Most of Brian Pillman Jr.’s television exposure has come from being a member of the Hart Foundation on MLW television. Now, Brian is reflecting on developing his in-ring ability, whether or not he wanted to use another name, and signing on the dotted line with Major League Wrestling.
Speaking with Spencer Love, Brian opened up about the state of his career in 2020 and what's next for him.
The following quotes were passed along by Spencer Love.
Brian Pillman Jr on if he considered wrestling under a different name:
“Yeah, it was definitely a reality for me at first. I wanted to protect myself and protect my performance and my name, but as I was able to see, the right move was just to be myself. Some people recommended, Lance (Storm) recommended perhaps wrestling under a mask or trying to protect myself so I could get a few shitty matches out of the way, but at the end of the day, my first match was one of my best matches. So, I’m looking at it now and I’m thinking ‘man, I had a pretty god damn good match, kid!’”
Brian Pillman Jr. on preparing for MLW tapings versus independent shows:
“To be honest, it’s a challenge. You work with guys in MLW who are so, so good, you don’t have to second-guess any movements they make or any decision that they want to make. Then you get to wrestle these Indies and it’s like “Jesus Christ, what’s that kid doing? He’s the shits! Watch out for him!’ It’s definitely a different atmosphere, a different ballgame. Every weekend’s different, it’s like a mixed bag. That’s the beauty of wrestling; I don’t wrestle just so it’s easy, I wrestle because it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Adjusting and adapting with different dance partners, that’s part of the challenge, that’s part of the enjoyment and the rush.”
Brian Pillman Jr. on developing his in-ring style:
“I think just by being myself. I just always wanted to be myself out there. I’ve always been very interested in boxing and kickboxing and striking and stuff, and I’ve done a little bit of mat work in there too. I’m a very versatile person in real life, so I feel like I’m a versatile person in the ring.
“I never wanted to have that expectation, because according to my dad’s friends, they said the name Flyin’ Brian is what killed him, because he was always expected to do the most, he was always expected to fly. You gotta think, you work for this big company and your name is Flyin’ Brian. Anybody else that wants to fly is coming for your spot. If you’re the Flyin’ Brian of the company, you’ve gotta set the highest precedent for flying that they can see. It’s very hard, very hard to deal with those expectations, so I thought that maybe more of a rounded approach to things or an approach that I can really be myself and have a lot of fun in the ring and really confuse my opponents, while also having some innovative offence. I’m an innovator. I like to do different things. I don’t like to do every single move that everybody else does, and if I do, I like to do it my own way.”
Brian Pillman Jr on signing with MLW:
“So a lot of people want to give credit to my name and all of that, but if you really look at it, I really had some really good qualities going into my work and into myself. I don’t think that anybody’s taking that away from me now. I think people definitely see the value in me now, and they’re starting to wake up to the fact that I’m not Brian Pillman Jr, but I am Brian F**king Pillman Jr.”
Brian Pillman Jr. on a major promotion being his end goal:
“I want to say yeah, because it’s very important to make the best living I can out of this, and to do my best to succeed my father’s legacy, and a part of that is definitely to make it into a big promotion where he would be proud to see me.”
Brian also discussed the potential for his father to go into the WWE Hall of Fame. Read his comments on that matter at this link.
