Was Brian Pillman the "Marty Jannetty" of the Hollywood Blondes?

[RicoLen]

Or do you think Brian Pillman might also have had a career on par with Stunning Steve Austin?

Now, I'm not saying Pillman would have become the face of the company and sold bagillions shirts and become the highest grossing superstar or whatever. I just mean, I think Pillman could have been huge, held in the same group as Bret, Shawn, HHH, The Rock, Austin, Taker, & Foley and not some undercard guy that was eventually forgotten about, but a WWF Champion.

In many ways I like Brian Pillman a lot more than Stone Cold Steve Austin circa Summerslam '97. Austin's good wrestling days are almost behind him now, with his immanent neck break at summerslam coming up, and I've yet to really see him as being on the same level as Bret & Owen, or Bulldog.

Pillman however looks great in the ring, and has just as edgy and awesome a character as Stone Cold. It's apparent to me that Pillman is just being held back (bad term I know, but I don't mean it in a negative manner here) until more story can be told and also for the right time to spring him on the WWF. He's definitely a main-eventer and Austin's equal. It's just a matter of giving one the push to the top, and THEN the other, and Austin is going first. But what do I know.

What do you guys think about The Loose Cannon Brian Pillman?

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I don't think he was the Jannetty and I think what ultimately cost him was 2 things his health and drug problems which led to his death.

The truth is when Pillman died he actually had a good spot in the WWF as a member of the Hart Foundation and considering they were one of the big 4 acts of '97 (along with Austin, Taker and DX) I would say that he doing pretty well considering, nowhere near Austin's level but he certainly wasn't the Jannetty as a matter of fact he was in the main event of the PPV of the year 3 months before he died and was a member of the biggest heel faction that WWF had at the time. He was in a storyline with Goldust (when he was wearing a dress and had Marlena's services for 30 days) and got at least 10-15 minutes every week on RAW which is pretty good, hell Cena got about 20 minutes last night on a 3 hour RAW. Say whatever you want about the storyline but he was being used even more than the Rock at that point of time so he was obviously doing something.

Pillman's big issue was unfortunately his injuries which ultimately held him back, he was solid on the mic and I personally was a big fan of his "Loose Cannon" gimmick which led to some memorable moments on RAW and some memorable promo's and segments as well (like Austin breaking into Pillman's house). He had some bad drug and alcohol problems but he was solid all around even when he had those vices.

Jannetty on the other hand was only good in the ring but that's really where it ended for him, he wasn't good on the mic and after the Rockers he pretty much went downhill where Pillman went uphill after the breakup of the Blondes. Jannetty ended up getting shit canned because of his attitude and ability to burn bridges, not to mention outside the ring there was nothing special about him.

Pillman would have done much better than he did if he didn't have the amount of injuries he sustained and his personal demons. Pillman never would have reached the level of Austin (no one has) but he was memorable in his own right, successful in his own right and could have been much more memorable if his life wasn't cut short. Even with his life cut short I would say he did more than Jannetty, Pillman could carry himself and didn't need Austin or anyone to do it for him, Jannetty however can't say the same.

 

[RicoLen]

Don't take that Marty Jannetty comparison TOO literally. It was mostly a figure of speech. I wasn't asking for a compare and contrast of Jannetty & Pillman, rather a discussion of whether or not you think Brian Pillman would have been a huge star in the WWF/E on his own or would have faded off into obscurity without Steve Austin.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

Not at all. The biggest thing that made Marty Jannetty, "Marty Jannetty", was that after the Rockers he was never able to move one to other things. Everything he he did after the split with Shawn was always seen as Rockers related. He kept the same look, the same music, he even tried to start "the New Rockers". Shawn on the other hand changed his entire gimmick and thus moved on, while Jannetty stagnated and became "Jannetty". That stagnation is the key to becoming a "Jannetty"

Pillman, after the split of the Blondes changed his gimmick. He moved on, became a member of the Four Horsemen, became "The Loose Cannon" and was involved in one of the best feuds of '96 with Sullivan. I think that the only thing that stopped Pillman from becoming one of the top stars in WWF during the Attitude Era was the Car crash that he was in that year. He probably wouldn't have been as big as Stone Cold, but I fully believe that he could have been a Top Star from that era.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

In the simplist terms neither and that is because Austin was tied up with McMahon but I do think he would have been fine on his own.

