Steve Austin getting run over by a car at Survivor Series 1999 was meant to set up one of the biggest storylines in WWE history. The momentum of WWE in the Attitude Era at the time saw them breaking records when having to write off their biggest star. Other top superstars like The Rock, Triple H, and Mankind were ready to step up, so Austin taking time off for neck surgery was not as risky as expected.
The return to WWE about a year later would set up a huge mystery storyline of Austin trying to figure out who ran him over. WWE expected it to provide huge success down the road, but the angle was viewed as a failure. Find out just what caused it to fall apart with the moments that made no sense in such a disappointing storyline.
10 Big Show Replacing Him After Getting Run Over
The huge Survivor Series main event was changed at the last minute when Steve Austin was removed from the match. Big Show was surprisingly picked to replace Austin after winning a 4 vs 1 elimination match earlier in the night on his own.
WWE wanted a noteworthy surprise and had Big Show defeat both Triple H and The Rock in a triple threat match. There was little logic behind the decision aside from him having one big performance. The title reign was a flop for Big Show as he dropped it in under two months to Triple H.
9 Austin Getting Booked Into Title Match At All
WWE knew that Steve Austin was going to need time off for surgery and planned this angle for Survivor Series well in advance. That makes it worse that they booked such a major dream match that fans badly wanted to see with Austin, The Rock, and Triple H.
However, it was a huge risk to pull the bait and switch after teasing the audience. Austin being removed upset quite a few viewers paying the PPV price to witness a match. WWE could have easily done this on Raw or Smackdown to save the show from turning into a mess.
8 Returning To Help The Rock Without Referencing Attack
The first major return for Steve Austin following his time off television came at Backlash 2000. Triple H was defending the WWE Championship against The Rock and Austin was advertised to appear in Rock’s corner.
Austin made a late entrance saving Rock from Triple H’s McMahon-Helmsley faction giving him an advantage. It made little sense to have Austin come back for one night only not addressing his storyline. The timing was even worse as this exact match happening one month early at WrestleMania 2000 would have made a bigger impact.
7 Not Enough Candidates
Steve Austin finally returned to WWE in the fall of 2000 with fans excited to see him get revenge. The outstanding run of Austin didn’t have fans forget him despite being out for almost a year. Mick Foley was the Commissioner at the time and wanted to help Austin with his investigation.
Austin spent a few months looking at the candidates who could have run him down. Few realistic candidates emerged with the obvious names like The Rock, Triple H, and Kurt Angle being investigated but that's it. WWE didn’t do a good job setting up enough realistic candidates to improve the payoff.
6 Attacking Steve Blackman For Shane McMahon
Unforgiven 2000 was the show where Steve Austin made his big return looking to address WWE about his attack. Shane McMahon was the surprising person to interrupt Austin claiming he had information about the mystery driver.
Steve Blackman was feuding with Shane at the time and it led to Shane saying that Blackman was involved in the attack. Austin stunned Blackman as Shane gave him beers to drink together before Austin stunned Shane a few times in comedic fashion. There was never a chance that it was actually Blackman.
5 Rikishi Doing It For The Rock
The big reveal of Rikishi being the one to run over Steve Austin was a huge surprise. Rikishi claimed that he did it for The Rock in a quote still referenced today with the thought process that it would make Rock the biggest star in the company.
Rock was already catching up to Austin in late 1999 and was on pace to pass him around the time of the hit and run. Austin was still loved, but he lost a few noteworthy matches to Mankind and Triple H after years of having the top spot. Rock wasn’t suffering one bit for Rikishi to have to take Austin off the show.
4 Rikishi Becoming A Face After Attack During Austin's Absence
WWE found Rikishi organically becoming one of the most popular wrestlers on the show in Steve Austin’s absence. New talents were given bigger chances and Rikishi got over huge as part of the Too Cool faction with lots of dancing and theatrics involved.
Rikishi found his success after Austin was gone, so he was playing a face all this time. WWE expecting fans to believe he was evil all along was a hard sell. The overall heel run for Rikishi missed the mark.
3 Triple H Turning Face During Angle
Triple H became part of the storyline too when being revealed as the one to hire Rikishi due to fans not viewing Rikishi as a credible top heel. However, the entire storyline was a mess in the timeline since Triple H turned face in October when Steve Austin was looking for the culprit.
WWE placed Triple H in feuds with heels Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle after both had moments with Stephanie McMahon that crossed the line. The extremely short face run was confusing since Triple H turned heel a few weeks later revealing himself as the man behind Rikishi’s hit and run.
2 Steve Austin Turning Heel Shortly After Angle
Steve Austin coming back in late 2000 saw him having huge fan support since the audience missed out on an iconic performer for over a year. The hit and run attack made Austin even more sympathetic when coming back to find his attacker.
WWE ran a face vs face angle of Austin vs The Rock to main event WrestleMania 17 shortly after the Austin vs Triple H and Rikishi story ended. The bold move of Austin turning heel completely took away from the long journey of finding his hit and run mystery man.
1 Triple H Teaming With Rikishi
WWE pivoted from Rikishi as the only person behind Steve Austin’s hit and run when fans didn’t view him as a top heel. Rikishi was over enough to have a few occasional main event moments as a face, but this angle was a disaster for him.
Triple H becoming part of the storyline saw WWE trying to save it by pairing him with Rikishi. The duo had no chemistry and looked overmatched in their matches against Steve Austin and The Rock. Triple H tried his best with his ruthless heel style, but Rikishi just didn’t mesh in the angle.