Raw 183
Kevin Kelly is live outside of Brian Pillman’s house in Walton, KY for an interview. Unfortunately, since Kelly mentioned this interview last week, Stone Cold found out about it and has threatened that he’ll show up and beat Pillman even more than he already has, which is saying a lot because Pillman’s already had to have more reconstructive surgery done on his already injured ankle. Meanwhile back at the arena, Goldust takes on The Stalker, who is accompanied to the ring by his fellow Survivor Series teammates Marc Mero, Mark Henry, and newcomer Rocky Maivia. To even things up, Goldust’s team (Crush, Mr. Perfect, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley) comes down to the ring as well. Naturally a fight breaks out and both Goldust and the Stalker are disqualified. After the match ends, we get a look at the first vignette for Stone Cold Steve Austin.
We then check back in with Kevin Kelly who’s now inside with Brian Pillman and his wife. They’ve received word that Austin is apparently circling the neighborhood in his truck. Upon hearing this, Pillman pulls out a pistol, intending to protect himself and his wife no matter the cost. This is getting crazy!
After a commercial break, we come back to find Austin brawling in the front yard with two men who are friends of Pillman that were posted outside to prevent Austin from getting in. Unfortunately for them, Austin’s just too tough and determined for these guys to be much of an obstacle for him. We cut back inside the house and hear the glass being broken on their back door window. Before anybody can react, Austin’s inside the house and barreling towards Pillman who levels the gun at Austin. Suddenly though, the satellite feed cuts out, much to the dismay of Vince, JR, and Jerry Lawler.
While we wait to hear word back from Pillman’s house, we carry on back at the arena with a joint press-conference style interview in the ring with Sycho Sid and Shawn Michaels. Tensions have been steadily rising between the two and they come to a violent head tonight. This, combined with the stress of not knowing whether somebody’s been injured or killed at Brian Pillman’s house, causes Vince and JR to begin bickering with one another to the point where Jerry Lawler essentially has to break character to calm them down and attempt to keep the commentary on track. Finally the satellite feed is restored and we find out that nobody was injured during Stone Cold’s break in, but both men are still desperately trying to get at one another while being restrained by several men each. The show fades to black as Lawler from the arena desperately pleads, “somebody get the gun!”
Stone Cold Steve Austin invades Brian Pillman's home.
Nitro 60
Early on in the show, Diamond Dallas Page takes on Ice Train. Unfortunately for Ice Train, crooked referee Nick Patrick is the official. When Patrick gets distracted, Nash and Hall run down and wallop Ice Train with their tag team belts. Ice Train goes down, but he actually doesn’t seem all that affected by the sneak attack. However, a surprise Diamond Cutter puts him down for the count. Tony Schiavone laments from the broadcast booth that if this isn’t incriminating evidence that DDP will be joining the nWo, he doesn’t know what is.
Later we finally get another women’s match after another long drought. If you guessed it was between Madusa and a random Japanese woman, you’d be right. Her opponent this time is Reina Jubuki. A bigger woman going by Zero watches from the sidelines with Sonny Onoo. Perhaps she’ll be next in line to take on Madusa. I wonder why there aren’t any other American women that WCW could hire. Still doing better than WWF though I suppose.
The show ends with yet another Hollywood Hogan promo and pose-athon. I have to begrudgingly admit, the man knows how to get himself over. The people cheering him are the same people who were booing him prior to his heel turn. I should also mention that Eric Bischoff tells us that negotiations with Rowdy Roddy Piper are being stonewalled by his managers and lawyers. I’m not sure if this is a work or not, but with both Piper and Sting still missing in action, I’m going to need Nitro to fill in the gaps a little better here.
Gotta admit, the dude can strike a pose.
Verdict: Raw really pushed the envelope this week with a 4th wall blurring episode from start to finish. This is the most interesting Raw since HBK got knocked out by Owen Hart and they spent the last ten minutes of the show just dealing with that. And with a relatively weak showing by Nitro, who may be coasting on the usual strength of their program, Raw is the clear victor this week.
Winner this week: Raw
Score to date: Nitro 40, Raw 16
(Television Ratings: Raw - 2.3; Nitro - 3.4)