Truly, it is hard to believe that the Pillman 2000 show occured over one year ago. With the 2001 edition this week, I decided to write a retrospective on last year’s event, which was, in actuality, probably the best wrestling program I have ever attended.

I honestly feel as though I could write an extensive book about my experiences in the years 1999-2000 ... and the Pillman 2000 experience would be one of the many chapters.

First, I feel it is an interesting realization that, in fact, many of today’s fans probably never even watched a Brian Pillman match. Many of today’s fans probably never even saw "The Loose Cannon" persona that made him famous. Many of today’s fans probably only know about "The Hollywood Blondes" through pictures and the occasional reference in WOW Magazine. Many of today’s fans probably never remember the time Pillman made Bobby Heenan say the dreaded "F" word during a live broadcast of The Clash of Champions. Many of today’s fans probably don’t remember the infamous, controversial and now legendary "Pillman 9 mm" segement on RAW.

However, in the process, to fans who watched every match and for those who never--for whatever reason--never did, Pillman has taken on a cult-like, legendary, icon-like status. And while the WWF has seemingly forgotten about Pillman (aside from occasional, brief references), one thing that keeps his name alive is The Brian Pillman Memorial Show. But, in the same line of thinking, many fans probably believe Pillman is simply the name of an event.

My trek to Pillman 2000 was at first a confusing one, however quickly evolved into a trip with two friends, Brian and Jesse.

We started off early in the morning--and probably like most early-summer-college-road-trips, we left Illinois with absolutely no directions. Our destination--some college campus in Cincinnati, Ohio. Surely, it wouldn’t be that difficult to find.

(Retract that last statement.)

Somehow we managed to arrive at the show some three hours early after only getting lost a few times. And since we were three hours early, finding a place to go eat sounded like a good idea.

We tried to find a non-fast-food-restaurant but after roaming for quite some time, we resorted to a Wendy’s. Now, this Wendy’s probably had the worst total IQ for total employees in the history of the restaurant world. What the employees of the establishment didn’t understand about "a cheeseburger with mustard, catsup and pickles" I’ll never understand. It literally took them five minutes to figure it out. Brian’s Sprite tasted unlike anything I’ve ever (reluctantly) sampled and minutes later when you can hear one employee chastizing another, "You’re not supposed to be serving that Sprite to customers!" it doesn’t really give you much confidence that anything else in the restaurant has been done right either.

We returned to the show in time for the "photo session." Inside the armory, hundreds of fans congregated around a plethora of wrestlers to get photos taken with their favorites for $10 each. After milling around a bit, I ventured outside and around back where the wrestlers were arriving. I found an obscure stairwell and ventured to the top where I spotted Chris Benoit. And while I was promptly asked to leave by security, I still got Benoit’s autograph. I rarely listen to security.

Atmosphere wise, the show itself was the most unique, fan-friendly environment I’ve ever experienced. And event wise, it was one of the best wrestling cards I’ve ever seen.

However, shortly after the show started, I knew I had to put my acute shyness aside and talk with the girl sitting a mere few feet away. Now this girl was not only beautiful but she had an aura about her that told me she was something special. And honestly, I can’t remember who spoke to whom first but by the halfway mark, we were talking. And we talked throughout the show. I don’t really remember much about the matches after Regal/Benoit because ... I was too busy talking.

The Regal-Benoit match was unquestionably the best match I have ever seen--with Damien Demonic versus Tweek Phoenix (Streator, Illinois, February 2001) a very strong second. And truly I have never seen a crowd react the a match in that fashion ... the fans seemed to be part of the match and after the contest was over, the standing ovation was an unbelivable sight. The crowd was into the match like no other ... every move, every reversal, everything about the match, the fans ate it up. It was if they realized, like myself, that they were witnessing something very special.

