The part when Brian Pillman Jr. was talking about his stepfather really hit me... I don't have a stepfather, but it did make me appreciate my father even more.
1:23 Big Money, Big Name, _if_ life played out differently 5:07 Dave Meltzer, Jim Ross, His kids 7:38 The Hollywood Blondes of WCW 8:54 Pillman, Love Cheater, Real Home Family Drama ends tragically 11:55 "Loose Cannon" 13:12 Bobby Heenan 14:22 Kayfabe Release Angle 17:22 Car Accident, Swollen Face, Multiple Specialists Doctors 20:02 3 Year, Guaranteed Money 21:18 WWF Crazy Angles 22:41 Drug Test 23:33 Brian Pillman's Ending 25:33 The 10 Bell Salute, Vince Interviews Melanie Pillman 31:03 28:00 The Funeral 29:02 Brian Jr. , enduring abuse from his stepfather 32:16 Brian Pillman's Legacy
All the stuff with Melanie blew my mind. I had always just known her as Brian's widow, I had no idea about all the stuff with Brian's first wife and her own drug abuse.
The eerie thing about watching the Pillman tribute on Raw now is the camera panning to different wrestlers close up and seeing guys that that would themselves die just a few years later....Owen Hart, Rick Rude, Road Warrior Hawk.
Pillman's "Smart Marks" promo in ECW was a legit masterpiece. So much so that I have most of it memorized. The "Smart Marks" promo walked so the other "worked shoot" promos that we got every 5 or so years since (Heyman before Series 01, Styles in May 2006, Punk's 2011 Pipe Bomb, Miz's 2016 talking smack promo) could all run.
What most people don't realize is that during Pillman's negotiations with WCW and WWF he also did some dates for ECW. At one point I believe he was getting paid by all three companies. Genius.
That totally comes off just from the short interview bits in this documentary. You go through a lot early in life and I think it either matures you or destroys your life.
Pillman's story reminds me a lot of Heath Ledger's in the sense that people say The Joker roll took over him. Based on everything going on in Brian's personal life, really makes me think how much of the Loose Cannon gimmick was real.
I was at the Bad Blood ppv show. I was really excited to see Brian Pillman. He was one of my favorite wrestlers and I was heartbroken when I found out he passed away. R.I.P. Brian Pillman.
I hope Brian Pillman Jr becomes the elite wrestling superstar his father was close to being before the car accident. The man turned his whole life around in a huge way and has a bright future. On a separate note, I'm super excited to watch the episode on the Dynamite Kid and the horror stories out of wrestling. He was a phenomenal talent who inspired many future wrestlers, but his violent stories are the big reason why he's not revered today.
Brian Pillman was dead by the time I started watching wrestling, so I didn't know him until I watched one of Stone Cold's DVD's that I borrowed from my aunt and I learned about Pillman from that, because he was Austin's former tag team partner in WCW. That's when I found out about the story when WCW put Austin and Pillman together for no reason, and then broke them up when they got over because they weren't supposed to get over. This sounds like something WWE would do nowadays.
It’s Verry Errie When U Notice That Both Pillman & Eddie Guerrero Both Died In A Hotel, In Minnesota, From a Heart Attack. And Both Were In There Mid-Late 30s.
That's telling of Pillman as a man he wanted success and the money in wrestling not for greed not for the fame or adulation for selfish reasons like that. He just wanted more money so he can provide for his family and be a good dad. The ending of the documentary was beautiful at least to see the kids together bonded with their aunt. And I totally agree wanting to see Brian Pillman JR succeed to continue his father's legacy.
Couldn't imagine the pain he felt wrestling on a leg he could barely walk on. A sad lesson, never take anything that could put you out when you're behind the wheel.
