Who ran over Stone Cold Steve Austin?

[Wolf Pac]

Back in 2000 at Unforgiven, we witnessed the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin who was on a search for the man who ran him over back at Survivor Series 99and about a few weeks later, it was revealed that Rikishi was the man behind the wheel. Rikishi got a main event push out of being the culprit but unfortunately the WWE lost faith in him, so they put another twist in the storyline and had HHH reveal himself as the man behind the plan and about a few months later, Rikishi ended up back in the mid-cards and as a face since he blew chunks as heel aswell, so this was a wasted opportunity and I couldn't really blame the WWE either, nobody could take a main eventer wearing a thong seriously. Not only did it fail to the WWE though, it failed in the eyes of fans all around the world, from the moment the big man confessed. This was a hot storyline for over a year, there was a lot of potential candidates and everyone had their guesses but everybody ended up getting disappointed. I'd say the only one good thing that came out of it was the "He did it for The Rock" line, that's still used to this day, it's a classic. But anyway, the big question is who would you have revealed as the culprit instead or were you actually good with it being Rikishi?

I'll probably get jumped on for this but I think it could've been great if it was Raven. He had just debuted around the same time Austin returned and it could've been an awesome debut if Raven was revealed as the culprit. The promos these two would've put on would've been gold and they could've put on a better match at No Mercy than what we got in Rikishi/Austin. I honestly don't know what reason to think of for Raven mowing Austin down especially since he was in ECW at the time and he came to the WWE a year later although he could say that since his plan failed, he's arrived to finish off the job but I'm sure the WWE could've thought of something. Rikishi did return on November 13, 1999, just one day before Survivor Series, so if they could easily run with someone who was barely in the WWF when it happened then they could surely run it with Raven. I know Raven was smaller than Austin and as this is WWE, he would've ended up as mid-carder/jobber anyway but it still would've been worth seeing Raven-Austin even if he was too small to stay as a main eventer in their eyes and if the reason behind it made little sense due to him being in ECW at the time.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

The only answer to this is HHH. He talked about how he became the most dominant person in the business once Austin was gone. Well, why wouldn't they just have him be the person to do it instead of Rikishi? Rikishi wasn't main-event material. HHH should have been the guy all along and I'm glad they didn't prolong the reveal because it would have been a huge waste of time.

 

[HBsam31]

Like Little Jerry Lawler said it could only be HHH. His whole thing was getting big while Stone Cold was gone. He was really the only person that made sense and would want Austin out. Rikishi was not main event material, and I was glad they put a stop to that and revealed HHH as the man behind it all. It went just as it should except they could have left Rikishi out.

 

[2Sweet_4Life]

It should of been Mr.Ass he deserved a push and was with DX at the time and he had blonde hair. Also if you think back to SS99 you will realise that Mr.Ass wasn't shown when Austin got ran over but the rest of DX was so i believe that Vince's original pick was Mr.Ass.

 

[nyr1135]

It should of been Mr.Ass he deserved a push and was with DX at the time and he had blonde hair. Also if you think back to SS99 you will realise that Mr.Ass wasn't shown when Austin got ran over but the rest of DX was so i believe that Vince's original pick was Mr.Ass.

there is no way it was ever going to be billy gunn. he had just gotten a big push as king of the ring and a match with the rock at summer slam. he didnt go anywhere after that because he didnt click as a main event guy.

like most others have said it had to be hhh. he was the one the would benefit most from austin being out. with him gone he became the most dominant guy in the wwf

 

[akrassikauda]

Ok people if you watch the video in slow motion you will see it is clearly Billy Gunn behind the wheel, it was that obvious. Billy Gunn was in line to do a program with Austin then he got hurt and Vince scrapped it and went with Rikishi. Some folks wanted to see if Gunn had what it took to get to the next level, what better way to take out the face of WWE at that time and being a part of the Outlaws gave him credibility to do something like that, way better than happy go lucky dancing Rikishi.

 

[Frostrike]

I actually did not like this story line because it reminded me of the same angle WCW had done earlier in '99 with the white hummer that hit Kevin Nash. Good thing with the Austin storyline is that it came to an appropriate end even though it jumped the shark with Rikishi as the guilty party. Personally at the time I felt that it should have been either HHH or a Mcmahon.

