WWE Calgary: Round 1, Match 3: #16 Brian Pillman vs. #49 Yoshihiro Tajiri

[Shocky]

The following matchup takes place in the WWE Region under basic WWE Rules from Calgary, Alberta.

#16. "The Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman

vs

#49. "The Japanese Buzzsaw" Yoshihiro Tajiri

 

[klunderbunker]

Pillman. Tajiri had some minor success, but Pillman never got to wrestle in the WWF in his prime. His time in the early 90s was nothing short of great. Tajiri has some sweet kicks, but that's about it. Pillman is someoen that never got to realize his potential. He wouldn't have been a world champion, but he would have been a great jobber to the stars and midcard champion. Either way, Pillman wins here with ease.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

Klunder, we can't base these off of what might have been. Owen Hart might have been a world champion, but does that mean we should take that into account when voting for him? No. In my bracket, I said Pillman advances. I think he will. But I am voting for Tajiri. Both guys were fast and small. Tajiri had those nasty kicks, though. And you can't forget about that green mist.

 

[klunderbunker]

Did you even read what I said? Apparently not, as I said Pillman's early 90s stuff, you know, the stuff that he did, would be enough. Tajiri could kick and that's about it. He wasn't really one of the weapons guys in ECW, but outside of that he was a comedy guy in WWE. Pillman was one of the first great American light heavyweights. There's also a simple counter to the mist: duck.

 

[Mr. TM]

I might give this one to Pillman, but I actually think Tajiri could win this one. Pillman was fast in the ring, but Tajiri could equal him. Pillman goes up top, and Tajiri could ice kick him on the way down. Pillman goes off the rope, and is met with the mist in the eye. They both have a large arena or training, but Tajiri here will actually get my vote.

 

[jmt225]

Tajiri had some minor success,

More success then Pillman.

but Pillman never got to wrestle in the WWF in his prime.

And? What exactly does that have to do with who would win in their prime?

His time in the early 90s was nothing short of great.

And Tajiri's time in the late nineties to this day is great.

Tajiri has some sweet kicks, but that's about it.

Sorry, but no. The only thing Pillman had over Tajiri was strength, but in quickness, high flying, and knowing how to pull shit behind the ref's back without getting caught... Tajiri has Pillman beat.

Pillman is someoen that never got to realize his potential.

Exactly, which is why he shouldn't get past Tajiri in this round.

He wouldn't have been a world champion, but he would have been a great jobber to the stars and midcard champion.

"Would have" this and "would have" that... dude "would have's" don't mean shit in this tournament. The only "would have" that means anything is who would have won were these two to meet in their prime, and the answer is simple: Tajiri.

Either way, Pillman wins here with ease.

As you can tell, I beg to differ.

Did you even read what I said?

I'm sure he did.

Apparently not, as I said Pillman's early 90s stuff, you know, the stuff that he did, would be enough.

No it wouldn't. Besides, Pillman's early stuff wasn't half as good as when he finally developed a character. But in-ring wise, Tajiri is by far the superior wrestler.

Tajiri could kick and that's about it.

Wrong. He did much more then that, if you ever watched him. Kicking was just a trademark of his and something he was able to get over.

He wasn't really one of the weapons guys in ECW, but outside of that he was a comedy guy in WWE.

And Pillman wasn't? At least Tajiri never had to wear a fucking dress.

Pillman was one of the first great American light heavyweights.

Yeah, and Tajiri was a better lightweight.

There's also a simple counter to the mist: duck.

Not when you're not expecting it. And Pillman on-screen never showed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Spot on with KB here. Pillman wins.

First of all, the idea that Tajiri is quicker and more agile than Pillman is being overstated. I actually say it's a wash, whereas Pillman does have a slight edge in strength.

In WWE, Tajiri was little more than a comic face. Pillman, in both WWF and WCW, was a legitimate threat. Even in ECW, Tajiri's major feud was against Super Crazy (not something to be overly proud of) and his tag team title reign was with Mikey Whipwreck.

Pillman, on the other hand, was part of the Hollywood Blondes, and that team was as even as they came. Even though Austin became the breakout star, when they were in their early 90's prime, both men contributed equally. And that tag team went DEEP into the WZ Tag Tournament.

Furthermore, Tajiri is well know for a "finishing maneuver" that cannot, by definition, end a match in a WWE ring. The Tarantula is a five second wear-down hold, and I've seen him DQ'd before for refusing to break it.

I've also seen him DQ'd for the mist.

Pillman is better than Tajiri, even WITHOUT realizing his potential. Pillman wins here, probably by DQ.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

Spot on with KB here. Pillman wins.

First of all, the idea that Tajiri is quicker and more agile than Pillman is being overstated. I actually say it's a wash, whereas Pillman does have a slight edge in strength.

