Brian Pillman Pulling A Gun On Steve Austin Was One Of WWE Raw's Most Controversial Moments
Daniel Davis 
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WWE fans of the Attitude Era saw a lot of things happen on TV in those days that could never occur on televised wrestling today. From the sex and violence to the language and mature moments, that era of wrestling can never be duplicated. However, one moment from the very start of the Attitude Era that was almost too controversial at the time it took place was when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Brian Pillman were feuding. This was the moment when Austin invaded Pillman's home and the Loose Canon pulled a gun on the Texas Rattlesnake on live TV. WWE got in a lot of trouble for that event and almost lost their TV home. It remains notorious even now, over 25 years later.
Brian Pillman Pulls A Gun On Steve Austin On WWE TV
When "The Loose Canon" Brian Pillman debuted on WWE television, he had a built-in feud ready to go with the most popular wrestler in the company, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The two men were tag team partners in WCW as the Hollywood Blondes, and they remained close friends through the years until Pillman arrived in WWE. With their past, WWE decided to put them in an angle together, and things went really well until one fateful night on Monday Night Raw. Austin was working on becoming a star at the time, following his career-defining "Austin 3:16" promo at the King of the Ring. He was heading into a feud with Bret "The Hitman" Hart, but WWE needed to build him up for that. This included his feud with Brian Pillman, who was one of Hart's friends since he trained with Stu Hart in the Hart Family Dungeon.
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Austin had already invaded a Bret Hart interview off-site on an episode of Monday Night Raw to kickstart that feud. The next week, he decided to interrupt a Pillman interview at his home. Pillman, who was still on crutches following a car accident, was ready for Austin when he showed up. Austin said he was coming to "strike down" Pillman and Brian said he had a gun and was ready to use it if Austin invaded his home. Pillman was in his home with his wife and then showed Kevin Kelly his gun and said Austin better not show up. Austin showed up anyway and beat up some of Pillman's friends. He finally broke a window to let himself in, and then he walked in on Pillman, who then pointed his gun at Austin and the feed ended. That was all that happened as it ended in a cliffhanger.
Brian Pillman Pulling A Gun Caused Lots Of Problems
Jim Ross said in his podcast that the segment lost him when Brian Pillman pulled his gun on Austin and began waving it around, "I never was high on this angle. I just thought it was unrealistic," Ross said. "If Austin had gone to Brian’s house and Brian didn’t have a gun, I probably would’ve had a different feel for this. The gun took me out of any sense of reality-based." Ross said with the camera crews there, it didn't make sense for Pillman to need to pull out a gun, but he said that it was something that entertained Vince McMahon, which was all that mattered. He also mentioned that he figured it had a lot to do with Austin, who is a "gun guy," and that McMahon went all in on it. However, it hurt WWE more than it helped the show.
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The worst thing that could have happened almost did. USA Network, which had aired Monday Night Raw since its inception, was not happy at all with the moment, despite Bruce Prichard saying the network knew about it ahead of time. While they were on board with some intense moments of violence, the gun violence was one step too far. There was also the fact that Pillman dropped an F-bomb before the camera cut away. This was before the Attitude Era hit its highest points, and WWE almost lost its home on television. Parents called and complained to the network and some executives wanted to drop WWE television immediately. There were also advertisers who pulled their money from the show. WWE agreed to tone things down, but this wouldn't last as the Attitude Era only grew even more mature as the years went by. By that time, the ratings were high enough to allow USA Network to turn its eyes. However, the Brian Pillman gun incident was enough to almost kill WWE before they hit their highest of highs.
