alfredog1976

Pillman Part 1 is up...some sad stuff in there

https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/video/b...4b6e62143eb5f5

Bluelitespecial

The rise of Brian Pillman was right before I started watching wrestling. This first episode is on YouTube and damn it’s just incredible sad. It’s nice to know his kids appear to be okay but his widow looks awful due to drug use.

Bluelitespecial

Part 2 of the Brian Pillman episode is now on Youtube. I tried providing the link here but it said age restriction.

clckworang

Leading up to the start of the new season, I binged all of the other episodes. I hadn't seen the show before but really liked it. Watching it made me feel nostalgic for my childhood days watching wrestling, so I decided to give it a try again for the first time since I was a kid. I watched this week's Monday Night Raw and thought it was terrible. It felt much more like a variety show or sketch show than wrestling. I don't think I will tune in for any more of that.

As for this show, the Pillman episode was good. He didn't appear until well after I stopped watching so it was very informative. His widow looks like she has had some rough days since his death.

I definitely got the impression that Pillman was very influential to the world of wrestling, but one knock I'd make on the show is that it sometimes has a hard time getting across the full scope of someone's influence if you're not already a wrestling fan. That's not so necessary for many of these stories, but I think it might have benefited this one, adding a little more scope. Of course, I can also see the argument that this was meant to be more of a family focus.

Toddarino

I agree. Pillman was active in the years I actually stopped watching wrestling. I think I started again for a short time a bit after his passing. I knew very little about him. That being said I still enjoyed the episode.
Boy his widow looks rough.

Bluelitespecial

His widow has major drug issues. It was cool to see Brian’s sister step up to be a parental figure to his kids.

JeffTheAlpaca

I knew once I saw his son with a mullet and the big arms he was a wrestler

MrX

I remember the gun incident was considered the thing that gave Vince and company the idea for the "Attitude Era" that basically saved the company when they were getting crushed in the ratings by WCW. Pillman himself was never a guy who got a big push from what I can remember. His feud with Austin was right at the beginning of "Stone Cold" and before Austin was a mega-star in the company.

They left out some of the dumbshit he did like when he was in ECW and called New Jack and Mustafa "N****as with attitude"

clckworang

The Nick Gage episode was pretty wild. I remember hearing about David Arquette giving wrestling a try, but I don't remember hearing about that match. Crazy. He got messed up, but he took it. The extreme wrestlers always fascinate me. The abuse that they put their bodies through is insane, and I'm very curious how much money those performers tend to make for those efforts.

dex14

On Hulu:

Toddarino

The Nick Gage was hard to watch. I almost had to turn it off numerous times.
I don’t know what happened to me. I used to be able to handle this kind of violence.

dvd-4-life

What's Viceland Ch. number on Spectrum(are their national channels the same nationwide?) and Direct TV?

Toddarino

It’s 271 on Directv

Bluelitespecial

It's hard to handle seeing this kind of violence in wrestling now knowing these performers are potentially destroying their long term health. That's one reason why its so hard watching a lot of the ECW matches knowing a lot of those wrestlers are gone.

d2cheer

Never knew who he was and I watched the David Arquette doc. Sick is what is it. And people though MMA was human cockfighting.

I should have turned it off but was waiting to see how he died...mentally ill is all I can say. To put yourself through that for basically nothing is insane.

Bluelitespecial

Gage said at the end he expects to die young and doesn’t care.

Unclejosh

Watched the 2nd half of the Pillman episodes last night and was pleasantly surprised to hear a snippet of a radio interview with Pillman from one of my best friend's old radio show he used to host in the mid 90's. Kinda cool.

Such a sad story. Glad the kids seem ok all due to their aunt of course. Although they didn't mention the other kids at all did they? I think he had 5 total including the adopted ones. I know one of them passed in a car accident. Maybe they did and I missed it.

If I had to guess I would say the widow is still actively using too.

JeffTheAlpaca

Probably not a lot if they are doing it backyards and secret places.

Can you really call that stuff wrestling?

Traxan

What they showed is tame for those death matches. I've seen way worse.

Just hang around 4chan a while. A few Rekt threads and you'll be comfortably numb.

JeffTheAlpaca

What happened to the After Dark episodes with Chris Gethard where he interviewed wrestlers after the episodes?

alfredog1976

I'm with you, I could barely get through this episode. Though Gage is a crazy mofo (just like that New Jack), his story was interesting.

Sorry, just don't see the appeal of guys maiming themselves and each other for a pop.

Timber

They wrestle at legit "mud shows".

Yeah I don't get the appeal of watching people injure themselves...says the guy that grew up on the NWA with guys blading everynight.

devilshalo

Blading is one thing, I used to have a hard time with ECW matches between Foley and Funk with the thumbtacks and barbed wire and fire.. this shit tho is a whole 'nother level.

clckworang

I'll admit I'm strangely fascinated by and drawn to the more extreme sides of wrestling. I think because there's a greater level of realism there.

Noonan

Yup. I don't remember who exactly it was (maybe New Jack?) but one barbed wire match a guy got stuck in them when he was being thrown out the ring or something similar. The wire stuck in and ripped open his bicep. Then there were the matches with explosives in the turnbuckles.

Still....I don't think any of that compares to the cringe-worthiness of Sid Vicious' leg break.