Kim Wood is very animated. Almost freaks me out with how expressive he is. As for Jr. I think that he could be a major star in AEW. I hope he gets a feud with Kenny Omega because I think that can help his career. EDIT:: 3 YEARS LATER Well, I guess I was wrong about Lexus King 🤷♂️🤷♀️
Saw Flyin Brian for the first time in 1989 when I was 8 years old. He instantly became my favorite wrestler and remains so to this day. He just had a fire and intensity about him that resonated with me. If not for the car accident he may have ascended to the heights he was meant for but he definitely left a huge mark. Pillman impressed me more than Shawn Michaels ever did.
As bad as Vince looked during that segment, My question is why did she even agree to do that interview?? Like who wants to be on camera literally 24 hours after your spouse dies??
It was a surprice that they dont mention this; Melanie was divorcing Pillman and seen another man already at the time of Pillman Death... They really try hard to not make her look SO bad at the documentary. Even Tho, what Melanie and Pillman did to Rochelle was pure evil...
Per Wikipedia: He was the second wrestler to sign a guaranteed contract with the WWF after Marc Mero, 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.
Just finished watching it, Pillman passed away 2 years before I was born but he's one of my all time favorites and it was rough to see how much pain he was truly in. JR tried to help, but to no avail. And God Bless Linda Pillman for taking care the Brian Jr and his sisters.
You are spot on regarding the feeling you get when you relive these times. Both the Benoit and Owen death will haunt me forever. And then there was Guerrero, Kanyon, Candido, Pillman etc etc....
@@ThunderForce2000 yeah he probably would have wanted to go back to wcw with bret and probably rejoined the horsemen but vince would have treated him like owen. He would have never let Brian go
Seems like his sister held everyone together. RIP that ankle injury from that wreck did him in pretty much. His whole leg was fused together. Crazy how many surgeries he had.
I'm not a doctor or any type of medical expert, but was that the only solution to healing his injuries? There was no alternative, or was his leg that fucked up? Just wish he wasn't damaged goods after that, shame really.
Yeah, the Grizzly Smith one is gonna be real fucked up. I still remember watching my old Jake Roberts DVD "Pick Your Poison" from back in the day, and some of the things that were said about his father were quite eye opening to say the least.
Thanks for the review, think it be cool if you kept the review on the RUclips channel. 83 weeks did the korea talk a while ago it's pretty interesting worth a listen too. Keep up the good work
Brian Pillman Jr saying the horrible up bringing he had with his step father, hit me cos I was in the same boat at times cos my father had a bike accident when I was younger.. what it did to him set him off the rails where every after school day.. the physically and mentally abuse I got was intense, cos of his heavy drinking non stop.. still to this day I find normal life very hard to deal with.. but I've train my mind to be strong and think positive.
JR hit the nail on the head with Pillman. If he couldn't wrestle, Brian could've been a VERY effective manager. He had such a personality that he could've pulled it off. The problem is that guys like Pillman were very prideful. They felt that if they can't wrestle then they consider themselves a failure. I get that wrestlers were being paid the most money. But Brian really could've made some decent money as a manager or a personality on TV and it would've gave him much needed time to heal that leg up. Even if he couldn't wrestle anymore there was so much hidden potential with Pillman in the wrestling business. If he retired and became a manager, he would've been considered an all-time great. Just so many what ifs with Pillman that we'll never know.
I wish Brian could’ve just sat out to heal his leg. If he retired he could’ve been an amazing manager or commentator. If not, he was only 35 when he died he would’ve been feuding with Rock and Austin and Triple H if he had the time to heal and get back in the ring. Truly one of the greatest “what-ifs” in wrestling.
Pillman was a great loose cannon and kept people guessing but what Coco Watchout did to Trashyard Mutt was insane. I hope that was a work but I still can’t tell
Pillman's sister and children are good and lovely people and I sincerely hope they all have peace and tranquility in their lives. My opinion of Pillman himself and Melanie were considerably lowered due to what they did to Rachelle. And Melanie letting her new husband abuse her son and using her children's money for drugs is beyond reprehensible. I remember Joey Stiles on the Pillman WWE DVD talking about Pillman defecating on the floor at the house of the parents of one of the ECW employees, just to prove he was "crazy".
