10 Wrestlers Who Got Hit With A Car (And WHO DID IT!)
Who were the mysterious maniacs that turned WWE into GTA?
About 18 months before WCW hit the wall, a white Hummer hit Kevin Nash.
Along with the Fingerpoke Of Doom, "Who was driving the Hummer?" became shorthand for a company in dangerous decline in 1999, particularly with Vince McMahon taking unassailable control of the Monday Night War on the other channel. 'Big Sexy' was feuding with Randy Savage, but the Macho Man wasn't behind the wheel. A returning Sid Vicious sidled up to Savage in the story, but he too wasn't to blame. Sting drove Hummers sometimes, but he wasn't in that one.
Then, nobody was. It was the late-1990s and elaborate car stuff was in, but the simple act of paying off wrestling storylines wasn't, and the driver was never revealed. The frantic pace and chaotic nature of Nitro for the remainder of its lifespan was such that even Nash himself seemed over it within weeks.
The only reason to do it seemed to be for the loud noise, big visuals and an implied danger pro wrestling apparently couldn't replicate. Bruce Prichard served it up as a running joke for Conrad Thompson in their podcast chats - is a guy going out hurt? Or in need of a big angle? Or just too tough to be taken out through traditional means? According to McMahon's right-hand man, the only option is to "hit that motherf*cker with a car".
And what possible case of "attempted vehicular homicide" could have triggered that conversation? Only the most infamous of the lot...
10. Stone Cold Steve Austin (By Rikishi)
The biggest hit-and-run in wrestling because it happened to the biggest guy in the game, WWE went huge with a stunt to try and justify why they were changing their pay-per-view main event during the show at the hedonistic height of the Attitude Era.
The plan failed, as did the first attempt at a payoff. Survivor Series 1999 absolutely stunk in spite of The Big Show's shock WWE Championship victory as Stone Cold Steve Austin's replacement. Rikishi being revealed as the perpetrator reeked enough that they retconned it just months later too.
Slaves to the red herring clues they'd already dropped (driver was blonde, had access to The Rock's rental car, wasn't on the scene at the time), WWE at least applied logic to the Samoan's surprising plot, but "did it for The Rock" became a meme before such culture even existed, and a red hot babyface became a lukewarm heel when faced with the rage of 'The Rattlesnake'.
Triple H turning on Austin to confirm that he was the true mastermind was hokey and loaded with his Machiavellian political instincts, but went some way to salvaging a pretty sh*tty deal.