1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,380 The first time I saw him, he had this magnetic charisma that you could feel 2 00:00:04,380 --> 00:00:05,380 across the gym. 3 00:00:05,620 --> 00:00:08,020 And you thought, hey man, this guy's a star. 4 00:00:08,380 --> 00:00:12,920 And I'll do whatever it takes to look at Burstie in the face and spit in his 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:17,560 eye. The wrestling world could never have imagined that an undersized 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:23,000 player from Cincinnati would revolutionize the business, ushering in 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,200 era. Shut the hell up! 8 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,900 Brian knew what the deal was, that they're going to screw him over, they're 9 00:00:28,900 --> 00:00:33,200 going to screw anybody over, and how he could make that play for his own 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:38,960 advantage. In an industry that depends on the illusion of reality, no one did 11 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,500 more to blur the lines than Brian Pillman, who shattered wrestling's 12 00:00:43,500 --> 00:00:46,000 wall. He was going against the script. 13 00:00:46,300 --> 00:00:47,640 This has never been done before. 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:49,260 Who the fuck are you doing? Easy! 15 00:00:49,580 --> 00:00:53,440 Pillman's over -the -top antics exposed the inner workings of the business. 16 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,040 leveraging trade secrets to make the deal of a lifetime. 17 00:00:57,420 --> 00:01:00,760 That loose cannon gimmick, he just took it so far. 18 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,180 A lot of people thought, oh man, it was too extreme. 19 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:09,280 You didn't know where Brian started and his wrestling persona ended. 20 00:01:09,540 --> 00:01:10,540 Get him the hell out of here. 21 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:15,700 He had a lot of troublesome relationships with women. My mom had had 22 00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:19,660 that kind of pushed her over the edge a little bit. He's being driven crazy at 23 00:01:19,660 --> 00:01:22,060 home. He's supposed to be crazy at work and in between. 24 00:01:23,180 --> 00:01:24,740 He's probably really going crazy. 25 00:01:25,220 --> 00:01:30,140 On track to become a wrestling superstar at the price of his own sanity, his 26 00:01:30,140 --> 00:01:33,000 rise to the top was tragically cut short. 27 00:01:34,620 --> 00:01:38,640 I'm watching the pre -show for the pay -per -view. Ladies and gentlemen, we 28 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,160 some tragic news to report. 29 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,960 I just screamed. 30 00:01:43,580 --> 00:01:48,080 He had a persona that he wanted to perpetuate, even if it killed him. 31 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,400 Man, this gold chain that Brian Feldman got for me way back in the day. 32 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,039 And I'll never forget, we were riding down the road one day, and he goes, kid, 33 00:02:11,260 --> 00:02:13,940 you got to have gold chains. They'll look great. 34 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,660 And all these years later, I don't have a lot of things, you know, from my old 35 00:02:18,660 --> 00:02:21,860 wrestling days, but this chain is something that I'll always have. 36 00:02:22,260 --> 00:02:27,840 It's very sentimental to me, and it was a big part of the makeup and the gimmick 37 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:29,040 of the Hollywood Blondes. 38 00:02:30,030 --> 00:02:34,530 I'm Steve Austin, a friend of Brian's from way back in our WCW days, and we 39 00:02:34,530 --> 00:02:35,530 tag team partners. 40 00:02:35,610 --> 00:02:38,550 Turned out to be really good friends that are pretty damn good tag team. 41 00:02:41,010 --> 00:02:45,870 Brian didn't fold nothing in. He wanted to go out there and perform. 42 00:02:47,810 --> 00:02:52,230 A guy that was never supposed to be big enough or bad enough or strong enough to 43 00:02:52,230 --> 00:02:53,230 do anything. 44 00:02:54,050 --> 00:02:58,010 He blew everybody away with his tenacity and his will to win. 45 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,700 He was a good -looking guy, great physique, high flyer, could do 46 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:10,000 Brian was very athletic, really seemed like he was willing to try anything, and 47 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,920 you could tell that he really wanted to be a pro wrestling star. 48 00:03:14,820 --> 00:03:20,300 I'm Jim Ross, and when I was in WCW in the mid-'80s, Brian was a guy that we 49 00:03:20,300 --> 00:03:22,880 very high hopes for and really wanted to find. 50 00:03:28,970 --> 00:03:29,970 Brian, 51 00:03:33,030 --> 00:03:36,470 from the time he first got in the ring, you could tell he was a performer. He 52 00:03:36,470 --> 00:03:40,390 was an exhibitionist. He wanted you to notice him. He had the personality for 53 00:03:40,390 --> 00:03:41,390 wrestling. 54 00:03:41,870 --> 00:03:45,410 I'm Jim Cornette. I've been involved in professional wrestling for over 40 years 55 00:03:45,410 --> 00:03:50,310 as a manager, promoter, announcer, matchmaker, and I was good friends in 56 00:03:50,310 --> 00:03:51,410 and 90s with Brian Hilton. 57 00:03:53,230 --> 00:03:56,830 He wasn't trying to just be the move guy. He wasn't just trying to be the guy 58 00:03:56,830 --> 00:03:59,730 with the nice mullet and the abs. He was trying to be everything. 59 00:03:59,950 --> 00:04:04,150 He was trying to hit this business on all fronts and fire on all cylinders, 60 00:04:04,150 --> 00:04:07,010 he was trying to be the biggest star that the business had ever seen. 61 00:04:07,910 --> 00:04:14,190 My name is Brian Pillman, Jr. I am the only son of the late, great Brian 62 00:04:14,190 --> 00:04:16,649 Pillman, otherwise known as the Loose Cannon. 63 00:04:19,089 --> 00:04:21,050 Brian was the natural promo. 64 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:25,980 When they stuck a mic in front of him, he would just go off in that thrashy 65 00:04:25,980 --> 00:04:28,180 voice. You're not running this interview. 66 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:29,400 I am. 67 00:04:29,540 --> 00:04:32,760 Because I'm Brian fucking Bellman. 68 00:04:39,580 --> 00:04:44,940 Growing up. Brian had multiple polyps on his vocal cords, and it was closing up 69 00:04:44,940 --> 00:04:45,940 his air passage. 70 00:04:46,060 --> 00:04:50,600 They'd scrape them off, and then after so long, they'd grow right back again. 71 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,600 And that's why his voice was so raspy, because his vocal cords had been scraped 72 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:56,600 so many times. 73 00:04:57,540 --> 00:05:00,320 I'm Linda, Brian's older sister. 74 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,700 You know, he had over 40 surgeries. I don't know the exact number. 75 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,960 When my mother came in from work one day, she could hear breathing as soon as 76 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,240 she came in the house, and it was closing up as air passage. 77 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:15,940 And she called the doctor. 78 00:05:16,260 --> 00:05:22,280 She had to hold the receiver up so he could hear him breathing, and that's 79 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:25,840 he decided he needed emergency tracheotomy. 80 00:05:30,980 --> 00:05:34,840 He told my mother to have the ambulance bring them to his house. 81 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,620 Because his house was closer than the hospital. 82 00:05:40,420 --> 00:05:45,800 And he put a tracheotomy in Brian on his dining room table in the middle of the 83 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:46,800 night. 