Logically speaking Kurt Angle would have made the most sense. He debuted that night, his character was very moralizing back then so he would have strongly disapproved of Austin's antics (cursing, drinking beer, flipping the bird, etc.), and running Austin down and framing Rock for the crime would have been like killing two birds with one stone, making his ascension to the top of the WWF a lot easier.
And this is exactly why they should hire long-time fans to be the writers. We know the product, we know what would make us happy or shock everybody in the arena and we know who has it and who doesn’t. Yet, they keep on bringing in the same people, who have probably never watched a wrestling match before they were hired and we end up with crap like this. And the crap we’ve been watching for the last three or four years. The whole ridiculousness of the WWE saying they’re not going to make stars anymore, makes absolutely no sense. If you don’t have stars like Austin, Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, etc.… then you have absolutely no reason for people to tune in. Regardless of how old people get, they want their superheroes. I have a good idea why they don’t want to make stores anymore, because they end up superseding the product itself. But, without them… They have no reason for anyone to want to watch. I truly think Vince had a stroke or something and nobody know. Because, of all people and considering some of the people that were around since the 80s and 90s are by his side like Prichard, there is no reason why this couldn’t be turned around in a matter of months. Do a second attitude era. Get rid of the PG rating. People are craving something that feels real, looks real and gets them excited.
I remember being so disappointed that it was Rikishi because it made no sense. Ruined Rikishi’s career. Extremely over as a face but not over as a heel.
It didn't work because when Austin came back he just whooped Rikishi's ass the entire match and pinned him ruining any credibility he had as a legit heel.
Too bad Pillman died in 97. No one and I mean NO ONE would have been more appropriate for a vehicular homicide storyline than the Loose Canon Brian F'N Pillman.
Michaels made the most sense. "I never got the chance to whip your ass because of my injuries, so I made sure my boy HHH could reach the top with you out of the picture". Comes back as a huge heel with DX and you go on from that. Even if he was still pilled up they could've had DX work for him until he was ready.
Michaels had his first match in TWA in April of 2000 to see if he could work again, and he did fairly well, so he said he eventually would come back to WWE. Everything was set for him to return to WMX7 but he showed up at the RAW before WM pilled out of his mind and they scrapped the whole thing. Had he been clean, they could've had him train from April 2000 all the way to Wrestlemania. Lots of plans would have to change but it would have been money, they could've reformed the Kliq and save the Invasion.
Yeah he was 2 years away from returning. I definitely could see it working though. Especially with Austin being the one who ended Michaels' run at the top at WrestleMania. But at the time you gotta ask where the payoff is, and with Shawn there just wasn't one.
I love this idea, but the other problem with your "DX works for him" theory is that HHH was DONE playing second fiddle to Michaels, at least at that moment and for the next several years to come. Only once they had both been back on top for a number of years were they willing to put their egos aside and reform DX I still say they should have done it in 2002 when they teased it
Bruce’s rendition of what happened makes so much sense… I remember thinking “rikishi? How?” I feel like as a kid I didn’t even know who rikishi was when Austin was run over. Then today it was the rock, no wait it was triple h… the way he laid it out makes sense making chicken salad outa chicken 💩
So glad they are covering this. I was Disgusted with their decision to use Rikishi. Soooo Stupid. It was a big deal for us in the Detroit area, because this is where Stone Cold got hit.
I bought my 2 younger brothers tickets for their birthdays when tickets went on sale. We were 15 years old - 19 years old at the time... When the main event was announced, a triple threat with the 3 biggest stars in the business, we couldn't believe our luck that we would see THE BEST main event of all time, in person. Then Austin got ran over, and we got the Big Show of all people smh
He was popular, but he wasn't really ever anything more than a midcard guy as a babyface. He got a main event run out of his heel turn, even it it was brief. (that's not saying I was a fan of the angle or the heel turn)
He was popular but this was a way to get Rikishi up the card. It didn't work out. Oh well. Austin was the man back then and more over than any wrestler in WWE history and the fans paid to see him kick ass.
At the time, Rikishi was a rising star on the verge of being a main eventer, a big heel turn might have just been the final push he needed. Personally, I think the big mistake was actually not committing to this properly, keeping Rikishi as the sole architect and above all, giving him (screwy) wins over Austin and The Rock. Critics can say all they like about Rikishi not making sense as the culprit, the real reason he wasn't taken seriously is that he didn't get big immediate results.
Interest in the angle immediately plummeted when Rikishi was revealed. The execution and follow-up was not the issue, it wasn’t going to get over. I’m sure Rikishi could have had a great monster heel run with a better executed turn and push, but this was not the way. Everyone knew the writers pulled it out of their ass and it was immediate go away heat.
It should of been Big Show. Not that I would of wanted that match, but it makes sense cause Big Show got into the match at survivor series. He had the most to gain.
I loved it until it was revealed to be Rikishi. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that it was Rikishi's fault or anything, he did the best that he could but he was just better as a face. However, I loved the build up to it; Austin just coming in whenever, beating the living shit out of everybody because that was his way of justice and Foley getting involved and just the whole "who did it" nature. But yeah, the payoff wasn't all that great.