He apparently doesn't do them as a general rule. I recall a story of him being present for Eddie Guerrero's, but from across the road, all by himself, drinking beer.
If you watch Austin & Pillman from their Blonde days you can see that they had matching gold chains. Those chains were bought by Pillman as way to enchance their "Hollywood" image. If you watch later interviews with Austin in WWE, you will see he still wears that chain.
@@dark_antihero his star system is antiquated and makes no sense. He gives stars to matches based on how much he likes a match and not how it compares to other such matches. Like technical matches should be ranked against other technical ones and spectacle ones against other spectacle matches. He doesn't do it that way. Hulk vs Andre shouldn't be only 3 stars, it's not a technical masterpiece, but it was never intended to be and is still one of the all time greatest matches. Dave could accomplish the same mission of letting fans know how good a match was without the star system.
Pillman’s sister is truly the real MVP of this crazy saga
No kidding!
The part when Brian Pillman Jr. was talking about his stepfather really hit me... I don't have a stepfather, but it did make me appreciate my father even more.
Every child deserves a loving mother- and father figure. We should feel blessed to have had that.
Be grateful that you never grew up with a neglectful father and a complete asshole step father I'm 32 and still not over it
1:23 Big Money, Big Name, _if_ life played out differently
5:07 Dave Meltzer, Jim Ross, His kids
7:38 The Hollywood Blondes of WCW
8:54 Pillman, Love Cheater, Real Home Family Drama ends tragically
11:55 "Loose Cannon" 13:12 Bobby Heenan
14:22 Kayfabe Release Angle
17:22 Car Accident, Swollen Face, Multiple Specialists Doctors
20:02 3 Year, Guaranteed Money
21:18 WWF Crazy Angles 22:41 Drug Test
23:33 Brian Pillman's Ending
25:33 The 10 Bell Salute, Vince Interviews Melanie Pillman 31:03
28:00 The Funeral
29:02 Brian Jr. , enduring abuse from his stepfather
32:16 Brian Pillman's Legacy
34:04 Upcoming schedule
Hearing Brian Jr. talk about his stepdad made me want to buy him a GameCube. It's terrible hearing what he went through.
If he does a show close to where you are, you can give him a GameCube as a fan gift.
All the stuff with Melanie blew my mind. I had always just known her as Brian's widow, I had no idea about all the stuff with Brian's first wife and her own drug abuse.
The eerie thing about watching the Pillman tribute on Raw now is the camera panning to different wrestlers close up and seeing guys that that would themselves die just a few years later....Owen Hart, Rick Rude, Road Warrior Hawk.
Brian Jr talking about him wanting above all else to be a father and to do what Brian wanted to do as a father...
That was really something man.
Pillman's "Smart Marks" promo in ECW was a legit masterpiece. So much so that I have most of it memorized.
The "Smart Marks" promo walked so the other "worked shoot" promos that we got every 5 or so years since (Heyman before Series 01, Styles in May 2006, Punk's 2011 Pipe Bomb, Miz's 2016 talking smack promo) could all run.
Cornette said it best about Melanie.....She went from the Penthouse to the Outhouse 🤦♂️
What most people don't realize is that during Pillman's negotiations with WCW and WWF he also did some dates for ECW. At one point I believe he was getting paid by all three companies. Genius.
I met brain jr few years ago good head on his shoulders hope he does well.
That totally comes off just from the short interview bits in this documentary.
You go through a lot early in life and I think it either matures you or destroys your life.
Brain Jr.
The stuff with Pillman Jr talking about his dad at the end and his legacy, had me choked up bad.
Pillman's story reminds me a lot of Heath Ledger's in the sense that people say The Joker roll took over him. Based on everything going on in Brian's personal life, really makes me think how much of the Loose Cannon gimmick was real.
