I have to say, I don't enjoy putting these "In Memory" sections in my views, I really hope that they don't become a regular feature.
Well, as I'm sure many of you already know, Brian Pillman died on October 5th, 1997. He was found dead in his hotel room, hours before he was to wrestle on the IYH:Badd Blood PPV. This is truly a sad time for all wrestling fans..not just for WWF, but WCW and the whole sport of wrestling. The world of wrestling lost one of the better little men in the sport...a man who accomplished many things, despite his size. When a friend first told me about his death, I was just like "Bullshit, whatever", then I thought that maybe it was just an angle that Vince was trying to float, but I realized that Vince does not have that poor taste. He would never stoop to anything so low. Sadly enough, I was right. As bad of an angle that it would have turned out to be, I would much rather have had a bad angle then a dead man. I really hope that his death was not caused by a drug overdose, it seems like that much more of a waste, when you consider that there have been many high profile deaths in the media due to drugs.
Another little thing that I would like to mention is that I just went to the recreation-sport.pro-wrestling newsgroup and some of the things these losers have said about Pillmans death make me sick. Some losers said that Vince should make an angle "where he drags out Pillmans carcass"...I'd like to drag out the guy that posted's carcass. This newsgroup has truly proven to me that it is filled with lowlife scum, who will do anything just to get a reaction. What little respect I had for this newsgroup is all gone after this display.
I remember when I first used to watch Brian Pillman wrestle for Stu Hart in Stampede wrestling. Prior to his wrestling career, he was a player for the Calgary Stampeders(A CFL football team)as well as a member of the Cinncinatti Bengals(A NFL football team). Both in wrestling and football he was almost always smaller than his opponents, yet he still managed to survive in those sports. When it came to wrestling he relied on his speed and his aerial abilities to climb the ranks of Stampede wrestling. Pillman started off as a relatively unknown wrestler, losing many of his first matches in Stampede, then he formed a tag team with Bruce Hart and they called themselves "Bad Company", which went on to hold the Stampede Tag Belts and to become one of the most successful tag teams in western Canada. Pillman hit the big time in the early 90's, serving a stint in WCW with Steve Austin as a Hollywood Blond, he also went on to become a 4 Horsemen. Pillman eventually suffered a a broken ankle in a car accident, which many doctors considered it lucky that he survived, it was during this time when he was injured that he was let go by WCW. During his rehab time, he was doing interviews for ECW, perfecting his "Loose Cannon" persona. Shortly after, he would end up in the WWF, where sadly enough, his career would end prematurely.
It is really a tragic death, Brian Pillman had to undergo many operations as a child to cure throat cancer, he survived the cancer and managed to build a career for himself. As his career was taking off, he suffered his potentially fatal car accident, but with months of rehab, he was back in the ring. After all that he has gone through, to die at the age of 35 is truly a shame. It's not like he was big like Yokozuna, he looked pretty healthy, in good condition. Kinda puts things in perspective...I just hope the losers who bring the signs that say "Die Rocky Die" are just joking, cause if they really do mean it, then they are a disgrace to the sport of wrestling.
Although the fans were supposed to boo Pillman because of his angle involving Marlena and Goldust, I hope the fans don't forget the he was a normal guy just like everyone else. The whole Marlena/Pillman/Goldust triangle was just an angle, in real life, Pillman was a married man with 5 kids, who are now fatherless. I will really miss hearing Brian Pillmans cool sounding raspy voice and his facial expressions. He made faces like no one else could. He will truly be missed by all who had any respect for this sport.
I don't really feel like writing anything else about wrestling right now, check back for more another day.
Additional Commentary by Peter Medina
As one of V1's buds who does an occasional piece of commentary about pro wrestling here on "V1's Views" I'd like to talk this month about Brian Pillman's death. When I first heard the news about it from my neighbour Chad Broome (aka Chaz Chase) who lives across the street, I almost thought the guy was being his stupid self as he always is. I know the whole getup with having Marlena for 30 days is all bull**it so I thought McMahon may have been working up and contributing to an angle like Goldust was so pissed etc., etc. or maybe Marlena had it up to her neck with the XXX files and the banging that they went to the extent to take him out permanently. My younger bro was over too with Chaz watching the Free for All for IYH: Badd Blood, and my bro never lies and when he said "McMahon looked serious" and I guess that was the time when I believed that they (Chaz and my bro) and McMahon weren't making stuff up.