84 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,180 But it never stopped him from doing anything. He was always outside playing 85 00:05:54,180 --> 00:05:58,160 running. And he wasn't allowed to talk for like two or three weeks after those 86 00:05:58,160 --> 00:05:59,840 surgeries. And he didn't talk. 87 00:06:00,799 --> 00:06:06,100 As a result of that, I think he overcompensated later on by wanting to 88 00:06:06,100 --> 00:06:10,660 talk and wanting to be an entertainer. It formed him as the guy that was going 89 00:06:10,660 --> 00:06:15,660 to overcome, overachieve, knock down the obstacles, whatever the case may be. 90 00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:17,280 The son of a bitch was fearless. 91 00:06:17,860 --> 00:06:20,900 I mean, he was a tough, tough nut. 92 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:25,400 My name is Kim Wood. I was the Paul Brown strength coach for the Cincinnati 93 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,980 Bengals. And Pillman got a chance to try out with us. 94 00:06:29,340 --> 00:06:31,520 My instruction was to kill him. 95 00:06:32,260 --> 00:06:37,600 And not literally kill him, but damn close. But he tried his ass off. 96 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,580 You know, he always said it's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's 97 00:06:41,580 --> 00:06:45,560 about the size of the fight in the dog. He had a reputation in Cincinnati being 98 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:46,560 a street fighter. 99 00:06:47,820 --> 00:06:54,000 I heard that he was at some bar that had an upper floor, like a balcony or 100 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:55,300 whatever you want to call it. 101 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,920 And he was up there, and some girl threw a drink in his face. 102 00:06:59,900 --> 00:07:02,460 And her boyfriend came after Brian. 103 00:07:04,940 --> 00:07:08,840 Before it was over, the guy was hanging. Brian had him hanging by his ankles 104 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,860 over the railing, over the first floor. 105 00:07:13,900 --> 00:07:15,940 And Brian was banned from that bar. 106 00:07:17,460 --> 00:07:22,420 After a brief stint in the NFL, Brian heads to Calgary to play in the Canadian 107 00:07:22,420 --> 00:07:23,420 Football League. 108 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:28,960 Soon after... Brian suffers an ankle injury, cutting his career short, which 109 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,240 leaves him searching for what to do next. 110 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,580 One thing I knew about Brian was that he wasn't going to be a high school 111 00:07:35,580 --> 00:07:37,840 teacher. He wasn't going to sell insurance. 112 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,540 There were a lot of things he wasn't going to do. Where he could use his 113 00:07:41,540 --> 00:07:44,500 toughness and his physicality to make money. 114 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,720 A couple years ago when I was with the Bengals, Kim was the strength coach. 115 00:07:49,580 --> 00:07:52,380 He had talked to me about getting into professional wrestling. He thought I had 116 00:07:52,380 --> 00:07:54,020 all the tools needed to be successful. 117 00:07:54,340 --> 00:07:58,980 It turns out Calgary happens to be the premier training ground for wrestlers in 118 00:07:58,980 --> 00:08:04,180 the world. And I said, hey, while you're up there, go check out this Heart 119 00:08:04,180 --> 00:08:09,380 Bunch. The Hearts are the first family of Canadian wrestling, with patriarch 120 00:08:09,380 --> 00:08:13,440 Hart at the helm. In addition to his children that would go on to be 121 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:19,050 icons, The family also discovered and trained several other future superstars. 122 00:08:19,530 --> 00:08:23,350 They take them into the hard dungeon and they teach them how to wrestle and one 123 00:08:23,350 --> 00:08:26,290 of the most prestigious ways to break into the business that there is. 124 00:08:26,570 --> 00:08:30,330 How would you sort of describe what the dungeon is for someone who doesn't know 125 00:08:30,330 --> 00:08:31,329 what it is? 126 00:08:31,330 --> 00:08:34,610 Well, from what I hear, if you can't hear screaming coming out of it, 127 00:08:34,610 --> 00:08:35,630 something's not going right. 128 00:08:36,130 --> 00:08:39,929 Stu, the old man, would put people in submission holes. 129 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:44,260 and then I'd let him out of the thing for, you know, three or four hours. If 130 00:08:44,260 --> 00:08:46,520 could survive that, you could survive almost anything. 131 00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:50,260 So you get that great foundation all off the bat from Stu. 132 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,380 It was an easy bridge to cross from football to wrestling. 133 00:08:54,860 --> 00:08:59,220 Brian gets his start in stampede wrestling, and although it's a small 134 00:08:59,220 --> 00:09:03,740 in western Canada, its influence on the industry is felt around the wrestling 135 00:09:03,740 --> 00:09:08,380 world. In the 80s, there were millions of wrestling fans, but there was a small 136 00:09:08,380 --> 00:09:13,900 subset called smart fans that knew the inside inner workings of wrestling. The 137 00:09:13,900 --> 00:09:15,920 insiders all knew the name Brian Pillman pretty quick. 138 00:09:16,340 --> 00:09:19,800 I'm Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It's an 139 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,540 publication that's covered pro wrestling since 1982. 140 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,380 For a long time, it was like really the only, you know. 141 00:09:26,620 --> 00:09:29,720 what I would call a true source of pro wrestling information that was out 142 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,520 The sheets were kind of a thing back in the day. You didn't really want to get 143 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,260 caught with them. You know, it was kind of like secret documents. 144 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,220 And then it kind of got out to, damn, you're all the boys are reading. 145 00:09:39,620 --> 00:09:43,640 I'm with Brian. He had started wrestling when he called me the first time. And 146 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,320 he wanted to send me tapes and wanted me to send tapes, so we traded tapes. 147 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:52,000 As far as student of the game, I mean, top, top level, more than almost anyone 148 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:53,000 that I've ever dealt with. 149 00:09:53,300 --> 00:09:54,980 Milcher was a good gauge. 150 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:56,639 For talent. 151 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:01,900 So that tipped me off that Meltzer kept writing good things about Brian. 152 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:06,240 Brian wound up in WCW by me getting a hold of him. All right, Brian, best of 153 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:09,220 luck on that endeavor, ladies. Upon arriving in WCW. 154 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:16,300 Top star and matchmaker Ric Flair sees something in Bryan and looks to feature 155 00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:18,500 him on television in a main event spot. 156 00:10:18,780 --> 00:10:21,980 And we put that match together and it was one of the highest rated Saturday 157 00:10:21,980 --> 00:10:26,120 night television programs on TBS at that point in the previous several years. 158 00:10:26,260 --> 00:10:28,620 And the crowd popped for it. 159 00:10:32,580 --> 00:10:35,820 Rick Flair was the kind of guy that wanted to go in the ring with somebody 160 00:10:35,820 --> 00:10:39,500 Brian and go 30 or 45 minutes and tear the house down. And then he wanted to go 161 00:10:39,500 --> 00:10:43,300 to the bar with Brian or somebody like Brian for five or six hours and tear the 162 00:10:43,300 --> 00:10:44,300 house down there. 163 00:10:44,340 --> 00:10:45,340 That's the way he lived. 164 00:10:45,500 --> 00:10:52,080 He lived a cartoon life, a fantasy life of limos and long black socks and 165 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:57,780 alligator shoes and, you know, babes. I think Brian liked aspects of the 166 00:10:57,780 --> 00:10:58,820 lifestyle a lot. 167 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:00,860 You know, he wanted to be like Rick Flair. 