All language subtitles for Dark.Side.Of.The.Ring.S03E01.UNCENSORED.480p.x264-mSD

The first time I saw him, he had this
magnetic charisma that you could feel

across the gym.

And you thought, hey man, this guy's a
star.

And I'll do whatever it takes to look at
Burstie in the face and spit in his

eye. The wrestling world could never
have imagined that an undersized

player from Cincinnati would
revolutionize the business, ushering in

era. Shut the hell up!

Brian knew what the deal was, that
they're going to screw him over, they're

going to screw anybody over, and how he
could make that play for his own

advantage. In an industry that depends
on the illusion of reality, no one did

more to blur the lines than Brian
Pillman, who shattered wrestling's

wall. He was going against the script.

This has never been done before.

Who the fuck are you doing? Easy!

Pillman's over -the -top antics exposed
the inner workings of the business.

leveraging trade secrets to make the
deal of a lifetime.

That loose cannon gimmick, he just took
it so far.

A lot of people thought, oh man, it was
too extreme.

You didn't know where Brian started and
his wrestling persona ended.

Get him the hell out of here.

He had a lot of troublesome
relationships with women. My mom had had

that kind of pushed her over the edge a
little bit. He's being driven crazy at

home. He's supposed to be crazy at work
and in between.

He's probably really going crazy.

On track to become a wrestling superstar
at the price of his own sanity, his

rise to the top was tragically cut
short.

I'm watching the pre -show for the pay
-per -view. Ladies and gentlemen, we

some tragic news to report.

I just screamed.

He had a persona that he wanted to
perpetuate, even if it killed him.

Man, this gold chain that Brian Feldman
got for me way back in the day.

And I'll never forget, we were riding
down the road one day, and he goes, kid,

you got to have gold chains. They'll
look great.

And all these years later, I don't have
a lot of things, you know, from my old

wrestling days, but this chain is
something that I'll always have.

It's very sentimental to me, and it was
a big part of the makeup and the gimmick

of the Hollywood Blondes.

I'm Steve Austin, a friend of Brian's
from way back in our WCW days, and we

tag team partners.

Turned out to be really good friends
that are pretty damn good tag team.

Brian didn't fold nothing in. He wanted
to go out there and perform.

A guy that was never supposed to be big
enough or bad enough or strong enough to

do anything.

He blew everybody away with his tenacity
and his will to win.

He was a good -looking guy, great
physique, high flyer, could do

Brian was very athletic, really seemed
like he was willing to try anything, and

you could tell that he really wanted to
be a pro wrestling star.

I'm Jim Ross, and when I was in WCW in
the mid-'80s, Brian was a guy that we

very high hopes for and really wanted to
find.

Brian,

from the time he first got in the ring,
you could tell he was a performer. He

was an exhibitionist. He wanted you to
notice him. He had the personality for

wrestling.

I'm Jim Cornette. I've been involved in
professional wrestling for over 40 years

as a manager, promoter, announcer,
matchmaker, and I was good friends in

and 90s with Brian Hilton.

He wasn't trying to just be the move
guy. He wasn't just trying to be the guy

with the nice mullet and the abs. He was
trying to be everything.

He was trying to hit this business on
all fronts and fire on all cylinders,

he was trying to be the biggest star
that the business had ever seen.

My name is Brian Pillman, Jr. I am the
only son of the late, great Brian

Pillman, otherwise known as the Loose
Cannon.

Brian was the natural promo.

When they stuck a mic in front of him,
he would just go off in that thrashy

voice. You're not running this
interview.

I am.

Because I'm Brian fucking Bellman.

Growing up. Brian had multiple polyps on
his vocal cords, and it was closing up

his air passage.

They'd scrape them off, and then after
so long, they'd grow right back again.

And that's why his voice was so raspy,
because his vocal cords had been scraped

so many times.

I'm Linda, Brian's older sister.

You know, he had over 40 surgeries. I
don't know the exact number.

When my mother came in from work one
day, she could hear breathing as soon as

she came in the house, and it was
closing up as air passage.

And she called the doctor.

She had to hold the receiver up so he
could hear him breathing, and that's

he decided he needed emergency
tracheotomy.

He told my mother to have the ambulance
bring them to his house.

Because his house was closer than the
hospital.

And he put a tracheotomy in Brian on his
dining room table in the middle of the

night.

