Former WWE Writer Brian Gewirtz Confirms Who Was Considered to Have Run Over "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 1999

By Connor Casey

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin was infamously written off WWE television back in 1999 by having him get hit by a car during that year's Survivor Series pay-per-view. In reality, the move was made in order for Austin to undergo surgery on his injured neck, but the mystery of who was driving the car would linger for another 10 months before Austin finally returned to action at Unforgiven. It was revealed that Rikishi was the culprit, claiming he did it "for the Rock." But it was later revealed that Triple H was the mastermind behind the whole plan, leading to a Three Stages of Hell Match between the two at No Way Out 2001. 

Rikishi was seen as an odd booking decision even at the time, and WWE almost immediately turned him back into the fun-loving dancing midcarder he was before. Former WWE Head Writer Brian Gewirtz confirmed in an interview with Ariel Helwani this week that the former Intercontinental Champion was far from the first name pitched for the storyline.

"How do I put this? The amount of people who were going to run over 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin at some point, you could fill a jury with them and have alternates," Gewirtz said with a laugh. "It was a lot of people and it kept switching, it was kind of hot potato. I remember at one point Vince [McMahon] looked at me... and was just like, 'Tazz.' So at one point it was going to be Tazz... and then the next week, for whatever reason, it was someone different. But yeah, I wouldn't necessarily call that a success. Rikishi is a Hall of Fame performer, but he's just likable and a natural babyface. People want to like him. Sometimes you just don't know until you try. And then ultimately it was Rikishi, but Triple H was behind it all along and it went back to the natural order of things."

Austin wound up losing to "The Game," but thanks to his Royal Rumble victory earlier that year Austin had a WWF Championship match locked in for WrestleMania X-Seven. He and The Rock would clash for their second of three WrestleMania matches, this time ending with Austin turning heel and joining forces with McMahon. 

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