8 Times Wrestling Carnies Got Out-Carnied

1. Brian Pillman Convinces Eric Bischoff To Let Him Go For An Angle, Only To Never Return

Cody Rhodes Brandi Wink
VICE

They didn't call him the 'Loose Cannon' for nothing, and back in 1996 the utterly compelling Brian Pillman used a quite fascinating situation to his advantage, out-carnying WCW's Eric Bischoff in the process.

The two originally agreed on a plan that involved Pillman being legitimately released from WCW in the wake of his "booker man" outburst opposite Kevin Sullivan in their I Respect You match at Super Brawl VI. 

The unpredictable wrestler was then supposed to head on over to ECW for a spell, keep getting the 'Loose Cannon' gimmick over, before then finally returning to WCW hotter than ever.

That wasn't the way it turned out, though.

Instead, Pillman eventually went back on his word and jumped at the chance to sign a contract with Vince McMahon's WWE after spending a few months in ECW. 

Just like that, Bischoff's big gamble on the now-white-hot free agent well and truly backfired. 

The former WCW man would go on to famously clash with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in WWE after successfully working his former carnie boss and earning himself quite the payday with one of the first guaranteed deals in WWE history.

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Lifts rubber and metal. Watches people flip in spandex and pretends to be other individuals from time to time...