Who Could've Been The Driver That Ran Austin Over?

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One of the best storylines I have seen on TV. The intrigue was great and the players involved were all at the top. It was one of the whoddunits I can remember vividly. There was a build here. While Austin was away with surgery and recovery, WWE found a way to still keep his name around and brought about a good angle.


The storyline dragged on for almost a year or so and involved many players:

Prime suspect being this man:

Turned out to be this man:

Oops! I mean this man:

So after a nice little buildup and subsequent huntdown by Stone Cold Steve Austin led us to this man. And his insanely patriotic promo about how the Samoans were, for a lack of a better words, TAKING OVER!.

No, no they weren't. See they tried modelling a Bare-assed dirty dancer as one of the top heels. There is an element of seriousness that was tossed round about at that night when Foley reveals it was the Beach Blonde Baluga that was behind these heinous crime. He explained how he 'did it for The Rock, did it for the people'. So out of nowhere he is now locked in a feud with the hottest active star in 1999. What ensued was ludicrous beyond repair. Well they tried to. Tried to salvage it by making a master behind the whole deal. Hunter Hearst Helmsley. And so forth.



But who could it have been. Remember names like Val Venis and Billy Gunn were seriously pondered. I thought it could've been this boy right here:

Test always struck me as a guy who could've been but couldn't. he was agile for his size and had a good look about himself. Maybe he never garnered enough fan support or something but the boy wasn't dull for me. He did miss a spark. A gimmick or an angle that could've legitimized him.

This could've been it. Ye it would be a big risk but if someone from the roster then who could've made a plunge into the big boy pool- Andrew Martin.

There was history here that linked him with the Hunter-Steph storyline as well. He was not someone that alien to the larger angle, he was connected. He did need that kayfabe spotlight on him to turn his character to more than just a big guy.

Test could've made the transition to the top heel club.



So, who else could/should it've been?

 

[Its_A_Snake!]

It of been to obvious if it was The Game.

I remember everybody thinking it was Billy Gunn because of the blonde hair.
Rikishi was great because NOBODY suspected Rikishi. If they say they knew it was him all along is a liar.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

I think it should've been someone that no one saw coming. They had their suspects, all top players at the time. But I think it should've been someone that was at the top of the mid-card ready to be pushed into the ME spotlight.

Jericho would be my pick for it. He was feuding with Chyna, was bouncing in and out of feuds with top and mid-card guys...what perfect way for him to enter the ME full time.

He could say that he did just to do it, to take out one of the top faces of RAW and become the new face...RAW IS JERICHO!

 

[EastCoastFan]

I remember when that happened that they initially thought it was Billy Gunn, because he was the one member of DX unaccounted for.

Personally, I would have had one of the lesser Harts (my choice would have been Diana or Bruce) be behind it, and their motivation was all the things Vince did to the family (Montreal, Owen's death, shafting Stu on the deal to buy Stampede in the 80's, ...) and exacting their revenge by taking out Vince's #1 draw.

Having Rikishi made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I know they were trying for a swerve by having someone you'd least suspect, but having him just came way too far out of left field.

 

[CarlSinclair]

I at the time thought it was either Billy Gunn or Jericho. Gunn I thought time and time again they were gonna push.

It could have even been Rikishi and worked to be honest. They just went about it the wrong way. I will aways remember that stupid promo "I did it for the Rock" Even more so cause Rock made fun of it in that awful six pack challenge match in the December of that year. Eesshhh

I like your idea for Test. I had high hopes for him as well. He was terrible in the ring but still... that doesn't mean he couldn't have been top, look at Hogan and Cena.

Ok my pick for who it "Should have been" is....

Bad Ass Billy Gunn - getting out of the shadow of HHH.

 

[akrassikauda]

Ok ok good work funny too with the Rikishi ass pic. It was an should've been Billy Gunn. When Austin was hit it was clearly Billy Gunn behind the wheel but then he gets injured and the storyline goes to shit from there. Rikishi? To this day I'm still scratching my head on that one.

Test would've been a good choice to take out Austin. He had the look of an imposing figure the only thing he was missing was a feud with a top player who better than Austin. Austin I think would've put him over at least once and one ppv victory is all he needed. Test needed something to elevate him beyond mid card but they chose Rikishi.