168 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:02,620 Brian Pillman was a ladies' man. 169 00:11:02,860 --> 00:11:06,600 I mean, he's a gorgeous guy. He's on television. He's a professional athlete. 170 00:11:06,860 --> 00:11:10,200 So, yeah, a lot of the women were attracted to Brian. 171 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:15,140 Rochelle was a woman that Brian met at a club downtown Cincinnati. 172 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,740 You know, they were happy, and we all loved her. She went and lived with him 173 00:11:19,740 --> 00:11:23,040 Calgary for a while before he got the contract down in Atlanta. 174 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:25,280 And that's when Brittany was born in Atlanta. 175 00:11:26,890 --> 00:11:32,010 My name is Brittany Pillman. I'm the daughter of Brian Pillman. I was a 176 00:11:32,010 --> 00:11:37,190 girl. You know, everyone sees him as this wrestler and always on the road. 177 00:11:37,230 --> 00:11:41,050 you know, wrestling was his life. But outside of wrestling, his children were 178 00:11:41,050 --> 00:11:41,889 his life. 179 00:11:41,890 --> 00:11:44,150 My dad thought I was his firstborn child. 180 00:11:44,970 --> 00:11:49,330 When I was a year old, he found out that he had another daughter out there that 181 00:11:49,330 --> 00:11:50,330 was two years old. 182 00:11:51,690 --> 00:11:54,230 I'm Danielle Pillman. I go by Danny. 183 00:11:54,810 --> 00:12:00,130 And Brian Tolman is my father, and I am the oldest of his kids. 184 00:12:00,390 --> 00:12:05,890 My dad met my mom at the waterfront in Cincinnati, like some bar. 185 00:12:06,430 --> 00:12:09,430 And, I mean, it was like a very brief love affair. 186 00:12:10,570 --> 00:12:17,350 But she did end up becoming pregnant that my dad had Rochelle as his 187 00:12:17,350 --> 00:12:18,229 at the time. 188 00:12:18,230 --> 00:12:22,610 So, yeah, that's kind of why she didn't want to disclose that to my father 189 00:12:22,610 --> 00:12:23,610 immediately. 190 00:12:24,190 --> 00:12:29,430 But at a certain point, she felt like, you know, I needed my dad. And the 191 00:12:29,430 --> 00:12:34,310 that I came into the picture, he was there for me 100 % and wanted me to be 192 00:12:34,310 --> 00:12:35,410 every part of his life. 193 00:12:35,610 --> 00:12:38,970 And I think that's something to be said about him is that he really did care 194 00:12:38,970 --> 00:12:39,949 about his kids. 195 00:12:39,950 --> 00:12:44,610 You know, my dad living that lifestyle and all these different women and, you 196 00:12:44,610 --> 00:12:47,270 know, he had obviously cheated on my mom many times. 197 00:12:47,730 --> 00:12:50,950 I'm sure that was hard on her, but she stayed with him, you know. 198 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:56,600 She had a lot of issues. She suffered with major depression. 199 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:02,300 There was a time my mom and dad were living in Atlanta, and my dad was at a 200 00:13:02,300 --> 00:13:03,300 show. 201 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:10,600 The groundskeeper broke into the place and attacked her with an ice pick. 202 00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:14,220 And she was stabbed several times. 203 00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:19,320 Was he trying to rob her? Rob her, whatever, I don't know. 204 00:13:20,860 --> 00:13:22,000 Stabbed her in the face. 205 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:23,960 Stabbed her in the cheek. 206 00:13:27,780 --> 00:13:29,100 So that'll mess you up. 207 00:13:32,260 --> 00:13:37,140 Brian Pillman's good looks and athletic ability allow him a spot on the card as 208 00:13:37,140 --> 00:13:38,140 a generic hero. 209 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:42,680 But he's not content to stay in one place for long, nor do what he's told. 210 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,080 He was reasonably successful. 211 00:13:45,660 --> 00:13:48,760 But, you know, he wanted to be a main eventer, and he wasn't a main eventer 212 00:13:48,820 --> 00:13:51,380 He was a good mid -level guy. 213 00:13:52,090 --> 00:13:55,770 You know, Brian's first couple years in WCW were tough. 214 00:13:56,570 --> 00:14:02,130 I'm Eric Bischoff, former president of WCW, and once upon a time, Brian 215 00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:03,130 Pillman's boss. 216 00:14:03,250 --> 00:14:08,230 Brian wasn't relatively new on the scene his first couple years in WCW, so he 217 00:14:08,230 --> 00:14:09,450 had to earn his respect. 218 00:14:10,150 --> 00:14:15,070 What probably made that even tougher was the amount of management transitions 219 00:14:15,070 --> 00:14:16,090 that took place. 220 00:14:16,470 --> 00:14:21,010 Constant changeover in management led to stop -and -start pushes in Brian's 221 00:14:21,010 --> 00:14:25,900 career. As soon as he started to gain ground and earn respect, new matchmakers 222 00:14:25,900 --> 00:14:30,760 would arrive, pushing Bryan back down to the bottom. But finally, they put Bryan 223 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:32,200 together with Steve Austin. 224 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:37,880 He's ready to back you up 100%. All right, stunning Steve Austin. And I 225 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:38,880 thrilled at all. 226 00:14:42,980 --> 00:14:46,320 When people hear the name Steve Austin, they think he was always the biggest 227 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,720 star in wrestling. At the time, in 1993... 228 00:14:49,310 --> 00:14:54,290 He was still finding his way. He hadn't got a main event spot yet. And this is 229 00:14:54,290 --> 00:14:58,110 about when I'm fixing to start getting a run as the United States champion. 230 00:14:58,450 --> 00:14:59,890 So I was really looking forward to that. 231 00:15:00,170 --> 00:15:03,910 I walk in the building, and here's Brian coming up behind me. And I knew Brian, 232 00:15:04,030 --> 00:15:07,050 but we weren't hanging out. He goes, hey, kid, we need to come up with a 233 00:15:07,930 --> 00:15:09,630 And I said, what the hell are you talking about? 234 00:15:09,910 --> 00:15:11,370 He goes, we're a tag team now. 235 00:15:11,610 --> 00:15:13,630 And I was really not happy. 236 00:15:14,030 --> 00:15:15,210 I had nothing against Brian. 237 00:15:15,870 --> 00:15:18,550 But it's like I was a singles wrestler. 238 00:15:18,810 --> 00:15:23,630 I enjoyed working with another guy in the ring and only having to depend on 239 00:15:23,630 --> 00:15:28,010 myself. And they didn't have no name planned for us, no this, no that. It was 240 00:15:28,010 --> 00:15:31,650 two singles guys, and they were going to throw us together as an interim tag 241 00:15:31,650 --> 00:15:36,590 team basically to get other people over because they didn't have plans for Brian 242 00:15:36,590 --> 00:15:38,450 and they didn't have plans for Steve Austin. 243 00:15:38,710 --> 00:15:41,390 And we were going to try to make the most of the situation. 244 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,560 Anytime that you start working together and traveling with someone, you become 245 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,080 closer. And normally I'd be at the wheel. 246 00:15:49,380 --> 00:15:53,540 Brian would be riding shotgun, reading dictionaries. I mean, because he's 247 00:15:53,540 --> 00:15:57,020 trying to increase his vocabulary for promos. 248 00:15:57,300 --> 00:15:59,880 And began the pilgrimage out to Florida. 249 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:04,180 He cut through the bureaucratic red tape and get that title shot. 250 00:16:04,460 --> 00:16:09,300 So as it goes, we're going down the road and he goes, hey kid, every tag team 251 00:16:09,300 --> 00:16:10,300 has to have a name. 252 00:16:10,940 --> 00:16:14,060 What about the Hollywood Blancs? He goes, it's been done before, but it's 253 00:16:14,060 --> 00:16:15,540 while, so let's do that. 254 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,420 And I was thinking to myself, well, I ain't come up with a better one. 255 00:16:19,660 --> 00:16:22,480 And so, like, I was cool with being the Hollywood Blancs. 