In professional wrestling, there are a ton of what-if questions that always get asked. One of the biggest what-ifs involves Brian Pillman. He tragically passed away in 1997, and many wonder what if he never died and what his impact would be on the Attitude Era of WWE. Dark Side of the Ring did two episodes on Brian Pillman, and both were crazy. This article will focus on the first part of that documentary, and I will hold my entire thoughts of the documentary when I finish with Part 2’s article.
Every time Pillman cut a promo, his voice helped him stand out due to how gravely it was. A big reason why is the constant polyps that would grow on his throat. Polyps are abnormal tissue growths that can grow all over the body. Pillman had them constantly growing on his throat and apparently had 40 surgeries, as each time they were removed, the polyps would grow back.
At one point, the polyps were so bad that Brian had to have an emergency tracheotomy at a doctor’s house, as it was closer than the hospital. Crazy to think about how bad it was, that the procedure had to be done in the middle of the night on a dining room table. The many surgeries helped fuel Pillman to cut great promos in his wrestling career.
Before Brian Pillman became a professional wrestler, he was involved in the sport of American Football. He played in the NFL, most notably for the Cincinnati Bengals, and he impressed the strength coach at the time, Kim Wood. Wood is a talking head in the documentary and let’s just say the man has his way with words (We’ll get to that later)
Pillman’s run with the NFL was brief, as he only lasted a year with the Bengals and an offseason with the Bills. He tried his luck in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders, but an ankle injury all but ended his career, and he took a chance with pro wrestling. Being in Calgary, he decided to get trained in the Hart Dungeon and the rest was history.
A fascinating fact not mentioned in the documentary about his football career was his close relationship with John Harbaugh. Harbaugh is the current Baltimore Ravens head coach and he was Brian Pillman’s roommate in college. They even were defensive teammates at Miami (OH). Harbaugh would have a close relationship with the Pillman family and they often exchanged gifts during holidays.
There have been a ton of stories about Brian Pillman, but a common one is that he was a womanizer. The first child that the documentary introduces is Brittany. Brian had her with his wife Rochelle. Not one year into Brittany’s life, Brian found out that he had another child who was 2 years older than her.
Introducing Danielle “Dani” Pillman, who tells the story of how Brian Pillman met her mom. It was a brief love affair that Brian had with a woman at a bar in Cincinnati. Brian cheated on Rochelle multiple times with different women, which is just such a dirtbag thing to do to your spouse. When Dani was born, her mom kept it a secret from Brian for a few years. However, Brian eventually found out and he was there for her 100%. It is awesome that he never abandoned Dani, and stepped up to support her. Pillman loved his kids and was always there for them no matter what the situation was.
Then Brian Pillman Jr came, and his mother was Melanie Pillman. Make that 3 different women he had children with. This wasn’t mentioned in the documentary, but when he married Melanie she also had multiple kids from another marriage. He had a ton of kids that he had to provide for as a result.
It was terrifying to watch and hear about what happened to Rochelle Pillman. She knew that Brian cheated on her with multiple women, but she stuck with him. However, she also had severe mental health issues including depression. Those issues got worse, and one day out of nowhere in the middle of the night, Rochelle gets attacked by a groundskeeper who was trying to rob her. The groundskeeper stabbed her multiple times with an ice pick and even got her in the cheek. Holy molasses, I agree with Linda Pillman who states in the documentary “That will mess you up.”.
Before Steve Austin became stone-cold, he was labeled as Stunning Steve Austin in WCW. Steve Austin was a solid talent in WCW, but the problem was that creativity had nothing for him when he found out that he was going to be in a tag team with Brian Pillman. This made Austin unhappy because he thought he was going to get a single run as the US Champion. It also didn’t help that it was Brian who told him first instead of the creative department, which sounds like a brilliant idea. It gave Austin vibes that they were just thrown together because there was no plan, but both made the best of it as the Hollywood Blondes got over.
An interesting fact about Pillman on the road was that he did a lot of reading. It wasn’t newspapers or books he was reading; it was dictionaries. A big reason why, was to expand his vocabulary in promos and help his personality stand out. In fact, it was Pillman who came up with The Hollywood Blondes tag team and the team’s gimmick as well.