In WWE, Tajiri was little more than a comic face. Pillman, in both WWF and WCW, was a legitimate threat. Even in ECW, Tajiri's major feud was against Super Crazy (not something to be overly proud of) and his tag team title reign was with Mikey Whipwreck.

Pillman, on the other hand, was part of the Hollywood Blondes, and that team was as even as they came. Even though Austin became the breakout star, when they were in their early 90's prime, both men contributed equally. And that tag team went DEEP into the WZ Tag Tournament.

Furthermore, Tajiri is well know for a "finishing maneuver" that cannot, by definition, end a match in a WWE ring. The Tarantula is a five second wear-down hold, and I've seen him DQ'd before for refusing to break it.

I've also seen him DQ'd for the mist.

Pillman is better than Tajiri, even WITHOUT realizing his potential. Pillman wins here, probably by DQ.

The thing about Tajiri, though, is that the ref hardly ever sees him hit the mist. Once the mist is in Pillman's eyes, Tajiri wins. If the opponent can't see, he can't beat you.

You think Tajiri would be the one to be disqualified? Pillman is a loose cannon. He snapped so many times in the ring and has been disqualified far more times than has Tajiri.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I will pick Tajiri over Pillman. Pillman was a good light heavyweight but Tajiri was better. His legs were lethal and I believe one misstep from Pillman can give Tajiri the opening to hit that one kick and give him the victory.

 

[Mr. TM]

Right now with what I thought and what 48.7 have said, I really am still leaning towards Tajiri. I love Pillman, and I just feel like he deserved to live longer. But unfortunately he didn't and now without more success in the ring, and Tijiri's proven underrated ability, and his quick mist to the eyes, I am picking him until the argument is reversed.

 

[ANGLE FAN]

One of the most closely contested matches in round one.
A match that if actually occured would be really fast paced , entertaining and would involve multiple kicks, holds , counters and hi flying moves. It is the sort of match that ends out of a quick stiff kick or an unexpected roll up all of a sudden and before the opponent realizes, refree has counted a quick 1-2-3.

Who has the potential to win-both guys
Who gets my vote- FLYING BRIAN PILLMAN
Why?
1. Slight edge as far as hi flying ability goes.
2. Slight advantage of strength.
3. Can dominate in mat based grappling if he is able to get tajiri grounded(though unlikely)
4. Tarantulla cant be used as finisher under normal rules
5. Pilman has had better matches against quality opponents (jushin thunder liger) whereas Tajiri had feuds against less talented and SPOTTY workers like Super crazy ). By the way jushin thunder liger is way better wrestler and more talented than tajiri (in my opinion) and Pillman was at par with him in WCW so Pillman will have no problem in beating tajiri.
6. Pillman was part of the hollywood blondes, one of the best tag teams in WCW in early 90s and had good matches with many wrestlers as a WCW midcarder.

Pilmans IN RING work is underated a by smarks fans bacause he failed to become a main event star and didnt win heavyweight titles. He had tons of in ring potential and the charisma and mic skills to make it big but didnt realize his full potential.

But even then his body of work in his prime in WCW in early 90s is enough for me to vote him over tajiri.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

Who has the potential to win-both guys

Not really.

Who gets my vote- FLYING BRIAN PILLMAN

Why?

Why?
1. Slight edge as far as hi flying ability goes.

Are you kidding?

2. Slight advantage of strength.

I'll give you that one.

3. Can dominate in mat based grappling if he is able to get tajiri grounded(though unlikely)

He won't though. Tajiri was hardly ever grounded.

4. Tarantulla cant be used as finisher under normal rules

It can wear him down though.

5. Pilman has had better matches against quality opponents (jushin thunder liger) whereas Tajiri had feuds against less talented and SPOTTY workers like Super crazy ). By the way jushin thunder liger is way better wrestler and more talented than tajiri (in my opinion) and Pillman was at par with him in WCW so Pillman will have no problem in beating tajiri.

Quality matches mean nothing in this tournament.

6. Pillman was part of the hollywood blondes, one of the best tag teams in WCW in early 90s and had good matches with many wrestlers as a WCW midcarder.

Austin was the star.

Pilmans IN RING work is underated a by smarks fans bacause he failed to become a main event star and didnt win heavyweight titles. He had tons of in ring potential and the charisma and mic skills to make it big but didnt realize his full potential.

Again, mic skills, ring skills, and potential have nothing to do with anything.

But even then his body of work in his prime in WCW in early 90s is enough for me to vote him over tajiri.

Wrong choice.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Not really.

Yeah, really. It's not that hard to grasp.

Why?.

Because Pillman is a btter wrestler than Tajiri.

Are you kidding?.

Dead serious.

I'll give you that one..

Oh good, luck us. We'll just take the rest.

He won't though. Tajiri was hardly ever grounded..

There's a strategy then. And he most have been grounded several times.

It can wear him down though..

