Date: November 4th If you've been watching wrestling for a long time, you've seen some pretty outlandish and crazy things take place. It comes with the territory, as the sport is all about grabbing your attention in various ways. On the November 4th, 1996 episode of Raw, fans may have seen one of the most outlandish things ever witnessed in wrestling, at least up until that point. After injuring Brian Pillman's ankle, Steve Austin promised to go to Pillman's house (they were former best friends, so he knew where Pillman lived) and "finish the job". The WWF had Kevin Kelly go to Pillman's house to interview him about Austin's threats, and that's when the man formerly known as "Flyin' Brian" dropped the bombshell... he pulled out a pistol and threatened to shoot Austin if he showed up. The heads of everyone watching nearly exploded, from casual fans to USA Network executives. A gun and a threat of murder, self-defense or otherwise, in a company where the most violent thing people were used to seeing was someone getting hit with a steel chair was the true sign that the times were changing. It was gripping television to watch a wild-eyed Pillman, pointing a gun at a rampaging Austin, yelling that he was going to kill him as numerous people tried to step in and separate the two. It was like a scene out of a movie, not a wrestling show. On top of the gun and the threats, Pillman accidentally said "Get out of the f**king way!!!" on live television, only adding to the insanity. The segment angered the USA Network, who weren't notified of any of it beforehand. Just a wild, wild night.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
