Monday Night Raw
November 4, 1996
Fort Wayne, IN
War Memorial Coliseum

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Shawn Michaels (3/31/96)
Intercontinental Champion: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (10/21/96)
World Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith (9/22/96)

Kevin Kelly is standing outside Brian Pillman’s home in suburban Cincinnati in case Stone Cold Steve Austin shows up tonight. It’s a very tense situation!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler.

• The Stalker (w/Marc Mero, Sable, Mark Henry & Rocky Maivia) vs. Goldust (w/Marlena, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Mr. Perfect, Crush & Clarence Mason)
  

Each guy brings their Survivor Series team with them. Pretty uneventful little encounter as Dok Hendrix appears on the split-screen to tell us that Austin is on his way to Pillman’s house. Austin talks to Vince over the phone and tells him that he’s going to open up a six-pack of whoop ass on Pillman and anybody else who gets in his way. He’s a superstar in the WWF and can do whatever he wants because the WWF needs him around. Vince reminds Austin that Pillman may have a gun, but Austin isn’t intimidated. Austin will do what he says he will do – consequences be damned. When Windham’s team treats Goldust like they are lumberjacks, Jerry Lawler leaves the announce table to cheer on his Survivor Series partner. After a break, both guys fall out to the floor causing the teams to go after each other. Ref calls for the DDQ. (5:27 shown) Very disappointing with so much going on that had nothing to do with the in-ring stuff, that the match really just meant nothing. If nothing else, it created a little bit of chaos for their Survivor Series match. After the bell, Maivia shows off his high-flying skills with a flying bodypress on both Crush and Goldust at the same time. It’s a pier-six brawl until the good guys clear the ring. ½*

Dok Hendrix handles the Survivor Series Report.

• MAIN EVENT: WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Psycho Sid
  
• Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
  
• Paul Bearer In A Cage: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
  
• Survivor Series Elimination Match: Marc Mero, The Stalker, Mark Henry, Jake Roberts & Rocky Maivia vs. Crush, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Mr. Perfect, Goldust & Jerry Lawler
  

Over to Kevin Kelly, he asks Brian Pillman concerning the prognosis of his ankle. He’s fine and says 1997 looks to be a great year for him (oy), but he wants to talk about Stone Cold Steve Austin now. While Pillman has been in many feuds over the years, he thinks Austin has crossed the line coming into his private life, so now they operate on a complete different set of rules. Vince interrupts saying that Austin is circling the neighborhood. He wants to know if Pillman feels like a hostage in his own home. Absolutely not. Steve is a dead man walking. Tonight, Austin 3:16 meets Pillman 9MM glock. HAHA, AWESOME. Somebody yells that Steve Austin is outside Pillman’s home when we go to commercial. Yes, we really need to go to Psycho Sid playing Marlena in some Karate Fighters right about now.

Now back to suburban Cincinnati, Austin beats up a couple of Pillman’s friends who try to stand in his way. When he can’t get in the front door, he goes around to the back of the house. Let’s go back to the arena!

• The Sultan (w/The Iron Sheik & Bob Backlund) vs. Alex Porteau
  

Lawler even thinks this whole Austin/Pillman situation has gone over the top. Standard Sultan stuff here as he finishes off the Pug with the CAMEL CLUTCH at 2:09.

Alright, back to Pillman’s house. You can hear Austin yelling from outside the house. Pillman has his 9MM ready. Well, Austin breaks in a door and just as he approaches Pillman, Pillman has his gun pointed at Austin when the feed goes out.

Jim Ross brings out the WWF champion Shawn Michaels and Psycho Sid to the ring. Vince says we will go back to Pillman’s house if need be even though they have “lost their satellite feed”. There’s a debate podium in the ring between these two. Ross brings up the powerbombs Sid gave Shawn back  in April 1995 on Raw. Shawn says he has forgiven Sid for what he did and he’s the reason Sid is back in the WWF after he got him out of the looney bin. Sid says that is bullshit. If you think he left a looney bin and came to the WWF, you’re an idiot. Ross asks about the hit from behind Shawn took from Sid last week. Sid says it was a mistake and Shawn agrees. Vince tries to send us back to Pillman’s house, but then realizes we still don’t have a satellite feed. Ross says that Sid is the favorite in this match, but Shawn has beaten Sid before and he’ll do it again. In a nice way, Shawn tells Sid that he’s not in his league. Sid agrees – he’s not in the little league. This meeting of the minds turns ugly as tempers start to flare. When they start shoving each other, Camp Cornette appears ready to take out these two. Owen whacks Sid with a chair from behind, but then Shawn gets the chair away from him. As Camp Cornette clears out, Sid turns around and thinks Shawn was the one who whacked him. They fight off Camp Cornette again and then go back to shoving one another until referees and agents keep them separated.

• Marc Mero (w/Sable) vs. Razor Ramon II (w/Diesel II)
  

WWF director Kerwin Silfies talks to Vince via telephone. He was on-site during the Pillman incident. Apparently all the power went out at the Pillman household, which explains why the feed went out. Since it was just a satellite feed, I guess backup generators aren’t standard procedure. Still no police at the Pillman house. Ross chastises Vince for this whole publicity stunt. While this match probably would have sucked either way, they obviously are working in first gear so that all our attention can stay with the Austin/Pillman stuff. Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Mr. Perfect head down as we go to break. When we return, Helmsley trips up Mero to prevent the WILD THING from happening. This helps Ramon deliver the RAZOR’S EDGE for the win. (8:27 shown) So yeah, that sucked. ½*

Naturally, the feed starts working again with 90 seconds left in the show. At Pillman’s house, he’s looking psychotic and being contained by his big husky friends that tried to keep Austin from entering the house in the first place. No one knows where Austin is either. Kelly tells us that Austin saw the gun and left. Next thing we know, Austin reappears and gets taken out of the house by Pillman’s friends. Pillman is standing on his one good leg and cursing like crazy (one F-bomb doesn’t get bleeped) to put over the seriousness of the moment.

Wrestling is so weird sometimes. I’m fine with the whole Undertaker and Kane storyline, but then Brian Pillman pulls out a gun on Steve Austin and I’m all up in arms about whether or not this went too far.

NEXT WEEK: Shawn Michaels and Psycho Sid must co-exist against the WWF tag team champions Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith.