A mysterious promo video aired on last week’s episode of WWE NXT, with an extended version airing at No Mercy a few days later. It features a dark living room with an old-school box television sitting on a table, providing the only available light. A shadowy figure with an outline akin to Brian Pillman Jr. walks into the shot without their face being shown, grabs the remote for the television, sits down, and begins flipping through channels. Some of the programming they click past includes Bengals training camp footage, WCW Saturday Night, and a montage of generational WWE talents like Charlotte Flair, Randy Orton, Dominik Mysterio, and more.
Many fans quickly put the pieces together that this is likely a teaser vignette for Pillman Jr., who became a free agent earlier this year after parting ways with AEW. Pillman Jr.’s father, the legendary Brian Pillman, played for the Cleveland Browns and wrestled for WCW from 1989 until 1996, when he jumped to WWE. Interestingly, the tease aired the same day fellow former AEW star Jade Cargill was also announced as being WWE-bound.
The USA Network confirms in a new article that the vignette in question is a tease for Pillman Jr.’s impending debut in WWE, noting he gives fans a reason to “stay glued to NXT on Tuesday nights.” It also says that Pillman Jr. possesses all the qualities of a top star and could become “the next big thing in WWE.”
In his final AEW match in May, Pillman Jr. and Brock Anderson lost to The Gunns on a House Rules Tour show. He stayed active on the independent scene in the months following his AEW exit until signing with WWE. Dynamite is currently scheduled to air on Tuesday of next week, leaving an opening for Pillman Jr. and Cargill to go head-to-head with their former employer.
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