The truth is the loose cannon was a great gimmick and yes he would have done well but from the sheer power of stars they had at the time he would have been upper mid card, probably dabbled a bit in the main event but I don't think he would have been a true main eventer. Pillman would have been fine because of the era he was in and could have gave us more shocking moments and memorable segments but not a huge star.

The reason why is simply there were enough heavy hitters at the time, no way Pillman would have been on the level of HHH, The Rock, Undertaker or Kane, he would have probably been on the next tier down from them but never a huge star, just a good mechanic.

So no he wouldn't have been like Jannetty and fall into obscurity, he would have been on a upper midcard level and would have been fine but I doubt he would have been a huge star, just someone people remember.

So there ya go, both a comparison with Jannetty and if he would have been a big star.

 

[DeathClutch]

Firstly classing Brian Pillman the Marty Jannetty the Hollywood Blondes is a great disserve to Brian. What most people fail to realize or just don't know is that before his WWE stint he'd been injured and yet in his 16 months in WWE he was pushed pretty nicely, he did shoot interviews, commentated and aligned himself with the Harts, hell he was probably the most controversial television segments in WWE history when he pulled a gun on Steve Austin when he broke into his house on RAW. Pillman made the most of his opportunities in WWE.

Marty on the other hand failed, sure he had a couple of title runs albeit short ones he did actually pin Shawn Michaels aka the guy who holds the record for the most championship forfeits in WWE, which in fairness to Marty is a nice feather in his cap but as a whole he had too many issues with drugs and not been able to keep his job stable which in affect hurt his legacy greatly. Apart from The Rockers and the Barber shop incident I can't really recall any earth shattering Marty Jannetty storylines nor segments until 2004 when he returned for one night only with Shawn Michaels against La Resistance.

Marty failed in the grand scheme of things, Brian on the other hand had success in WCW big time and went on to ECW and caused a huge stir when he "whipped out his Johnson" to starting in the WWE and going after Austin/Goldust & Marlina and the XXX files skits. Pillman is one of the guys I believe had a hand in the Attitude Era starting up, his gimmick the Loose Cannon quite possibly the best gimmick ever played out in wrestling history.

Then again this is a biased opinion as I can recall a lot more of Brian Pillmans WCW-ECW-WWE career and enjoyed his style and craft where-as Marty Jannetty I don't think even tapped into his potential due to his problems but whatever, either way both reached the heights of wrestling and the pinnacle of sports entertainment, both made a lot of money and both probably squandered a lot but both had a lot to offer wrestling whether it be in tag wrestling or singles.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

If anything Brian Pillman was Shawn Michaels and The Z Man Tom Zenk was Marty Jannetty, while Pillman and Steve Austin were more like DX in that it was two established stars joining together and forming a super team. Pillman was on the verge of changing the industry with his newest character, hell, he was Austin before Austin was Austin, but that car crash changed his trajectory and we never got to see just how good he could be. One thing is for sure, he was not going to have a Marty J type career.

 

[Foshinzo]

I'm going to say that Flyin' Brian would have been an Attitude Era star if only for the fact that he was already on his way to becoming an Attitude Era star.

Brian Pillman was a star and a fantastic athlete. Just watch some of his WCW bouts with Jushin Liger and you'll see some of the best pre-Cruiserweight high flying that American fans had ever seen. In WWF, as the, "Loose Cannon," he had a gimmick that would have flown with colors, and he had the talent to make himself a star. I firmly believe that if he had not actually won the WWF Championship, he would of at least had main event feuds for it.

