While his career would serve as a testimony to his toughness, for Brian Pillman, the fight was on from day one. Born Brian William Pillman in Norwood, Ohio on May 22, 1962, Pillman had throat cancer at birth, his trademark raspy voice the result of over three dozen operations to remove it. Football was Pillman's early passion, and his zeal showed, as he would set records for tackles for losses during four years playing for Miami University of Ohio, before signing as an undrafted free agent with his hometown Cincinnati Bengals in 1984. Pillman would see pre-season action with the Buffalo Bills the following season, but would be the final player cut from the roster. From there it would on to Calgary and a season with the Stampeders of the CFL before ending his football career. It was during his quest to break into pro football that Pillman would first wind up on steroids and painkillers, starting substance problems for the rest of his life.
It was while in Calgary that Pillman would enter the world of professional wrestling, training at the legendary Stu Hart dungeon in Calgary, debuting in November 1986 with Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. It is also notable during his time in Calgary that Pillman would use his girlfriend at the time, future Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) manager Beulah McGillicutty, to get himself over with the fans, as they would often have heels taunt her, bringing him to her aid. By the end of the following year, teaming with Bruce Hart as Bad Company, Pillman would win two International Tag Team titles, enjoying championship success through the summer of 1988.
In 1989, Brian Pillman arrived in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Now known as “Flyin'” Brian Pillman, his speed and high-flying attack would lead him to the NWA United States Tag Team Championship, teaming with Tom Zenk to defeat Michael Hayes and “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin in February 1990. The duo would drop the titles after a three month run to the Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane). While Pillman would go on to other successes over the next couple of years, including two WCW Light-Heavyweight titles, he would also have his share of adversity during the year, losing a retirement match to Barry Windham, at which point he would return as a masked persona, the Yellow Dog, stalking Windham before eventually being reinstated. Pillman would defeat Richard Morton in an October 1991 tournament final to become the inaugural WCW Light-Heavyweight Champion. After losing the belt to Jushin Liger on Christmas Night 1991, he would win it back from Liger at Superbrawl II in February 1992, going on to an acclaimed match at Beach Blast in June 1992 with Scotty Flamingo, in which Flamingo would manage to take the title from Pillman. The WCW Light-Heavyweight title would short-lived, however, and would soon fade away.
In 1992, putting aside his solo career for the time being, Pillman would take his first steps to superstardom, as he would team with another up and coming star, “Stunning” Steve Austin, to form the Hollywood Blondes, a heel tag team that would feud with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, and Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas, with whom they would have several highly regarded matches, including a WCW World Tag Team title victory for the Hollywood Blondes on March 2, 1993. They would hold onto the belts for five months, when Austin, teaming with Steven Regal (a substitution for an injured Pillman) dropped the belts to the Four Horsemen's Arn Anderson and Paul Roma. The Hollywood Blondes would go their seperate ways not long afterwards, although Pillman and Austin cross paths again sooner than imagined. For Pillman, however, it would also mark the final championship of his brief career.
The next few months would see Pillman drift through WCW, feuding with Brad Armstrong, Eddie Guerrero, Marcus Bagwell, and Alex Wright, as well appearing in a six-man tag team match in the Thunderdome cage at Superbrawl IV, as the team of Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Brian Pillman defeated Rick Rude, Paul Orndorff, and Steve Austin. As autumn 1995 approached, Pillman would snag another piece of wrestling trivia, as he would wrestle WCW's first shot of the Monday Night Wars, defeating longtime rival Jushin Liger in the opening match of the premiere episode. Later on in September 1995, Pillman's career had arrived, as he would being teaming with Arn Anderson, joining the reformed Four Horsemen the following month at Fall Brawl '95.
While Pillman would gain a notorious reputation for unpredictability through actions like calling out Kevin Sullivan as the booker on air during the Superbrawl VI pay-per-view, and perhaps most infamously, an incident during a Clash of the Champions in which he grabbed commentator Bobby Heenan, causing him to inadvertently bark “what the f*** are you doing?” on live air, he stint with the Horsemen was mostly unmemorable, as they mostly played on tension between Pillman and Anderson.
In early 1996, Eric Bischoff would grant Pillman his release from World Championship Wrestling, and “The Loose Cannon” would make his way to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) the second he was free. It was originally done as a way to expand Pillman's character for a future return, although Eric Bischoff would write in his 2006 autobiography, Controversy Creates Cash, that no one “will ever know who was working who.” Pillman's short stay in ECW would be memorable not only for his outrageous behavior and promos to build heat for his new persona, but for the simple fact he never wrestled a match for the promotion.
