Brian Pillman Jr.: “I’m Not Going To Copy My Father And Do What He Did, I Haven’t Even Studied His Work”

Brian Pillman Jr. opens up.

It has been 21-years since Canadian Wrestling Hall Of Famer Brian Pillman Sr. passed away. At the age of 35-years old Pillman Sr. left the world early but carrying on his legacy is his son Brian Pillman Jr. Pillman Jr. has been making the rounds on the independent wrestling scene competing in ‘Major League Wrestling’, ‘Rockstar Pro Wrestling’ and CZW among other promotions.

With all legacy wrestlers comes comparisons to their family members who partook in the sport before them. The story goes the same for the likes of Cody, Tessa Blanchard, Natalya, Ted DiBiase Jr. and Randy Orton. Although those comparisons continuously come raining in for Pillman Jr., he is not trying to copy his father’s in-ring work or character. Pillman Jr. was recently profiled by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated and during their discussion Pillman Jr. spoke about the expectations of legacy wrestlers and added in his thoughts about the comparisons to his father.

“I’m following in his footsteps. Legacy wrestlers, we have a lot of expectations, but not every time do they show promise. For every Cody Rhodes, there are 20 legacy wrestlers that don’t make it. It is a very tough challenge to climb through the shadows of your father.” He said. “My father was so unique, and what made him so unique was his personality and his look. I’m not going to copy my father and do what he did—I haven’t even studied his work. When people draw comparisons, it’s natural.”

Pillman Jr. has become a prominent character in MLW and has been paired with The Hart Foundation consisting of Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr.. Pillman Jr. described working with Hart and Smith Jr. as “awesome” and talked about how resembling his father benefits him.

“It’s been an awesome ride so far.” Pillman Jr. echoed. “Now it is definitely hard to outshine Teddy and Harry, but I think that pressure will push me into my ultimate role, and my look helps me 100 percent.”

The full write-up on Pillman Jr. can be read by clicking here. On a related note, MLW held TV tapings in Chicago recently and to take a look at the spoilers from those tapings, check out Fightful’s published article on the topic.