I started back up watching WWF wrestling after a 6 year hiatus from it cause V1 got me back into it so I'm fairly a newcomer to the sport. I do however remember as a kid, my dad used to watch Stampede Wrestling in the 80's (Saturday afternoons @ 3:00PM on CFRN TV, Edmonton) and fondly remember my dad talking about Pillman. I also remember when I got back into watching WWF after a 6 year hiatus from it, seeing the whole Stone Cold incident with the threats and stuff to Pillman. I never really knew too much about Pillman and never really thought the guy could wrestle until he recently joined the Hart Foundation. Personally, I think he had some cool gimmicks and his theme song was pretty damned cool!
Inspite of this recent filthy, sex, lies and videotape angle Pillman got setup in, he was just doing his job as an entertainer and athlete and is still a human being. Show some respect and give some credit to the man cause he's been through it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly. The only thing that worries me now, is if his death was caused by recreational drugs, cause it will make the WWF look bad.
That's all from me, see you another time this month or next.
Updated Oct. 15/97
Additional Commentary by Peter Medina
Okay, my topic of address today is Owen Hart. Personally I think Owen Hart is an awesome technical wrestler! After all, he is a HART!! Now, we might have seen some attitude changes in Owen over the last couple of months, personally I think there's a pro and con to it.
The pro: Damn, I love that Owen 3:16 shirt... "I just broke your neck." That is WAY too cool! He doesn't show any remorse from what he did to Stone Cold. Heck the cool thing is I think he's more evil than he was before he wrestled Stone Cold and broke his neck. As Owen said, after Summer Slam '97 "I showed compassion." Now, posing with that shirt on, I don't think we'll be seeing any compassion from him anymore!
The con: What the hell is this new theme song he's got goin' on? I mean the theme song he used when he was "Slammy Award Winning/King of Hearts" was a cool song. It had a rock/techno kinda flair to it. This new one... ugh, I dunno what the hell it is; is it trying to impersonate Stone Cold's theme song with that lame assed British Cop car siren going on in the background of it?!!?
I wanna conduct a survey among you V1 view readers and at the end of November I'll tabulate the votes and post 'em in December's views. Kay it's simple, CLICK HERE to send an e-mail to me. In the subject type Yes, if you like the theme song and No, if you don't like the new theme song. In the body of the e-mail gimme some opinions and I'll post 'em with the results in December.
That's all from me, catch y'all laters.
(Updated Oct.20, 1997)
Well, it's V1 here. Now that I've finally had some time to get over the initial shock of Pillman's death, I'm ready to spew my views again. I would like to thank Peter Medina for covering for me during this hard and stressful time.
First thing on my agenda is once again Brian Pillman, or more specifically, the Pillman family. It seems that Brian did not have any life insurance(I don't know why someone who has dealt with cancer and had that terrible accident wouldn't get insurance). Which pretty much leaves Melanie to take care of 5 kids and a 6th on the way(which Melanie did not have the chance to tell Brian about), anyways, what I'm getting at is: If anyone out there has some extra cash and feels like doing something nice for the Pillman family, then you can send any donations to the Pillman family at:
Brian Pillman Memorial Fund
1-B Quaker Ridge Road Suite 144
New Rochelle, New York 10804
OK, now on to something else that I have been avoiding lately. HBK himself, Shawn Michaels. Him and Hunter Hurst Healmsly(HHH) have been on a tear lately. They've been ripping just about everyone up just so that they can look more like there little friends down south. For those who saw the MSG incident tape played on RIW and are wondering just what the hell it's all about, I'll try to explain the best I can, considering I only got it from second hand info. Anyways, on the tape it shows Diesel(Kevin Nash), Razor Ramon(Scott Hall), HHH and HBK all hugging each other in a cage. Anyways, the story goes that, this was the last match that Nash and Hall were to perform for the WWF. I think the card that night consisted of HHH Vs. Razor Ramon and Diesel Vs. HBK in a cage. Anyways, after all the matches were over, the 4 members of the Clique all came together and hugged saying a farewell to the broken up cliwue, since Nash and Hall obviously went on to WCW. Anyways, this broke a thing in wrestling called Kayfabe, which I guess means that the wrestlers have to keep up with the story lines and their characters. At the time HBK and Razor were supposed to be good guys or "faces" and Diesel and HHH were bad guys or "heels". So, having faces and heels hugging really ticked off the big boys at Titan Towers, who for that reason punished HHH. Hunter was originally supposed to win the 1996 King of the Ring, but instead because of the MSG incident, Steve Austin went on to win it and Austin 3:16 was born. HHH on the other hand was pushed into a jobber to the stars status for awhile.