It was bad all around... But somehow the guy w/ the big nose 👃 benefited from this. I hated this storyline, I hated it for us fans. And Rikishi had worked heel long before being a good guy w/ the blonde hair & Yokozuna-like wrestling style. Thing is, he had been a heel but NOT a talking heel. Wasn't he actually getting toward top of the card as a good guy working against THE NOSE around this time? This story did nothing for Rikishi, Austin, Rock or anybody else... EXCEPT THE 👃 who really came up from this horrid "angle"
Think about this as a wrestling fan, when did THE 👃 ever make anyone look great or raise a wrestler's game to where you thought "that guy is good"? The answer, if we're honest is never
But the good thing about the Attitude Era was that even in shitty storyline decisions at least it was entertaining. The build up and match between Steve and Rikishi at No Mercy 2000 was great. Today's WWE is just shitty all around tho. Storylines suck, characters suck, matches suck, TV production sucks, crowds suck and the announcers suck.
Like Prichard said, "this is what happens when you don't have an ending before your beginning." They literally just did it to get Austin off TV and "oh yeah, that could raise issues and get people talking!" Except either no one took the time or were given the time to figure out WHO would have been the guy. Rikishi was a big star at the time, one of the most over guys on the roster and they probably thought him turning heel would have been a big deal. That was the nature of the business at the time though. Especially in 2000-2001, they were throwing everything out there to see what stuck on the wall.
@Dante Carroll yup, but this was a case of hindsight rather than foresight. They at least tried to take it further, placing him in the main event scene a few times. It just didn't work, but can't blame them for trying, I guess.
@Dante Carroll Again, power of hindsight. It's the idea of attempting to push another dude into the main event scene. I'm not saying you're wrong, because I agree with you. But I can also see what they were attempting here. It could have worked if - before they did all this - they started showing Rikishi in a more serious light, perhaps turn him heel ahead of time so everyone isn't struck with the whole "goofy dancer is big bad guy now?" out of nowhere.
@Dante Carroll I think they were trying to rely on the "shock" of him being the one to do it to push him to the top. Again, probably would have worked better if they made him look more like a top tier star before that reveal. Personally, I would have pushed for Test or something. Maybe not the "him working for Triple H" part, but in general. Sure Triple H would have been the best choice, but IF they had to pick someone, I would have gone with Test. Dude at least still had the "big star attitude" at the time - if I remember right, but may not be.
They don't mention it here, but it had planned for Billy Gunn to be in that spot, but Austin refused to work a program with him, so they had to scramble.
It didn't make sense. Rikishi was a total comedy character being shoe horned into this serious storyline. At the time I hated it because Rikishi was the sort of wrestler I didn't even want on the show, a comedy character who was too fat to be in athletic matches. I remember a rumour I read online that I actually really liked that in hindsight was never going to happen. The story was that Raven was going to be the guy who drove the car but he was going to do a master-puppert angle with Kane and it was going to be a case of Austin had to get through Kane to get to Raven. THAT made sense. Rikishi going from stink faces and dance routines for children to attempted vehicular homicide made ZERO sense.
Looking back, so many people should have been the culprit instead of Rikishi. I thought the following all made more sense: Billy Gunn Chris Jericho Kurt Angle Big Show Undertaker Shawn Michaels McMahon’s Or wait longer and at the right time, make it another big star. For those who say it wouldn’t have fit Angle’s character, he could’ve even played it off as an accident and look like a “coward” I think it ruined Rikishi, as he did amazing as a face. Lastly, it didn’t help matters that he was still running around in a thong. Even months later, it was still hard to picture him as a “bad guy”
this angle really reminded me of the seinfeld episode where newman turned out to be the scoff law "white whale" and also the one where he kidnaps a dog, the cops investigated and concluded it was a heavy guy who broke the car seat lol and jerry goes "newman!" lol
This was so bad I remember watching it with my step brother me and him were huge Austin fans and only really started watching wwf again because Austin was back 👑 then this happened.... This along with Austins heel turn are what killed off my brothers and my friends interest in wrestling it was so bad.
Jeff Jarrett would have made a great choice if he had a better relationship with Vince McMahon at the time. Austin refused to work with Jarrett years prior claiming he “wasn’t a big enough star” so this could have been a way for Jarrett to gain some revenge against Austin after having become a main event player elsewhere and for the two to finally work together. Rikishi actually could have made sense if he was still doing his “making a difference” character from years earlier. He could have viewed Austin as a “poor influence on the kids” with his drinking, smoking, getting into fights and general unsavory attitude so decided to mow Austin down with his car and take him out for good.
Not sure why this angle takes so much heat. Prior to his joinging Too Cool, Rikishi was a serious force. Physically he was imposing, he was big but agile, he had a devasting piledriver finish... then he's inexplicably paired with w/ Too Cool and made to dance. Too soften a monster like that just seemed silly to me at the time. The storyline gave Kishi teeth again, gave the top guys someone new to work with. Sure, it got a little convoluted, but it was unexpected and it did keep you guessing for a bit... Execution could've been better, but I can appreciate the thought process.
They/we knew the perpetrator had blonde hair, but couldn't see his skin tone or notice his very large body frame. Nice work, Russo. 1/1500th of a star.
Supposedly, Vince originally looked at Rikishi as the second coming of Yokozuna, however by the time this push came around for him in 2000, not only did it make very little sense, but with the audience that they were now garnering towards, I highly doubt that ANYBODY wanted to see another Yokozuna type character in the main event at any point during the Attitude Era. He was perfectly fine as a midcard comedy act.
