Brian pillman

[Guest Human Fly]

How do you think Brian Pillman would fare if he were in today's wrestling world. I feel that with the way the business was going when he passed away, he would be right up towards the top. What do you guys think?

[Guest Tony149]

I also think Pillman would of been on the top. He would of been a perfect fit when the WWF went into the "Attitude" ERA. Which Pillman was apart of in it's early stages.

[Guest Kinetic]

He was deteriorated, though.  Did he have anything approaching a good singles match in his WWF run?  And it's perfectly understandable given the injuries, the car accident, and the drug addiction but, really...I think Pillman would have been forced into a non-active role within the WWF or he would have just retired.

[Guest AM The Kid]

Probably retired or doing commentary or interviews...I can't see him still wrestling.

[Guest Tony149]

Pillman wasn't the same. He wouldn't be having **** or ***** matches. His character would of been perfect in the "Attitude" ERA. Where there wasn't much good wrestling anyway.

[Guest FakeRazor]

Pillman would have retired by now.  He just had too many injuries and had already slowed down so much.  Maybe he'd be around as a manager or a commentator now.  It's a shame what happened to him, if he stayed healthy he could have been a top dog.  Even with the injuries, he could have at least had some IC runs before he died.

[Guest Silvpak]

Pillman was, at the time of his death, a shadow of what he had been in Stampede and the NWA/WCW years.  He'd be retired, probably out of the sport entirely.

 

Now, if you want to posit what would have happened had he not suffered the ankle injury (had to have it fused after a motorcycle accident), I'd say he'd have had a shot at Shawn Michaels level success in the modern WWF.  He could have been the perfect egotisitical small heel.

[Guest Sting Fanatic]

Why do people bring up the issue of workrate?  I mean, I understand that the majority of us love a great *** to ***** match.  However, what does workrate matter completely when it comes to Pillman?

 

C'mon, everybody who had seen Pillman in his NWA/WCW days knew this wasn't the same Pillman who was coming off the top rope and wrestling fast-paced matches.

 

But in my opinion, Pillman had established himself very well as a good wrestler who could brawl.  He could have fared just as well as Austin did over the period of '98 all the way up to today.  Afterall, Austin had a shoddy neck and his knees are shot all to hell and he STILL managed to wrestle good to great matches.

 

Honestly, if Pillman could have kept on going at the rate he was, I think he would have legitamately been a main eventer.  And considering how the title was passed around over the past few years (Kane in his last days of TRUE overness; Big Show; an uninspiring Triple H; Vince!), he might have held the WWF title once or twice.

 

Thats just my thoughts though.

[Guest Choken One]

I'd say he would have had a quickie fued with Owen in Early '98 and then played Austin's foe instead of Foley and eventfully retire due to injuires in Early '99 and left the HBK way, as Commish once and occasional promos for fun.

[Guest Some Guy]

He probably would have been forced into retirenment and become a manager.  He could have been a great heel manager, leading a cult type group like Raven's Nest.

[Guest J*ingus]

Pillman was in so much pain from his ankle, which never really healed, that he could barely stand to walk on it, much less wrestle matches.  If you've seen ANY of his '97 performances, you know what I mean.  He was much more limited than Austin is now.

[Guest Tony149]

I still think Pillman would of been a star some way or another in the Attitude years. Too bad he died.

 

R.I.P. Brian

[Guest Galactic Gigolo]

Pillman would probably still be active, wrestling occasionally.  He'd have been perfect in a Mic Foley type role, where he wrestled once in a while, because Pillman was the most sadistic sunovabitch I've ever seen when he got a microphone.  I still remember all those times when he shooted when he was commentating, and McMahon or whoever he was with just had no idea what to say.

[Guest Drury37]

I think he would be a color commentator on either WWF Raw or WWF SmackDown and the co-host of WWF Excess with Terri or Trish Stratus.

Thanks.

[Guest Zack Malibu]

I agree with what was said about Pillman in the previous posts.  The car accident and related injuries did have an effect on his in ring work.  But you have to admit, Pillman was always entertaining, and gave 100% when he was out there.  

 

If Pillman had lived, I believe he would have gotten the main event push post WM 14, and would have had a main event run against former partner Steve Austin.  I can't see Pillman as a Corporate Stooge like Foley played, so I think this "blood feud" would have postponed the "Evil Mr. McMahon" angle.  They would have probably been able to play off most of the same scenarios though, with Undertaker and Kane being in cahoots, and Pillman and Austin reuniting to battle McMahon and his guys.  Would have made for some interesting RAW's.