But it never stopped him from doing
anything. He was always outside playing

running. And he wasn't allowed to talk
for like two or three weeks after those

surgeries. And he didn't talk.

As a result of that, I think he
overcompensated later on by wanting to

talk and wanting to be an entertainer.
It formed him as the guy that was going

to overcome, overachieve, knock down the
obstacles, whatever the case may be.

The son of a bitch was fearless.

I mean, he was a tough, tough nut.

My name is Kim Wood. I was the Paul
Brown strength coach for the Cincinnati

Bengals. And Pillman got a chance to try
out with us.

My instruction was to kill him.

And not literally kill him, but damn
close. But he tried his ass off.

You know, he always said it's not about
the size of the dog in the fight, it's

about the size of the fight in the dog.
He had a reputation in Cincinnati being

a street fighter.

I heard that he was at some bar that had
an upper floor, like a balcony or

whatever you want to call it.

And he was up there, and some girl threw
a drink in his face.

And her boyfriend came after Brian.

Before it was over, the guy was hanging.
Brian had him hanging by his ankles

over the railing, over the first floor.

And Brian was banned from that bar.

After a brief stint in the NFL, Brian
heads to Calgary to play in the Canadian

Football League.

Soon after... Brian suffers an ankle
injury, cutting his career short, which

leaves him searching for what to do
next.

One thing I knew about Brian was that he
wasn't going to be a high school

teacher. He wasn't going to sell
insurance.

There were a lot of things he wasn't
going to do. Where he could use his

toughness and his physicality to make
money.

A couple years ago when I was with the
Bengals, Kim was the strength coach.

He had talked to me about getting into
professional wrestling. He thought I had

all the tools needed to be successful.

It turns out Calgary happens to be the
premier training ground for wrestlers in

the world. And I said, hey, while you're
up there, go check out this Heart

Bunch. The Hearts are the first family
of Canadian wrestling, with patriarch

Hart at the helm. In addition to his
children that would go on to be

icons, The family also discovered and
trained several other future superstars.

They take them into the hard dungeon and
they teach them how to wrestle and one

of the most prestigious ways to break
into the business that there is.

How would you sort of describe what the
dungeon is for someone who doesn't know

what it is?

Well, from what I hear, if you can't
hear screaming coming out of it,

something's not going right.

Stu, the old man, would put people in
submission holes.

and then I'd let him out of the thing
for, you know, three or four hours. If

could survive that, you could survive
almost anything.

So you get that great foundation all off
the bat from Stu.

It was an easy bridge to cross from
football to wrestling.

Brian gets his start in stampede
wrestling, and although it's a small

in western Canada, its influence on the
industry is felt around the wrestling

world. In the 80s, there were millions
of wrestling fans, but there was a small

subset called smart fans that knew the
inside inner workings of wrestling. The

insiders all knew the name Brian Pillman
pretty quick.

I'm Dave Meltzer, editor of the
Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It's an

publication that's covered pro wrestling
since 1982.

For a long time, it was like really the
only, you know.

what I would call a true source of pro
wrestling information that was out

The sheets were kind of a thing back in
the day. You didn't really want to get

caught with them. You know, it was kind
of like secret documents.

And then it kind of got out to, damn,
you're all the boys are reading.

I'm with Brian. He had started wrestling
when he called me the first time. And

he wanted to send me tapes and wanted me
to send tapes, so we traded tapes.

As far as student of the game, I mean,
top, top level, more than almost anyone

that I've ever dealt with.

Milcher was a good gauge.

For talent.

So that tipped me off that Meltzer kept
writing good things about Brian.

Brian wound up in WCW by me getting a
hold of him. All right, Brian, best of

luck on that endeavor, ladies. Upon
arriving in WCW.

Top star and matchmaker Ric Flair sees
something in Bryan and looks to feature

him on television in a main event spot.

And we put that match together and it
was one of the highest rated Saturday

night television programs on TBS at that
point in the previous several years.

And the crowd popped for it.

Rick Flair was the kind of guy that
wanted to go in the ring with somebody

Brian and go 30 or 45 minutes and tear
the house down. And then he wanted to go

to the bar with Brian or somebody like
Brian for five or six hours and tear the

house down there.

That's the way he lived.

He lived a cartoon life, a fantasy life
of limos and long black socks and

alligator shoes and, you know, babes. I
think Brian liked aspects of the

lifestyle a lot.