It don't matter they didn't have to reveal who did it right away.. they could have waited until they found a reasonable solution.. but I guess that's hindsight
I’ll be honest, I loved the Austin Rikishi rivalry. Rikishi as a heel was entertaining as hell. His promos were always on point. Those segments with Rock, Austin, Triple H, and Rikishi were all excellent segments. “If Austin were to step up to me, I would slap him like the dog he is”, the quote was among those lines, anyways that line always stuck with me.
12:53 Dave Meltzer said in a Wrestling Observer back issue that Austin's drink-driving was supposed to be foreshadowing his eventual heel turn (along with other antics at that time, such as interfering in matches when Commissioner Foley had asked him not to)
Took Austin a few months to regain his momentum after they saddled him with Rikishi. I'm sure it had alot to do with Stephanie taking over Creative at this time. Not sure how 2001 would've turned out had HHH not gotten injured. It was CLEARLY Austin's year and had Trips been around I don't think it would've worked out that way. Looking at how things went downhill in 2002 for Austin when Hunter returned it makes sense.
Austin's neck and knees we're shot in 2002 and he was having problems in life that he has admitted to in his podcast. and WWE had to try to find guys to take his spot
It doesn't really seem like that bad of an angle. Pushing a younger talent may have been too risky. The known characters were the safest bet even if it was someone like Rikishi.
Say what you will but Russo is partially responsible for the greatest creative moments of wwf 1: dx 2: Canada vs America 3: Vince McMahon vs stone cold 4: mankind vs undertaker 5: the rock joining the corporation 6: the godfather 7: nation of domination vs dx 8: Kane vs undertaker 9: the rock vs triple h 10: too cool 11: the Hardy’s 12: the brood 13: the oddities 14: hawk and droz 15: mankind vs rock 16: Austin vs rock 17: Austin vs undertaker 18: ministry of darkness 19: the corporation 20: triple h heel turn 21 xpac and Kane 22: gold dust and Val Venus 23: the heart foundation with Brian pillman,Bret hart,Owen hart,Jim niedhart,Davey smith 24: Kane and mankind 25: outlaws vs mankind and chainsaw Charlie 26: Al snow becoming delusional 27: acolytes 28: Austin vs Kane And so many others they aren’t in my head you hating on Vince Russo is the most modern generation way of saying I don’t know how to think for myself so I follow what everyone else says
Kish was a bad choice but I really can’t think of anyone who would’ve been any better. Rock: the top babyface (besides Austin) Foley: retired HHH: can’t lead Austin to the parking lot and then be the guy who hit him, it’d be extremely anticlimactic Taker: just returned as a face Kane: meh Boss Man: gone Michaels: injured Jericho: mid card face, would’ve just hindered him Angle: still playing the Howdy Doody goofball gimmick Big Show: in OVW I guess it could’ve been Benoit but that would be horrible in hindsight. Also, Russo was already gone before they even hit Austin with the car at Survivor Series.
it don't matter if Michaels was injured cause he was still involved in the business and a back injury don't mean you cant drive a car lol.. and Foley was still in WWE when Austin came back. he was commissioner. They could have just said it was Vince since the history that they had
Troy Mathis what do they get out of making Michaels the driver? Nothing. He’s not wrestling and barely shows up at all so there’s nothing to gain by making it him.
Michaels wasn't coming back yet because nobody had given him a good creative reason to. It took him a while to get motivated to do the street fight with Triple H. Putting him in a top program opposite of Stone Cold Steve Austin, possibly involving the World Title if it stretched on long enough might have enticed him to get back into the ring full time even sooner than he did. Michaels even insulted the fans at one point for dropping him and running to Austin. They could have turned that into a story line, but they dropped the ball.
I think there should have been build up. Just imagine: - Somebody mentions Stone Cold, and Rikishi should look uncomfortable. - People trash-talking Stone Cold, a few people say typical promos, but Rikishi looking like he wants to say something, but laughs and walks away. - Something about a red car, rikishi is one of a handful of wrestlers that's seen with one in a later unconnected video. - Just have a bunch of people that match different clues, and a handful of the same ones, but Rikishi barely matches any of the clues, and the reason could be he is very careful. - Have some uncomfortableness come up about racism, and Rikishi looking frustrated. It doesn't have to be some cinematic storyline, but there has to be some signs, so it's not so random.
I remember this storyline like yesterday. I was in middle school. Very bad & lazily written storyline. Also Rikishi (who had a great run up to that point) never recovered popularity wise. A "TOTAL WASTE" of a great character & performer. In his prime Rikishi was one of the best big men ever. Extremely good footwork for a man of his size. One victim of bad writing. Rikishi should have "Never" turned heel this way.
The fact that they just picked rikishi because no one would ever guess and Vince found it hilarious 😂😂 WWE is classic sometimes. It was Jerry Springer/Days Of Our Lives influence showing in the attitude era again. The so good its bad kinda thing.
Rikishi being the driver made so little sense and was an absolutely GARGANTUAN letdown. Then you came to find out that he was under the orders of Triple H who was the real mastermind behind it which lessened Rikishi's impact even further. Just awful in every way possible and quite literally killed his career as he never got over being a heel and was never the same performance wise after that.
This killed Rikishi's career, he never could get his popularity back after this. They could have saved it by making him the champion after this but they didn't even do that.
I was still in elementary school when this happened, and even to us it made no sense. My friend was like what? Rikishi couldn't even fit in that car, it had to be someone else, probably not even a wrestler.