Brian Pillman was a legend before he died, and his tragic death only contributes to the sad fact that he never completely got his dues for being as good as he was. Sure, his acting was hokey at times, especially during the infamous skit he did where he pointed the gun at Austin, but the Attitude Era was full of goof balls and trashy stories, which he was successfully engaging in, at the time. He didn't have locker room problems, he was well liked, and the audience responded to him; he had what it took to make it to the top in '97. It's not nostalgia, either: this was the general consensus of the day. Brian Pillman was a legend in the making, and it's always one of wrestling's saddest stories that he never got to see that day.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Pillman had about as much potential as any wrestler, innovative in the ring and could be fantastic on the mic. He was in a stable designed to push him (As the youngest of the Hart Foundation - it was not like Bret or Bulldog needed a push) and had a gimmick that was 'real' (ultimately too real, unfortunately) in the 'Loose Cannon' that could have paid off big with the direction that the company was going in.

So no, in my opinion, calling him the Jannetty is doing him a disservice. In fact I feel that Pillman could be used as an example like Jannetty. Warrior and Sting start out as a tag team but one of them burns out too quick when they both should have terrific singles careers? Warrior Pillman'd. Kofi and Bourne have the talent and the backstage gladhanding to further their careers but Bourne messes up a drug test? Bourne Pillman'd. And so on.

Pillman could keep up with Stone Cold and had the backing of guys like JR and Paul E in the early nineties. I wish we could have seen him fulfill the potential he had.

 

[kokoBawesome]

Couldn't we use someone better than Janetty. Maybe Matt Hardy (pretend it's six months ago so I don't feel like an ass) or Rick Stiener. Janetty is like saying that he amounted to nothing as a singles wrestler. It's like the worst case scenario. How about a comparison to someone that would have ended up a mid card guy that never got his due, like Owen or Curt Hennig? Some guys are just meant to come out of the tag scene with crazy potential but it never works out... cough cough Billy Gunn. Atleast Pillman was working a main event program with Austin, Jannety had two great matches with Shawn and fell off the face of the planet.

In reality if he would have stuck around he would have gotten his title, much like Henry or Christian, but it might not have happened until the end of the Attitude era.... or he became champ in TNA and came back.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

There were a lot of what ifs with Brian Pillman there is no doubt about that, however even with that said I feel he was a wrestler that made better use of his opportunities than Marty Jannetty ever did. That's not a slight to Marty Jannetty it's just obvious that there are personal problems with him that none of us on this forum truly even have the slightest grasp of outside of what we hear on the internet.

Just the same though while arguably one could say that Pillman's highest accomplishment as a singles wrestler in the was his win as the inaugural WCW Light Heavyweight Champion (the precursor to the Cruiserweight Championship and its title histories are often merged) and his subsequent regaining of the title, Pillman in my opinion was far from being a Marty Jannetty. He was a solid hand in matches against guys like Jushin Thunder Liger, Scotty Flamingo (better known as Raven), Ricky Morton when he was a champion of that division, just imagine if Bischoff was in full control back then instead of later on, I truly think Pillman would have been one of the top names amongst the other Cruiserweights like Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero and so on.

Marty Jannetty had an IC Title push that lasted all of about a month and then we all saw where that went. Pillman on the other hand also went up against some heavy duty competition in the way of guys like Barry Windham, Lex Luger, Sting to name just a few. To be honest Pillman was that little dog in the fight much like we see Rey Mysterio today.

Sadly when Pillman's car accident took out most of the wind from his sails and he only wrestled occasionally we were easily deprived of someone that could have made a run for the IC title and possibly even the World strap. But the WWF still made good use of him as a heel commentator and having his own in ring talk show segment, who can forget when Steve Austin attacked him viciously and this led to the infamous Pillman has a gun incident as we all fondly remember (I didn't really like the gun part but screw it a lot of the angle was still good). He was also an interesting fit in the Hart Foundation.

Anyway, they made a DVD of him so that should say a lot of how the WWF/E viewed his contributions to the organization and wrestling as a whole as opposed to Marty Jannetty who doesn't even have that.