You know, he wanted to be like Rick
Flair.

Brian Pillman was a ladies' man.

I mean, he's a gorgeous guy. He's on
television. He's a professional athlete.

So, yeah, a lot of the women were
attracted to Brian.

Rochelle was a woman that Brian met at a
club downtown Cincinnati.

You know, they were happy, and we all
loved her. She went and lived with him

Calgary for a while before he got the
contract down in Atlanta.

And that's when Brittany was born in
Atlanta.

My name is Brittany Pillman. I'm the
daughter of Brian Pillman. I was a

girl. You know, everyone sees him as
this wrestler and always on the road.

you know, wrestling was his life. But
outside of wrestling, his children were

his life.

My dad thought I was his firstborn
child.

When I was a year old, he found out that
he had another daughter out there that

was two years old.

I'm Danielle Pillman. I go by Danny.

And Brian Tolman is my father, and I am
the oldest of his kids.

My dad met my mom at the waterfront in
Cincinnati, like some bar.

And, I mean, it was like a very brief
love affair.

But she did end up becoming pregnant
that my dad had Rochelle as his

at the time.

So, yeah, that's kind of why she didn't
want to disclose that to my father

immediately.

But at a certain point, she felt like,
you know, I needed my dad. And the

that I came into the picture, he was
there for me 100 % and wanted me to be

every part of his life.

And I think that's something to be said
about him is that he really did care

about his kids.

You know, my dad living that lifestyle
and all these different women and, you

know, he had obviously cheated on my mom
many times.

I'm sure that was hard on her, but she
stayed with him, you know.

She had a lot of issues. She suffered
with major depression.

There was a time my mom and dad were
living in Atlanta, and my dad was at a

show.

The groundskeeper broke into the place
and attacked her with an ice pick.

And she was stabbed several times.

Was he trying to rob her? Rob her,
whatever, I don't know.

Stabbed her in the face.

Stabbed her in the cheek.

So that'll mess you up.

Brian Pillman's good looks and athletic
ability allow him a spot on the card as

a generic hero.

But he's not content to stay in one
place for long, nor do what he's told.

He was reasonably successful.

But, you know, he wanted to be a main
eventer, and he wasn't a main eventer

He was a good mid -level guy.

You know, Brian's first couple years in
WCW were tough.

I'm Eric Bischoff, former president of
WCW, and once upon a time, Brian

Pillman's boss.

Brian wasn't relatively new on the scene
his first couple years in WCW, so he

had to earn his respect.

What probably made that even tougher was
the amount of management transitions

that took place.

Constant changeover in management led to
stop -and -start pushes in Brian's

career. As soon as he started to gain
ground and earn respect, new matchmakers

would arrive, pushing Bryan back down to
the bottom. But finally, they put Bryan

together with Steve Austin.

He's ready to back you up 100%. All
right, stunning Steve Austin. And I

thrilled at all.

When people hear the name Steve Austin,
they think he was always the biggest

star in wrestling. At the time, in
1993...

He was still finding his way. He hadn't
got a main event spot yet. And this is

about when I'm fixing to start getting a
run as the United States champion.

So I was really looking forward to that.

I walk in the building, and here's Brian
coming up behind me. And I knew Brian,

but we weren't hanging out. He goes,
hey, kid, we need to come up with a

And I said, what the hell are you
talking about?

He goes, we're a tag team now.

And I was really not happy.

I had nothing against Brian.

But it's like I was a singles wrestler.

I enjoyed working with another guy in
the ring and only having to depend on

myself. And they didn't have no name
planned for us, no this, no that. It was

two singles guys, and they were going to
throw us together as an interim tag

team basically to get other people over
because they didn't have plans for Brian

and they didn't have plans for Steve
Austin.

And we were going to try to make the
most of the situation.

Anytime that you start working together
and traveling with someone, you become

closer. And normally I'd be at the
wheel.

Brian would be riding shotgun, reading
dictionaries. I mean, because he's

trying to increase his vocabulary for
promos.

And began the pilgrimage out to Florida.

He cut through the bureaucratic red tape
and get that title shot.

So as it goes, we're going down the road
and he goes, hey kid, every tag team

has to have a name.

What about the Hollywood Blancs? He
goes, it's been done before, but it's

while, so let's do that.

And I was thinking to myself, well, I
ain't come up with a better one.