It should have been The Higher Power. “It was me! It was me all along!” Either that or it should have been the hand that was birthed by Mae Young and Mark Henry. That would’ve been epic! 🤚
I remember as a kid.....that it just had to haven been triple H.. It was like the talk of the year....its almost like if it was the worst kept secret that it was Hunter...
Even though Big Show would have been the most logical choice to run over Austin due to the blonde hair clue and large size, I think Chris Jericho would have been a better choice if they get rid of the large size clue, Jericho is a natural heel, who can garner heat from the fans and can act alone without having an accomplice
Should have been Big Show with Triple H having told Big Show that he was next in line for a title shot if Austin was somehow taken out. Would have gone along with Big Show winning the title that night!
![Gucci Mane & Sexyy Red - You Don't Love Me [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/j7IBqyFKT4c/mqdefault.jpg)
It should’ve been Eugene during his driving test to try & get his license
HEEL EUGENE
Kaque Burlington this comment needs to have about 20X more likes!
This was before Eugene
Eugene was obsessed with HHH also let's not forget.
So they shouldve just brought in a random special guy right then.. Lol does stone cold still kick his ass .?
Logically speaking Kurt Angle would have made the most sense. He debuted that night, his character was very moralizing back then so he would have strongly disapproved of Austin's antics (cursing, drinking beer, flipping the bird, etc.), and running Austin down and framing Rock for the crime would have been like killing two birds with one stone, making his ascension to the top of the WWF a lot easier.
Yea but his style was way too goofy to do something that dirty. He didn't have a mean streak
Wait so he had sustain for antics lile drinking beer and flipping the bird so he gonna run him over in a car? Cmon
And this is exactly why they should hire long-time fans to be the writers. We know the product, we know what would make us happy or shock everybody in the arena and we know who has it and who doesn’t. Yet, they keep on bringing in the same people, who have probably never watched a wrestling match before they were hired and we end up with crap like this. And the crap we’ve been watching for the last three or four years. The whole ridiculousness of the WWE saying they’re not going to make stars anymore, makes absolutely no sense. If you don’t have stars like Austin, Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, etc.… then you have absolutely no reason for people to tune in. Regardless of how old people get, they want their superheroes. I have a good idea why they don’t want to make stores anymore, because they end up superseding the product itself. But, without them… They have no reason for anyone to want to watch.
I truly think Vince had a stroke or something and nobody know. Because, of all people and considering some of the people that were around since the 80s and 90s are by his side like Prichard, there is no reason why this couldn’t be turned around in a matter of months. Do a second attitude era. Get rid of the PG rating. People are craving something that feels real, looks real and gets them excited.
But Angle was an absolute coward storyline wise at the time. He didn't have the balls to run over Austin.
@@davidcarter6938 He could have had some random mope do it. It would have fit the "Intelligence" part of his personality
I remember being so disappointed that it was Rikishi because it made no sense. Ruined Rikishi’s career. Extremely over as a face but not over as a heel.
Corey Kaunfer how about you get over it it was 18 years ago
I felt the same way, Corey Kaunfer.
His heel music was funny “I’m a bad man!”
It was pointless.
It didn't work because when Austin came back he just whooped Rikishi's ass the entire match and pinned him ruining any credibility he had as a legit heel.
It should’ve been Kurt Angle, he was the one who truly benefited in Austin’s absence
I always think it should have been angle.
He even debuted the same night as that incident.......woulda made sense. Get over the competition right off by eliminating it.
Makes sense! That's why they didn't lol
That wasn't Angle's style thoug. He was too goofy to do something that devious. 04 Angle yea definitely
@@freezhollywood lol facts
The Bad Man music was the best part of this angle
Vince Ciotoli It was a good fuckin’ tune.
is tht what it was called
Too bad Pillman died in 97. No one and I mean NO ONE would have been more appropriate for a vehicular homicide storyline than the Loose Canon Brian F'N Pillman.
I remember thinking the same thing at the time.
Brian Pillman would of been a big star in WWE had he lived. It's a tragic story really.
It could have been Jake Roberts!
@@darcycox1991 That would have made a HELL of a lot more sense than Rikishi.
Brian Pillman would've been a superb choice and a Pillman/Austin feud would've been landmark.
Michaels made the most sense. "I never got the chance to whip your ass because of my injuries, so I made sure my boy HHH could reach the top with you out of the picture". Comes back as a huge heel with DX and you go on from that. Even if he was still pilled up they could've had DX work for him until he was ready.
Hbk didnt think he could wrestle again in 2000. Its a great idea if hbk was returning.
Michaels had his first match in TWA in April of 2000 to see if he could work again, and he did fairly well, so he said he eventually would come back to WWE. Everything was set for him to return to WMX7 but he showed up at the RAW before WM pilled out of his mind and they scrapped the whole thing. Had he been clean, they could've had him train from April 2000 all the way to Wrestlemania. Lots of plans would have to change but it would have been money, they could've reformed the Kliq and save the Invasion.
Yeah he was 2 years away from returning. I definitely could see it working though. Especially with Austin being the one who ended Michaels' run at the top at WrestleMania. But at the time you gotta ask where the payoff is, and with Shawn there just wasn't one.