The fan’s reaction to Regal surprised me. Now, I have always been a huge Regal mark and have been since his days as a "Lord" in WCW. However, I always felt as though Regal was underappreciated by wrestling companies and fans alike. This night was different. Chants of "Regal" and the reaction when the two stood, arms raised at the conclusion re-enforced the following notion: it may take years ... it may take decades, but sooner or later, greatness will be acknowledged. And that theory held true that night.

This year, a Regal-Benoit re-match was scheduled however cancelled due to Benoit’s unfortunate surgery. An interesting point of irony--had the 2001 event taken place when originally scheduled (this past May), we would had seen the epic re-match. It has been indicated that we will probably see the re-match at the 2002 edition ... but if my vote counted, I would vote to leave that match alone in regards to future Pillman main events. My logic is ... it’s like re-making a classic film ...

Throughout my life, I have had many friends refer to me as "psychic." Someone once told me it was impossible for her to hide anything from me, explaining, "I might as well tell you because you’ll know anyway." Regardless, when the time came for the drawing of the charity raffle, I had a strong feeling that the girl I had been talking to was going to win. I turned to her and almost said, "I think you’re going to win," but instead, all I got out was, "Good luck." Moments later, when she won the framed/signed Brian Pillman print, I wasn’t too surprised.

Before we left, I learned her name was Courtney ... I gave her my e-mail however didn’t know if I would get a repsonse. She said she had never e-mailed before so I simply wasn’t sure. The next day, when groggily I checked my mail, there was a message. The first of many. And now, over one year later--approximately 800 e-mails later, subsequent phone calls and a few trips to Ohio--I am honored and thankful to call Courtney one of my closest friends.

After the show, we returned to the dark stairwell I had previously been asked to vacate. Like I previously indicated ... I rarely listen to security. At the top, we were met by Eddy Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn who were in the process leaving. Seconds later, we had security’s attention ... "We’ve got marks in the staircase!" one of them yelled. So as we once again vacated the staircase, "leaving with the Radicalz," I overheard Saturn griping about having to go down the stairs.

We decided to hang out in the parking lot for a while. Suddenly a figure appeared by a van. "Is that Regal?" one of us asked. Indeed it was. And it was truly an amazing site--Regal, the absolute star of the night, leaving with no fan fair, no entourage, no security, nothing. Simply by himself. It was both sad and remarkable. I had Regal sign my program and considering his performace less than an hour previous, I have rarely met anyone so humble and appreciative.

We met many of the other Pillman 2000 participants that night and I have met a plethora of wrestlers since ... however, when it comes to fan encounters, for me, meeting Regal that night stands out as the highlight.

We also saw Brian Pillman’s widow, Melanie leave with her family. They placed the large novelty check--which had been presented to her by Pillman promoter Les Thatcher earlier in the evening--on top of her car and drive off. However, as she pulled out of the lot, the check fell off the top and was collected by a guy pulling into the lot minutes later. He put the big check in the back of his car and parked. To this day, I still wonder if Melanie ever got her check back.

I believe it was midnight by time we left for home. It was an uneventful trip home aside from the fact that we got lost in Indianapolis and couldn’t find an open gas station while the tank hovered over "empty." It was a momentary nightmare. But looking back on it now, even getting lost was a damn good time.

This year I’ll attend the event again. We will attend the event again. And even though I have backstage credentials, I will still be a "mark." I won’t be a mark "in the staircase," but I will be a mark nonetheless.

I will always be a mark for matches like Regal-Benoit. I will always be a mark for humble greats like Regal. I will always be a mark for pooling our funds so that one of us can bid in the charity auction. I will always be a mark for beautiful gals with that special, radiant aura (a rare combination that I have to admit, I haven’t seen since) who happen to sit next to me at wrestling events. I will always be a mark for long road trips with no directions. I will always be a mark for long road trips with friends. I will always be a mark for getting lost in Indy. I will always be a mark for good times with good friends. I will always be a mark for Sprite that doesn’t taste remotely like Sprite. And I will always be a mark for Brian Pillman. Wherever he may roam...