10 Wrestling Storylines That Started Hot But Ended Terribly
2. Who Ran Over Stone Cold?
Another gargantuan missed opportunity, the "who ran over Stone Cold?" saga ended ridiculously when Rikishi was unveiled as the perpetrator. WWE tried to use the angle to build their next big monster heel, and understandably so. Attempted vehicular murder, particularly against one of the most popular wrestlers of all-time, should've guaranteed nuclear heat for the assailant, but Rikishi flopped completely.
Vince McMahon picked the wrong guy. Rikishi was immensely popular as an upper midcard babyface, but the fans didn't accept Too Cool's portly hip-hop dance partner as a cold-blooded killer. It was far too big a change for anyone to buy into, and Rikishi completely failed to get over, going from one of the promotion's most popular acts to a guy nobody cared about within a few weeks.
WWE panicked and inserted Triple H as the real mastermind, resulting in a bitter, bloody feud between him and Austin. Rikishi, meanwhile, got no rub from the storyline at all. His career plummeted like a stone, and while WWE tried to rebuild him with a late-2001 face turn, the damage was irreparable. The angle that should've turned him into a major WWE force had the opposite effect. Rikishi was never the same again, and spent the rest of his WWE career on the lower midcard.