Ranking Wrestling's Most Shocking Surprise Every Year 1990-2020

21. 2000 - Rikishi Did It For The Rock

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WWE.com

The best thing about WWE's storyline shockers in the year 2000 were how well they were arrived upon.

Thanks to Vince McMahon's promotional peak, Chris Kreski's storyboarding and one of the best talent rosters the company had ever assembled, all the twists felt so fought-for and well-earned that the shock and surprise was just another euphoric benefit of being plugged into the product.

Not so when Rikishi was revealed as the man in the middle of Stone Cold Steve Austin's 1999 hit-and-run. He didn't "do it for The Rock", because when the idea was first pitched for 'The Rattlesnake's write-out he almost certainly wasn't the one that even did it.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett