Talk about it here.

Short, but action-packed. They mention that the rumors of Goldust being "with child" were off the mark and Vince talks about it being an attempt at humor, which makes me wonder if they cancelled a planned payoff based on outside criticism. Terry Funk runs in and goes after Austin and the ring fills up with all sorts of wrestlers and we have a big brawl. This stuff really makes me want to see a longer Austin/Funk match from around this time.

No, it was inside criticism. From the 1/25/97 Torch:

 

When a group of wrestlers sat around and watched the second edition of Shotgun Saturday Night, they were said to be horrified and embarrassed by the quality of the matches, the production values, and some of the skits and comments by announcers. That may have led to the camp aspects of the program being toned down on week three. A video was actually produced of Goldust's "giving birth" and the WWF decided not to run it.

Haha, they should absolutely put that as a bonus on a DVD at some point.

Goldust giving birth would be interesting. I also find it humorous how much stock they put into the boys opinions on things. I am not saying this is world class wrestling television but so far Shotgun has been immensely more entertaining than the Raw clips. Short compact match and Goldust looks huge in this small setting. We get our obligatory Royal Rumble brawl to end the show back when it felt fresh and instigated by Funk and Austin battling to the bar.

Goldust must have gave birth. Ross actually mentions it must have been a fake. Not much of a match but more a preview of the Rumble with everyone hitting the ring. Funk ends up in water basin. I've enjoyed reliving these clips from Shotgun. Not everything was great but it was something different than what WWF was doing at the time.

This particular Shotgun was the best of the original six (which, yeah, high praise). By this time, they cordoned the audience back. Earlier in the show, the crowd was RIGHT up against the ring. Helmsley, on his exit, nearly gets into a fight with a drunken Texas and has to be dragged back to the dressing room

Yet another feud that would have been interesting, 7 years after The Natural vs Stunning Steve. At this point Goldust basically works like Dustin. It's too bad he was de-emphasized in 97 after the face turn.

Even money that Goldust gave birth to a hand.

Yeah, the camp stuff gets toned down and we get a southern-fried wrasslin' show instead, which from the WWF's standpoint is actually equally as bold of a move and makes for a better show. That ring is *tiny*, as evidenced when Austin and Goldust do ropes-running and basically take one step in the process. Crazy chaotic finish involving most of the WWF mid-card, including Hunter Hearst Helmsley beating down Goldust with a pool cue and Austin backdropping Terry Funk into a beer tub.

 

Next week Shotgun returns to NYC and goes to...Webster Hall. Which we just saw getting torn up by Raven and Sandman! Wild.

Not much of a match but the excitement here comes from the post-match which is great. Funk comes out & attacks Austin resulting in DQ. The ring fills with a bunch of wrestlers & Goldust-HHH & Funk-Austin pair off brawling around the building. HHH hits Goldust with a pull cue & in an awesome ending to the show Austin pushes Funk into a beer tub & the brawl in & around the beer tub! Really cool & fun way to hype the Rumble the night before.

Really fun segment. As a match it obviously wasn't much, but the brawl felt plenty chaotic and of course Funk coming back out to get some more of Austin ruled. HHH smashing a poll cue over Goldust, Funk getting backdropped into a tub full of beer, drunk folk in dixie shorts and cowboy hats getting caught in the crossfire -- a fun way to build to the rumble and certainly felt way more chaotic than the more goofy/amusing nature of previous weeks.