With the Hollywood Blondes getting over in WCW, they eventually got a shot to main event a PPV. It was the Hollywood Blondes vs Ric Flair and Arn Anderson at Clash of the Champions XXIII. Unfortunately, the rating of the show was not good at all, and the blame was put on the Hollywood Blondes. As a result, their push was canceled, and creative broke them up. That angered Austin quite a bit, as they turned nothing into something, yet they were punished for it. Even Jim Ross agrees that WCW should have done better with the Hollywood Blondes tag team.
Now we get introduced to Brian Pillman’s widow Melanie. I will say that, immediately, Melanie comes across as an absolutely evil human being in this documentary.
Well let’s start off with this, Melanie is the main reason why Brian’s relationship ended with Rochelle. Brian constantly cheated on Rochelle, and most of those times were with Melanie. This isn’t the only time she’s done that with a professional wrestler. I mentioned this in my review of the Ultimate Warrior episode. Warrior would cheat on his first wife with many women, one of them being Melanie Pillman.
When Brian and Melanie got married, she took over running the house life and was not a fan of Rochelle. One day Rochelle disappeared, and a missing persons report was filed. Brian decided to file for custody to ensure that his kids were safe with him. Well, Melanie agreed, and she pushed for Rochelle not to be around and wanted the kids for herself.
Rochelle was desperate to see her kids, and while Brittany was bike riding, she hugged her. Brian and Melanie thought she was kidnapping her. They decided to file kidnapping charges and were granted full custody of Brittany. Rochelle was worried she was never going to see Brittany, so she tried to call Brian to hash things out. Melanie picked up the phone, since Brian wasn’t there, and said the following.
“Even your mother thinks I would be a better mother to (Brittany) than you will be.”
This woman is a witch and something else that rhymes with witch. After that call and disgusting response, Rochelle committed suicide. Brian was devastated and paid for the funeral. He broke down in tears and regretted all the pressure they put on Rochelle. Melanie said that she didn’t know what her problem was, and she regretted everything.
You know who hasn’t forgiven her? Brittany. She lays the blame on Melanie. Brittany even calls her “a devil and she should have died years ago from all the drugs she has done, but she is going to live to be 100 and feel all the pain she has caused others. I don’t blame her at all for feeling that way.
Brian Pillman was legit insane, and was willing to take his Loose Cannon character to the next level. He wanted to figure out a way to get more money. Pillman had the idea to ask for his release and tell Bischoff it was for an angle. Pillman wanted it to be a real release, so the office didn’t tell Meltzer it was a work. Well, Bischoff decided to do it, which stunned Cornette and Austin.
Bischoff on the documentary claims it was a real release, but one where Brian can work his way back. Bischoff told Brian to go to WWE and he would bring him back to pay more with his stint in the company. He then later calls out people who think Brian worked him due to the character’s work in a way to end up getting him more money down the road for WCW. So he’s a malcontent and a liar, got it? You can tell that he’s full of it every time Bischoff opens his mouth.
With Pillman gone from WCW and a brief stint in WCW, WWE was on the horizon. Kim Wood even told Pillman to focus on the real marks of Bischoff and McMahon. Remember when I said that Wood had a way with words here are his comments on Vince McMahon.
“I thought he was a w***. What do you do with a w****? F*** em. That’s what I thought of Vince.”
I would love to do an interview with this guy if I had the chance, because that is just funny.
Pillman decides to go to a convention in Vegas where Vince McMahon was at. Pillman got credentials from Dave Meltzer and chose to find Vince while in his Loose Cannon gimmick. He walks to Jim Ross and Vince McMahon and goes all in. Pillman even put his arm around Vince and got a photo taken of him. Vince was looking at this guy and saying that Pillman is too crazy to be hired. Well, Jim Ross shoots back saying he’s crazy like a fox and tells Vince to take a chance on Pillman. It worked and Pillman sparked a bidding war for him between WCW and WWE. Then came that car wreck and the episode ends…
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