Clique

I get what you're saying Greenlawler that a lot of people can play the off the wall, wild, deranged man. The difference is no one else got people talking like Pillman did with his actions in WCW and his segments in ECW & WWF. So it's not that the role he played couldn't be done but Pillman just ran with the "Loose Cannon" gimmick and a lot of people enjoyed seeing what he was going to do next or say in a promo.

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Greenlawler

This is fair...and a good response. I do tend to think Pillman is given too much credit though. The fact is there were a lot of guys who were "loose cannons" but they had enough respect for the business not to say certain things. I mean Randy Savage (pre-WWE), Joe LeDuc, Austin Idol. I think fans loved Pillman as a heel becuase he was allowed to say things that were taboo till then.

Imagine if dozens of the classic 70's and 80's heels, in their prime were given the same latitiude and forum Pillman was. If someone had told them they could be a complete ***.

Have you ever heard of a guy named Chris Colt?

However I see your point, but I think you would agree that some of Pillman's "greatness" was more about the era than his mic talent. If Piper ever had an ECW forum holy crap!!!! What about a 1970's Lawler in the ECW?

To me at least if a guy can't make it as both a heel and a face then maybe he should not be in this class of greatness.

Clique

I can agree with that. It was about the opportunity Pillman had and the era he presented the gimmick. Great example of right time + right place but Pillman had the smarts to really work that gimmick well in WCW, ECW and WWF. The mid-90s and later was the time for that in your face presentation and guys like Pillman, Shane Douglas and others took advantage of it.

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777

I enjoyed reading your posts here, but this is an idea I just can't get behind.

He's one of the few babyfaces in early 90's WCW that I was able to get behind. It only sucked as much as any young bland face character would, having very little depth, but his charisma shone through regardless and he more than compensated for any character failings with a spectacular in-ring ability. See his matches with Liger, as a fan, it was hard not to back the guy and he was one of the first in bringing some of the high-flying/international aspects to America.

It's all subjective of course, but I'd like to give his babyface run some props here. I really enjoy the work.

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jonoaries

To this point fans were ready for that type of gimmick. I believe that a lot of people had grown weary of the comic book style good vs evil that professional wrestling had and because fans were more knowledgeable about wrestling in the 90s, it took something extra to get a guy like him over.

He was ahead of the curve as the "loose cannon", but as a babyface he didn't stand out at all...granted we never saw the "loose cannon" gimmick done with a face designation by Pillman but we did see nameless faceless "Flyin" Brian and it brought a modicum of success but if he hadn't been ahead of that realism curve would we be talking about him right now?

I think that's the point. You add that he somehow felt that fans were ready for that type of gimmick and made a complete 180 from "Flyin" Brian typical babyface to "loose cannon" Brian unconventional and unpredictable heel. That move generated more success for him than he would have ever achieved otherwise.

I think it was neat of the E to release a DVD collection on a guy who had been dead for quite awhile and never achieved the megastardom his former tag partner did but its more a measurement of Pillman's story and that the E found it and him worthy enough to make a DVD about. I kinda have to ask again but if that DVD wasn't made would we really be talking about Pillman now?

If the answer is Yes, then the logical thought would be that Pillman was just that great, if the answer is No, then the logical belief is that the E and fans believe Pillman to be that great or influential. Either way he could have been a forgotten name in the industry and would have been had he stayed inside the line but he was smart enough to break through some barriers to make a name for himself.

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☆★☆★☆


ΙΦΘ

http://www.jonoaries.blogspot.com

Froooot

Only match I've ever seen with them as a tag team was the cage match with Los Hombres, on Steve Austin's Legacy DVD

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the modern myth

The Hollywood Blonds were a fantastic tag team. I didn't watch much WCW as a kid but, when ITV started showing it on Saturday afternoons, I was hooked to this team.

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They had one of the best theme tunes of all time!