The death of Princess Diana was one of the most shocking things to happen in 1997. The whole world seemed to be in grief after her untimely death. Ten years on and there has been notable memorials still around in her name.
The world never forgot her. And the wrestling world will never forget Brian Pillman.
Brian Pillman was another celebrity that died long before their time. He passed away on this day in 1997. A victim of the wrestling culture that has claimed many lives ever since.
I was laying on my couch watching the WWF In Your House: Badd Blood event. The show was live and as The Rock and the Nation of Domination were walking towards the ring Vince McMahon made a brief mention saying that there was some unfortunate news and that Brian Pillman had been found dead in his hotel room moments before they went on air.
I was stunned.
October 26th 1993 will forever be one of the best days of my life. It was the first time I went to see an American wrestling show. It was a WCW event being held at the Cardiff International Arena.
The first match was the Hollywood Blondes going up against the team of Too Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell. The Blondes were the first team out of the curtain. Stunning Steve Austin and Flyin' Briian Pillman incited the audience with their clackerboard and hand gestures pretending to be holding a video camera..
This was the first time I had seen the characters I was accustomed to seeing on my television.
Twelve years later, I'm sitting here and thinking about what became of the first two performers I saw in living flesh. One went on to become the most popular wrestlers in history. The other went to an early grave.
Reading a obituary of Pillman opens your eyes to how clued up he was about the business. One of the most intriguing stories about the man is how he managed to wor the top three federations into believing he was psychotic.
It all started in late '95 and early '96 whilst Pillman was part of WCW. He started acting erratically while on television. The people around him were surprised because he was not conforming to his script.
It was a planned 'shoot' between him and WCW president, Eric Bischoff. A 'shoot' in wrestling terms is defined as 'an unscripted moment behind the mic or in the ring'.
The plan made by Bischoff and Pillman was that he would act crazy on and off-screen in the hope that it would get people to buy tickets to see him.
In order to make this angle work, Bischoff contacted ECW and made an agreement for Pillman to show up at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia and inform the company he had been fired by WCW for his antics.
It worked.
Pillman stayed in ECW for an - pardon the pun - extremely short time. During this period he was involved in a massive crash when his jeep went out of control and threw him out of the car. Ironically, he was saved because he wasn't wearing his seat belt.
Pillman continued on with his Loose Cannon persona by showing up at ECW shows in a wheelchair. He then came up with an even greater plot. One that would out bluff his co-conspirator.
Pillman's contract was up for renewal and he knew that his value was high because of the way his new character was being welcomed by all fans, especially the underground fans who were discussing whether this was an act or not.
Pillman contacted Bischoff with his idea. He wanted to have his firing legalised. The rationale he offered was that he was working everyone in the dressing room and on TV but he wasn't fooling anyone in the office unless he had the legal team serve him papers informing him of his release.
Bischoff agreed to it and fired Pillman.
The Free Agent then went to see how much the WWE wanted him. They offered him a better deal and he jumped ship in the early Summer of 1996.
Pillman must have been the smartest man in wrestling to have pulled that off. Ever since that time there have been numerous attempts at pulling a 'work-shoot' but nobody has done it as well as Pillman.
I likened this angle to that of Hamlet. People around the Dane thought he had gone mad but he had a hidden agenda. I have never read or heard anyone refer to it in this way but there are elements of the Shakespeare play to the Loose Cannon.
It's been ten years but what he did for the business has not been forgotten. The fact that the WWE released a DVD about him him late last year is proof the memory lives on.
The picture above is of a Brian Pilllman T-Shirt that someone got me when he went to the ECW Arena for a show. the cards are from the Topps WCW trading card set that I collected as a child.
The world never forgot her. And the wrestling world will never forget Brian Pillman.
Brian Pillman was another celebrity that died long before their time. He passed away on this day in 1997. A victim of the wrestling culture that has claimed many lives ever since.
I was laying on my couch watching the WWF In Your House: Badd Blood event. The show was live and as The Rock and the Nation of Domination were walking towards the ring Vince McMahon made a brief mention saying that there was some unfortunate news and that Brian Pillman had been found dead in his hotel room moments before they went on air.
I was stunned.
October 26th 1993 will forever be one of the best days of my life. It was the first time I went to see an American wrestling show. It was a WCW event being held at the Cardiff International Arena.
The first match was the Hollywood Blondes going up against the team of Too Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell. The Blondes were the first team out of the curtain. Stunning Steve Austin and Flyin' Briian Pillman incited the audience with their clackerboard and hand gestures pretending to be holding a video camera..
This was the first time I had seen the characters I was accustomed to seeing on my television.
Twelve years later, I'm sitting here and thinking about what became of the first two performers I saw in living flesh. One went on to become the most popular wrestlers in history. The other went to an early grave.
Reading a obituary of Pillman opens your eyes to how clued up he was about the business. One of the most intriguing stories about the man is how he managed to wor the top three federations into believing he was psychotic.
It all started in late '95 and early '96 whilst Pillman was part of WCW. He started acting erratically while on television. The people around him were surprised because he was not conforming to his script.
It was a planned 'shoot' between him and WCW president, Eric Bischoff. A 'shoot' in wrestling terms is defined as 'an unscripted moment behind the mic or in the ring'.
The plan made by Bischoff and Pillman was that he would act crazy on and off-screen in the hope that it would get people to buy tickets to see him.
In order to make this angle work, Bischoff contacted ECW and made an agreement for Pillman to show up at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia and inform the company he had been fired by WCW for his antics.
It worked.
Pillman stayed in ECW for an - pardon the pun - extremely short time. During this period he was involved in a massive crash when his jeep went out of control and threw him out of the car. Ironically, he was saved because he wasn't wearing his seat belt.
Pillman continued on with his Loose Cannon persona by showing up at ECW shows in a wheelchair. He then came up with an even greater plot. One that would out bluff his co-conspirator.
Pillman's contract was up for renewal and he knew that his value was high because of the way his new character was being welcomed by all fans, especially the underground fans who were discussing whether this was an act or not.
Pillman contacted Bischoff with his idea. He wanted to have his firing legalised. The rationale he offered was that he was working everyone in the dressing room and on TV but he wasn't fooling anyone in the office unless he had the legal team serve him papers informing him of his release.
Bischoff agreed to it and fired Pillman.
The Free Agent then went to see how much the WWE wanted him. They offered him a better deal and he jumped ship in the early Summer of 1996.
Pillman must have been the smartest man in wrestling to have pulled that off. Ever since that time there have been numerous attempts at pulling a 'work-shoot' but nobody has done it as well as Pillman.
I likened this angle to that of Hamlet. People around the Dane thought he had gone mad but he had a hidden agenda. I have never read or heard anyone refer to it in this way but there are elements of the Shakespeare play to the Loose Cannon.
It's been ten years but what he did for the business has not been forgotten. The fact that the WWE released a DVD about him him late last year is proof the memory lives on.
The picture above is of a Brian Pilllman T-Shirt that someone got me when he went to the ECW Arena for a show. the cards are from the Topps WCW trading card set that I collected as a child.
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