I love this idea, but the other problem with your "DX works for him" theory is that HHH was DONE playing second fiddle to Michaels, at least at that moment and for the next several years to come. Only once they had both been back on top for a number of years were they willing to put their egos aside and reform DX I still say they should have done it in 2002 when they teased it
That’s some good booking bro
To steal a phrase from Ole Anderson: This storyline was the "drizzling shits".
2000: Who ran over Stone Cold?
2019: What was in Rowans cage?
Two examples of storylines that started without the end in sight
Bruce’s rendition of what happened makes so much sense… I remember thinking “rikishi? How?” I feel like as a kid I didn’t even know who rikishi was when Austin was run over. Then today it was the rock, no wait it was triple h… the way he laid it out makes sense making chicken salad outa chicken 💩
Triple H would have been the obvious choice. He benefited the most in Austin's absence. His career sky rocketed in Austin's absence
Literally destroyed Rikishi’s career.
I agree. He never recovered from that.
The fans just didn’t want that heel turn
He was a jibber anyway
I agree!! They should have never turned Rikishi heel. He was doing great.
So glad they are covering this. I was Disgusted with their decision to use Rikishi. Soooo Stupid. It was a big deal for us in the Detroit area, because this is where Stone Cold got hit.
I bought my 2 younger brothers tickets for their birthdays when tickets went on sale. We were 15 years old - 19 years old at the time... When the main event was announced, a triple threat with the 3 biggest stars in the business, we couldn't believe our luck that we would see THE BEST main event of all time, in person.
Then Austin got ran over, and we got the Big Show of all people smh
This angle ruined Rikishi. He was one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster and his career was never the same.
His merch sales nosedived too. I would have been pissed.
Michael Shaw II explain how it ruined his career¿
Austin whooped his ass that whole match giving Rikishi no offense at all and killing him off as a legit heel.
He was popular, but he wasn't really ever anything more than a midcard guy as a babyface. He got a main event run out of his heel turn, even it it was brief. (that's not saying I was a fan of the angle or the heel turn)
He was popular but this was a way to get Rikishi up the card. It didn't work out. Oh well. Austin was the man back then and more over than any wrestler in WWE history and the fans paid to see him kick ass.
At the time, Rikishi was a rising star on the verge of being a main eventer, a big heel turn might have just been the final push he needed. Personally, I think the big mistake was actually not committing to this properly, keeping Rikishi as the sole architect and above all, giving him (screwy) wins over Austin and The Rock. Critics can say all they like about Rikishi not making sense as the culprit, the real reason he wasn't taken seriously is that he didn't get big immediate results.
Interest in the angle immediately plummeted when Rikishi was revealed. The execution and follow-up was not the issue, it wasn’t going to get over. I’m sure Rikishi could have had a great monster heel run with a better executed turn and push, but this was not the way. Everyone knew the writers pulled it out of their ass and it was immediate go away heat.
Tripple H was the one who lead Steve Austin into the parking lot in the first place if anyone remembers is that?
it actually benefited the Big Show the most as Triple H was already a WWF Champion twice over
This channel has the best intro on RUclips. Comedy gold
"He Is A Monster Heel,Monster Heels A Good Heel"-Bruce Prichard 😂😂
I DIED LMAO LAUGHING
It should of been Big Show. Not that I would of wanted that match, but it makes sense cause Big Show got into the match at survivor series. He had the most to gain.
Amazing everyone on here feels the same. I hated the angle. I hated it for Rikishi.
I know it made no sense
I hated it for the Rock. I hated it for the people.
I loved it until it was revealed to be Rikishi. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that it was Rikishi's fault or anything, he did the best that he could but he was just better as a face. However, I loved the build up to it; Austin just coming in whenever, beating the living shit out of everybody because that was his way of justice and Foley getting involved and just the whole "who did it" nature. But yeah, the payoff wasn't all that great.
It was bad all around...
But somehow the guy w/ the big nose 👃 benefited from this.
I hated this storyline, I hated it for us fans.
And Rikishi had worked heel long before being a good guy w/ the blonde hair & Yokozuna-like wrestling style. Thing is, he had been a heel but NOT a talking heel.
Wasn't he actually getting toward top of the card as a good guy working against THE NOSE around this time?
This story did nothing for Rikishi, Austin, Rock or anybody else... EXCEPT THE 👃 who really came up from this horrid "angle"
Think about this as a wrestling fan, when did THE 👃 ever make anyone look great or raise a wrestler's game to where you thought "that guy is good"?
The answer, if we're honest is never
That Rikishi heel turn brought us Rikishi being choke-slammed off Hell in the Cell.
I wasn't too made at it.
Just dropped in real quick to see how these videos go and wonder why i subbed in the fisrt place. How you guys listen to this is just amazing to me.
One of the most botched stories of all time.
katie vick though
But the good thing about the Attitude Era was that even in shitty storyline decisions at least it was entertaining. The build up and match between Steve and Rikishi at No Mercy 2000 was great. Today's WWE is just shitty all around tho. Storylines suck, characters suck, matches suck, TV production sucks, crowds suck and the announcers suck.
So true
They made it look like they DIDN'T have MONTHS to work up an angle..
Over a year
Like Prichard said, "this is what happens when you don't have an ending before your beginning." They literally just did it to get Austin off TV and "oh yeah, that could raise issues and get people talking!"
Except either no one took the time or were given the time to figure out WHO would have been the guy. Rikishi was a big star at the time, one of the most over guys on the roster and they probably thought him turning heel would have been a big deal.