256 00:16:24,660 --> 00:16:28,240 Beth, Trump, everything was Brian's idea. 257 00:16:28,460 --> 00:16:31,620 And we were two cocky, brash, arrogant guys. 258 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,080 And we started rolling the camera footage and stuff like that. And, you 259 00:16:35,100 --> 00:16:36,100 Brian, he had that. 260 00:16:36,190 --> 00:16:39,690 Shitty grin or that laugh, you know, when you're getting heat on a baby face. 261 00:16:39,950 --> 00:16:42,610 And Brian and I developed this bond and this chemistry. 262 00:16:43,190 --> 00:16:46,090 I love tag team wrestling once I figured it out. 263 00:16:46,490 --> 00:16:49,750 I hate to say it this way because it sounds really corny, but they were made 264 00:16:49,750 --> 00:16:54,030 each other because they complimented each other so well. They worked hard to 265 00:16:54,030 --> 00:16:55,030 make each other look good. 266 00:16:56,190 --> 00:17:00,690 The Hollywood Blondes also gave Brian a chance to open up as a heel, as a bad 267 00:17:00,690 --> 00:17:04,440 guy. People nowadays are like, oh, I love the Hollywood blondes. But if you 268 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:09,260 back then, they were getting booed out the building. And you loved to hate 269 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,540 I think it was more natural for Brian to be a heel because, you know, he wasn't 270 00:17:14,540 --> 00:17:18,880 a guy that wanted to shake hands and kiss babies and smile. He wanted to be a 271 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,800 smart ass. He wanted to be obnoxious. He wanted to show off. 272 00:17:24,460 --> 00:17:28,540 He was getting better at what he does, getting global exposure, partying, 273 00:17:28,540 --> 00:17:29,540 fun. 274 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,700 Brian's fast and loose lifestyle doesn't mix well with the turbulent situation 275 00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:39,740 at home. And he pursues yet another woman who enters his already complicated 276 00:17:39,740 --> 00:17:43,140 life. I think Melanie was working in Atlanta. 277 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:45,140 She was a showgirl. 278 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,740 He saw her picture in a penthouse or something and says, I'm going to marry 279 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:51,440 girl. And somewhere along the line, he met her. 280 00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:57,180 My dad was sleeping with Melanie behind my mother's back because he was always 281 00:17:57,180 --> 00:17:58,139 in Atlanta. 282 00:17:58,140 --> 00:17:59,540 Melanie would call the house. 283 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:05,420 And that's basically, I think, how Rochelle found out about it. You know, 284 00:18:05,420 --> 00:18:06,159 was hurt. 285 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,640 Because, you know, they had a nice home. The family was happy. 286 00:18:10,260 --> 00:18:12,880 But then he had this other life in Atlanta. 287 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,620 And then Melanie became pregnant. 288 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,160 And that's how I hit Brian, Jr. 289 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:27,440 After another unexpected pregnancy outside of their relationship, Brian and 290 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:28,480 Rochelle split up. 291 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,580 Shortly after, Brian proposes to his new girlfriend, Melanie. 292 00:18:33,740 --> 00:18:38,900 We went to Vegas and he put on like a freaking St. Patrick's Day white tux 293 00:18:38,900 --> 00:18:40,780 a big old ugly green bow tie. 294 00:18:41,340 --> 00:18:43,320 And I had a white dress, mind you. 295 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:45,360 A stripper in a white dress. 296 00:18:45,580 --> 00:18:49,140 And I had a big old green corsage on. 297 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,900 And I loved it every second of it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. 298 00:18:55,140 --> 00:18:56,560 My name is Melanie Pillman. 299 00:18:57,130 --> 00:18:58,930 I'm the widow of Brian Pillman. 300 00:18:59,670 --> 00:19:05,290 In private, he's just more laid back and sensible acting, but he's one of the 301 00:19:05,290 --> 00:19:10,550 most intelligent men I've ever met in my life. So well -read, and he's excelled 302 00:19:10,550 --> 00:19:15,030 at so many things. He was my soulmate. I mean, I couldn't have picked a better 303 00:19:15,030 --> 00:19:17,730 guy to love than him. 304 00:19:18,270 --> 00:19:22,530 His first years with her, I thought he was very happy. 305 00:19:22,770 --> 00:19:25,330 It would be a big thing with his Christmas card. 306 00:19:25,850 --> 00:19:29,050 Because it would be him and the wife and all these little kids. 307 00:19:29,330 --> 00:19:31,130 Because I had my two kids, you know. 308 00:19:31,590 --> 00:19:34,250 He would show up with like three or four little kids. 309 00:19:34,570 --> 00:19:35,770 They all had different mothers. 310 00:19:36,170 --> 00:19:39,870 They'd be climbing on him. He'd be carrying a couple. And one had his legs 311 00:19:39,870 --> 00:19:42,050 around his neck and one was on his shoulder. 312 00:19:42,330 --> 00:19:43,810 And he loved those kids. 313 00:19:44,090 --> 00:19:46,710 He was counted on. He was depended on to provide. 314 00:19:46,970 --> 00:19:51,590 That responsibility is what pushes you to keep going to work. You have to 315 00:19:51,590 --> 00:19:52,590 provide for your family. 316 00:19:54,969 --> 00:19:59,010 And finally, they made the decision to give the Hollywood Blondes a big main 317 00:19:59,010 --> 00:19:59,849 event match. 318 00:19:59,850 --> 00:20:03,310 It was going to be on a clash of champions, and Ric Flair was returning. 319 00:20:03,310 --> 00:20:04,310 going to be involved. 320 00:20:04,370 --> 00:20:07,450 And the rating came in, and it wasn't very good. 321 00:20:07,710 --> 00:20:11,870 And they couldn't blame Flair because he was a big star, so they put the heat on 322 00:20:11,870 --> 00:20:14,810 Brian Pillman and Steve Austin. Well, the Hollywood Blondes didn't draw a 323 00:20:14,810 --> 00:20:19,330 rating. And that kind of doomed them there as being featured in a more 324 00:20:19,330 --> 00:20:20,450 capacity going forward. 325 00:20:20,670 --> 00:20:21,690 It felt like betrayal. 326 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,400 I wish someone would finally tell me why the company decided to break us up, 327 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:32,040 because we started getting over as a viable tag team that could hold, you 328 00:20:32,060 --> 00:20:37,760 world championship belts. We did. We make chicken shit into chicken salad, 329 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:42,460 now you want to split us up with no real clear direction for either one of us. 330 00:20:42,540 --> 00:20:44,440 So breaking us up broke my heart. 331 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,980 I don't know of any other talents that had been buried because they drew a bad 332 00:20:48,980 --> 00:20:52,840 rating. At the time, TBS was drawing a lot of bad ratings. But I think there 333 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,100 probably somebody that just thought, I don't want to use these guys, and they 334 00:20:56,100 --> 00:20:57,100 used that as an excuse. 335 00:20:57,300 --> 00:21:02,780 How that was handled, I look back on it today and still check my head that we 336 00:21:02,780 --> 00:21:03,780 could have done better. 337 00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:11,040 I would say the period from 1990 to 1993, it was very frustrating for Brian. 338 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,800 Also, there was some knowledge early on that his home life was not as happy as 339 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:17,769 it could be. 340 00:21:17,770 --> 00:21:20,810 I felt like my dad allowed Melanie to run the show. 341 00:21:21,070 --> 00:21:25,570 Melanie treated my mom very poorly. I feel like she was very jealous of my 342 00:21:25,570 --> 00:21:30,910 mother. Melanie didn't like him talking to her. She didn't like me and my mother 343 00:21:30,910 --> 00:21:35,030 talking to Rochelle. You know, she just, she made it hard to like her because 344 00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:36,030 she just caused trouble. 345 00:21:36,290 --> 00:21:40,870 And then Rochelle took off and didn't tell anybody where she was. 346 00:21:41,490 --> 00:21:45,230 Rochelle is scheduled to see Brittany for a visit, but she never shows. 