Cyberslam, ECW's annual internet fan convention, would provide the backdrop for Brian Pillman's infamous first appearance on February 17, 1996. During an in-ring interview with Joey Styles, Pillman would call former boss Eric Bischoff a “gofer” and a “piece of shit,” among other things, before threatening to relieve himself in the middle of the ring as Styles attempted to end the interview. ECW owner Tod Gordon and Shane Douglas would then have Pillman escorted from the ring by security, during which he would attack a planted fan with a fork hidden in his boot. Pillman would only make a few more appearances with ECW, mostly arguing back and forth with Shane Douglas.
On April 15, 1996, while driving in Kentucky, Pillman would suffer serious injuries, including a shattered ankle, after falling asleep behind the wheel of the H1 Hummer he was driving and flipping the vehicle. In a coma for a week, Pillman would have the ankle fused into a fixed position, forcing him to use a more mat-based game plan, rather than the speedy, high-flying attack that had defined his career. In addition, the injuries only served to worsen Pillman's dependence on painkillers. June 10, 1996 would see Pillman sign a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), performing announcing duties as his ankle healed.
Returning to the ring following his attack of a plant on an episode of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, Pillman would return to his Stampede Wrestling heritage, joining forces with Bret and Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Davey Boy Smith as the new Hart Foundation and embarking on a legendary feud with former partner Steve Austin, known now as “Stone Cold,” who would “injure” Pillman's ankle by placing it in a chair and then stomping on it. Some refer its subsequent use as the “Pillmanizer.” This would lead to one of professional wrestling most controversial televised moments.
As the feud between Austin and Pillman raged, Austin decided to visit the already injured Pillman, presumably to finish the job. This would take place on the November 4, 1996 episode of Monday Night RAW. As interviewer Kevin Kelly and camera crew sat inside the Pillman home, a flock of Pillman's friends surrounded the house. When Austin arrived, he predictably handled Pillman's friends and broke into the house, where he would find Pillman training a Glock 9mm on him! The camera feed would then cut out, as Melanie (Brian's wife) and Kelly shouted for help. The camera feed would be restored near the end of the broadcast, as Pillman's friends dragged Austin out of the house, Pillman in pursuit with the gun, proclaiming his was going to “kill that son of a bitch!” During the spot, Pillman accidentally let loose with an F-bomb (on a live TV feed), triggering later apologies from both the World Wrestling Federation and Pillman himself for the entire angle.
Over the course of the next year, Pillman would align himself with the Hart Foundation once again, going on to a bizarre feud with Goldust (Dustin Runnels) and his manager Marlena (Terri Runnels). Interestingly enough, while the manager/wrestler duo were married in real life at the time of the angle, Pillman and Terri Runnels had dated while they had both worked for WCW. As the storyline unfolded, Pillman would suffer the humiliation of having to wear one of Marlena's gold dresses on RAW the night after losing a match to Goldust at Summerslam '97, but would gain revenge at Ground Zero, winning the services of Marlena for 30 days, during which time he dressed her in degrading manners and implied that he had slept with her.
Sometime in the hours leading up to the October 5, 1997 Badd Blood pay-per-view in St. Louis, Missouri, Brian Pillman passed away in a Minnesota hotel room at the age of 35. While Pillman's past drug abuses were well-known, an autopsy showed a previously undetected heart condition – arteriosclerotic heart disease, had in fact led to his death. Survived by wife Melanie and three children: Brian Jr, and daughters Brittany and Danielle from previous relationships, Pillman died just before he was to find out they had another child on the way.
Posthumously, Brian Pillman was first honored by the Brian Pillman Memorial Show, a multi-promotional event featuring WWF, WCW, and ECW wrestlers, in addition to local and indy talent, which ran four years, from 1998-2001. Over the course of the four shows, many additional pro wrestling memories were created, such as Dean Malenko's retirement announcement at the inaugural event, and a sensational Chris Benoit/Steven Regal match (at the 2000 show) that would result in Regal being offered a WWF contract. In 2003, Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) would rank Pillman #84 of the 500 best “PWI Years” singles wrestlers, and one-half of the #50-ranked tag team (The Hollywood Blondes, with Steve Austin).
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