It seems that Vince has gotten over it, since obviously, HHH won the 1997 KOTR, and HBK and HHH are allowed to form a new Clique or Degeneration X, with the basic angle that Degeneration X run the other members of the Clique in the NWO. I personally thought that the last couple of RAW's were F'N awesome. HBK and HHH really work very well together, and as much as I like the Hart Foundation, I have to admit that HBK and HHH and a hell of a lot funnier then the HF. That dosen't meant that I agree with everything that is being done. First off, wrestling has a huge following of people under 18, and anyone can obviously see that Shawn and Hunter have been doing a lot of sexual stuff. Maybe not as obviously stupid as Syxx's Bronco Buster thing, but the double knife edge to the groin thing, Shawn telling a fan to "Suck it, suck it suck it" while pointing to his schlong, shawn lying on the ground with Chyna standing over his face while Shawn pumps his hips up and down. I mean, I personally don't mind, but I'm sure parents don't like this too much.
One thing I've found quite amusing over the last couple of week s is that HHH seems to now think that he's really important. In one of Degeneration X's almost weekly insults of the owner of the WWF, Vince Mcmahon, Hunter said to Shawn in a sarcastic voice: "Oh no, be careful, he might fire us". I found this very funny, when you consider that Hunter is about as important as The Sultan in the WWF. HHH, buddy, your just riding on the coattails of the important members of the Clique. If HHH and Syxx left the Clique no one would give a damn. It boild down to this in the WWF. If Bret Hart left the WWF sales would go down, if HBK left the WWF sales would go down, if The Undertaker left the WWF sales would go down, if Steve Austin left the WWF, sales would go down, if HHH left the WWF sale would.....stay the same. Hell, if Chyna left the WWF, sales would go down. Ofcourse if Chyna left the WWF, it would mean the end of HHH, since the only reason he's here is to usher in Chyna as his replacement. It's funny, but HHH and Syxx are so not important to either feds. I have heard that WCW tried to dump Syxx, but Nash and Hall convinced Bitchoff to keep him. It is also funny that Syxx, while he was the 1-2-3 Kid was the only member of the NWO who was let out of his contract by the WWF...kinda shows how important he was to them.
One thing I'd like to bring up is the tag scene in the WWF. I said a couple of months ago that it was looking good...well, I've flip flopped again. IT SUCKS SHIT!!!!! Vince, whatta hell are you thinking with your tag scene???? The only good thing is that L.O.D. finally has the belt, finally a team with some respect. The 'bangers are still jobbers, Godwinns suck, and the Blackjacks are pretty much out of the scene. Vince should really go after the Harlem Heat from WCW. Those guys are getting SO misused in
there it's not even funny. The Heat have become JTTS in only a few months. I mean, they lost to Wrath and Mortis, and Mortis is everyone's punching bag. The tag scene is just an abomination(you like big word???) in the WWF. If this is the best that Vince can do, he should just shut it down cause right now, it's a disgrace to the federation. It isn't much better in WCW mind you. The Outsiders finally defend the titles, and Kevin Nash isn't even there, they throw in that little dick weed Syxx. So what if the juiced up-when's-the-last-time-you-gave-a urine-sample Steiners beat Hall and Syxx, the REAL tag champs weren't even there to defend them. The Steiners are one of the most annoying teams out there. They have no personality, hey Scott, just growing a goatee dosen't give you a personality. I don't even know what has happened to the Faces of Fear or Public Enemy. Basically, the Steiners are tag champs after beating a WEAK champ. Syxx my ass.