For 5 seconds. How often do you see a wear-down hold for 5 seconds be effective?

Quality matches mean nothing in this tournament..

Since when did you write the criteria? Quality matches mean nothing to YOU in this tournament.

Austin was the star..

You say that now. Revisionist history is wonderful, isn't it? Austin wasn't a star yet, both men were equal at this time. I know, because I grew up watching the Blondes dominate the Tag division at the same time I watched Vader own everyone in singles.

Again, mic skills, ring skills, and potential have nothing to do with anything..

Ring skills have nothing to do with anything? How's that work?

And potential plays a roll. If a guy could have truly been a mega star (not saying Pillam would have been, but for arguments sake) and either an injury, deat, or shit booking hindered them, it's feasible to look at that. But the same "potential" card you say I cannot play on Pillman? I remind you that Tajiri peaked right around where Pillman hit his mid-point.

Wrong choice.

No, right choice. Pillman > Tajiri.

 

[Tastycles]

Pillman actually didn't acheive very much as a singles wrestler. By far his best time was when he was tagging with Stone Cold, and after that, he had a few lacklustre feuds, and then went into the 800th incarnation of the Four Horsemen. The loose cannon thing is actually quite a bad idea, because it essentially told him to play up his problems rather than try and solve them.

Stylistically they were very similar, so it is hard to pick a winner. Titles wise Tajiri accomplished hell of a lot more, and in WWE in particular his record of 5 singles and two tag titles is better than Pillman, whose most notable contribution to WWE was being a part of the most tasteless segment they've ever done.

That being said, when Pillman was in his prime he was a high flying and very entertaining wrestler. He was the kind of guy who could be relied on to give a good match, and I think he could beat Tajiri. This is one match where I really haven't made my mind up at all, and I'm not swaying either way just yet.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Pillman actually didn't acheive very much as a singles wrestler. By far his best time was when he was tagging with Stone Cold, and after that, he had a few lacklustre feuds, and then went into the 800th incarnation of the Four Horsemen.

With whom did he tag? He NEVER tagged with Stone Cold.

He tagged with Stunning Steve Austin, a blonde guy.

The loose cannon thing is actually quite a bad idea, because it essentially told him to play up his problems rather than try and solve them.

Sorta like the Matt and Jeff Hardy angle? Or Scott Hall in WCW?

Stylistically they were very similar, so it is hard to pick a winner. Titles wise Tajiri accomplished hell of a lot more, and in WWE in particular his record of 5 singles and two tag titles is better than Pillman, whose most notable contribution to WWE was being a part of the most tasteless segment they've ever done.

Tajiri's tag title reigns werecomical, I grant you, but none of his tag team work was CLOSE to Pillman. But most of those singles titles were Cruiserweight / Light Heavyweight, and in the WWE, Dean Malenko was the only worthwhile defender of that belt anyway.

That being said, when Pillman was in his prime he was a high flying and very entertaining wrestler. He was the kind of guy who could be relied on to give a good match, and I think he could beat Tajiri. This is one match where I really haven't made my mind up at all, and I'm not swaying either way just yet.

Vote for Pillman. You know you want to.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Brian Pillman is superior to Tajiri in pretty much every facet, be it kayfabe abilities, or real life criteria of evalutaion. Trying to argue for Tajiri is absolutely laughable. Brian Pillman is one of the top mid carders of the modern era. Tajirir spit gren stuff at people. Please. Add to this that this is basically home feild advantage for Pillman, becuase he got his start working Stu Harts stampede wrestling territory, which operated out of...you guessed it!!! Calgary Alberta Canada. FACE.

Pillman FTW

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Yeah, I'm going to go with Tajiri on this one. His best stuff wasn't even in WWE, and this is where all of Pillman's supporters keep on pointing to in trying to argue that Tajiri is inferior. What did you expect from Tajiri in WWE? I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but McMahon is notorious for stereotyping minorities for the sake of comedy.

Yes, Pillman, to an audience unfamiliar with Lucha Libre and Puroresu, was a great wrestler in WCW throughout the 90s. But, he didn't have any high-flying moves that Tajiri couldn't execute better. Furthermore, Pillman was never a great talker and wrestler at the same time (The Hollywood Blonds were all Austin in terms of charisma). Yes, he was a good talker, but this only came to be after his unfortunate car accident essentially "grounded" him to the mat (the Loose Cannon gimmick, in my opinion, didn't even properly bloom until he came to the WWF).

So, if you try to argue at the margins or point-by-point, it's not going to work. You can't say that Pillman wins because he was a better wrestler and talker precisely because he was never these two things at once. Thus, I am only comparing Pillman and Tajiri based on their wrestling. And, when you average Pillman's good years in WCW with his shit years in the WWF, you get something that is less than what Tajiri has accomplished throughout his impressive and consistent career.