347 00:21:45,850 --> 00:21:49,830 No one is able to get a hold of her, resulting in a missing persons report. 348 00:21:50,270 --> 00:21:55,210 Several days later, when Rochelle finally surfaces, Brian and Melanie take 349 00:21:55,210 --> 00:21:56,250 decisive action. 350 00:21:56,610 --> 00:22:02,210 And Brian said, and I agreed with him, and I shouldn't have, we should just 351 00:22:02,210 --> 00:22:03,210 for custody. 352 00:22:03,550 --> 00:22:05,110 And that changed everything. 353 00:22:06,310 --> 00:22:11,270 Following the tag team breakup with Steve Austin, Brian's career has 354 00:22:11,410 --> 00:22:14,510 and the cracks in his family life start to break open. 355 00:22:15,020 --> 00:22:16,720 consuming those around him. 356 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:21,720 The custody battle started because Melanie didn't want Rochelle around. 357 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:27,900 Basically, Brian had more money and could keep the attorneys paid because 358 00:22:27,900 --> 00:22:32,280 attorneys only work when you pay them. And Rochelle just didn't have any more 359 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,800 money. I was, you know, delivering stuff to the lawyer. I was bombarding her 360 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:37,629 with these. 361 00:22:37,630 --> 00:22:43,150 Stupid things about returning past child support that she blew and floored. You 362 00:22:43,150 --> 00:22:48,770 know, just little minutiae that was making me feel like a better person. But 363 00:22:48,770 --> 00:22:51,790 really, in reality, I wasn't a better person. Nobody should try to take kids 364 00:22:51,790 --> 00:22:54,610 away from a mother. I should have never done that. In a million years, I would 365 00:22:54,610 --> 00:22:55,610 never do it again. 366 00:22:55,890 --> 00:22:57,850 It is devastated, Michelle. 367 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:08,220 I was outside riding my bicycle one day, and this was at a time when she wasn't 368 00:23:08,220 --> 00:23:09,220 allowed to see me. 369 00:23:09,340 --> 00:23:13,840 And she came pulling up, and I just went running to her, and I was so happy to 370 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:14,479 see her. 371 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:19,940 Rochelle was hugging her, and they thought she was taking her. 372 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,980 And here comes my dad, and it was just like this huge argument, him pulling her 373 00:23:24,980 --> 00:23:25,980 away from me. 374 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,320 Melanie filed kidnapping charges against Rochelle. 375 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:37,320 And so my dad had got full custody of me, and in my mom's mind, she was just 376 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,720 like, I'm going to lose my daughter, and I'm never going to see her again. And 377 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:46,120 so my mom called my dad's house, and she wanted to talk to my dad, but he was 378 00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:46,979 out of town. 379 00:23:46,980 --> 00:23:50,860 Melanie had answered, and Melanie told her, she said, even your own mother 380 00:23:50,860 --> 00:23:53,780 thinks I would be a better mother for your daughter than you'll ever be. 381 00:23:57,660 --> 00:23:59,320 And my mom called my grandma. 382 00:24:01,130 --> 00:24:04,730 She called her mother and told her mother what she was going to do. 383 00:24:08,550 --> 00:24:11,250 And then she shot herself. 384 00:24:16,790 --> 00:24:18,890 Because I got the call to go to the hospital. 385 00:24:19,150 --> 00:24:23,010 Because she was being airlifted and I was the closest. 386 00:24:23,230 --> 00:24:28,070 And I was the one at the hospital that they told. And then I had to tell 387 00:24:28,070 --> 00:24:29,070 everybody. 388 00:24:29,450 --> 00:24:31,650 that she was gone. She died on the helicopter. 389 00:24:33,510 --> 00:24:37,050 So I had to call her mother and tell her mother. 390 00:24:39,470 --> 00:24:46,330 Oh, it was very hard to tell somebody's mother that your child was 391 00:24:46,330 --> 00:24:47,330 dead. 392 00:24:49,770 --> 00:24:53,550 It just destroyed Brian because he felt so responsible. 393 00:24:53,750 --> 00:24:57,790 He just was so upset. He cried and he cried and he said, do you think it was 394 00:24:57,790 --> 00:24:59,870 that pressure we put on her? I think it was, Mel. 395 00:25:00,090 --> 00:25:02,290 I'd be like, yeah, it probably was. 396 00:25:02,790 --> 00:25:05,510 So Brian, he wanted to pay for her whole funeral and everything. 397 00:25:08,850 --> 00:25:15,390 And at the funeral, he held it together until they closed the casket. 398 00:25:17,470 --> 00:25:20,170 He lost it. He was hugging me and sobbing. 399 00:25:20,670 --> 00:25:26,170 In fact, at one point I kind of looked at him because I thought he was going to 400 00:25:26,170 --> 00:25:27,170 pass out. 401 00:25:28,530 --> 00:25:29,730 He was devastated. 402 00:25:31,690 --> 00:25:32,750 He was devastated. 403 00:25:35,390 --> 00:25:39,950 I felt so guilty for that for years. 404 00:25:40,210 --> 00:25:44,650 And I think I drove her, maybe not just me, but I think... 405 00:25:46,209 --> 00:25:48,330 Incidents drove her to shoot herself. 406 00:25:49,110 --> 00:25:51,390 Rethinking it, I wouldn't have done it the same way. 407 00:25:52,130 --> 00:25:54,610 Nobody should have to fight for their kid. I mean, it wasn't like she was 408 00:25:54,610 --> 00:25:57,710 abusing her. So I don't really know what my problem was back then. 409 00:25:58,110 --> 00:25:59,570 It was devastating. 410 00:26:01,010 --> 00:26:02,410 And I know it was for Brittany. 411 00:26:03,750 --> 00:26:05,750 I have a lot of anger built up. 412 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:10,880 Towards my dad, in a sense, because I do wish that he would have, you know, 413 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,300 allowed my mom to at least see me because maybe she would still be here 414 00:26:15,300 --> 00:26:19,880 don't, you know, I don't know. She had a lot of issues. But Melanie was the 415 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,900 overall call. She's an evil person, and she's always been that way. 416 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,620 Melanie should have never said those words to my mom. She's just, she's 417 00:26:28,620 --> 00:26:31,620 literally the devil. And they say, you know, you reap what you sow. 418 00:26:32,260 --> 00:26:34,680 And now she's living a life. 419 00:26:35,100 --> 00:26:38,440 that she should have already been dead years ago because of all the drugs that 420 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,120 she's done. But I feel like she's going to live to be 100 years old and 421 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:46,440 absolutely miserable for all the pain and suffering that she has caused me and 422 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,080 my brother and, you know, my Aunt Linda. 423 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:57,100 And Brittany's the one that, you know, I don't know how to make it up to her. 424 00:26:57,220 --> 00:27:00,620 There's nothing I... I don't really know how to make it up to her. I wish I 425 00:27:00,620 --> 00:27:01,620 could. 426 00:27:03,389 --> 00:27:08,130 The guilt of Rochelle's death weighs heavily on Brian, and he dives even 427 00:27:08,130 --> 00:27:09,130 into his career. 428 00:27:09,250 --> 00:27:14,670 With his contract renewal with the WCW looming, Brian is determined to 429 00:27:14,670 --> 00:27:18,670 renegotiate for even more money. When we talk business, it's like, I have five 430 00:27:18,670 --> 00:27:22,110 kids. I don't know how many more years I can do this because my body's falling 431 00:27:22,110 --> 00:27:27,430 apart. I have to make big money now because I've got five kids. This was his 432 00:27:27,430 --> 00:27:28,430 shot. 433 00:27:29,130 --> 00:27:32,910 He talks with Bischoff that was evidently doing the contracts there. 434 00:27:33,250 --> 00:27:37,290 And Bischoff says to him, expect about what you're getting now. 435 00:27:38,030 --> 00:27:42,350 He was pretty happy that I got him back to 225, but I think he wanted four is 436 00:27:42,350 --> 00:27:45,110 the number that he was really wanting. I couldn't give it to him. I couldn't 437 00:27:45,110 --> 00:27:48,450 justify it at the time that he wanted it. He came to me and he says, what do I 438 00:27:48,450 --> 00:27:49,450 do? 439 00:27:50,010 --> 00:27:51,890 And what I told him was this. 440 00:27:53,310 --> 00:27:54,790 It's a question of value. 