And so, like, I was cool with being the
Hollywood Blancs.

Beth, Trump, everything was Brian's
idea.

And we were two cocky, brash, arrogant
guys.

And we started rolling the camera
footage and stuff like that. And, you

Brian, he had that.

Shitty grin or that laugh, you know,
when you're getting heat on a baby face.

And Brian and I developed this bond and
this chemistry.

I love tag team wrestling once I figured
it out.

I hate to say it this way because it
sounds really corny, but they were made

each other because they complimented
each other so well. They worked hard to

make each other look good.

The Hollywood Blondes also gave Brian a
chance to open up as a heel, as a bad

guy. People nowadays are like, oh, I
love the Hollywood blondes. But if you

back then, they were getting booed out
the building. And you loved to hate

I think it was more natural for Brian to
be a heel because, you know, he wasn't

a guy that wanted to shake hands and
kiss babies and smile. He wanted to be a

smart ass. He wanted to be obnoxious. He
wanted to show off.

He was getting better at what he does,
getting global exposure, partying,

fun.

Brian's fast and loose lifestyle doesn't
mix well with the turbulent situation

at home. And he pursues yet another
woman who enters his already complicated

life. I think Melanie was working in
Atlanta.

She was a showgirl.

He saw her picture in a penthouse or
something and says, I'm going to marry

girl. And somewhere along the line, he
met her.

My dad was sleeping with Melanie behind
my mother's back because he was always

in Atlanta.

Melanie would call the house.

And that's basically, I think, how
Rochelle found out about it. You know,

was hurt.

Because, you know, they had a nice home.
The family was happy.

But then he had this other life in
Atlanta.

And then Melanie became pregnant.

And that's how I hit Brian, Jr.

After another unexpected pregnancy
outside of their relationship, Brian and

Rochelle split up.

Shortly after, Brian proposes to his new
girlfriend, Melanie.

We went to Vegas and he put on like a
freaking St. Patrick's Day white tux

a big old ugly green bow tie.

And I had a white dress, mind you.

A stripper in a white dress.

And I had a big old green corsage on.

And I loved it every second of it. I
wouldn't trade it for the world.

My name is Melanie Pillman.

I'm the widow of Brian Pillman.

In private, he's just more laid back and
sensible acting, but he's one of the

most intelligent men I've ever met in my
life. So well -read, and he's excelled

at so many things. He was my soulmate. I
mean, I couldn't have picked a better

guy to love than him.

His first years with her, I thought he
was very happy.

It would be a big thing with his
Christmas card.

Because it would be him and the wife and
all these little kids.

Because I had my two kids, you know.

He would show up with like three or four
little kids.

They all had different mothers.

They'd be climbing on him. He'd be
carrying a couple. And one had his legs

around his neck and one was on his
shoulder.

And he loved those kids.

He was counted on. He was depended on to
provide.

That responsibility is what pushes you
to keep going to work. You have to

provide for your family.

And finally, they made the decision to
give the Hollywood Blondes a big main

event match.

It was going to be on a clash of
champions, and Ric Flair was returning.

going to be involved.

And the rating came in, and it wasn't
very good.

And they couldn't blame Flair because he
was a big star, so they put the heat on

Brian Pillman and Steve Austin. Well,
the Hollywood Blondes didn't draw a

rating. And that kind of doomed them
there as being featured in a more

capacity going forward.

It felt like betrayal.

I wish someone would finally tell me why
the company decided to break us up,

because we started getting over as a
viable tag team that could hold, you

world championship belts. We did. We
make chicken shit into chicken salad,

now you want to split us up with no real
clear direction for either one of us.

So breaking us up broke my heart.

I don't know of any other talents that
had been buried because they drew a bad

rating. At the time, TBS was drawing a
lot of bad ratings. But I think there

probably somebody that just thought, I
don't want to use these guys, and they

used that as an excuse.

How that was handled, I look back on it
today and still check my head that we

could have done better.

I would say the period from 1990 to
1993, it was very frustrating for Brian.

Also, there was some knowledge early on
that his home life was not as happy as

it could be.

I felt like my dad allowed Melanie to
run the show.

Melanie treated my mom very poorly. I
feel like she was very jealous of my

mother. Melanie didn't like him talking
to her. She didn't like me and my mother

talking to Rochelle. You know, she just,
she made it hard to like her because

she just caused trouble.

