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WK FLASHBACK: C.M. Punk's predecessor (inspiration?) - Brian Pillman - and the cover story on his big "worked-shoot" in WCW

Jun 29, 2011 - 3:18:27 PM


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Just over 15 years ago, a completely different generation of wrestling fans were having a similar conversation about Brian Pillman as today's fans are about C.M. Punk. Both were the same age (32) and both were seen by insider fans as heroes who rebelled against stodgy promoters and corporate babyfaces.

The following is a WCW Newswire report confirming that the Brian Pillman conflicts behind the scenes with WCW booker Kevin Sullivan were being worked, with even the wrestlers not in on it behind the scenes.

Then after that is my cover story in the PWTorch Newsletter two weeks later recapping what Pillman did in 1996 to stir controversy and the backstory on what was going on on the surface and what was really going on behind the scenes.

The similarities are remarkable, even if there are key differences. To think that Punk, a student of wrestling history who was 17 when this Pilllman "worked-shoot" angle took place, wasn't directly inspired by the late Pillman is hard to imagine. In fact, what Pillman did in ECW after his stunt on WCW TV may foreshadow what Punk will be doing in August in ROH.

WCW NEWSWIRE
PWTorch Newsletter #373
Cover-dated February 10, 1996
By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor


IT'S A WORK

It wasn't easy to tell, and it was even tougher to confirm, but two sources have confirmed that the Brian Pillman-Kevin Sullivan situation is not a shoot. While there are definite roots of legitimacy to Pillman being considered a "loose cannon," the situation between him and Sullivan has been an angle every single step of the way.

The reason such a big deal is being made of the fact that this is a work is that Pillman, Sullivan, and Bischoff went to such great lengths to give the impression this was a shoot. Kevin Sullivan broke a pencil on TV (a "pencil" is an insider term for the booker), Pillman walked out of his match on Nitro last week and SuperBrawl this week, and Bischoff crowed about Pillman's days being numbered. On the Feb. 12 Monday Nitro, the Pillman situation was barely touched on, which again was an attempt to give the impression it wasn't an angle, but instead that he is truly upset with Pillman and that Pillman was fired.

Pillman had conspicuously not returned phone calls last week from several people he normally talks to while also going out of his way to call people all over the country whom he hadn't called in months or years telling them that his angle was a shoot. Wrestlers in WCW were told it was a shoot and there were even shows put on by Sullivan and Pillman backstage, including after last week's Nitro, to give the impression to anyone backstage not privy to the situation the impression it was a shoot. Wrestlers not in WCW watched the situation on TV and bought into it in many cases, not sure how much of it was legitimate.

The plan at one point, although it may change once reports surface that the cat is out of the bag, was for Pillman to "be fired" by Bischoff and take some time off (a la Vader being suspended) with the intent of bringing him back eventually, but not until he actually worked some independent dates perhaps including ECW to sell the idea that he was fired (he would remain on WCW's payroll the whole time, apparently).

COVER STORY from PWTorch Newsletter #275/376
ORIGINAL HEADLINE: Pillman antics symbolize wrestling industry
SUBHEADLINE: Loose cannon debuts at ECW Arena; seems almost normal in strange overall week
COVER-DATED: February 24, 1996
By Wade Keller, Editor


In the past two weeks in professional wrestling in the United States nothing was as it seemed to be, the way it was supposed to be, or was the way it should be... or was it?

The talk of the industry has been Brian Pillman's loose cannon antics - shoot or work? Last week he was fired by WCW. Okay, he wasn't really fired. In fact, he is still on WCW's payroll, but the storyline is that WCW is so fed up with him that they fired him. It was the latest step in an incredibly meticulous plot to fool everyone - not just the fans, but also everyone in the industry. Why? No one's quite sure.

Okay, so Pillman's not fired from WCW, yet he shows up at ECW Arena and calls Eric Bischoff, his current boss (or is he his ex-boss?) a "jerkoff" in front of a thousand fans. The fans cheer Pillman because they now have a common enemy in WCW, right? Nope. Pillman calls the fans "smart marks." Okay, so Pillman's supposed to be a loose cannon and it's all an angle. But when he threatens to "pull out his Johnson" and "piss in the middle of the ring," is he playing along with the storyline, or trying to take the storyline a step further than even ECW wants? After all, as soon as he makes the threat, Shane Douglas, Tod Gordon, and Paul Heyman run to the ring telling him that wasn't agreed upon in the plans. Pillman laughs in their faces and goes psycho. Is Pillman really a nut? If that was all part of the act, that begs the question: Why is ECW essentially cooperating with WCW in trying to fool their own fans into buying into the work?

