Great Moments in Raw History: "Pillman has a gun!"

Monday Night RAW has been on the air for nearly 20 years now - basically my entire childhood and adult life. Throughout those years, there have been a lot of moments that have been embedded in my memory, either because they were so epic that they can't be forgotten ("Tyson and Austin! Tyson and Austin!") or because they were so ridiculous that I just can't get over them (diaper matches, anyone?).

One of the earliest Monday Night RAW memories that I have is the Brian Pillman/Stone Cold Steve Austin rivalry. My favorite part? The November 4, 1996 episode during which Brian Pillman brought a gun onto live television.

As the Austin and Pillman rivalry amped up (after Pillman, Austin's former tag team partner, turned his back on the Rattlesnake and sided with the Hart Foundation), Austin headed to Pillman's home in Kentucky to finish what had been started on a previous RAW. Pillman had a group of friends outside his home protecting him, as Kevin Kelly and a camera crew filmed an interview with Pillman and his wife inside.

Sure enough, Austin breaks through the group and into Pillman's house. What does Pillman do? He pulls a 9mm handgun out and points it at a stunned Austin, as Pillman's wife (or Kevin Kelly... no one could tell) let's out a high pitched scream.

Of course, the camera feed cuts out. The director of RAW reaches out to then-announcer, Vince McMahon to say that there had been several "sounds like explosions" heard over the audio feed from Pillman's home.

Naturally, the video feed comes back just in time for the end of RAW. What do we see? Pillman's friends dragging Austin from the house, while a frantic Pillman threatens to "shoot that son of a bitch". Interestingly, in the heat of the moment, Pillman also lets the f-bomb fly - something that the WWE couldn't edit out of the live feed.

Both Brian Pillman and the WWE would eventually apologize, not only for the f-bomb but for the whole angle all together. It would be the last time a gun would appear on RAW, but also the beginning of the "beat him up in his own living room" angles (Orton vs. HHH, anyone?).