Good topic to discuss RicoLen but I definitely would not call Brian Pillman the Marty Jannetty of the group in this dynamic there was no such thing in my view. Personally speaking, I don't see every team having a "Jannetty" much in the way where I don't see John Morrison as one either considering he has had consistency in his career even though he's never won WWE's definition of a World Title (since we all know your status as a superstar depends on whether or not the ECW Title is a World Championship or not).

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I don't know what would have ultimately happened in regards of a SCSA / Loose Cannon comparison, but I would actually have envisioned Brian initially tagging with Owen once Bret, Bulldog and Jim left for WCW, partially to protect Brian’s recovery. How this could have panned out is anyone's guess and would have been dependant on their breakup storyline and who garnered the most interest – if either, given that both had shown great natural charisma. It would have been a storyline to interest me though, and another reason to grieve the spate of untimely deaths of a generation of talented wrestlers.

In answer to the question, personally I believe that Brian would most likely be regarded the Christian to SCSA’s Edge rather than a Jannetty or IRS. Not because he didn’t have the talent or charisma but because by the time I believe that he would have reached the level to be a possibility, the WWF would have been oversaturated with proven and potential main eventers.

 

[Fear&Loathing]

If Pillman had not had got tangled up in drug problems and his health and injuries i think he would have been perfect for the attitude era but i dont think he would have been WWE champion i think he would have been a perfect opponent for Austin when Austin was the champion. The "pillman got a gun" episode of raw should have happened years later when Austin was champion it really was a feud that went to waste. and on the other hand he is the Jannety, his singles career never went anywhere he was always part of a faction or team and Austins career sky rocketed.

 

[BiGEViL]

Don't take that Marty Jannetty comparison TOO literally. It was mostly a figure of speech. I wasn't asking for a compare and contrast of Jannetty & Pillman, rather a discussion of whether or not you think Brian Pillman would have been a huge star in the WWF/E on his own or would have faded off into obscurity without Steve Austin.

When you say was so-and-so the Marty Jannety of the team, you are essentially asking was so-and-so the lesser successful of the team. I mean, that's what it means. The answer for Pillman is yes, he was the Jannety of the Blondes. I always liked Pillman, but even if his untimely demise hadn't happened, he was plagued by lots of health issues and addictions. Personally, I don't believe he would have ever been able to surpass Austin's popularity.

 

[crippler]

Marty Jannetty of the team ..Really? ever since The Miz and John Morrison did that people have been using that for most teams now. The true question is was he the lesser of the 2 but Pillman and Steve Austin were both successful single stars before they teamed so i would say no.

 

[Papa Pillman]

The only correct answer here is a huge and resounding NO.

In fact, the more interesting query would be... If not for the untimely death of Brian Pillman, would Steve Austin have been what he was???

For as great as Austin was(and I do believe he's an all-time great), he had nothing on Pillman. Pillman had the edge as both a character and an in-ring performer. Steve Austin was able to capitolize on the complete absence of Pillman as he "blew-up" throughout the late 90s.

Eventually we would have seen the continuation of the Austin/Pillman fued, which I think was really only blown-off to take heat off the "Gun and 'fuck-slip' incident".

Pillman would have rose to the company's top heel in the years following his demise. Hell, I even think we could have seen, at some point, a reconcilliation of the two characters- to form an anti-establishment tweener duo.

I think it can be safely assumed that were Pillman to have survived, his and Austin's careers would have continued to intertwine and parallel to some degree.

It is truly a toss-up as to which would have enjoyed the more substantial degree of longterm success.

 

[RicoLen]

Good topic to discuss RicoLen but I definitely would not call Brian Pillman the Marty Jannetty of the group in this dynamic there was no such thing in my view. Personally speaking, I don't see every team having a "Jannetty" much in the way where I don't see John Morrison as one either considering he has had consistency in his career even though he's never won WWE's definition of a World Title (since we all know your status as a superstar depends on whether or not the ECW Title is a World Championship or not).

