Steve Austin Recalls Brian Pillman Givng Him One Of His Worst Beatings In The Ring
Recently on The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall Of Famer Steve Austin talked about the late great Brian Pillman. Specifically, Austin talked about "the receipt" he received for giving Pillman a stiff beatdown on RAW being one of the worst beatings he ever received during his legendary pro wrestling career. Also, Austin talked about his friendship with his former Hollywood Blonds tag team partner and Pillman's last day.
On the October 27, 1996 episode of WWE Monday Night RAW, Austin memorably broke a cane over Pillman's surgically repaired ankle. During that segment, Austin gave Pillman such a stiff beating that 'The Loose Cannon' was brought to an ambulance after the match and Austin went to check on him, not knowing how severely hurt Pillman was.
"When I shanghaied Brian Pillman with that big right hand, kind of like a clothesline, I stomped a mudhole in his ass and walked it dry. I was working, but it was a damn near shoot because it had to be. I was wearing those heavy ass, Hi-Tech Magnum boots, and I still wear them to this day, and those things have a damn sole on them. They're very, very comfortable, but I stomped the s–t out of him. I was stomping him. I was kicking him. I was beating him to death." Austin continued, "if you watch that footage back, Brian was walking around with that cane and there was a brass duck head on top of that cane that you put your hand on. So when I took that baseball swing and hit him in his shin. And he had his leg bandaged up. There was some plastic wrapped around his shin, so I didn't break his shin, but the stick broke. The walking stick broke. And if you watch that footage back, watch that brass duck head, as I hit him in the leg, fly off right into the crowd. And I believe it hit the top of that metal barricade. And it damn near could have easily hurt somebody, but we got lucky that it didn't. And believe me, when I swung that damn walking stick, I was swinging for the fence. It broke off."
According to Austin, Pillman's "receipt" for the beating in the video above was one of the worst beatings Austin ever received in pro wrestling.
"If you will remember, a couple of weeks or a couple of months later, he turned the tides on me. And let me tell you something, mister, as bad and as hard as I was kicking the s–t out of him, he gave it to me and then some. He beat the flying s–t out of me. And I wasn't selling it and I knew I had it coming. And I knew there was going to be a receipt on that ass-whooping. And I didn't know how Brian was going to respond because it was weeks or months later. But when he beat the dog s–t out of me, I mean, that was one of the worst beatings I've ever had in my time in the business and that's a straight up shoot. Brian was kicking the s–t out of me. And on a note, when I was finished kicking the s–t out of Brian, they pulled him out of there. I think they put him on a damn gurney or something and carried him off and they took him to the opposite side of the arena. I went back to the dressing room. They took him and put him in an ambulance. I actually asked all of the agents, I said, 'hey man,' I said, 'is he okay?' because that's how bad I was beating him and that's how stiff I was on that beating." Austin added, "anytime I got a chance to do business with Brian, it was a good time, but it was very competitive. And, by the same token, be beat the flying s–t out of me when he wore my ass out and that's the bottom line."
Austin went on to remember Pillman as one of his best friends in the pro wrestling business. Austin praised Pillman for being ahead of his time and 'The Broken Skull Rancher' recalled seeing Pillman "wobbling" the night of his untimely passing and assuming everything was fine.
"The late great Brian Pillman, man, one of my best friends in the history of the business, one of my tag team partners as Hollywood Blonds, and then, the cutting edge character that was 'The Loose Cannon' Brian Pillman that he created and really launched. He did that and kayfabed everybody and worked everybody. What a phenomenal mind and a guy who overcame every obstacle that life through at him. And it's just sad. I'll never forget that night in Minnesota when we got done working that house show and we had that pay-per-view the next day. And Brian was kind of wobbling through the dressing room and I didn't think anything of it. I just figured, 'that's Brian – he'll be fine.' And he wasn't fine. He ended up dying that night. We found out the next day at that pay-per-view." Austin reflected, "I'll never forget that Porsche that he had when he was in Cincinnati [Ohio] and he scared the living s–t out of me. I thought the guy... one of the smartest guys I've ever known and one of the craziest guys I've ever known."
"When you're beating the f–k out of somebody, s–t happens." If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Steve Austin Show