441 00:27:55,830 --> 00:27:57,850 Everybody's using everybody else. 442 00:27:58,380 --> 00:28:01,340 What can you do that other people can't do? 443 00:28:01,660 --> 00:28:04,700 What can you do that gains notoriety? 444 00:28:05,060 --> 00:28:09,940 This thing runs on attention. It runs on very superficial things. 445 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:12,000 We've got to create attention. 446 00:28:12,260 --> 00:28:14,640 How can we do that in the position you're in? 447 00:28:15,020 --> 00:28:19,720 With his pulse on the wrestling landscape, Bryan knew that he had to 448 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,880 to up the ante in order to shock even the most hardcore of fans. 449 00:28:24,540 --> 00:28:29,180 Brian knew if he could make people legitimately believe that he was a loose 450 00:28:29,180 --> 00:28:32,760 cannon, that he was nuts, he was off his rocker, he was capable of doing 451 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,340 anything or saying anything at any time, that he could be one of the hottest 452 00:28:36,340 --> 00:28:37,440 guys in the wrestling industry. 453 00:28:37,740 --> 00:28:39,040 It was a pure money deal. 454 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:40,880 What do we really want? 455 00:28:41,620 --> 00:28:46,800 Bischoff to offer you a hell of a lot more money, and we want Vince McMahon to 456 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,960 see that you are of value and offer you more. 457 00:28:50,620 --> 00:28:52,100 And then you flip a coin. 458 00:28:52,490 --> 00:28:55,630 If he could play one side against the other in the middle of the burgeoning 459 00:28:55,630 --> 00:28:59,970 wrestling war, then he would come out much better, six figures per year 460 00:29:00,090 --> 00:29:02,210 And that's what he set about to do. 461 00:29:06,870 --> 00:29:13,050 Brian Pillman's plan was simple. More attention means more money. As the WWF 462 00:29:13,050 --> 00:29:18,570 WCW are engaged in a ratings battle, Brian exploits this to his advantage by 463 00:29:18,570 --> 00:29:21,650 playing them off each other while driving up his own value. 464 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:27,440 Brian came up with the loose cannon idea and started slowly integrating it into 465 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,320 his television appearances. 466 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:35,500 Bobby Heenan was the color commentator. Bobby had had a broken neck and he'd had 467 00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:39,180 surgery and he was very protective of his neck. And Brian goes around behind 468 00:29:39,180 --> 00:29:42,320 Bobby and starts grabbing him by the shoulders and everything. And on live 469 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:43,760 television, Bobby says, 470 00:29:46,190 --> 00:29:49,750 And then Brian knew he got it. He got gold out of it, right? Because now 471 00:29:49,750 --> 00:29:53,390 everybody's going to be talking about the F -bomb that got dropped on Turner 472 00:29:53,390 --> 00:29:57,930 Broadcast. Bobby thought Brian was nuts. I think the brain is left. 473 00:29:58,830 --> 00:30:03,170 It seemed real to the point where people were confused whether it was real or 474 00:30:03,170 --> 00:30:04,170 not. 475 00:30:04,510 --> 00:30:06,810 One of the guys he was involved with was Kevin Sullivan. 476 00:30:07,030 --> 00:30:09,170 He was the booker, the matchmaker. 477 00:30:09,750 --> 00:30:13,210 Oh, my goodness, they got a fight going on here. You know, they just... beating 478 00:30:13,210 --> 00:30:16,810 the hell out of each other. And when Brian Pillman was ready to quit, when it 479 00:30:16,810 --> 00:30:20,850 was time for him to leave, it was like, I respect you, Booker man. 480 00:30:21,470 --> 00:30:23,770 I respect you, Booker man. 481 00:30:24,290 --> 00:30:28,870 The mere fact that he was acknowledging on national television that Kevin 482 00:30:28,870 --> 00:30:33,030 Sullivan was the head writer of a wrestling show was something that had 483 00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:34,030 been done before. 484 00:30:34,250 --> 00:30:38,950 Those that knew knew, and those that didn't know would need to find out what 485 00:30:38,950 --> 00:30:39,950 Booker man meant. 486 00:30:40,050 --> 00:30:45,010 It was a big thing because Those guys are sensitive about exposing the 487 00:30:45,270 --> 00:30:49,590 When you're acting out a storyline that's considered a work, and a lot of 488 00:30:49,590 --> 00:30:54,130 boys backstage weren't really sure if this was real or if this was a work. 489 00:30:54,370 --> 00:30:58,730 The wrestling locker room had never been invaded that way before. Because he 490 00:30:58,730 --> 00:31:02,930 knew if the other wrestlers believed it was real, then they would tell the 491 00:31:02,930 --> 00:31:06,910 newsletter editors, wow, that guy's really nuts, and the word would travel. 492 00:31:07,390 --> 00:31:08,930 I thought, this is going down bad. 493 00:31:09,170 --> 00:31:10,250 Brian's getting fired. 494 00:31:10,650 --> 00:31:13,930 And I'm out of contact with him anyway. So I think he's completely lost his 495 00:31:13,930 --> 00:31:17,750 mind. You know, he's not even talking to me anymore. The smart fans were 496 00:31:17,750 --> 00:31:22,470 starting to figure out that wrestling is manipulated. It's choreographed. It's 497 00:31:22,470 --> 00:31:26,850 predetermined. That guy's nuts. And he's real. He won't do what they tell him. 498 00:31:27,110 --> 00:31:32,090 And that sells tickets because you had no idea what or whether it was supposed 499 00:31:32,090 --> 00:31:33,090 to happen or not. 500 00:31:33,190 --> 00:31:36,330 He was convincing people that he was insane. 501 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:43,380 Not only were the fans ready to be fooled, but all the wrestlers were, the 502 00:31:43,380 --> 00:31:47,440 management people were. There was a whole bunch of people that you could 503 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:48,440 like a violin. 504 00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:49,500 Brian, I'd like to know. 505 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:55,020 No, I'm not nervous. I'm not nervous at all. I don't think anybody for sure at 506 00:31:55,020 --> 00:32:00,900 any given moment knew if or not they were really being worked by Brian. But 507 00:32:00,900 --> 00:32:02,020 he ended up working Bischoff. 508 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:06,840 I said, get him to give you some kind of release from his contract. 509 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:08,600 From your contract. 510 00:32:09,300 --> 00:32:14,480 Brian says to Eric Bischoff, if you fire me and then I bust out on TV the week 511 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,880 afterwards and people will know that this has just gone out of control. 512 00:32:18,100 --> 00:32:21,800 The people in the office, the bookkeepers, whatever, if they see that 513 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:23,400 under contract, they're going to tell Dave. 514 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,540 Everyone's going to know that it's all a work. 515 00:32:25,740 --> 00:32:29,700 So you have to really fire me. If you give me this legitimate termination 516 00:32:29,700 --> 00:32:31,480 letter, then I can show it to everybody. 517 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,800 Look what the guy did. Can you believe this? Can you believe he fired me? 518 00:32:36,780 --> 00:32:37,780 He did. 519 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:39,240 He gave him a release. 520 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:46,400 So he was then free to negotiate with Vince McMahon and the WWF against Eric 521 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:51,160 Bischoff and WCW so he could get a better deal. All because Bischoff 522 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,760 that he was working with Bryan to create this illusion. 523 00:32:54,460 --> 00:32:57,820 And Bryan was actually working Bischoff to create his own illusion. 