And then Rochelle took off and didn't
tell anybody where she was.

Rochelle is scheduled to see Brittany
for a visit, but she never shows.

No one is able to get a hold of her,
resulting in a missing persons report.

Several days later, when Rochelle
finally surfaces, Brian and Melanie take

decisive action.

And Brian said, and I agreed with him,
and I shouldn't have, we should just

for custody.

And that changed everything.

Following the tag team breakup with
Steve Austin, Brian's career has

and the cracks in his family life start
to break open.

consuming those around him.

The custody battle started because
Melanie didn't want Rochelle around.

Basically, Brian had more money and
could keep the attorneys paid because

attorneys only work when you pay them.
And Rochelle just didn't have any more

money. I was, you know, delivering stuff
to the lawyer. I was bombarding her

with these.

Stupid things about returning past child
support that she blew and floored. You

know, just little minutiae that was
making me feel like a better person. But

really, in reality, I wasn't a better
person. Nobody should try to take kids

away from a mother. I should have never
done that. In a million years, I would

never do it again.

It is devastated, Michelle.

I was outside riding my bicycle one day,
and this was at a time when she wasn't

allowed to see me.

And she came pulling up, and I just went
running to her, and I was so happy to

see her.

Rochelle was hugging her, and they
thought she was taking her.

And here comes my dad, and it was just
like this huge argument, him pulling her

away from me.

Melanie filed kidnapping charges against
Rochelle.

And so my dad had got full custody of
me, and in my mom's mind, she was just

like, I'm going to lose my daughter, and
I'm never going to see her again. And

so my mom called my dad's house, and she
wanted to talk to my dad, but he was

out of town.

Melanie had answered, and Melanie told
her, she said, even your own mother

thinks I would be a better mother for
your daughter than you'll ever be.

And my mom called my grandma.

She called her mother and told her
mother what she was going to do.

And then she shot herself.

Because I got the call to go to the
hospital.

Because she was being airlifted and I
was the closest.

And I was the one at the hospital that
they told. And then I had to tell

everybody.

that she was gone. She died on the
helicopter.

So I had to call her mother and tell her
mother.

Oh, it was very hard to tell somebody's
mother that your child was

dead.

It just destroyed Brian because he felt
so responsible.

He just was so upset. He cried and he
cried and he said, do you think it was

that pressure we put on her? I think it
was, Mel.

I'd be like, yeah, it probably was.

So Brian, he wanted to pay for her whole
funeral and everything.

And at the funeral, he held it together
until they closed the casket.

He lost it. He was hugging me and
sobbing.

In fact, at one point I kind of looked
at him because I thought he was going to

pass out.

He was devastated.

He was devastated.

I felt so guilty for that for years.

And I think I drove her, maybe not just
me, but I think...

Incidents drove her to shoot herself.

Rethinking it, I wouldn't have done it
the same way.

Nobody should have to fight for their
kid. I mean, it wasn't like she was

abusing her. So I don't really know what
my problem was back then.

It was devastating.

And I know it was for Brittany.

I have a lot of anger built up.

Towards my dad, in a sense, because I do
wish that he would have, you know,

allowed my mom to at least see me
because maybe she would still be here

don't, you know, I don't know. She had a
lot of issues. But Melanie was the

overall call. She's an evil person, and
she's always been that way.

Melanie should have never said those
words to my mom. She's just, she's

literally the devil. And they say, you
know, you reap what you sow.

And now she's living a life.

that she should have already been dead
years ago because of all the drugs that

she's done. But I feel like she's going
to live to be 100 years old and

absolutely miserable for all the pain
and suffering that she has caused me and

my brother and, you know, my Aunt Linda.

And Brittany's the one that, you know, I
don't know how to make it up to her.

There's nothing I... I don't really know
how to make it up to her. I wish I

could.

The guilt of Rochelle's death weighs
heavily on Brian, and he dives even

into his career.

With his contract renewal with the WCW
looming, Brian is determined to

renegotiate for even more money. When we
talk business, it's like, I have five

kids. I don't know how many more years I
can do this because my body's falling

apart. I have to make big money now
because I've got five kids. This was his

shot.

He talks with Bischoff that was
evidently doing the contracts there.

And Bischoff says to him, expect about
what you're getting now.

