Brian Pillman Tribute Main Page
May 22, 1962-October 5, 1997
Brian Pillman was one of the most talented and most courageous wrestlers ever in the wrestling world. Brian fought his way through childhood throat cancer, a rare medical condition for an infant. After 36 throat operations in his first three years of life, he overcame this obstacle. His obstacles continued throughout his school years as the children teased him because he was such a small child.
When it came time for athletics, no one wanted to give Pillman a chance. During his sophomore year in high school, he weighed 125 pounds and he later blossomed into a 170 pound senior. He led all of the Ohio state high schools in tackles during his senior year at Norwood High School. Unfortunately, no colleges wanted to offer scholarships to someone so undersized.
He went to college and became a widely successful player. However, obstacles began to block his path once again. Upon graduating from college, no NFL team wanted to sign him. Finally Pillman made a team! He was able to get onto the Cincinnati Bengals football team, his favorite football team in 1984. After a successful run with the Bengals, Bills, and the CFL, Pillman began his career in the wrestling ring in 1986. From then on, his accomplishments in wrestling speak for themselves. His courage through injuries and the tough times is what made him so attractive to his fans. It hurts when death takes someone so young. Brian had many more great years left. Many tears were shed upon the passing of this extremely talented superstar. Brian and Sting were what originally got me interested in wrestling and I have been watching ever since then. When I heard he had died on the show, I thought it was a joke. Brian was the "Loose Cannon" and this had to be a joke. I expected him to come prancing out by the end of the show. But when I heard Melanie Pillman speak of Brian, I knew this was no joke. How could this happen? Wrestling would never be the same for me and so many others of Brian's fans. Here in this section, we will remember the good times and what made Brian great!
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