Higher Power vs. Austin Vehicular Assailant - Bigger Waste?

I didn't mind Rikishi as the driver. But the higher power just didn't make sense. Just done for the one time pop, something the company have done way too much down the years. They atleast tried to make sense of Vince being the higher power but I guess they just didn't have anyone else.

With the driver angle, Triple H was almost a babyface during the Angle feud but he did not want to turn if I recall correctly. So when he was back heel again he was revealed as being behind Austin being run over. This led to both angles: Kurt, Steph & Hunter love triangle & who ran over Stone Cold ending on a sour note despite months & months of build up.

Wasn't there a rumor at the time that the higher power was going to be Jake the Snake Roberts? I remember hearing something about that then, or maybe a few years after the fact. They were going to bring him in as the puppeteer of the Undertaker and the darkness. Do something with the fact that Jake was there at the beginning of Taker's career. They were also going to harken back to Jake and Austin's match at KOTR96, saying that after Austin beat him and cut that promo of Austin 3:16, that that was the downfall for Jake and his career. Winning the KOTR tournament was going to be Jake's redemption and rise back to the top but Austin derailed that, and him as the higher power was Jake's revenge. They were also going to mention that Jake was a member, or had been a member of the "office" for WWF, kind of like Brisco and Patterson, which would have made it make sense that he had some kind of authority. It would have been interesting. But then again, at that time, Jake was not doing well personally, and it probably wouldn't have gone well. Then again, this could have been just an internet rumor.

As for the vehicular assault angle, yeah, making it Rikishi was a big mistake. He was a nice mid-card guy, but was not a top tier guy and couldn't be seen as an equal worthy of the spot with Austin and the Rock. I think they brought HHH back in as the "mastermind" to salvage the angle. That spot would have been better off used on a new star, maybe someone coming in from WCW or ECW. Maybe someone from Austin's past who was either jealous or angry at Austin's success.

But, to answer your question, I think the vehicular assault angle was the bigger missed opportunity to create a new star. It really could have been used to bring in someone new a start them off at the top. With the Higher Power angle, it most likely would not have worked with the person being a current wrestler. It seems like it would have needed to be a management-type person, someone who had authority to cause problems for Austin and other wrestlers. 

Austin vehicular incident for sure.Rikishi was a terrible choice.Like I said in the past here it was tough to take a guy with his a$$ hanging out seriously.

The higher power stuff was dumb but JRs reaction was great...


Jake in the role wouldve been interesting but like MKSavage  said he wasnt in the right frame of mind during this time.A reunion with Taker wouldve been must see TV though thats for sure


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You guys have made me change my choice.

I originally went with the higher power, but even before hbkbigdaddycool and Diviak said it had to be Vince, I was also thinking this recently. Who ELSE could it have been, after all that buildup? Anyone less and it would have been a wet fart. Jake could have been cool if he was sharp as he was in the late 80s/early 90s, but he was battling drug addiction, bloated and beligerant by 1999.

Christopher Daniels makes zero sense to me. He was basically a nobody by this point. He was 5'11 (with lifts) and 220lbs. He'd never wrestled on a major stage. He was unproven in promos in front of a large crowd. He had a handful of matches on Jakked or whatever. What upside was there to him? He'd have fizzled out in 2 weeks going up against Austin and then whoever else. People would have been like - "WHO???".

I don't care what Prichard says, I just cannot see this happening nor that it was seriously considered. I think someone threw it out there and it got shut down. That's it.


Regarding the driver - I've said this a few times - it should have been Test. But it'd have had to have been booked right from the start.

Triple H stole Steph from Test. He pretty much gave up without a fight after almost marrying her. He got no revenge, and on the first Smackdown of 2000, even did what Triple H asked of him. They turned him heel, and slipped down the card. He looked like a chump.

So instead, they should have had Test being livid, want revenge and kept him really strong and booked him against DX and maybe put on the shelf by them for a few months to work on his promos.

Then fast forward to October - grainy CCTV footage shows a long, light-colour haired man with a beard in the driver's seat of the car. It "looked" like Test. But after a couple of months of feuding with Stone Cold and Test proclaiming his innocence but still up for a fight - it is revealed it was actually Triple H, who framed Test. It looked like Test in the car, but Triple H is also bearded and blond. HHH wanted to ruin Austin's career (like we got) and humiliate Test so he could keep him out of the picture whilst he married Steph.

The original plan was for Billy to be behind the Austin thing right?