10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 2000

#8 Rikishi's confession

I did it for The Rock!

Back in the glory days of the Attitude Era, it was still possible to make a huge name for yourself as a semi-humourous, 'entertainer' character who never saw consistent main event action. This was the case with Rikishi, a popular Samoan wrestler who managed to ride the wave of mass fan approval to the point of rubbing shoulders with the company's very best.

In 2000, Rikishi became involved in one of the major storylines dating back to the 1999 Survivor Series. During a backstage segment, Austin was run over by a car as a way to get him off TV long enough to tend to his growing list of injuries.

The storyline effectively became a mystery angle throughout most of the year until it was finally revealed that Rikishi himself had been behind the wheel.

From a storyline perspective, this was Rikishi's way of helping The Rock reach the top of the company as he had seen a long list of Samoan Superstars fail to get adequate pushes throughout the history of the business and did not want the same thing to happen to Johnson.

It later transpired, of course, that Triple H was really the mastermind of the whole plot, encouraging Rikishi to act on his behalf. As memorable as the storyline is, you still get the impression even now that there wasn't a whole lot of planning behind it.

Rikishi's involvement felt more like a convenient way to drag the feud between Austin and Triple H out a little more but at least for Rikishi, it did elevate him to a position he had not previously enjoyed in the WWF.