Looking back at it now I probably would have voted Undertaker just cause of his new American Badass gimmick and since he was coming back from an injury vacation would have tried to make their returns coincide with one another. This could have set up a good HHH/Undertaker vs Rock/Austin angle if they wanted to push it going forward that Undertaker had an accomplice.

If I recall Russo I think left to WCW midway through this story line so creative continued it and swerved everyone with Rikishi. I stopped watching cause Raw switched to TNN at some point during this time too I believe. All I can definitely recall is that a lot of people stopped watching Raw around this time.

 

[The Brain]

This topic comes up every once in a while and I’m always the only one to bring up what I think should be an obvious answer. Who was the breakout star of 2000? Who won the WWF title the night of Austin’s return match? Who could have been proven as a hypocritical heel as someone that preached integrity and was then revealed to be behind such a heinous plot? Who made his debut the very night Austin was run over and could have easily spun that coincidence into a storyline? Kurt Angle.

Angle, a traditional wrestling specialist, could have taken it upon himself to eliminate the poster boy of the attitude era in an attempt to bring wrestling back to the WWF. By taking out Austin the night of his debut and winning the title the night of his return Angle could have proudly claimed his plan worked to perfection. Angle spent 2000 as the goofy heel and this would have been a great way to transition him into the more aggressive character he would eventually become anyway. I actually think it was unintentionally set up perfectly and I’m surprised nobody thought to capitalize on that.

 

[richunclescrooge]

I don't think it should have immediately been HHH, or Angle like a few others have posted. It was right that it went to someone the caliber of Rikishi. While there may have been better choices, this hot angle could have been a potential break out superstar moment and given someone the push to main event. They were hoping to do that with Rikishi, but the big man is a much better face than heel so it didn't go over well.

Someone like Billy Gunn would have been a good choice. Had it not worked out in the long run like with Rikishi, they could have done the HHH swerve as well. That was the good thing about this angle, they took a chance to do something great but had a back up plan if it didn't work out.

Knowing what I know now, I would have given it to Mark Henry. There was no way to know he'd end up as good as he is now, but if the chance had been taken with him then, the WWE could have benefited from him being a main eventer for the past decade.

 

[Winds-Of-Change]

This topic comes up every once in a while and I’m always the only one to bring up what I think should be an obvious answer. Who was the breakout star of 2000? Who won the WWF title the night of Austin’s return match? Who could have been proven as a hypocritical heel as someone that preached integrity and was then revealed to be behind such a heinous plot? Who made his debut the very night Austin was run over and could have easily spun that coincidence into a storyline? Kurt Angle.

Angle, a traditional wrestling specialist, could have taken it upon himself to eliminate the poster boy of the attitude era in an attempt to bring wrestling back to the WWF. By taking out Austin the night of his debut and winning the title the night of his return Angle could have proudly claimed his plan worked to perfection. Angle spent 2000 as the goofy heel and this would have been a great way to transition him into the more aggressive character he would eventually become anyway. I actually think it was unintentionally set up perfectly and I’m surprised nobody thought to capitalize on that.

I thought of Angle, then I realised.. That's Kurt Angle. At the time, it wouldn't of made sense because then, he had a cheesy olympian gimmick. He's still the Olympian of course, but all the cheese has gone. He's serious now. If someone ran Austin down today then yea, I'd most likely say Angle would be a suspect. But in 1999/2000, It wasn't in his character to run somebody over.. I could see Triple H doing it because HHH didn't give a damn about anyone and would hit his own Mum with a sledgehammer to be champion. You see people say they would die to be champion, but Triple H made you believe he would Kill to be champion.

HHH Had the most to gain with Austin's Absence, but if I would of picked anyone apart from The Game... I would of gone with Chris Benoit.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

HHH Had the most to gain with Austin's Absence, but if I would of picked anyone apart from The Game... I would of gone with Chris Benoit.

Benoit was still in WCW if I am not mistaken so that wouldn't have worked.

Triple H was a poor choice in my opinion. The reason being is that Triple H didn't the rub for this and it was used to turn him heel after a 2 month face/tweener turn, I always thought to myself "what was the point of all this?".

It was a weak conclusion because there was no swerve or surprises here. At the time I would have it wanted to be anybody but Triple H since it served nothing and really didn't help anyone.

I would have even have just them keep it to Rikishi if it meant Triple H wasn't involved. At least the Rikishi experiment would have lasted longer or at least would have set up a Rock/Austin conspiracy angle. Since, apparently, Rikishi ran over Austin to help The Rock. This could have set off tension between toe two leading to WM.

