10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Brian Pillman
9. How The Wrestling Observer Got Him Into WCW
The Wrestling Observer takes a bit of a hammering amongst some wrestlers today, but Steve Austin is willing to admit how essential the newsletter was back in the early-90s. Everybody wanted to see their name on those pages, and Brian Pillman was no different.
He contacted Dave Meltzer shortly after he'd started wrestling in 1986. Brian told Dave that he wanted to trade tapes, so that's exactly what they did, and the pair struck up a close friendship quickly. Get this: The Observer was where Jim Ross, who was talent scouting for WCW, first clapped eyes on Pillman.
Or, more accurately, read Meltzer's reports about his matches (Ross said Dave was always a "pretty good gauge for talent").
JR headhunted Brian from there, and it wasn't long before the blonde bombshell was tearing up WCW rings. It's incredible to think that his relationship with Meltzer effectively led to a gig with one of the biggest wrestling companies on the scene.