I was at the Bad Blood ppv show. I was really excited to see Brian Pillman. He was one of my favorite wrestlers and I was heartbroken when I found out he passed away. R.I.P. Brian Pillman.
The story of Brian Pillman is a cautionary tale of living the lifestyle of pro wrestling. RIP good sir
I hope Brian Pillman Jr becomes the elite wrestling superstar his father was close to being before the car accident. The man turned his whole life around in a huge way and has a bright future.
On a separate note, I'm super excited to watch the episode on the Dynamite Kid and the horror stories out of wrestling. He was a phenomenal talent who inspired many future wrestlers, but his violent stories are the big reason why he's not revered today.
Brian Pillman was dead by the time I started watching wrestling, so I didn't know him until I watched one of Stone Cold's DVD's that I borrowed from my aunt and I learned about Pillman from that, because he was Austin's former tag team partner in WCW. That's when I found out about the story when WCW put Austin and Pillman together for no reason, and then broke them up when they got over because they weren't supposed to get over. This sounds like something WWE would do nowadays.
Pillman Jr has a big heart.I wish him nothing but the best in his career.
It’s Verry Errie When U Notice That Both Pillman & Eddie Guerrero Both Died In A Hotel, In Minnesota, From a Heart Attack.
And Both Were In There Mid-Late 30s.
That's telling of Pillman as a man he wanted success and the money in wrestling not for greed not for the fame or adulation for selfish reasons like that. He just wanted more money so he can provide for his family and be a good dad. The ending of the documentary was beautiful at least to see the kids together bonded with their aunt. And I totally agree wanting to see Brian Pillman JR succeed to continue his father's legacy.
Couldn't imagine the pain he felt wrestling on a leg he could barely walk on. A sad lesson, never take anything that could put you out when you're behind the wheel.
Kim Wood is very animated. Almost freaks me out with how expressive he is.
As for Jr. I think that he could be a major star in AEW. I hope he gets a feud with Kenny Omega because I think that can help his career.
EDIT:: 3 YEARS LATER
Well, I guess I was wrong about Lexus King 🤷♂️🤷♀️
Saw Flyin Brian for the first time in 1989 when I was 8 years old. He instantly became my favorite wrestler and remains so to this day. He just had a fire and intensity about him that resonated with me. If not for the car accident he may have ascended to the heights he was meant for but he definitely left a huge mark. Pillman impressed me more than Shawn Michaels ever did.
Brian Jr looked like a blend of Brian Sr and Kenny Omega in this.
Fantastic summarization
Such a heartbreaking story, but your description of it with the humor makes it easier to digest.
As bad as Vince looked during that segment, My question is why did she even agree to do that interview?? Like who wants to be on camera literally 24 hours after your spouse dies??
Because she was scared that if she didn't, then Vince wouldn't pay her what he owed Brian.
Glad to hear the upcoming schedule. Still hoping we get an RVD episode dubbed “Dank Side of the Ring”
Missed opportunity to do it on 420
It was a surprice that they dont mention this; Melanie was divorcing Pillman and seen another man already at the time of Pillman Death... They really try hard to not make her look SO bad at the documentary.
Even Tho, what Melanie and Pillman did to Rochelle was pure evil...
this was a really tough watch. it was absolutely heartbreaking when Jim Ross blamed himself for what happened to Brian. Ugh..that was so painful
Having watched all the old WCW PPV's on Peacock Flyin Brian has become one of my fave wrestlers of all time. Face or Heel his work was amazing
Unless he was signed after Pillman, I thought Marc Mero got a guaranteed contract from WWE as well.
I believe Mero was first considering he debuted during wrestlemania 12
@@MazeDaGr8 Correct, and Brian was 2nd
Per Wikipedia:
He was the second wrestler to sign a guaranteed contract with the WWF after Marc Mero, 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.