That was the nature of the business at the time though. Especially in 2000-2001, they were throwing everything out there to see what stuck on the wall.
@Dante Carroll yup, but this was a case of hindsight rather than foresight. They at least tried to take it further, placing him in the main event scene a few times. It just didn't work, but can't blame them for trying, I guess.
@Dante Carroll Again, power of hindsight. It's the idea of attempting to push another dude into the main event scene.
I'm not saying you're wrong, because I agree with you. But I can also see what they were attempting here.
It could have worked if - before they did all this - they started showing Rikishi in a more serious light, perhaps turn him heel ahead of time so everyone isn't struck with the whole "goofy dancer is big bad guy now?" out of nowhere.
@Dante Carroll I think they were trying to rely on the "shock" of him being the one to do it to push him to the top. Again, probably would have worked better if they made him look more like a top tier star before that reveal.
Personally, I would have pushed for Test or something. Maybe not the "him working for Triple H" part, but in general. Sure Triple H would have been the best choice, but IF they had to pick someone, I would have gone with Test. Dude at least still had the "big star attitude" at the time - if I remember right, but may not be.
This story was awful. Austin was given some half assed storyline. Biggest draw in history and given 5 minutes thought for his return.
No coincidence this was around the time Stephanie became head of creative. Also when they dumped the love triangle angle with Kurt and Trips.
People always hate on Vince Russo but he wrote some the best Austin's best stuff, but then again Steve could get over no matter what.
Biggest draw? You mean rock
fc775 No, Stone Cold is biggest draw in history. That’s a fact
They don't mention it here, but it had planned for Billy Gunn to be in that spot, but Austin refused to work a program with him, so they had to scramble.
I love when Connor talks about bad storylines with Bruce, he talks to him like a disappointed father reviewing his sons work.
Connor 😭
Didn’t Rock say he always hated the race angles.
@Stephen Joens why he a pussy because he hates the race card?
i mean his career really picked up steam when he joined the nation of domination, which is like as "race" as you can get.
I think I must be the only fan who likes Rikishi as a heel and this angle
The whole idea that the island boys were never allowed to be big stars is ridiculous that whole family is full of wrestling Stars past and present.
It didn't make sense. Rikishi was a total comedy character being shoe horned into this serious storyline. At the time I hated it because Rikishi was the sort of wrestler I didn't even want on the show, a comedy character who was too fat to be in athletic matches. I remember a rumour I read online that I actually really liked that in hindsight was never going to happen. The story was that Raven was going to be the guy who drove the car but he was going to do a master-puppert angle with Kane and it was going to be a case of Austin had to get through Kane to get to Raven. THAT made sense. Rikishi going from stink faces and dance routines for children to attempted vehicular homicide made ZERO sense.
And on top of that, his promo work was terrible.
Looking back, so many people should have been the culprit instead of Rikishi.
I thought the following all made more sense:
Billy Gunn
Chris Jericho
Kurt Angle
Big Show
Undertaker
Shawn Michaels
McMahon’s
Or wait longer and at the right time, make it another big star.
For those who say it wouldn’t have fit Angle’s character, he could’ve even played it off as an accident and look like a “coward”
I think it ruined Rikishi, as he did amazing as a face.
Lastly, it didn’t help matters that he was still running around in a thong. Even months later, it was still hard to picture him as a “bad guy”
Rikishi-I did it.
Dolphin Ziggler- It should have been me!!!!!
this angle really reminded me of the seinfeld episode where newman turned out to be the scoff law "white whale" and also the one where he kidnaps a dog, the cops investigated and concluded it was a heavy guy who broke the car seat lol and jerry goes "newman!" lol
Thanks to Mr. Bruce, I look BOTH ways when crossing a one way street. Because I'm bald. And have a goatee. And don't wanna get hit with a car!
This was so bad I remember watching it with my step brother me and him were huge Austin fans and only really started watching wwf again because Austin was back 👑 then this happened.... This along with Austins heel turn are what killed off my brothers and my friends interest in wrestling it was so bad.
I remember this shit around the time I stopped watching wrestling
Jeff Jarrett would have made a great choice if he had a better relationship with Vince McMahon at the time. Austin refused to work with Jarrett years prior claiming he “wasn’t a big enough star” so this could have been a way for Jarrett to gain some revenge against Austin after having become a main event player elsewhere and for the two to finally work together. Rikishi actually could have made sense if he was still doing his “making a difference” character from years earlier. He could have viewed Austin as a “poor influence on the kids” with his drinking, smoking, getting into fights and general unsavory attitude so decided to mow Austin down with his car and take him out for good.
It would have been a brilliant if they had got someone from wcw Goldberg or ddp
Rikishi as a heel damn near killed his career.
Damn near it did kill his career
i did it for th rock, i did it for the ppl
He did it... for the rock.
Not sure why this angle takes so much heat. Prior to his joinging Too Cool, Rikishi was a serious force. Physically he was imposing, he was big but agile, he had a devasting piledriver finish... then he's inexplicably paired with w/ Too Cool and made to dance. Too soften a monster like that just seemed silly to me at the time. The storyline gave Kishi teeth again, gave the top guys someone new to work with. Sure, it got a little convoluted, but it was unexpected and it did keep you guessing for a bit... Execution could've been better, but I can appreciate the thought process.
