Rikishi hitting Austin with the car

Rikishi being Rocks cousin and having access to his keys was about the only thing that made sense to me. From what I can remember they started turning him towards heel for a few weeks prior between attacking Chyna during his feud with Eddie and then vicious fights with Kane. But once they did the reveal I don’t recall one time where like he got the heel reaction that someone like Triple H did when he was revealed as the mastermind. I still feel like they saw that Rikishi couldn’t even get huge heel heat from shelving someone like Austin that they had to turn Triple H. I really don’t believe that was the initial plan.

I think the angle itself was before its time because to me it screams current age theory of “well we have this idea but don’t know how to continue/end it after the first spot”. Everyone says it was supposed to be Gunn but I doubt it, Austin was very against working with him which he would have had to do upon return. That’s why Gunn faced off against Rock after King of the Ring in 99 and not Austin.

For me two guys fit into the role very well of who it should have been and who would have gotten the biggest rub out of it and that’s either Angle or Benoit. I’d have either of the following two scenarios play out.

Angle — Kurt continues to get beat up by Austin during his search upon return treating him like a dork and nobody like he was. Angle wins the title at No Mercy from Rock and then while he’s on top of the world the following night on Raw they reveal that Angle ran down Austin playing off of the whole “who had more to gain” premise they were pushing when he came back. It’s hard to argue anyone had a bigger year than Angle from 1999 to 2000.

Benoit — Knowing that he was jumping ship to WWF a few months prior, Benoit took it upon himself to remove the competition to open up a spot for himself and the Radicalz. He was already being promoted as one of the most rabid and ruthless wrestlers on the roster. Would have given him that last little push from semi main eventer to #1 heel.

From my perspective, the WHODUNIT scenario is always a letdown when it just takes too long to get to the reveal, unless it's some one new and brand new or something.

That being said, I'm trying to remember what I, and friends were thinking at the time and I really don't remember in detail. I know we were disappointed, but can't remember a specific reason. I think though, it was two things. One, we expected someone at a higher level. And two, I don't think we really wanted to boo Rikishi.

I still maintain repeatedly that they could have built up Test and made it him who was "framed" to run over Austin.

Test was still pretty over in late 1999 thanks to his storyline with Stephanie, and they wasted him after she went with Triple H, literally leaving him with nothing. He had no vengeance or vendetta towards HHH stealing her away from him, making him look like a simp and then becoming just another guy on the roster.

But if they kept him hot and wanting revenge on Triple H, then popular over 2000, it could have worked.

I would have Triple H steal Stephanie like he did, then run over Austin, but frame Test for it to make his life fall apart. There would be some grainy CCTV footage of a light-coloured, long haired guy with a goatee driving the car. And it would look like Test but was actually Triple H. Test would get framed by him and have to defend himself against Austin but gain sympathy from the crowd as it wasn't him. Maybe turn heel because of the reaction, but he could have been made a bigger deal. Triple H would be revealed as the actual guy who ran over Austin and then the same feud develops that we saw.


Although I agree with Evil Abed in that Benoit would have been an excellent candidate for the guy who did it, instead of Rikishi. Benoit stood to gain way more heel heat and was already over like rover back then.

Wow that Test idea is phenomenal, its like just keep sticking it to him until he blows up into a heel. It would have been interesting to see if he could have carried that role for that long because to your point the moment they pretty much gave up on Test getting revenge on Triple H was the moment he was toast.

Haha Test was toast. I dunno if it would have worked like I'm saying, but I feel it could have if all fell into place. I definitely think the crowd would turn on him despite his innocence, and he would snap, like a no more mister nice guy.



True that, and Russo was the one who advocated for Test's push so once he was gone, that was it.

Jericho would have been a good choice.

Well HHH was the mastermind. I wonder if that was always the plan or if it was a case of Rikishi not being that over as a heel to have a long term program with Austin so they came up with that way for Hunter and Austin to feud?

Honestly, HHH and Jericho are the only ones who made sense to me. Benoit too but with him still being in WCW when it happened kills that angle.

Rumor was that it was going to be Billy Gunn originally, but he’d have flopped more than Rikishi did.

Maybe Test but that would have involved booking him as a strong singles guy in 2000 rather than putting him with Albert. If they revealed it as Test after a year of tagging in T&A it would have flopped like Rikishi did.

Some people say Angle, but I honestly don’t see it in his character to do that (Kurt was still playing the goofy heel when Austin returned in the fall of 2000).

With Jericho, you have a heel who was floundering going into Survivor Series 1999. He made a huge debut, only to crap the bed for the next 5 months. His heel character in 1999 (and later years) was shown to be willing to stoop to any lows to get what he wanted. Being revealed as the one who ran over Austin would have made him an instant main eventer.

You could argue that HHH didn’t really need to be the one who orchestrated the thing as he was a made man by the fall of 2000, but storyline wise, it made the most sense.

Shawn Michaels woulda been cool, out for revenge after his last match and could say he did it for triple h