He was pretty happy that I got him back
to 225, but I think he wanted four is

the number that he was really wanting. I
couldn't give it to him. I couldn't

justify it at the time that he wanted
it. He came to me and he says, what do I

do?

And what I told him was this.

It's a question of value.

Everybody's using everybody else.

What can you do that other people can't
do?

What can you do that gains notoriety?

This thing runs on attention. It runs on
very superficial things.

We've got to create attention.

How can we do that in the position
you're in?

With his pulse on the wrestling
landscape, Bryan knew that he had to

to up the ante in order to shock even
the most hardcore of fans.

Brian knew if he could make people
legitimately believe that he was a loose

cannon, that he was nuts, he was off his
rocker, he was capable of doing

anything or saying anything at any time,
that he could be one of the hottest

guys in the wrestling industry.

It was a pure money deal.

What do we really want?

Bischoff to offer you a hell of a lot
more money, and we want Vince McMahon to

see that you are of value and offer you
more.

And then you flip a coin.

If he could play one side against the
other in the middle of the burgeoning

wrestling war, then he would come out
much better, six figures per year

And that's what he set about to do.

Brian Pillman's plan was simple. More
attention means more money. As the WWF

WCW are engaged in a ratings battle,
Brian exploits this to his advantage by

playing them off each other while
driving up his own value.

Brian came up with the loose cannon idea
and started slowly integrating it into

his television appearances.

Bobby Heenan was the color commentator.
Bobby had had a broken neck and he'd had

surgery and he was very protective of
his neck. And Brian goes around behind

Bobby and starts grabbing him by the
shoulders and everything. And on live

television, Bobby says,

And then Brian knew he got it. He got
gold out of it, right? Because now

everybody's going to be talking about
the F -bomb that got dropped on Turner

Broadcast. Bobby thought Brian was nuts.
I think the brain is left.

It seemed real to the point where people
were confused whether it was real or

not.

One of the guys he was involved with was
Kevin Sullivan.

He was the booker, the matchmaker.

Oh, my goodness, they got a fight going
on here. You know, they just... beating

the hell out of each other. And when
Brian Pillman was ready to quit, when it

was time for him to leave, it was like,
I respect you, Booker man.

I respect you, Booker man.

The mere fact that he was acknowledging
on national television that Kevin

Sullivan was the head writer of a
wrestling show was something that had

been done before.

Those that knew knew, and those that
didn't know would need to find out what

Booker man meant.

It was a big thing because Those guys
are sensitive about exposing the

When you're acting out a storyline
that's considered a work, and a lot of

boys backstage weren't really sure if
this was real or if this was a work.

The wrestling locker room had never been
invaded that way before. Because he

knew if the other wrestlers believed it
was real, then they would tell the

newsletter editors, wow, that guy's
really nuts, and the word would travel.

I thought, this is going down bad.

Brian's getting fired.

And I'm out of contact with him anyway.
So I think he's completely lost his

mind. You know, he's not even talking to
me anymore. The smart fans were

starting to figure out that wrestling is
manipulated. It's choreographed. It's

predetermined. That guy's nuts. And he's
real. He won't do what they tell him.

And that sells tickets because you had
no idea what or whether it was supposed

to happen or not.

He was convincing people that he was
insane.

Not only were the fans ready to be
fooled, but all the wrestlers were, the

management people were. There was a
whole bunch of people that you could

like a violin.

Brian, I'd like to know.

No, I'm not nervous. I'm not nervous at
all. I don't think anybody for sure at

any given moment knew if or not they
were really being worked by Brian. But

he ended up working Bischoff.

I said, get him to give you some kind of
release from his contract.

From your contract.

Brian says to Eric Bischoff, if you fire
me and then I bust out on TV the week

afterwards and people will know that
this has just gone out of control.

The people in the office, the
bookkeepers, whatever, if they see that

under contract, they're going to tell
Dave.

Everyone's going to know that it's all a
work.

So you have to really fire me. If you
give me this legitimate termination

letter, then I can show it to everybody.

Look what the guy did. Can you believe
this? Can you believe he fired me?

He did.

He gave him a release.

So he was then free to negotiate with
Vince McMahon and the WWF against Eric

Bischoff and WCW so he could get a
better deal. All because Bischoff

that he was working with Bryan to create
this illusion.

And Bryan was actually working Bischoff
to create his own illusion.

Dude, I mean, how do you do that?

I don't know anybody else that ever did
that.

Yeah, scrubbing genius.

I mean, it was a legitimate termination,
but it was a legitimate termination

with a wink and a nod.

I said, Brian, go to WWF. I can't give
you what you want. Get yourself over

there so that when you come back, and I
promise you I will bring you back, it'll

give me the ability to pay you more
because you've raised your own value.

In his world, it's his stunt.

He is flattered that he's the guy that's
pulling the great stunt, even though he

was the power to begin with.

For anyone to suggest that the loose
cannon character was designed to

manipulate me into giving Brian Pillman
more money, when in fact Brian Pillman

and I discussed how to make this
character work even better so that at

point I could give him the money.

Kind of flies in the face of the rumors
and the innuendo.

Well, man, that's the greatest thing you
can do. If you can fuck somebody over

and have them think that it's a great
idea, that's, you know, I mean, that's

trick of breaking up with a woman. You
know, make her think that it's her idea.

As a free agent, Brian takes charge of
his own appearances in publicity.

His insider knowledge, mastery of
manipulation, and disregard for exposing

industry solidifies his position as the
ultimate ringmaster.

In the wrestling war layout at the time,
the fans knew one thing. If you are

really working for one promotion, you
can't appear for any of the others.

Tonight will be one of the most extreme
hours of wrestling. Hey, wait a minute.

Trying to prove it was real is that WCW
hated ECW, so Bryan must be on the outs

with WCW.

Renegade promotion ECW is gaining
traction for pushing the boundaries of

wrestling and is the perfect stage for
the loose cannon's unpredictable antics.

He could curse, he could say off -color
things.

Eric Bischoff is each and every one of
these motherfucking

smart fucks. I thought

Brian was losing his mind as opposed to
being, you know, brilliant.

I loved it. I was just nothing but
entertained by it.

Damn near whipped it out, was going to
piss in the ring.

That's a pretty strong statement.

And pardon my language, I'm like, man,
this motherfucker's out there.

You know, and I mean that in a good way.

Get him the hell out of here.

This stuff was working on both levels.
The fans who weren't inside, they just

thought that he was crazy and he was
doing wild, over -the -top things. But

the fans who did know the inside
terminology or were with the secrets,

can't be allowing him to do that.

When he would have a television
appearance, it would be arranged so that

didn't look like he was supposed to be
there, or he was doing something he

wasn't supposed to be doing. One time,
even to protest the matches that he'd

been given, he wrestled a giant pencil,
because pencil, in inside wrestling

knowledge, was another name for the
booker.

I always end up fighting with a pencil.

And then he's showing up and doing these
funny little vignettes. He's got one,

he's cooking, and flames are going out
of the frying pan.

And they hired a woman with a baby. And
then the guy comes to punch Pillman and

he grabs the baby and holds the baby up
in front.

I never once called Brian and said, hey,
dude, are you working? Are

you shooting?

You know, because I didn't want to know.
But I thought what he was doing was

damn sure brilliant.

Some people think my dad was crazy. And
then, you know, other people are like,

you know, your dad was.

You know, not crazy. That was just a
gimmick. And a lot of people say he kind

fell into that. Like, they couldn't
decipher if it was, is this Brian

now? Or, you know, like, is he still in
character? Or is this just how he is?

It was just like this blur between,
like, what is actually going on? Like,

don't even know anymore.

But that was, like, the magic of it.
There was a lot of Andy Kaufman in

The loose cannon became Brian. That was
who he was.

Brian was a renegade.

Brian was a little bit of an outlaw.

Again, remember, when you're not the
biggest dog of the litter and you've got

that gravelly voice, you've had 30 -plus
throat operations when you're a small

child, you get an attitude.

And I've said this many times. The
greatest wrestlers I've ever worked with

essentially natural, organic extensions
of their own personality.

And the loose cannon was just that.

I think the message that Brian showing
up in ECW sent to the other two

is he's a free agent, that he was a
gunslinger and he'd go to the highest

bidder. Vince is watching this. It's the
hottest thing in wrestling. The only

one that really knew what was going on
was Dave Meltzer. I said, hey, we have

tell Meltzer. I value his friendship
more than I value, you know, any of this

shit. Something happened. I called up
Kim and I go, oh, God, Brian's.

Brian's in trouble. He just goes, you
know, like, Brian's doing this.

He's come up with the character, and
he's got to work everybody.