524 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,060 Dude, I mean, how do you do that? 525 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,900 I don't know anybody else that ever did that. 526 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:08,860 Yeah, scrubbing genius. 527 00:33:09,300 --> 00:33:12,740 I mean, it was a legitimate termination, but it was a legitimate termination 528 00:33:12,740 --> 00:33:14,820 with a wink and a nod. 529 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:20,040 I said, Brian, go to WWF. I can't give you what you want. Get yourself over 530 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:24,440 there so that when you come back, and I promise you I will bring you back, it'll 531 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,960 give me the ability to pay you more because you've raised your own value. 532 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,000 In his world, it's his stunt. 533 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:36,200 He is flattered that he's the guy that's pulling the great stunt, even though he 534 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:37,620 was the power to begin with. 535 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:44,500 For anyone to suggest that the loose cannon character was designed to 536 00:33:44,500 --> 00:33:49,840 manipulate me into giving Brian Pillman more money, when in fact Brian Pillman 537 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,500 and I discussed how to make this character work even better so that at 538 00:33:54,500 --> 00:33:56,300 point I could give him the money. 539 00:33:57,390 --> 00:34:00,210 Kind of flies in the face of the rumors and the innuendo. 540 00:34:00,750 --> 00:34:04,770 Well, man, that's the greatest thing you can do. If you can fuck somebody over 541 00:34:04,770 --> 00:34:09,969 and have them think that it's a great idea, that's, you know, I mean, that's 542 00:34:09,969 --> 00:34:13,290 trick of breaking up with a woman. You know, make her think that it's her idea. 543 00:34:15,150 --> 00:34:19,510 As a free agent, Brian takes charge of his own appearances in publicity. 544 00:34:20,090 --> 00:34:25,310 His insider knowledge, mastery of manipulation, and disregard for exposing 545 00:34:25,310 --> 00:34:28,929 industry solidifies his position as the ultimate ringmaster. 546 00:34:29,270 --> 00:34:34,750 In the wrestling war layout at the time, the fans knew one thing. If you are 547 00:34:34,750 --> 00:34:39,230 really working for one promotion, you can't appear for any of the others. 548 00:34:39,469 --> 00:34:45,650 Tonight will be one of the most extreme hours of wrestling. Hey, wait a minute. 549 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:52,179 Trying to prove it was real is that WCW hated ECW, so Bryan must be on the outs 550 00:34:52,179 --> 00:34:53,179 with WCW. 551 00:34:55,560 --> 00:35:00,480 Renegade promotion ECW is gaining traction for pushing the boundaries of 552 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:05,100 wrestling and is the perfect stage for the loose cannon's unpredictable antics. 553 00:35:05,220 --> 00:35:07,420 He could curse, he could say off -color things. 554 00:35:07,820 --> 00:35:14,120 Eric Bischoff is each and every one of these motherfucking 555 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:20,760 smart fucks. I thought 556 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:25,720 Brian was losing his mind as opposed to being, you know, brilliant. 557 00:35:25,980 --> 00:35:28,920 I loved it. I was just nothing but entertained by it. 558 00:35:30,700 --> 00:35:33,440 Damn near whipped it out, was going to piss in the ring. 559 00:35:33,940 --> 00:35:36,100 That's a pretty strong statement. 560 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,760 And pardon my language, I'm like, man, this motherfucker's out there. 561 00:35:39,980 --> 00:35:41,560 You know, and I mean that in a good way. 562 00:35:41,820 --> 00:35:43,020 Get him the hell out of here. 563 00:35:43,420 --> 00:35:47,840 This stuff was working on both levels. The fans who weren't inside, they just 564 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:52,180 thought that he was crazy and he was doing wild, over -the -top things. But 565 00:35:52,180 --> 00:35:57,340 the fans who did know the inside terminology or were with the secrets, 566 00:35:57,340 --> 00:35:59,240 can't be allowing him to do that. 567 00:36:01,390 --> 00:36:05,810 When he would have a television appearance, it would be arranged so that 568 00:36:05,810 --> 00:36:08,890 didn't look like he was supposed to be there, or he was doing something he 569 00:36:08,890 --> 00:36:12,950 wasn't supposed to be doing. One time, even to protest the matches that he'd 570 00:36:12,950 --> 00:36:16,970 been given, he wrestled a giant pencil, because pencil, in inside wrestling 571 00:36:16,970 --> 00:36:18,830 knowledge, was another name for the booker. 572 00:36:19,070 --> 00:36:21,110 I always end up fighting with a pencil. 573 00:36:21,330 --> 00:36:25,330 And then he's showing up and doing these funny little vignettes. He's got one, 574 00:36:25,350 --> 00:36:28,270 he's cooking, and flames are going out of the frying pan. 575 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:33,800 And they hired a woman with a baby. And then the guy comes to punch Pillman and 576 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,480 he grabs the baby and holds the baby up in front. 577 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:43,800 I never once called Brian and said, hey, dude, are you working? Are 578 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:44,738 you shooting? 579 00:36:44,740 --> 00:36:48,380 You know, because I didn't want to know. But I thought what he was doing was 580 00:36:48,380 --> 00:36:49,380 damn sure brilliant. 581 00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:53,560 Some people think my dad was crazy. And then, you know, other people are like, 582 00:36:53,660 --> 00:36:54,660 you know, your dad was. 583 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,800 You know, not crazy. That was just a gimmick. And a lot of people say he kind 584 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:04,220 fell into that. Like, they couldn't decipher if it was, is this Brian 585 00:37:04,220 --> 00:37:08,100 now? Or, you know, like, is he still in character? Or is this just how he is? 586 00:37:11,500 --> 00:37:17,160 It was just like this blur between, like, what is actually going on? Like, 587 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:18,160 don't even know anymore. 588 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:22,940 But that was, like, the magic of it. There was a lot of Andy Kaufman in 589 00:37:23,470 --> 00:37:26,290 The loose cannon became Brian. That was who he was. 590 00:37:27,610 --> 00:37:28,870 Brian was a renegade. 591 00:37:29,170 --> 00:37:30,770 Brian was a little bit of an outlaw. 592 00:37:31,030 --> 00:37:36,030 Again, remember, when you're not the biggest dog of the litter and you've got 593 00:37:36,030 --> 00:37:40,890 that gravelly voice, you've had 30 -plus throat operations when you're a small 594 00:37:40,890 --> 00:37:42,590 child, you get an attitude. 595 00:37:42,990 --> 00:37:46,990 And I've said this many times. The greatest wrestlers I've ever worked with 596 00:37:46,990 --> 00:37:51,690 essentially natural, organic extensions of their own personality. 597 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:54,400 And the loose cannon was just that. 598 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,120 I think the message that Brian showing up in ECW sent to the other two 599 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:02,680 is he's a free agent, that he was a gunslinger and he'd go to the highest 600 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,060 bidder. Vince is watching this. It's the hottest thing in wrestling. The only 601 00:38:06,060 --> 00:38:09,420 one that really knew what was going on was Dave Meltzer. I said, hey, we have 602 00:38:09,420 --> 00:38:14,160 tell Meltzer. I value his friendship more than I value, you know, any of this 603 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,200 shit. Something happened. I called up Kim and I go, oh, God, Brian's. 604 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,980 Brian's in trouble. He just goes, you know, like, Brian's doing this. 605 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,960 He's come up with the character, and he's got to work everybody. 