Just finished watching it, Pillman passed away 2 years before I was born but he's one of my all time favorites and it was rough to see how much pain he was truly in. JR tried to help, but to no avail. And God Bless Linda Pillman for taking care the Brian Jr and his sisters.
You are spot on regarding the feeling you get when you relive these times. Both the Benoit and Owen death will haunt me forever.
And then there was Guerrero, Kanyon, Candido, Pillman etc etc....
If Pillman didn't have that Injury...he would”ve been huge! The Pioneer of the Attitude era.
Only thing is I think he would have left after the Montreal Screwjob as he was very good friends with Bret Hart
@@ThunderForce2000 yeah he probably would have wanted to go back to wcw with bret and probably rejoined the horsemen but vince would have treated him like owen.
He would have never let Brian go
@@ThunderForce2000 that is very true
growing up watching Pillman i really thought he was a Loose cannon him showing up on ECW was a wow for me
Seems like his sister held everyone together. RIP that ankle injury from that wreck did him in pretty much. His whole leg was fused together. Crazy how many surgeries he had.
I'm not a doctor or any type of medical expert, but was that the only solution to healing his injuries? There was no alternative, or was his leg that fucked up? Just wish he wasn't damaged goods after that, shame really.
The stuff around his family was heartbreaking
I think Brian was bi polar manic. I do a lot of crazy stuff. Cause of that. RIP He went thru a ton of personal problems.
This was the Best one they have done up to this point, in my opinion. Emotionally riveting and dizzying. Just an excellent piece of television.
Yeah, the Grizzly Smith one is gonna be real fucked up. I still remember watching my old Jake Roberts DVD "Pick Your Poison" from back in the day, and some of the things that were said about his father were quite eye opening to say the least.
Who else wants to buy Brian Jr a new Gamecube?
Pillman Jr. has a great redemption narrative.
I love your videos on Dark Side Of The Ring
I wonder if they’re going to interview Melanie Pillman for the Warrior episode since she dated him before Pillman
One of the most hard-hitting parts of the Owen Hart episode was seeing Jim Cornette choking up. You are exactly right. He doesn't do that a lot.
Thanks for the review, think it be cool if you kept the review on the RUclips channel.
83 weeks did the korea talk a while ago it's pretty interesting worth a listen too.
Keep up the good work
Brian Pillman Jr saying the horrible up bringing he had with his step father, hit me cos I was in the same boat at times cos my father had a bike accident when I was younger.. what it did to him set him off the rails where every after school day.. the physically and mentally abuse I got was intense, cos of his heavy drinking non stop.. still to this day I find normal life very hard to deal with.. but I've train my mind to be strong and think positive.
Brian Pillman was a pure genius. Too bad he lost his life waaaaaaaaay to soon.
Aunt Linda needs to be in the crowd when Brian Jr. wins his first championship in AEW
JR hit the nail on the head with Pillman. If he couldn't wrestle, Brian could've been a VERY effective manager. He had such a personality that he could've pulled it off.
The problem is that guys like Pillman were very prideful. They felt that if they can't wrestle then they consider themselves a failure.
I get that wrestlers were being paid the most money. But Brian really could've made some decent money as a manager or a personality on TV and it would've gave him much needed time to heal that leg up.
Even if he couldn't wrestle anymore there was so much hidden potential with Pillman in the wrestling business. If he retired and became a manager, he would've been considered an all-time great. Just so many what ifs with Pillman that we'll never know.
Loose Cannon vs Stone Cold during the attitude era would of been classic.
Brian Pillman Legit had me believing in the Loose Cannon Antics and hopefully Brian Pillman Jr can have success in Professional Wrestling ...
Badass Graphic. Easy listen. 👊🏽
the 30 Days that Pillman had Marlena was the last 30 Days of his life 😥
And Goldust
I wish Brian could’ve just sat out to heal his leg. If he retired he could’ve been an amazing manager or commentator. If not, he was only 35 when he died he would’ve been feuding with Rock and Austin and Triple H if he had the time to heal and get back in the ring. Truly one of the greatest “what-ifs” in wrestling.