They/we knew the perpetrator had blonde hair, but couldn't see his skin tone or notice his very large body frame.
Nice work, Russo.
1/1500th of a star.
Richard Cox Russo was in WCW at the time
@@Trill_4_Life That's the punchline....
Supposedly, Vince originally looked at Rikishi as the second coming of Yokozuna, however by the time this push came around for him in 2000, not only did it make very little sense, but with the audience that they were now garnering towards, I highly doubt that ANYBODY wanted to see another Yokozuna type character in the main event at any point during the Attitude Era. He was perfectly fine as a midcard comedy act.
Vince- No one will guess that😂😂😂
😂 of course no one will guess that because it makes no sense!!!
Please rank the following major disappointment reveals: Vince McMahon as the higher power, Rikishi did it for the Rock, Hornswoggle as anonymous GM
1. Rikishi did it for the Rock
2. Vince McMahon as the higher power
3. Hornswoggle as anonymous GM
The Yokozuna comment absolutely hilarious 😂
The amount of careers ended alone because of not just the push itself but keeping the main draw on top is ridiculous
Having it be the nWo would have been cool!$
It don't matter they didn't have to reveal who did it right away.. they could have waited until they found a reasonable solution.. but I guess that's hindsight
I’ll be honest, I loved the Austin Rikishi rivalry. Rikishi as a heel was entertaining as hell. His promos were always on point. Those segments with Rock, Austin, Triple H, and Rikishi were all excellent segments. “If Austin were to step up to me, I would slap him like the dog he is”, the quote was among those lines, anyways that line always stuck with me.
The bloodline says it all… the story worked!!! It was the long game that Rakishi played!! Omg why can’t anyone see that it all came together!
12:53 Dave Meltzer said in a Wrestling Observer back issue that Austin's drink-driving was supposed to be foreshadowing his eventual heel turn (along with other antics at that time, such as interfering in matches when Commissioner Foley had asked him not to)
Interfering wouldn’t have changed anything, Austin was already doing things like that and not listening to authorities
Best choice undertaker as American badass
Bruce defending this shit is worse that anyone defending the Black Scorpion angle
It should have been Kurt Angle it would have been the perfect way to establish him as a top-level heel or Chris Jericho or Shawn Michaels
That Yokozuna joke 🤣
Took Austin a few months to regain his momentum after they saddled him with Rikishi. I'm sure it had alot to do with Stephanie taking over Creative at this time. Not sure how 2001 would've turned out had HHH not gotten injured. It was CLEARLY Austin's year and had Trips been around I don't think it would've worked out that way. Looking at how things went downhill in 2002 for Austin when Hunter returned it makes sense.
Austin's neck and knees we're shot in 2002 and he was having problems in life that he has admitted to in his podcast. and WWE had to try to find guys to take his spot
I thought Stephanie took over creative in '04.
Honestly Kurt Angle should have been the one that ran over Austin he had a lot to gain
It doesn't really seem like that bad of an angle. Pushing a younger talent may have been too risky. The known characters were the safest bet even if it was someone like Rikishi.
Im drunk n high...this shit was WAY funnier than i remember watching 😂 i was actually laughing. Conrad is hilarious
this is like wwf's version of "who killed mr.burns?" simpsons episode
As convoluted as this storyline was, imagine how much worse it would have been if Russo HAD still been writing for WWF.
Russo would have put himself as the driver
@@therealjcon Probably would have gone over Austin at the PPV too
Say what you will but Russo is partially responsible for the greatest creative moments of wwf
1: dx
2: Canada vs America
3: Vince McMahon vs stone cold
4: mankind vs undertaker
5: the rock joining the corporation
6: the godfather
7: nation of domination vs dx
8: Kane vs undertaker
9: the rock vs triple h
10: too cool
11: the Hardy’s
12: the brood
13: the oddities
14: hawk and droz
15: mankind vs rock
16: Austin vs rock
17: Austin vs undertaker
18: ministry of darkness
19: the corporation
20: triple h heel turn
21 xpac and Kane
22: gold dust and Val Venus
23: the heart foundation with Brian pillman,Bret hart,Owen hart,Jim niedhart,Davey smith
24: Kane and mankind
25: outlaws vs mankind and chainsaw Charlie
26: Al snow becoming delusional
27: acolytes
28: Austin vs Kane
And so many others they aren’t in my head you hating on Vince Russo is the most modern generation way of saying I don’t know how to think for myself so I follow what everyone else says
I’m still listening to the video but I always heard it was supposed to be Billy Gunn
Kish was a bad choice but I really can’t think of anyone who would’ve been any better.
Rock: the top babyface (besides Austin)
Foley: retired
HHH: can’t lead Austin to the parking lot and then be the guy who hit him, it’d be extremely anticlimactic
Taker: just returned as a face
Kane: meh
Boss Man: gone
Michaels: injured
Jericho: mid card face, would’ve just hindered him
Angle: still playing the Howdy Doody goofball gimmick
Big Show: in OVW
I guess it could’ve been Benoit but that would be horrible in hindsight.
Also, Russo was already gone before they even hit Austin with the car at Survivor Series.
it don't matter if Michaels was injured cause he was still involved in the business and a back injury don't mean you cant drive a car lol.. and Foley was still in WWE when Austin came back. he was commissioner. They could have just said it was Vince since the history that they had
Troy Mathis what do they get out of making Michaels the driver? Nothing. He’s not wrestling and barely shows up at all so there’s nothing to gain by making it him.
