmick to secure a release from his WCW contract (alledgedly under the guise of being "fired" for his conduct) and would briefly appear for ECW before heading to the WWF, to become the first wrestler to ever sign a guaranteed deal with the WWF.

World Wrestling Federation

Just before Pillman signed his WWF contract, a near fatal accident in his Humvee shattered his ankle, forcing doctors to fuse it together in a fixed position. This injury severely limited his mobility and elevated his addiction to painkillers. Pillman did manage to start wrestling again after a few months but it wouldn't be easy.

Pillman's got a gun!

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. 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 home. Meanwhile, 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 soon subdued them. He then proceeded to break into Pillman's home and advance on his nemesis. Pillman responded by producing the same 9 mm Glock 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 mistake of saying the F word on live television, which meant that it couldn't be cut out. The WWF eventually apologized profusely for the entire angle and Pillman apologized for "screwing up". He said that it wasn't something he'd normally say, espeically being a father, it just slipped out.

The Last Year of His Life

Pillman wrestled sporadically throughout 1997, aligning himself with the Hart Foundation and feuding with Goldust. Some time during the night or early morning prior to the October 5, 1997 "Badd Blood" pay per view in St. Louis, Pillman died in a Minnesota hotel room. He was 35 years old. While he was heavily into prescription drugs, an autopsy found that a previously undetected heart condition had led to his death, although the painkillers were also to blame as it helped cause the heart failure as well. He did not know that he was about to become a father once again when he died.

DVD

A DVD is coming out soon by the World Wrestling Entertainment about his life and his matches.

Personal Information

Brian was married to Melanie and had three children, Brittany, Brian Jr., and Danielle.

Factions/Teams

Managers/Valets

Championships and Accomplishments

World Championship Wrestling
National Wrestling Alliance
Stampede Wrestling from Calgary
  • 2-Time Stampede Wrestling Tag Team Champion (with Bruce Hart)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 84 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. PWI also ranked him # 50 of the best tag teams during the "PWI Years" with Steve Austin.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 1987 Rookie of the Year
  • 1993 Tag Team of the Year (with Steve Austin)
  • 1994 Most Underrated Wrestler
  • 1997 Feud of the Year (with Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Davey-Boy Smith vs Steve Austin)

Trivia

  • Whenever a wrestler "breaks" another wrestler's ankle by placing his ankle in between the seat and backrest of a folded chair and then jumping on the chair, he is said to have "Pillmanized" his opponent, as Stone Cold Steve Austin innovated this technique and used it for the first time on Pillman during their 1996 feud.

  • He was the only member of the New Hart Foundation to not be related to any of the other members.

  • WWE will release Loose Cannon, a DVD on his wrestling career on September 26, 2006

Sources

1962 births | 1997 deaths | American football linebackers | American professional wrestlers | Calgary Stampeders players | Canadian Football League players | Cincinnati Bengals players | Dungeon graduates | ECW alumni | Entertainers who played football | Miami RedHawks football players | People who died in hotel rooms | People from Ohio | Professional athletes who wrestled professionally | Stampede Wrestling alumni | The Four Horsemen

Brian Pillman

 

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