10 Things You Didn't Know About Stone Cold & Brian Pillman Gun Angle
9. USA Network Pre-Approved The Angle
In an effort to boost RAW's ratings, Vince decided to proceed with the controversial angle, but not before getting it pre-approved by several USA Network executives.
There was an initial draft of how the angle would play out that saw some elements needing to be removed (more on that later), but eventually McMahon was able to get the network executives of his flagship's television show to authorize the script after it was rewritten.
It would later be revealed that the USA Network executives that approved the segment were not expecting it to be quite so well-executed. They thought the audience would know that it was "just another wrestling angle", and that the whole ordeal would come off as hokey or wildly unbelievable.
As it turned out, the network execs couldn't have been further from the truth and, despite their pre-approval, McMahon was about to experience some backlash.