So, Tajiri FTW!

 

[NSL]

The Tarantula is a five second wear-down hold, and I've seen him DQ'd before for refusing to break it.

I've also seen him DQ'd for the mist.

This was a point I was planning on bringing up. I was a big Tajiri mark in ECW, in large part because of the Tarantula. That's not a move he can use here. And, for the mist, the ref doesn't need to see him use it to DQ him. All he needs to see is the green shit all over Pillman's face.

Pillman was a great wrestler, and is smarter than the "Loose Cannon" name would lead you to believe. This is the same man that got Stone Cold and HBK the tag titles, only to mind-fuck them into a brawl. Tajiri may land a few sweet looking kicks, but Pillman will pull off the big win.

 

[Shadowmancer]

Shockey has said it in the past, as have I. The Physical Prime of Flyin Brian combined with the gimmick of The Loose Cannon and you have a scary thought of how good it could have been.

As for the match-up, TAJIRI is a great wrestler, look at the stuff he is doing in HUSTLE right now. He has had a couple of matches with Muta, both of which are highly entertaining, TAJIRI has had many good matches with people, they just are never carried further on. Case in point is a match he had against Batista where he was wearing Batista down with mat work, it was actually a Batista match that didn't involve, Trips, Taker or Edge that I enjoyed. The Tarantula is only a wear down move, whereas the Buzzsaw Kick is freaking deadly.

This is just me saying that it should be a closer match than what people are saying, I do think Pillman is going to win due to that scary thought over the meshing of Flyin Brian and the loose cannon. Similar to the scary thought of stunning Steve Physically combined with Stone Cold gimmick.

 

[Shocky]

Pillman. Probably a complete and total hometown bias, but I don't care. I love Tajiri as I enjoyed his stiff kick routine in ECW as much as anyone else, but that's just the thing, Tajiri had modest success in a third rate promotion, and hardly any success once he got to the big time. Brian Pillman and Jushin Thunder Liger feud made Light Heavyweight Wrestling fun and enjoyable to watch. Without Pillman and Liger, the WCW Cruiserweights that came later wouldn't have had any room to work. Without Pillman and Liger knocking down the glass ceiling, I believe that the American Market never would have seen guys like Benoit, Jericho, Guerrero, Mysterio or any others succeed to the levels that they have, that speaks to the greatness of Brian Pillman and Liger.

Most people recognize how good Liger was, Brian Pillman was his american equal in the ring in my opinion. Pillman is stronger then Tajiri, he is quicker then Tajiri, and he's in a city that absolutely loves him in Calgary as he is dungeon trained. Tajiri is totally outmatched.

 

[Theo Mays]

This would be a fun, fast paced match. In the end I got Pillman moving on. Tajiri is underrated and deserves some votes here. But Pillman I think would come out on top in this one, as I think he is the better wrestler and would be able to slow Tajiri down to his own pace and control the match.

 

[RVDgurl]

Tajiri is a fantastic wrestler despite what the WWE did to his career. He was fast, strong and solid with his high spots. He brought a traditional Japanese style to the ring. Unfortunately for Tajiri, he drew Brian Pillman in the first round. Pillman may possibly be the most underrated wrestler in history. He was simply phenomenal and I don't think alot of the younger generation are aware of just how good he was. He was a great technical wrestler who landed high spot with ease. He was AJ Styles before there was AJ Styles. But unlike AJ, Pillman cut tremendous promos. Tajiri would definately hold his own, but Pillman walks away with this one.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I'll admit that I had to do some youtube-based research for this match. I was leaning toward Tajiri before I did this, based solely on the fact that I had never seen a Pillman match. However, I voted for Flyin' Brian. They both have fast-paced, exciting matches, but Pillman has something that I didn't see in a Tajiri match: mat skills. All he does are kicks and strikes and flips etc., while Pillman uses submissions to help set up the high flying stuff. In what would be a great match, Pillman beats Tajiri.

 

[Bernkastel]

I'm on the the fence with this one, I never got to see much of Pillman's work, and I did find Tajiri entertaining while he worked for WWE.

However, I'll look at this from an objective standpoint. Pillman had the natural talent, the look, and the athleticism. While Tajiri played his role well, his character lacked the necessary depth in order to push him past the mid card. While Pillman was never a staple main eventer like Hogan, Nash, Warrior, or Savage, he did taste the main event several times, a feat that Tajiri rarely accomplished while in the WWE. Even today, its evident that Pillman's "Loose Cannon" persona is still relevant when The Brian Kendrick is able to find success with a modified version of it.

I'd say Pillman takes this

 

[Tastycles]

I had a little think about it, and went with Pillman. To be perfectly honest, I could have gone either way, but I just think that Pillman's home advantage would see him go over here. It would be one of the closest matches of the tournament, certainly in the first round, and a good long one, but Pillman wins.