WWF Monday Night RAW (November 4, 1996)

Original Airdate: November 4, 1996 (taped October 21)

From Fort Wayne, Indiana; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

We start with Kevin Kelly, live outside of Brian Pillman's home in Walton Kentucky, where he will be conducting a promised special interview with the injured Pillman later tonight. Also, Steve Austin has threatened to show up and finish the job he started on Superstars, and the Pillman family is taking the threat so seriously that they've even sent the kiddies off to their grandparents' house

Goldust v Stalker: Both men's Survivor Series teams are at ringside for this, telegraphing the finish a mile away. They brawl in the aisle before the bell, and Goldust manages to get control on the way in, and he hits a flying clothesline. Meanwhile, Dok Hendrix pops up on split screen, and he's got Steve Austin on the phone - Steve apparently in a rental car, and on his way to the Pillman home as we speak. Couldn't Brian just, I dunno, call 9-1-1? It's not like some remote chance of danger, the guy is literally on national TV saying he's on his way over. Austin also gives us a 'new verse out of the book of Austin,' which is him quoting Sam Jackson's famous speech from Pulp Fiction. Goldust tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a slam, and Stalker slaps on a sloppy looking figure four. That one looked terrible, but luckily Goldust goes to the eyes quickly to break it up. Bodypress, but Stalker hits the deck, and Goldust takes a bump to the outside. Stalker's team force him back in for Stalker to backdrop, and he adds a gutwrench suplex from there. Up for a superplex, but Goldust kisses him on the lips to block, and then dives off the top - only to land on Stalker's boot. And then we even get a REPLAY of that tired old spot, for some reason. Goldust tries a hotshot, but both end up taking a spill over the top to trigger a brawl between the teams, and there's the double disqualification at 5:30. This was pretty much just going through the motions before the obvious finish, and the focus was more on the Austin/Pillman stuff anyway. ¾*

Kevin Kelly is inside the Pillman home with Brian and Melanie, preparing for the interview later. It's interesting how much it looks like a soundstage, despite being his actual house

Dok Hendrix is here with the Survivor Series report, announcing Undertaker/Mankind for the show, in what feels like their millionth match already. The last one ended with a dude literally getting buried alive. Where do you go from there? Even as a full-on mark in 1996, I remember being tired of them already. That leads to clips from the Big Bang Boom tour (in actuality taped the same night as the rest of this show in Fort Wayne - you can even see the RAW entrance and same fans), where Mankind is cutting an in-ring promo, but gets interrupted by Undertaker hanging Paul Bearer in effigy

Back in Kentucky, it's time for the special interview, but Brian doesn't want to talk about the injury, he wants to talk about Austin. And, hey, luckily, we're getting reports that Steve is circling the neighborhood as we speak! Kelly, bastion of sensitivity, asks if Brian 'feels like a hostage in his own home,' so Pillman PULLS A GUN OUT, and promises to send Austin 'straight to hell' if he does show up. This went 0 to 60 real fast there. Motherfucker pulled a gun! This was mind-blowing watching live in 1996 (as mark, no less), and even in 2019 this would be jarring

In Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament action, this week it's Sycho Sid versus Marlena. Thankfully, they keep Sid strong for his upcoming world title match at Survivor Series by having him go over here

Back in Kentucky, Steve has arrived at the Pillman home, but is met by a few of Brian's pals out on the driveway. Austin drowns one dude in a kiddie pool, and jams the other one's head into the passenger side door of a Jeep like Joe Pesci in Raging Bull to fight them off, and he approaches the front door, but it's locked. Yeah, no shit

Sultan v Alex Porteau: It's so weird jumping back-and-forth from an angle involving home invasion and firearms, to Karate Fighters tournaments and horribly outdated gimmick wrestlers. It's almost like watching a mash-up of two entirely different promotions. Sultan fights off a blitz with a belly-to-belly suplex, and a saito suplex follows, as the announcers completely ignore the match to talk about the Austin/Pillman angle. Well, can you blame them? Sultan with a backbreaker, before finishing with the Camel Clutch at 1:48. DUD