606 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:27,980 Brian goes, what do I do with Dave? 607 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:32,300 He goes, you don't talk to Dave, because if you tell him, then he's going to 608 00:38:32,300 --> 00:38:37,060 have to say it, because that's his role, and I don't want you lying to him. 609 00:38:37,260 --> 00:38:41,620 So literally, like, he didn't talk to me for a couple months there. You know, 610 00:38:41,620 --> 00:38:43,320 without a doubt, he wanted to fool me with the character. 611 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:45,600 And he did for a while. 612 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:48,720 And again, who are the real marks? 613 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:50,560 Who are the ultimate marks? 614 00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:52,160 Bischoff, and then we got Vince. 615 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:59,540 Vince McMahon was then as he is now, the undisputed leader, ruler, manipulator, 616 00:38:59,700 --> 00:39:02,700 organizer, and owner of World Wrestling Entertainment. 617 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:07,560 What did you think of Vince at that time? Vince? Yeah, you personally. Yeah, 618 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:08,780 know what you do with a whore? 619 00:39:09,060 --> 00:39:10,060 You fuck him. 620 00:39:12,260 --> 00:39:14,780 That's what I thought of Vince. That's all I think of Vince. 621 00:39:17,580 --> 00:39:22,380 As Bryan becomes the talk of the wrestling world, it's time for the final 622 00:39:22,380 --> 00:39:23,380 of his master plan. 623 00:39:23,700 --> 00:39:28,420 Track down and secure the attention of wrestling's biggest power player. 624 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:38,080 In perhaps his boldest stunt yet, Bryan Pillman plots to get the attention of 625 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:43,320 Vince McMahon at an insider industry trade show in Las Vegas, the last place 626 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:45,200 anyone would expect to see. 627 00:39:45,610 --> 00:39:51,750 the loose cannon okay so i'm in vegas i was in there and i was leaving and 628 00:39:51,750 --> 00:39:56,290 brian's coming and brian's in full gimmick at this point and then i see him 629 00:39:56,290 --> 00:40:01,310 dave whatever i'm leaving he goes can i get your credential and i go yeah here's 630 00:40:01,310 --> 00:40:07,110 my credential and he went in and makes a beeline for jim ross and vince mcmahon 631 00:40:07,110 --> 00:40:12,770 he had an idea to be the most outrageous outlandish over -the -top character 632 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:15,200 Vince McMahon had ever met. 633 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:17,580 He's going to try to get Vince McMahon's attention. 634 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:22,260 Doing his whole Brian Pillman thing. Hey, Vince. Hey, let's take a picture. 635 00:40:22,380 --> 00:40:23,660 Vince McMahon, motherfucker. 636 00:40:24,140 --> 00:40:25,140 God almighty. 637 00:40:25,540 --> 00:40:26,740 It's the greatest thing in the world. 638 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,360 They got a chance to meet you. And they get their arm around. Somebody takes a 639 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:34,040 picture. And Vince is like, who is this guy? He made an impression. 640 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:38,080 You didn't know whether he was a homicidal maniac or just a guy that was 641 00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:42,220 fun? McMahon thought, we can't hire this guy. We can't hire this guy. He's 642 00:40:42,220 --> 00:40:43,098 crazy. 643 00:40:43,100 --> 00:40:44,640 I said, he's crazy like a fox. 644 00:40:45,100 --> 00:40:46,100 What do you mean? 645 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:47,580 Well, he told me what he was going to do. 646 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:48,880 He did? 647 00:40:49,220 --> 00:40:50,380 Yeah. He's creative. 648 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:52,259 He's bold. 649 00:40:52,260 --> 00:40:54,200 He's kind of like you are, Vince. He'll take a chance. 650 00:40:55,020 --> 00:40:58,260 Brian's balls at that point in that day would probably fit in a wheelbarrow. 651 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,980 Dude, when you worked Vince McMahon, you know, especially back in the day, 652 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:03,320 pretty good rib. 653 00:41:03,540 --> 00:41:04,820 It got his attention, too. 654 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:08,620 It was pretty freaking genius, what he was doing. 655 00:41:09,380 --> 00:41:13,700 But he wanted to stay in WCW because WWF didn't offer guaranteed money. 656 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:18,580 And also Vince was always pushing the bigger guys. So Brian always felt that 657 00:41:18,580 --> 00:41:22,020 was his company and the company he would do the best in anyway. People go like, 658 00:41:22,060 --> 00:41:25,620 oh, he did this manipulation of his contract to go to WWF. No, he did the 659 00:41:25,620 --> 00:41:29,520 manipulation of his contract to be able to negotiate with WWF to raise his money 660 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:30,479 with WCW. 661 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:35,900 Brian's bold plan is a success, as he is in negotiations for major contracts 662 00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:42,180 with both WCW and WWF. All he has to do is choose the right path. 663 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:47,760 It didn't matter, like, where he wound up. It was just, no, it's money. It's 664 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:48,760 bottom fucking line. 665 00:41:48,980 --> 00:41:52,180 Money. And these people are in fantasy land. 666 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:53,440 It is money. 667 00:41:55,100 --> 00:41:56,880 The only problem is... 668 00:41:57,500 --> 00:42:04,420 Like the Hebrew saying, man plans and God laughs. 669 00:42:05,580 --> 00:42:08,980 We're talking and it's always about, you know, I got to save money, I got to 670 00:42:08,980 --> 00:42:11,160 save money, and then he buys an $80 ,000 Humvee. 671 00:42:11,460 --> 00:42:16,940 I couldn't fathom the idea of I got five kids, I've got to make money now, I've 672 00:42:16,940 --> 00:42:18,900 got to save money, and then buying a Humvee. 673 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,660 He would drive that wherever Brian wanted to drive that. 674 00:42:23,980 --> 00:42:25,900 He didn't want to sit at the stoplight. 675 00:42:26,300 --> 00:42:31,220 He drove down a gully and up the other side in the Hummer. He didn't, you know, 676 00:42:31,260 --> 00:42:32,260 follow the rules. 677 00:42:32,780 --> 00:42:38,720 I was actually in Miami modeling, but I called to check on the kids, and the 678 00:42:38,720 --> 00:42:42,220 neighbor across the street, I called her because I didn't get an answer, and she 679 00:42:42,220 --> 00:42:48,380 said, my God, I just passed the Hummer, and little Brian's car seat's out in the 680 00:42:48,380 --> 00:42:51,160 middle of the yard, and big Brian's being flown to the hospital. 681 00:43:01,290 --> 00:43:04,390 I remember he flipped it, rolled it. It was severe. 682 00:43:04,810 --> 00:43:06,650 The wreck happened during the negotiations. 683 00:43:07,210 --> 00:43:08,210 They're getting damaged goods. 684 00:43:08,510 --> 00:43:12,870 It was truly the deal of you can get on the tiger's back, but how do you get 685 00:43:12,870 --> 00:43:14,850 off? Fate figured that out. 686 00:43:15,050 --> 00:43:19,770 There had been a lot of wrestler deaths, but not of a guy who was actually on 687 00:43:19,770 --> 00:43:21,250 the way to the show at that moment. 688 00:43:21,530 --> 00:43:24,790 It's like if Brian could just see the future and what happened, Brian would 689 00:43:24,790 --> 00:43:26,290 just, fuck, oh, my God. 690 00:43:26,830 --> 00:43:29,490 No drugs, no nothing. I know it would scare him straight. 691 00:43:29,870 --> 00:43:34,170 It's crazy how you go from having a silver platter growing up to not even 692 00:43:34,170 --> 00:43:35,990 knowing when your next meal is going to be.