I never said he should have been the driver. And there wasn't anything to gain out of making it Rikishi either obviously
Troy Mathis They got Rikishi vs Austin and Rikishi vs Rock out of it
Benoit doesn't run over people with his car. He just chokes them.
I wish Billy Gunn wouldn’t have gotten hurt and they were able to go through with him being the guy to run SCSA down.
I agree with the commenti section. The angle did ruined Kish's career.
But who would u put in Kish's spot besides Triple H???
Triple H, Shawn Michael's, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, any member of the McMahon family.
Michaels wasn't coming back yet.....how would that have fit in after the fact?
Michaels wasn't coming back yet because nobody had given him a good creative reason to. It took him a while to get motivated to do the street fight with Triple H. Putting him in a top program opposite of Stone Cold Steve Austin, possibly involving the World Title if it stretched on long enough might have enticed him to get back into the ring full time even sooner than he did. Michaels even insulted the fans at one point for dropping him and running to Austin. They could have turned that into a story line, but they dropped the ball.
I think there should have been build up. Just imagine:
- Somebody mentions Stone Cold, and Rikishi should look uncomfortable.
- People trash-talking Stone Cold, a few people say typical promos, but Rikishi looking like he wants to say something, but laughs and walks away.
- Something about a red car, rikishi is one of a handful of wrestlers that's seen with one in a later unconnected video.
- Just have a bunch of people that match different clues, and a handful of the same ones, but Rikishi barely matches any of the clues, and the reason could be he is very careful.
- Have some uncomfortableness come up about racism, and Rikishi looking frustrated.
It doesn't have to be some cinematic storyline, but there has to be some signs, so it's not so random.
Maaaaan whatever! One of my favorite moments ever was when Mankind pointed at Rikishi and his face. When he said “Ok, I did it,.” I POPPED
That was one of the best endings ever! It showed realism with Austin getting arrested for trying to run a man over with his pick up truck.
I remember this storyline like yesterday. I was in middle school. Very bad & lazily written storyline. Also Rikishi (who had a great run up to that point) never recovered popularity wise. A "TOTAL WASTE" of a great character & performer. In his prime Rikishi was one of the best big men ever. Extremely good footwork for a man of his size. One victim of bad writing. Rikishi should have "Never" turned heel this way.
I was in middle School too
I absolutely loved this story line.. rikishi was so believable in his reasons.
Everyone forgets that months later they changed the storyline and Triple admitted to doing it and that would start the Austin HHH fued
Conrad thought he made a funny with yokozuna's death...he did not.
The fact that they just picked rikishi because no one would ever guess and Vince found it hilarious 😂😂 WWE is classic sometimes. It was Jerry Springer/Days Of Our Lives influence showing in the attitude era again. The so good its bad kinda thing.
Rikishi could have continued dancing after winning matches as a heel.
Rikishi being the driver made so little sense and was an absolutely GARGANTUAN letdown. Then you came to find out that he was under the orders of Triple H who was the real mastermind behind it which lessened Rikishi's impact even further. Just awful in every way possible and quite literally killed his career as he never got over being a heel and was never the same performance wise after that.
Could've still used Rikishi, just to the reason he did it. The bad man theme was amazing lol
This killed Rikishi's career, he never could get his popularity back after this. They could have saved it by making him the champion after this but they didn't even do that.
I was still in elementary school when this happened, and even to us it made no sense. My friend was like what? Rikishi couldn't even fit in that car, it had to be someone else, probably not even a wrestler.
OMG yes. At school the next day, we all talked about how he couldn’t fit into that car, even if the seat was all the way back.
It should have been The Higher Power. “It was me! It was me all along!”
Either that or it should have been the hand that was birthed by Mae Young and Mark Henry. That would’ve been epic! 🤚
I remember as a kid.....that it just had to haven been triple H..
It was like the talk of the year....its almost like if it was the worst kept secret that it was Hunter...
Even though Big Show would have been the most logical choice to run over Austin due to the blonde hair clue and large size, I think Chris Jericho would have been a better choice if they get rid of the large size clue, Jericho is a natural heel, who can garner heat from the fans and can act alone without having an accomplice
It should have been Rad Radford in a new gimmick: Rad Racer.
I thought it was Kaientai...because they were....EEEEVILLLL
*INDEED*
This is how you kill a gimmick dead.
Should have been Big Show with Triple H having told Big Show that he was next in line for a title shot if Austin was somehow taken out. Would have gone along with Big Show winning the title that night!
Vince should’ve brought Savage back when he had the chance and this would’ve been a great vehicle for Macho Man. No pun intended.
I am laughing at this because this story is so badly written
It should have been Ted Turner, trying to take out the guy killing WCW.
It was really Jake the Snake.
He did it for the rock.
But i like how rikiski said how Samoa wrestlers never gotten the spotlight or the attention...and guess what its happening now
Chris Jericho would've been dope
For what it's worth, I liked the angle & Rikishi's heel theme song was awesome...
Brooklyn Brawler wouldve made more sense than Rikishi. Honestly
Should've been dx or kurt angle...he made his debut at the same ppv and at no mercy he was in the main event...story writes itself
"They hit that motherfucker with a car" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Either Triple H, Badass Billy Gunn or Val Venís would of been a better choice.
This didn't work for me, brother.