Nope, not for fun. To put a new wheel on
So it turns out the pins are just stubborn as ****, probably from the chain not being properly greased in the first place. I had to grab the handle of the chain tool with a pair of vice grips and strike the turning-handle with a hammer for about 5 minutes in order to get it to pop-out. I was expecting this to work with just manually spinning the pin out, so thats why I was askin in the first place.
Thanks