On national pay-per-view television, Jerry Lawler - the top babyface in the USWA territory which includes Louisville, Ky. - says in his WWF heel persona that fans in Louisville aren't all that bright. Next week on USWA television he'll be cheered by those same fans.

The WWF draws a near sellout in Memphis, Tenn. In front of 10,000 paying customers, the WWF says three of the top names advertised won't be there. No refunds are offered.

Meanwhile, Vince McMahon continues his public relations crusade to convince the world he's deserving of sympathy and that his WWF is being bullied by a vengeful conglomerate. The industry wonders what are his real motivations for being so vocal? Is he looking for allies? Is it pure spin control? Is he setting up an excuse for when he goes out of business?

The in-ring side of the WWF is no less strange. While Pillman is being fired as part of a storyline, Vader is brought back from suspension as part of a WWF storyline that eerily resembles the non-storyline incident that led to him being fired from WCW. In response, Eric Bischoff says on national TV that Vader left WCW with his tail between his legs after a locker room fight with Paul Orndorff. Was that real? Or was that, too, all part of an elaborate storyline?

While Undertaker is ripping through the canvas of the ring and yanking Diesel under the ring to keep him from escaping the cage and regaining the WWF Title, WCW is running a house show (which in and of itself is strange) where Johnny B. Badd is defeating Lex Luger to regain the WCW TV Title in a match that is not on TV, is not being filmed for TV, and may never be acknowledged on TV. The same weekend, The Giant pinned Sting cleanly after a chokeslam two nights straight.

In the world of hybrid fighting, CableVision, thanks to 20/20's shoddy feature from a week earlier, censored UFC from its cable customers in the Northeast, deeming the event unfit to even be offered to its cable customers. UFC had to deal with an even bigger problem days earlier as Sen. McCain, on taxpayer money, flew to Puerto Rico to attempt to convince Puerto Rico's governor to ban UFC. The media tells the fans UFC is a "win or die" event. The judge rules in UFC's favor... this week. Is that a real judge? Or is UFC creating a storyline of its own? Will UFC welcome Brian Pillman to their next pay-per-view so he can have a shoot with Tank Abbott?

ECW gets through an entire event in Philadelphia without one drop of blood being shed because they, of all promotions, have banned the blade - a practice they may have been responsible for resuscitating nationally.

Meanwhile, plans continue for Antonio Inoki to promote a wrestling festival in June featuring WCW, the WWF, AAA, EMLL, All Japan, and New Japan all on the same card. Sure, they're all accusing each other of desperation, illegal tactics, and whining, but in the spirit of global unity, they all agree to appear together on the same high-profile card.

Is this really happening?

ECW is working with WCW. WCW agrees to be on the same card as the WWF. The WWF accuses WCW of trying to run them out of business. A shoddy feature on a top rated news magazine show almost puts the Ultimate Fight out of business. A spoof of Larry King Live on Raw accuses WCW of trying to put the WWF out of business. The WWF does good business in Memphis but flippantly pisses off every fan in the building. Brian Pillman threatens to piss in the middle of the ring. Can ECW fire him for that? Was he even hired in the first place? If you work for WCW and they say you're fired, can you believe them, or should you check with Kevin Sullivan to see if it's part of a storyline you haven't been informed about? All of a sudden Goldust doesn't seem all that strange anymore.

EXCERPT OF ECW ARENA REPORT by correspondent Chris Forbes:

After the third match, Joey Styles came out as fans chanted "Oh My God!" The lights went out and when they came back on, Brian Pillman was in the ring. He got a huge pop. Pillman said he was fired by Eric Bischoff. He said Bischoff was a Jerkoff. He ripped into him and said he was going to "piss in the ring." Paul E. Dangerously, Tod Gordon, and Shane Douglas stopped him. Police came into the ring and a"Let him piss" chant began. Pillman nailed an ECW official and then fled to the back. Douglas said over the mic he wasn't leaving the ring until Pillman was thrown out the front door, or, as he put it, "his WCW piece of ass is thrown out the ECW door." Pillman came back out and was thrown out the front door by security and police. A good bye song began.


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