Oh Baby, Kane has finally made his apperance, JESUS(Hey-Zues) H Christ is he awesome. I love that mask and his music is funkin cool man. That is one of the coolest sounds entrance themes of all time. The red lights and the fireworks at the ring posts are awesome too. Kane is bigger and more muscular than the Undertaker too. I also think that he makes the Tombstone lok better, I don't know what it is, it just looks like he drops the guy with more force and velocity. I remember just last month I said that I could give a rats ass about Kane, well, now I'm really looking forward to the feud between him and UT when it starts up. Needless to say, when I find a picture of Kane, he's in my Top Ten.
I have to say that I for one kinda like Rocky Maivia as a heel. If you read back a couple of months back, I never did really say that Rocky sucked, just that he needs for time. Well, I think he's truly developing into a legit superstar, and he draws the best damn heel heat that I've ever seen. Everyone hates the guy, those Rocky Sucks chants are goddam loud. It's funny, I've never said that he sucked, but a hell of a lot of other writers on the net used to always rip the guy. NOW that he's a heel, these same guys are saying stuff like "For the record, Rocky DOES NOT suck"....hehehehehe...I always thought I saw talent in the guy.
I hate to admit it, but this is shaping up to be a poor Survivor Series. Sure, Bret Hart Vs HBK and SCSA Vs Owen Hart should be good, but the rest of the tag matches look weak. DOA Vs. The Truth Commission??? and just why are these guys fighting??? Since when were they feuding???? Team Canada Vs. Team USA??? Could of been good, but the Canadian team sucks. Tiger Singh and Glen Kulka??? What tha hell??? Tiger Singh???? Kulka??? Sad thing is, Team Canada is gonna win. If there trying to build Kulka as a legit superstar, do you think the WWF will let him get eliminated on his first match???? Didn't think so. N.O.D. Vs. Ahmeds team??? Could be the best match of the survivor series format of two teams. Which isn't saying much.
One more short thing. While I'm glad to finally see Sable more regularly, I don't like Marc Mero's new gimmick. A freakin boxer??? Gimme a break, he looks terrible as a boxer, I realise that he won't fly as much with his knee injury and all, but give the guy something a little better than a dumbass boxer. What kinda moves other then punching could he possibly do??? and his finisher, although impressive reminds me of a DIAMOMD CUTTER!!!! WAITAMINIT...IT IS THE DIAMOND CUTTER.....DAMN YOU VINCE, YOU'VE FOOLED ME FOR TOO LONG!!!! Look man, he was supposed to be spending time to develop a NEW finisher, not RIP ONE OFF!!!!! Although, at least Sable shows up more often now.
Oh yeah, last thing. I know many people seems to enjoy the little mexican midgets cause they do all this aerial bullshit. I HATE THEM. It's a waste of air time. Give it to someone who deserves more time on TV, like Sable or Sunny, hell, let the camera follow a ref around instead. I don't really like the I-don't-need-no-stinkin-angles- full sized mexicans, why would I like a smaller version of them????
Anyways, I've rambled on enough about SUH WEEEET nothing, so it looks like WCW and Bitchoff get off pretty easy this time. Anyways, I have to commend the guy, from what I hear, he is going to try and stop ALL LEWD and sexual stuff his guys do...like the Bronco Buster and groin chop. Anyways, till next time, see y'all later.
OK, well, I've finally more or less caught up with watching some taped RIW's...what can I say, other then QUIT WITH THE GODDAM RACE BULLSHIT ALREADY!!!!! I know that Vince needs the ratings, but this is NOT the way to go. I never really had much of an opinion before, they hinted at race issues, but after the graffitti in the N.O.D.'s locker room, that was just too much. With Shawn Michaels recently calling Bret Hart the "Grand Wizard" and all the other KKK bullshit, I'm really getting disgusted with this angle. I just hope Vince decides to drop it REEEEAAAAAALLLL soon. As I've said before, the N.O.D. is the only talented gang outta the D.O.A. and Los Bajobbers, so give N.O.D. a better angle to work with.
A few months ago, I said that Shwan Michaels and Bret Hart really hated each other and that they had a legit brawl behind the scenes...now I'm not so sure just how real this rivalry is between the two. If they truly did hate each other, I really don't see Vince putting two guys who want to kick each other's asses in the same ring. Whenever they do meet during RIW run-ins, they both seem to go pretty easy with each other. The shots are pretty well cheographed so as not to hit too hard. When Shawn gives Hart the Sweet Chin Music, I noticed that he hardly connected. There interviews ripping each other seem to typical of two feuding men too...not really the stuff of guys who hate each other...although I find it F'N funny when Bret said the H in HHH and HBK stands for Homo...hey I've always known that the Kliq was mostly gay. Anyways, the way I see it is either Bret and Shawn really don't hate each other that much or they have gotten over there differences and decided to be professional about it.
The more I see the Kliq members, the more I think that there slightly gay. I mean, that act like it sooo much, with Syxx being the main faggot...ofcourse I've been saying that Syxx was gay ever since I saw him do his Bronce Buster face ride. I was watching a recnt RIW with some friends awhile ago, it was the one where HHH beat Bret Hart with outside help. Anyways, there's a part where someone grabs HHH ass during the victory celebration, at first my friend said it must have been Chyna and I said it was Shawn, so, we put it into slo-mo, and sure enough, it was Shwan grabbing HHH' ass. Now I that pro sports people do pat each other on the ass after a goal or something, but in slo-mo, this sure as hell wasn't a pat...it was more a cupping of a cheek and then a squeeze or two. Not only that, but I believe that Scott Hall once admitted that he was a bi-sexual...not I'm not really judging here, but I find it kinda funny that when Scott Hall was Razor Ramon, he didn't wanna face Goldust when Goldust still had his homo angle. If he's bi, what the hell does he care???? I guess this last paragrapg kinda has nothing to do with wrestling...but, like I've said before, if you don't like it, tough.
As I said the once already, this Survivor Series looks weak as hell. It may be slightly better now, not by much. From what I've heard, Glen Kulka and Tiger Singh may have been replaced by Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. Which coincidently, they aren't even Canadians. Also The Patriot may also be replaced since he injured a tricep or something like that. I must say...some, Team Canada, not even one goddam Canadian, just call it Team International or something, but not Canada. I still don't know why the Truth Commission is facing D.O.A., I guess it could be worse though, it could be Savio Vega and his Bajobbers. Who here dosen't see the Interrogator winning it for the Commission??? Speaking of The Interrogator, is it just me or is he the biggest stiff ever to enter the ring??? This guy so far has not impressed me at all, other then size, he sucks...and why the hell does he always look constipated???? like he's got something stuck up his ass. Another sad thing is that they got this loser Jackal now...this guy sucks already. I know they got rid of the Kommandant so that they could have 4 wrestlers, but c'mon, Jackal looks like a little child in the ring, he's like the D-Lo of the Nation, the Weak Link. The Jackal can't weigh more then 90 pounds after a buffet feast.
Speaking of Lafon, I think I remember seeing him a long time ago in Calgary Stampede. Back then he didn't have Doug Furnas with him, so he was a singles wrestler. If I recall, back then he actually had some fans. Ofcourse, in the Calgary Stampede, a wrestler didn't really have to have a personality, all he needed was more talent to carry an angle, so I guess it fits Lafon perfectly. I remember this one time, Lafon was beaten by a guy in like 15 seconds. Then the week after, a wrestler named Steve Disalvo challenged Lafon and tried to beat him in 10 seconds, he never nade it though, I think he just walked out of the match after awhile, which is funny, cause he was WORKING Lafon. Man, I wish I taped some of those old Stampede matches, some of them were pretty damn awesome. Many of todays best wrestlers started in Stampede, such as The Hart Foundation and Chris Benoit.
Hmmm, I'm kinda surprised that Vince would sign Jeff Jarrett again. The last time JJ was with the WWF, he sat out the last portion of his contract, then after it was done, he bailed out to WCW. I'm really very surprised that Vince would give an employee like that a second chance, though I guess he wanted to strenghten his depleted roster some and also he probably wanted JJ cause he was an ex-WCW champion.
On a parting not, I didn't buy the Halloween Havoc PPV, but from what I've heard, it really sucked. Sounds like Hogan and Piper stuck the house up and sounds like Sting did his usual DICKALL performance. Good God Allmighty, I REALLY REALLY REALLY hate Sting now, as far as I'm concerned, the guy can go to hell, when he does step back into the ring, he's gonna have so much ring rust, he won't even be able to move. Anyways, that's it from me for the month of October, Catch y'all later.