Test still has the best big boot ever

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

I vaguely remember that. I thought it made little to no sense at all. We all knew that Rock and Rikishi were related but I still don't see why they didn't use someone closer to the mastermind which ended up being Triple H, like Bad Ass Billy Gunn. And poor Test no matter what he did he couldn't get over and he couldn't catch a break. But yea Billy Gunn made more sense than Rikishi because he was closer to HHH but I can see why they chose Rikishi so as to kinda frame Rock but still, good storyline, terrible ending.

 

[Judah's Lion]

i always thought it would make sense to be Big Show. Austin was run over at Survivor Series, Big Show took his spot and won the match and the title that night. so here's a guy that had a direct and enormous benefit from Austin being out of the picture. also, there was that whole clue about the springs in the seat being broken because of the weight of the person driving. Big Show is 500 lbs. so that makes sense. and lastly, the blond hair. if you remember, Big Show was dressing up as different superstars that summer, including Val Venis, Godfather, etc. on that list was Hulk Hogan. Big Show even wore a blond wig to the ring for his match with Kurt Angle on ppv that summer when he dressed in full as Hogan. so i totally thought it was Show because he won the title, was heavy enough to break the seat and had the blond wig. Billy Gunn and Test could have worked. pretty much anyone other than Rikishi, especially the way that he was booked. that was just a terrible idea with a worse execution. imo.

 

[Cabana]

I think this thread is emblematic of the biggest issue facing WWE: we're less than a week from Rock/Cena at Mania, and this is a fairly hot discussion. While yes, that show that the brand is keeping longtime consumers, I'd bet Vince would be a lot happier if we were centered on Rock/Cena, Punk/Jericho, or HHH/Taker.

---

Looking back, I really thought the most logical answer would have been someone like Billy Gunn. However, in retrospect, it should have been Jericho/Big Show/someone else ready to make a push to the main event. By the time Austin came back, Rikishi + Venis were set in their midcard ways. It'd have been fun to see if Test could have made the leap then. It was probably his last *real* chance at it.

 

[WallsofZakku]

The whole Rikishi thing really wasn't the best way to go about that. a great angle with a bad end result. Rikishi's motive for running down Austin wasn't the greatest either -__-.
Personally i think it would have been nice if indeed it was Billy Gunn as the culprit. He would be doing HHH's dirty work by taking out one of the top dogs in the WWF whilst being promised something by HHH only to be betrayed by Hunter. IMO that could have been good.

 

[willross]

It would have worked with anyone including Rikishi had it just been booked better. The second they put HHH in as the accomplice, it made Rikishi look inferior and turned him from a stand alone rebel to a lacky for a real star.

Rikishi needed to run through the roster plain and simple. He was so hot as a babyface that he needed something big to get legit heat. The second he got buried by Austin, the angle was dead. HHH needed to come in and save it at that point cause Rikishi was cut at the knees before Survivor Series.

Had Rikishi squashed Austin, run through the roster and then lost to Austin at Royal Rumble, it would of been better for his career. Let him and Austin have a match at Royal Rumble where the winner gets number 30 and the loser gets 1. Austin wins, then wins the Rumble. Would of perfectly wrapped up his revenge feud with Rikishi and would of propelled him for Rock at ManiaX7

 

[Cabana]

It would have worked with anyone including Rikishi had it just been booked better. The second they put HHH in as the accomplice, it made Rikishi look inferior and turned him from a stand alone rebel to a lacky for a real star.

Rikishi needed to run through the roster plain and simple. He was so hot as a babyface that he needed something big to get legit heat. The second he got buried by Austin, the angle was dead. HHH needed to come in and save it at that point cause Rikishi was cut at the knees before Survivor Series.

Had Rikishi squashed Austin, run through the roster and then lost to Austin at Royal Rumble, it would of been better for his career. Let him and Austin have a match at Royal Rumble where the winner gets number 30 and the loser gets 1. Austin wins, then wins the Rumble. Would of perfectly wrapped up his revenge feud with Rikishi and would of propelled him for Rock at ManiaX7

I mean this seriously: he also needed to change his ring attire & style, if he meant to be taken seriously. A serious heel turn requires a change in style as much as anything else.