Brian goes, what do I do with Dave?

He goes, you don't talk to Dave, because
if you tell him, then he's going to

have to say it, because that's his role,
and I don't want you lying to him.

So literally, like, he didn't talk to me
for a couple months there. You know,

without a doubt, he wanted to fool me
with the character.

And he did for a while.

And again, who are the real marks?

Who are the ultimate marks?

Bischoff, and then we got Vince.

Vince McMahon was then as he is now, the
undisputed leader, ruler, manipulator,

organizer, and owner of World Wrestling
Entertainment.

What did you think of Vince at that
time? Vince? Yeah, you personally. Yeah,

know what you do with a whore?

You fuck him.

That's what I thought of Vince. That's
all I think of Vince.

As Bryan becomes the talk of the
wrestling world, it's time for the final

of his master plan.

Track down and secure the attention of
wrestling's biggest power player.

In perhaps his boldest stunt yet, Bryan
Pillman plots to get the attention of

Vince McMahon at an insider industry
trade show in Las Vegas, the last place

anyone would expect to see.

the loose cannon okay so i'm in vegas i
was in there and i was leaving and

brian's coming and brian's in full
gimmick at this point and then i see him

dave whatever i'm leaving he goes can i
get your credential and i go yeah here's

my credential and he went in and makes a
beeline for jim ross and vince mcmahon

he had an idea to be the most outrageous
outlandish over -the -top character

Vince McMahon had ever met.

He's going to try to get Vince McMahon's
attention.

Doing his whole Brian Pillman thing.
Hey, Vince. Hey, let's take a picture.

Vince McMahon, motherfucker.

God almighty.

It's the greatest thing in the world.

They got a chance to meet you. And they
get their arm around. Somebody takes a

picture. And Vince is like, who is this
guy? He made an impression.

You didn't know whether he was a
homicidal maniac or just a guy that was

fun? McMahon thought, we can't hire this
guy. We can't hire this guy. He's

crazy.

I said, he's crazy like a fox.

What do you mean?

Well, he told me what he was going to
do.

He did?

Yeah. He's creative.

He's bold.

He's kind of like you are, Vince. He'll
take a chance.

Brian's balls at that point in that day
would probably fit in a wheelbarrow.

Dude, when you worked Vince McMahon, you
know, especially back in the day,

pretty good rib.

It got his attention, too.

It was pretty freaking genius, what he
was doing.

But he wanted to stay in WCW because WWF
didn't offer guaranteed money.

And also Vince was always pushing the
bigger guys. So Brian always felt that

was his company and the company he would
do the best in anyway. People go like,

oh, he did this manipulation of his
contract to go to WWF. No, he did the

manipulation of his contract to be able
to negotiate with WWF to raise his money

with WCW.

Brian's bold plan is a success, as he is
in negotiations for major contracts

with both WCW and WWF. All he has to do
is choose the right path.

It didn't matter, like, where he wound
up. It was just, no, it's money. It's

bottom fucking line.

Money. And these people are in fantasy
land.

It is money.

The only problem is...

Like the Hebrew saying, man plans and
God laughs.

We're talking and it's always about, you
know, I got to save money, I got to

save money, and then he buys an $80 ,000
Humvee.

I couldn't fathom the idea of I got five
kids, I've got to make money now, I've

got to save money, and then buying a
Humvee.

He would drive that wherever Brian
wanted to drive that.

He didn't want to sit at the stoplight.

He drove down a gully and up the other
side in the Hummer. He didn't, you know,

follow the rules.

I was actually in Miami modeling, but I
called to check on the kids, and the

neighbor across the street, I called her
because I didn't get an answer, and she

said, my God, I just passed the Hummer,
and little Brian's car seat's out in the

middle of the yard, and big Brian's
being flown to the hospital.

I remember he flipped it, rolled it. It
was severe.

The wreck happened during the
negotiations.

They're getting damaged goods.

It was truly the deal of you can get on
the tiger's back, but how do you get

off? Fate figured that out.

There had been a lot of wrestler deaths,
but not of a guy who was actually on

the way to the show at that moment.

It's like if Brian could just see the
future and what happened, Brian would

just, fuck, oh, my God.

No drugs, no nothing. I know it would
scare him straight.

It's crazy how you go from having a
silver platter growing up to not even

knowing when your next meal is going to
be.