When you say was so-and-so the Marty Jannety of the team, you are essentially asking was so-and-so the lesser successful of the team. I mean, that's what it means.

Yeah... I regret using that choice of words now. All I really meant by it was do you think Pillman would have faded into obscurity or do you think he'd've gone on to become another attitude era legend on par with HHH, Taker, Foley, Hitman, HBK, etc. AND became a WWF Champion.

My bad.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

Yeah... I regret using that choice of words now. All I really meant by it was do you think Pillman would have faded into obscurity or do you think he'd've gone on to become another attitude era legend on par with HHH, Taker, Foley, Hitman, HBK, etc. AND became a WWF Champion.

My bad.

Oh dude, no worries man, I think it's sparked a great conversation and I just gave you my response tis all nothing to "my bad" over. I always like to read your postings man and appreciated your input on stuff. I feel this was a good topic and to be honest it's refreshing to read topics on guys I used to remember so fondly in the wrestling business, being the age I am I most definitely remember Brian Pillman, being a regular watcher of WCW in the "6:05 era" as I affectionately like to cal it (for those that don't TBS used to love to start shows 5 minutes after the hour) I'd always catch "Flyin' Brian" on shows like Saturday Night and The Main Event.

So again if anyone has to say "my bad" it's me, it would have definitely been interesting to see what could have happened had Pillman's untimely and might I add premature death not have occurred. Considering that his Loose Cannon persona really started at least in its infancy in WCW and that the business was changing at the same time I think Pillman could have been a great success in the Attitude Era. Again though man do not worry about what you said as an OP you brought up a hell of a great point.

In all irony I might just have to take issue with you the next time you say "my bad" because of how unnecessary I think that is! Good topic dude!

 

[byrnside]

No way was Brian Pillman the Marty Jannetty of the Hollywood Blondes. I'm not sure that he wouldn't have had the success that Austin had. These two could've had a feud that would've made The Rock jealous. Seriously, I could see them culminating their feud and headlining at least one Wrestlemania. After all, it's my opinion that Pillman was one of the main factors of the Attitude Era happening in the first place. The whole gun/Austin breaking into Pillman's house segment. His "loose cannon" gimmick overall had people constantly questioning his sanity. It was brilliant. If Pillman hadn't been plagued with injuries from the after effects of his car accident he could've easily been a huge star, probably as a heel, feuding with Austin. And that's not even taking his athleticism into account.

 

[Histerix]

As you can see, I was quite a fan of Brian Pillman. I think the consensus has been reached that Brian definatly did not suffer the same effects of a tag team split that Marty Jannetty went through. We were unable to see his full potential due to his accident and subsiquent addiction/death. I think we really missed out on something that could have been really special.

What kept Brian relevant was the fact that his loose cannon gimmick was so effectively executed that he even kept people backstage guessing and on thier toes. He didnt even need to wrestle in order to play that role out. I dont know about Brian winning the wwe championship at any stage but he would have definately been able to stay relevant and establish his place as a legend throughout the attitude era because you could just imagine him pushing the boundaries and even up until today because of the limitless potential of the loose cannon gimmick.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It staggers me that so few people give Pillman his props for his true role... as THE FATHER OF ATTITUDE... Austin did not invent it with 3:16...It began with the line "I respect you booker man..." to Kevin Sullivan, unscripted, unplanned and totally breaking the 4th wall. Over the following few months before his accident he was the first guy to cause an F-Bomb on WCW TV when he attacked Bobby Heenan. Fast forward a few months and he was showing up in ECW threatening to urinate on their ring... and then a good hour before Austin 3:16, Brian delivered the first Attitude era promo, from his crutches...

No way is he the Marty Janetty, thats a disservice to a guy who won the IC title in his own right and so nearly hit big... if anything Pillman was the guy responsible for WWE being able to go to the lengths attitude did. the most shocking moment of RAW ever still remains Pillman pulling a gun... Austin got over because of that and the "snapping" of Pillman's leg before he got anywhere near the belt.

No Pillman, no Attidude... its that simple.