Since making his debut with Major League Wrestling back in 2018, the second-generation star has opened up eyes amongst fans and critics alike.
Brian Pillman Jr. first got his start in the wrestling business by training under the legendary Lance Storm. Being the son of former WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Pillman, the young star has a lot of pressure to live up to his father’s name, which is why he actually considered wrestling under a mask at first:
“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. The second-generation star said on Spencer Love.
“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!”
The 26-year-old has developed an in-ring style that showcases who he is in real life and not based on the style of his legendary father. Pillman Jr. believes that his father was handicapped due to his in-ring style and wanted to vastly differentiate himself from that :
“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.”
Check out the full interview where the second-generation star talks about signing with Major League Wrestling, potentially going to a major promotion, and so much more!