AEW star Brian Pillman Jr. from the Varsity Blonds recently joined Counted Out With Mike & Tyler for an in-depth conversation about all things pro-wrestling, including his thoughts on the first-ever Owen Hart Memorial tournament, and how he vows to be able to compete in it next year. Highlights from the interview are below.
Wishes he was in this year’s Owen Hart Memorial:
“I’ll go ahead and say it, straight up, I wish I was in it. I wasn’t too upset about it at first. Obviously, there is a lot of great talent in there and a lot of people that are on a whole other level than me. I know that Tony just wanted to put on some great matches. Looking back, I wish he viewed me in a better way to want to use me for it because it would have been a no brainer, in my opinion. I guess I take that to heart, that I should have worked harder or been a better singles athlete at the time for him. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
How no one else in this year’s tournament had a connection to the Hart family:
“It is kind of a shame because there was no one in the tournament to really represent that connection to the family. There wasn’t anybody, that I can think of, with a direct connection. It just makes me hungrier and more ready for the future.”
Says he really wants to compete in next year’s tournament:
“I’ve been training every day just for next year’s tournament. I’m so beat up about not being in it that I want to do everything I can to be in it next year. I just got back from wrestling in Calgary for Bret Hart and his son’s Dungeon Wrestling, they’re starting back up, wonderful little promotion. The amount of people there to see me and meet me, made me feel so proud to be connected to that city, to Calgary, and that family. In a way, I feel like I let them down by not being in the tournament. A lot of people did ask me that, ‘why weren’t you in the tournament?’ I can’t really blame anybody but myself. Maybe I wasn’t ready. I don’t know. It’s pro wrestling and everything is put out there to tell a story and entertain people. That’s what the Owen hart tournament did this year. The matches were incredible. It was very entertaining, very prestigious. I can’t be too selfish about not being in it, but I will say that it is a huge goal of mine going forward and I don’t want to be left out next year. That would be a mistake on anybody’s part. My part or the company’s part, excluding me from it next year.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)