Out in Kentucky, Pillman is clutching his gun when Austin breaks down the back door and storms in. If I'm that camera man, I'm hitting the deck, not standing in between the man with the gun and his target. And perhaps that's what happens, because the feed suddenly cuts to static - right as a wild eyed Pillman points the gun at Austin, finger on the trigger! Okay, holy shit

Back in the arena, Jim Ross brings WWF Champion Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid out for an in-ring interview, complete with podium setup, and everything. Sid, fresh off of his grueling Karate Fighters victory earlier tonight, must be feeling pretty good about Survivor Series. So JR reviews their history, and keeps stirring the pot, while also constantly reminding them that they need to work together as a team against Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart for the tag title next week. And speaking of the tag champions, they (along with Vader) show up just as Shawn and Sid start coming to blows, and manage to put Sid down with a chair before Shawn can save - which, of course, leads to Sid blaming Shawn for the attack since he sees him holding the chair. And also because he's an idiot. This segment was fine, but felt flat compared to the insanity out in Kentucky

An (incredibly disturbing) Full Metal The Album ad

The video feed in Kentucky is still down, so as we wait for an update, let's take another look at what happened earlier

Marc Mero v 'Razor Ramon': Jim Ross sits in for commentary. They hype up the latest RAW Magazine during the entrances, and it's the one that features Sunny in lingerie on the cover that 1996 me totally snuck out of school to buy at a drugstore at lunch. It's hard to take Vince's serious reaction to the Austin/Pillman stuff to heart when he follows it up with 'Razor Ramon, ladies and gentlemen' with a straight face in the next breath. Mero dominates with armbars, as we get an eyewitness with the production crew calling in from Kentucky, and there may or may not have been gunshots, he's not sure. Marc uses a series of shots to set up a flying axehandle, but 'Ramon' blocks, and drops Mero across the top rope. Meanwhile, Kerwin Silfies (the eyewitness caller) is back on the line, and they're still trying to restore the satellite feed, but it doesn't look likely to happen before we go off the air. 'Ramon' works an armbar and unloads in the corner, as Ross notes that Vince should feel pretty good about what happened, since it should be good for the ratings. You'd think so, but this show still got murdered against Nitro again this week. 'Ramon' works a headvice, but Mero uses a side suplex to escape, and he starts making a comeback. Missile dropkick gets two, and a rana off the top is worth two, as Intercontinental Champion Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Mr. Perfect show up at ringside. Mero keeps focused with a Samoan drop to set up the Wild Thing, but HHH shoves him off the top rope while Perfect distracts the referee. That allows 'Ramon' to hit the Razor's Edge, and that shit actually gets three at 9:05. Wow, they must have been REALLY sour on Mero for whatever reason to job him to this clown. Bad night for him in general, as he dropped the IC title earlier in this same taping, too. ¾*

Back in Kentucky, the satellite feed has finally been restored, and it's taking literally five people to try and hold a wild, thrashing Pillman back when Austin suddenly shows up again. Luckily, Brian's pals are able to get him out the door before Pillman (still brandishing that firearm) is able to get a shot off. How are the cops not there yet? Also, gotta love Vince yelling 'grab the gun, Kevin,' like THAT'S a smart idea. Even a hard, seasoned announcer like Sean Mooney wouldn't dare try that shit

BUExperience: This week, RAW moved back an hour to the same start time as Nitro (to try and neutralize WCW’s momentum), and boy did they come at them hard. While the matches were absolute shit (with absolutely shitty characters) up-and-down, the gun angle is probably the most stunning thing they’ve done since the RAW after Survivor Series ’95 (the one that featured the Diesel shoot style heel turn, and the Shawn Michaels enzuigiri angle).

The long term ramifications of this angle were huge, but it didn’t do much for them in the short term, as they not only lost the night by over a full point, but got into hot water with USA Network over it as well. Ignoring the actual content, I wonder much of the final rating numbers had to do with the fact that the show started earlier (which probably caused some habitual viewers to forget to tune in), and how much of it just had to do with the amount of momentum WCW had at this point?

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	11/4/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.3	3.4
Total Wins	17	36
Win Streak		19
Better Show (as of 10/28)	16	34