PWTorch Flashback - 15 years ago today
Brian Pillman Memorial Event
April 29, 1998
Norwood, Ohio

Results Originally Published PWTorch Newsletter #493.

(1) Nick Dinsmore pinned Trailer Park Trash.

(2) Tennessee Volunteers beat Brian Taylor & Bounty Hunter.

(3) Flash Flanagan pinned Bull Pain.

(4) Chip Fairway & Shark Boy beat Terik the Great & Live Wire Casey.

(5) Al Snow pinned Chris Candido (w/Sunny). Sunny wore her LOD 2000 outfit to the ring, but it was her fourth outfit change of the night. The crowd popped huge for Snow's banter and gestures with The Head.

(6) Chris Benoit (w/Woman) beat Chris Jericho via submission. Jericho led off his match with his usual stellar mic work. He said he knew fans hadn't come to see Steve Austin or Al Snow or The Head, but had come to see him. He said he doesn't usually come to podunk little towns like Norwood, but that he decided that the Jerichoholics there deserved to have their dreary little lives brightened by him. Benoit grabbed the mic and said, "On behalf of the Pillman family, prepare for an ass-whipping." Benoit won clean with the Crippler Crossface.

- Terry Taylor was in attendance and did color commentary for the website broadcast.

The event raised approximately $23,000. The event was said to be an artistic success in the ring, but a mess in terms of organization, including an exceedingly long intermission. At times, event staffers pointed fans in the wrong directions for the pre-show autograph sessions.

Ninety minutes before the show there was a long line of fans who had to wait in the thunderstorms and were soaked by the time they let them in 35 minutes later than advertised. A lot of fans left after the last match and before the raffle was conducted because all of the delays led to the last match ending after midnight.

Steve Austin, Sunny, Al Snow, Chris Candido, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho posed for pictures to raise money for the Pillman Memorial Fund. Inside the gymnasium, a celebrity auction raised several thousand dollars. Les Thatcher and Elliot Pollack (Pillman's sports agent) ran the auction. An autographed Austin shirt fetched $350. When Goldberg's shirt came up for auction a lot of fans booed, apparently because Austin was present. The shirt sold for $75.

Other auctioned memorabilia included the dress Pillman was forced to wear on Raw last year, Sunny's BodyDonna outfit, the denim "Flyin' Brian" ring jacket Pillman wore to the ring during his early WCW days, and Pillman's "Hollywood Blondes" t-shirt autographs by Austin. Pollack seemed to be disappointed with the price that some of the items sold for.

[Josh Buesher, Rick Morris, Oliver LaPrad reporting]

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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