On the other hand maybe Vince McMahon would have been the perfect person. Replace "Rikishi" with "Vince McMahon" in what I just said and it would have come to full circle with Vince and Austin joining forces. Maybe we can have a story where Vince wanted The Rock or The Big Show as Champion but not Triple H or Austin, so he had Austin taken out of the equation. So it would be Austin question if Rock and Vince were in cahoots leading to WM.

 

[berlinbrawler]

At the time I expected it to be the Rock. I figured the Rock was about to turn heel. It made sense, seeing as Austin was about to reclaim the spot of top babyface anyway. And despite what Triple H claims, it was the Rock who benefitted the most from Austin's absence.

But if the Rock was out of the question, Triple H was the only other possible answer. It made sense, it would have been cool.

Rikishi being the driver was ridiculous.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

Ok people if you watch the video in slow motion you will see it is clearly Billy Gunn behind the wheel, it was that obvious. Billy Gunn was in line to do a program with Austin then he got hurt and Vince scrapped it and went with Rikishi. Some folks wanted to see if Gunn had what it took to get to the next level, what better way to take out the face of WWE at that time and being a part of the Outlaws gave him credibility to do something like that, way better than happy go lucky dancing Rikishi.

Wow I didn't realise they actually made Gunn drive, thats cool.

Anyway if you remember in the storyline they said the driver had blonde hair at the time I suspected Billy Gunn too.

But someone suggested on here once, and I think this would've been pretty awesome. TEST. Not saying he should've won a won title but he could've been a decent borderline main event player.

 

[Winds-Of-Change]

Benoit was still in WCW if I am not mistaken so that wouldn't have worked.

He was my friend your right.
So my other choice would be Funaki.. Nobody else would of made sense.

Haha just kidding, Triple H would be the only one who would of made sense. Or even The Rock as Triple H claimed.

 

[Wookiee_Inc]

I think people are forgetting the typical Attitude era storytelling. Sometimes writing would get so focused on a 'TWIST ENDING' that it would hurt the overall storyline. Clearly all signs pointed to The Rock. All of Commissioner Foley's investigation pointed to The Rock. However they went with a swerve so it had to be someone 'near' The Rock. Rikishi was just sort of a victim of being a big enough name to use and be a shocker.

Using HHH would have been logical, but not a 'shocking reveal' which is what they wanted.

 

[Kliq69]

Personally. Jericho or Big Show. Big Show because he gained the most from it. Jericho because I believe a heel turn around that time would have helped him reach the top that much sooner. Having the radicals immediately latch on to him in February, maybe even Taz in January as almost a reverse nwo angle. Plenty of feuds to last until Austin returned... Then turn him face around RR01, feud with Benoit to Mania. Then have Jericho as the anti-wcw guy during the Invasion who turns on the WWF.

Big Show was most logical. Jericho was the choice with the most potential.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

As much as I would have enjoyed seeing it be Raven - He was never going to be a main eventer in WWF and the scenario would have ended the same way it did with Rikishi.

Even if it was Rikishi - it would have been cool to have the man pulling the string all along be The Rock instead of Triple H. Would have added so much to their match at WM17... Not that they really needed any added draw for that one.

Benoit could have worked, because he was kinda working as Triple H's '2nd in command' and attacking Austin on RAW and PPVs building this feud up.

Jericho would have been really cool, essentially pushing him to the main event a year earlier. Doubt he would have had a title reign though during this time period.

In any event - I didn't mind it being Triple H in the end..and the three stages of hell match was pretty sweet, I thought.

 

[Chris1-16]

At the time I expected it to be the Rock. I figured the Rock was about to turn heel. It made sense, seeing as Austin was about to reclaim the spot of top babyface anyway. And despite what Triple H claims, it was the Rock who benefitted the most from Austin's absence.

But if the Rock was out of the question, Triple H was the only other possible answer. It made sense, it would have been cool.

Rikishi being the driver was ridiculous.

Bullshit, HHH clearly benefited more. I have watched Raw/Smackdown episodes from '99 before Austin was on the inactive list and Triple H was usually getting beat up/laid out at the end of the show. When the Triple H/Vince/Stephanie storyline started I realized that HHH started taking less beatdowns and the show would close with him looking strong most of the time.

As a matter of fact, it was Triple H who was in the main event storyline in the last few months of that year, so there you go.