BRIAN Pillman Jr. has prepared to prove he can be a generational talent in WWE.
The son of wrestling icon Brian Pillman made the high-profile switch from AEW to WWE NXT this week.
AlamyBrian Pillman Jr. has made the move from AEW to WWE NXT[/caption]
AlamyBrian Sr. was a star in both WCW and WWE[/caption]
And the 30-year-old believes his time has come to step out of his father’s shadow.
Brian Jr. was only four when his dad died at age 35 in 1997 due to an undetected heart disease.
At the time, “Flyin’ Brian” had become a major star in pro wrestling having begun his athletic career in football, playing in the NFL and CFL.
Brian Sr. had a close relationship with Stone Cold Steve Austin, wrestling with him in WCW and against him in an epic contest in WWE.
However, a car accident in April 1996 caused extensive ankle injuries, ultimately limiting his in-ring ability towards the latter stages of his career.
Brian Jr. faced further tragedy in his life when his mother Melanie became addicted to drugs and blew through the family’s money.
They were working on mending their relationship when she died in June 2022 at age 56.
“I didn’t have a father, but my mother also wasn’t there either,” he told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“So, you can imagine the hardships going through school – not always having nice clothes, living in filth and things like that.”
Brian Jr. found salvation in athletics, playing lacrosse at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati.
He later earned a degree in business information systems from Northern Kentucky University.
For many years, Brian Jr. avoided wrestling as it was a “constant reminder” of his late father.
But after a brief spell in the corporate world, he found himself being drawn to the sport.
“You could see there was a snowball effect of finding myself and exploring new avenues that I didn’t think were originally profitable or possible at the time,” he said.
“Come to find out, it’s everything I needed to get started in the business.
“I think I eventually found my way, naturally, back to the wrestling business even though I didn’t want to be a part of it growing up.”
Brian Jr. started at the bottom, working at the highly-respected Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary, Canada, in 2017.
“I wanted to get the best training in the world,” he said.
“I wanted to be in a place where I would be taken care of and people would help me and not bulls**t me.”
From there, Brian Jr. began his pro wrestling career in Indianapolis Championship Wrestling.
He soon created a look for himself with a tanned body and mullet just like his father.
In 2018, Brian Jr. moved up to Major League Wrestling, where he was paired up with Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr. – the nephew of Bret Hart and the son of The British Bulldog, respectively – in the New Era Hart Foundation.
Brian Sr. had been in The Hart Foundation with Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Davey Boy Smith.
After making occasional appearances in AEW in 2019, Brian Jr. signed a full-time role in the wrestling organization in 2021 forming the Varsity Blonds with Griff Garrison.
He has secured a high-profile switch to WWE NXT after training at WWE’s Performance Center during the summer.
While he is aiming to make a name for himself in WWE, Brian Jr. will also look to honor his father’s legacy every step of the way.
“I’m just finishing what he started. He had a lot left to do, a lot of plans,” he said.
“I definitely want to make him proud and I think I’ve already kinda done that.
“But I want to earn the respect of the business and my coworkers and go down in history as someone who successfully fulfilled their legacy and someone who separated themselves and kept themselves different.”
AlamyBrian Jr. is determined to honor his father’s legacy during his career[/caption]
AlamyBrian Sr. tragically died at just 35 years old in 1997 due to an undetected heart disease[/caption]