7 long-term storylines in WWE that were ruined with a bad ending

#3. WWE's choice of Rikishi as Steve Austin's attacker

This WWE angle was described by 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin as the worst storyline he was a part of. The originally scheduled main event of Survivor Series 1999 was a Triple Threat WWE Championship bout between reigning champion Triple H, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, and The Rock.

In recent times, WWE advertised Bianca Belair vs Sasha Banks as the SmackDown Women's title match for SummerSlam, knowing well that Banks wasn't going to compete on the pay-per-view. It was only announced at the very last minute after Belair emerged that Banks was unable to compete.

A similar situation happened in 1999, but WWE used an angle for it. Austin had to deal with severe neck injuries that caught up to him and was medically unfit to compete. To write him off, WWE had an angle where he was hit by a car — with the mystery attacker being a big focus later on.

Big Show would take his place, but in 2000, commissioner Mick Foley launched an investigation, revealing that Austin's attacker was, in fact, Rikishi. This was supposedly meant to elevate Rikishi to top star status, but the story fell flat as it was destined to.

While Rikishi enjoyed a heel run and had pay-per-view bouts against the likes of Austin and The Rock, the storyline had a disappointing ending. To cover it up, WWE later had Triple H reveal himself as the mastermind, with Rikishi doing his bidding and saying that he "did it for The Rock."