Pillman was a great loose cannon and kept people guessing but what Coco Watchout did to Trashyard Mutt was insane. I hope that was a work but I still can’t tell
Does anyone think it’s weird that when this aired that AEW did nothing to spotlight Brian Pillman Jr., when he was the most popular?
Big missed opportunity.
Pillman's sister and children are good and lovely people and I sincerely hope they all have peace and tranquility in their lives. My opinion of Pillman himself and Melanie were considerably lowered due to what they did to Rachelle. And Melanie letting her new husband abuse her son and using her children's money for drugs is beyond reprehensible. I remember Joey Stiles on the Pillman WWE DVD talking about Pillman defecating on the floor at the house of the parents of one of the ECW employees, just to prove he was "crazy".
So Jim Cornette is mad at The Kliq for the Curtain Call but as not to Brian Pillman making that “I respect your bookerman” statement?
Curtain Call was real and what Pilman said to Sullivan was a work
@@MorganTyler86 even still, calling a wrestler as the main booker of the show on live tv would still be considered “exposing the business” right?
@@AndersonTenecela I don't recall Pillman and Sullivan hugging each other after the match, the Curtain Call guys did that.
Brian Pillman’s daughter Lexi also died in a car accident back in the mid to late 2000’s.
Years later and I still don't understand why they had to do the Melanie Pillman interview a day after of her husband's death.
Ratings and because Vince is a douchebag.
Jake the Snake Roberts would be a Dark Side of The Ring episode himself.
Melanie Pillman passed away a couple of months ago.
Kim Wood a f lengend
He freaks me out. Seems very animated.
So sad I will have to watch it again. One of the most underrated wrestlers in the attitude era
I was a bit surprised that they didn't interview Bret Hart for this. Maybe they asked and he said no 🤷♂️
Yeah they kinda glossed over the fact he was in the Four Horsemen AND The Hart Foundation when Bret, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson are still living.
5:30 lol, it's true though
The night Pillman died, Marlena was supposed to turn on Goldust and become Pillman’s valet. A heel Teri Runnels with Pillman would’ve been gold.
Needed this
When Cornette gets choked up it’s cause those were the deaths that hit him close to his heart cause he truly cared about them
Iirc wasn’t Melanie pregnant with another child around the time of his death
I miss the Loose Cannon
A madness
good review
Bischoff got worked.
Pullman should be in the hall of fame
If Steve Austin really considered Pillman as his friend, why he didn't go to his funeral?
He apparently doesn't do them as a general rule. I recall a story of him being present for Eddie Guerrero's, but from across the road, all by himself, drinking beer.
@@TheSolomonster interesting. I did not know that. Thank you.
@@TheSolomonster so many great talents gone, it makes sense to do it that way.
If you watch Austin & Pillman from their Blonde days you can see that they had matching gold chains. Those chains were bought by Pillman as way to enchance their "Hollywood" image. If you watch later interviews with Austin in WWE, you will see he still wears that chain.
@@TRivera13Even during his push as the top guy in 1998, he was still wearing the necklace
EXCELLENT REVIEW ON DARKSIDE OF THE RING SOLOMONSTER 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
You can't deny Meltzer can recognize talent, it's that stupid star system that needs to go.
that star system makes casual fan like myself and others go out of our way and see matches they would never see, thats never a bad thing
@@dark_antihero his star system is antiquated and makes no sense. He gives stars to matches based on how much he likes a match and not how it compares to other such matches. Like technical matches should be ranked against other technical ones and spectacle ones against other spectacle matches. He doesn't do it that way. Hulk vs Andre shouldn't be only 3 stars, it's not a technical masterpiece, but it was never intended to be and is still one of the all time greatest matches. Dave could accomplish the same mission of letting fans know how good a match was without the star system.