Brian Pillman Jr. Discusses Cody Rhodes And Arn Anderson's Influence On Him
Brian Pillman Jr. has had the privilege to get advice from a bevy of legendary wrestlers, thanks in no small part to his equally legendary father. Pillman was on Wednesday's edition of "Busted Open Radio," and ran down the list of legends that have helped him along the way.
"Ricky Morton has been so great to me," Pillman said. "I've worked with his son a number of times. Especially in the tag wrestling scene, he's always been a good resource. Arn, who- I've done a few dates with Brock. Me and Brock did the Four Horsemen [at Ric Flair's Last Match] and I really loved that dynamic. Arn is somebody that's just a genius. He's very active in the scene today in the ways you wouldn't realize."
According to Pillman, Arn is a watchful, plotting eye backstage. "Arn wants to be an active character on the show."
Pillman says his mother Melanie told him "'Whatever you do, just find Arn. He'll steer you the right way. Your dad was friends with Arn.' It was like her dying wish, 'find Arn.' The key to salvation is Arn Anderson. He's like the Obi-Wan." Pillman doesn't just appreciate Arn's mind, but also shares a bond with fellow second generation talent Brock.
"I see a kid who's kinda in my shoes and I can be like 'yeah, this is hard.'" A lot of those older guys are great, but even like a younger person that was able to help me out: Cody Rhodes was super good."
'It's going to be harder for you.'
Pillman says that he sought out Lance Storm's wrestling school in Calgary, which he praised for its diligence, and that he was lucky enough to work a show with Cody Rhodes in the buildup to the launch of what would become All Elite Wrestling.
"We're rallying everyone up because we got this secret thing we're building up," Pillman recounted. "So I go and I set up the ring, and I'm helping out, and I get to meet him and he's so nice and so kind. He sits me down in the locker room and says 'Look, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is it's going to be harder for you. You're going to have to work twice as hard to overcome the expectations of your father." Pillman joked he initially thought wrestling would be easy, but Rhodes woke him up from that. "'You'll always be in his shadow unless you're twice as good.'"
According to Pillman, his trainer Lance Storm gave him similar advice about his father's career, saying that Pillman Sr.'s death occurring at such a high point in his career meant that he was "immortalized" even more than normal. "If your dad was a 7 wrestler, he's remembered as an 11 because he died," Pillman said, comparing his dad to Tupac and saying that had Tupac lived he would've made worse music and become "washed up."