10 Times WWE Purposefully Lied To Sell A PPV

1. Survivor Series '99 - Rikishi Takes Us For A Ride

dwayne johnson
WWE Network

At Survivor Series '99, Steve Austin forgot to follow the advice of a litter of road-conscience hedgehogs and was subsequently plowed down by now-nasty dancer Rikishi.

Well, he wasn't, but it was a handy excuse for WWE to remove their money-raising Hellraiser from the show, despite him being explicitly advertised in the main event's triple threat.

In a reality where attempted vehicular homicide would see the police called, Austin was scheduled for surgery to solve a neck injury which had niggled since Owen Hart's botched piledriver two years prior. WWE knew their star man wouldn't be clear to compete - but just pretended otherwise, because coffers don't fill themselves. As if the bait-and-switch wasn't galling enough, Austin was replaced by The Big Show - talk about a big kick in the balls.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.