I'd hope that Cena, upon turning heel, grows a goatee, stops wearing jorts, and maybe even changes his music.

 

[god-soldier]

I think Test would have been a great pic and could have benefitied off the push big time and since he spent the rest of his career as a heel it would make sense for it to be him. However, I am going way beyond left field with my choice but during late 99 he was an edgy character and could have blown over huge with him being the pick and that's the British Bulldog. If you recall he can back in 99 sporting jeans and cursing he really seemed bad ass. His reason I can name a million for it too be him jealousy of Austin the screwing of Bret, or Davey Boy himself being screwed and pushed aside for years from the main event holding every title but the WWE title. Or him selling out the Harts to come back and masterminding this attack with HHH or by himself. He would have been the biggest heel then and if he beat Austin it would bring even more heat. I remember on the legend panal Jim Ross saying how many times can you repackage the bulldog if he would of been the one to run Austin over it would be the last time but I never considered the bulldog repackaged he always had the same name just different hair styles face or heel so this would have finally put davey boy where he needed to be.

 

[GutCheck21]

I have to say that story line was great and just like everyone eyes i thought it was billy gunn. But when the reveld it was rakishi i was so upset, i mean you gotta be kidding me a guy that wears a thong to the ring and he runs over the rattlesnake. Rakishi is not the guy ill pick to run against SSA as top heel. I think they should gone wit jerico but ill admit i was suprised. How long did that fund last anyways?

 

[The Brain]

I'm surprised I'm the first to mention this. Let's think about when Austin got run over. Survivor Series 1999. What else happened at Survivor Series 1999? The debut of Kurt Angle. Angle was a guy whose wrestling style didn't fit in with a lot of guys of the attitude era. Maybe this new amateur wrestler, who had always been the best at anything he did, felt threatened by an ass kicking rattlesnake. Maybe Angle decided to take out the top dog before he got his career started. Sure he always preached integrity but since when does a heel stay true to his word. If it were Angle his plan would have worked. Angle rose to superstardom in Austin's absence. By the time Austin came back Angle was WWF champion. Everything was lined up just right. Except for one thing. WWF decided to ignore all this and turn one of their more popular attractions heel for no reason.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Ye kinda what Brain said makes a lotta sense. But thinking more about what we have here, I have to go with Chris Jericho.

If not Test, he fits the bill. I mean I know he had just started with The E and all but I think they could've tried and gone with a young upstart rather than a thong wearing dancer (that term might excite till you think Rikishi). Makes a lotta sense as he gets disrespected by veterans like Rock and Taker ever since he debuted so he decides to make an impact. And teach the old dogs a lesson.


Reaching for the Kfabe stars am I?

 

[Beastmode 24]

I think it would've made a lot of sense for it to be Kurt Angle. He had the impressive rookie run winning the "Eurocontinental" and wwf title while austin was gone, so he couldve shown his darker side a couple of years sooner than he did. I mean the goofy howdie doodie gimmick was good..but i like the badass intense kurt angle alot better.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Actually it wasn't the WWF's decision to turn Austin heel, it was Austin's decision if you have seen the WHAT? DVD, he admits it there. And there was a reason behind it, it's that he needed the WWF Championship badly, that he would go to any lengths to win it. I remember his "I need this Rock, I need this more than you ever know" quote in the sitdown interview with JR on the SD! before Mania, signs of a desperate man there. Rock was more tougher, he was more estabilished than the first time they met at Mania 15 but more importantly he was a babyface, it wouldn't have made much sense if Austin went over him cleanly especially after being out for so long.

But anyway back on topic, I remember reading Powerslam Magazine and someone suggested that the driver could've been Raven. I think this would've been a great way to bring Raven in and a feud between him & Austin would've been epic. The promos between the two, oh man they would've been awesome. I don't know what reason they could've used for Raven being behind the wheel though but I'm sure the WWF could've thought of something. I didn't mind Rikishi being revealed as the driver, I thought the reason behind it was logical and like willross mentioned, if they had kept on pushing him in the main event scene, it would've worked.