Solo Sikoa disliked controversial WWE moment involving Rikishi (Exclusive)
Solo Sikoa did not enjoy finding out that his father Rikishi was responsible for running over Stone Cold Steve Austin in a memorable WWE storyline.
Austin was written off television for almost a year after being struck by a car at Survivor Series 1999. In reality, the WWE legend had to take time off to undergo neck surgery. Rikishi later admitted to driving the vehicle, famously claiming that he "did it for The Rock."
In an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta, Sikoa recalled how he reacted to the revelation as a child:
"He ran over one of my favorite wrestlers, man. I was like, 'Man, he ran over Stone Cold? How could you do that?!' You know what I'm saying? But at the time I was like, 'Okay.' Now, being into the business, [I understand] he had to do what he had to do." [1:34 - 1:48]
Watch the video above to find out how Sikoa plans to avoid facing Roman Reigns if he enters the 2023 Royal Rumble match.
Solo Sikoa is not the only person who disliked WWE's hit-and-run storyline
The mystery attacker angle was one of WWE's most talked-about storylines in 2000. Although Rikishi was a prominent superstar, fans were left disappointed when he was revealed as the culprit.
#OnThisDay in 2000, Steve Austin and RIkishi fought inside a steel cage match on #Raw.
It basically served as the end of their mini-feud. https://t.co/kbtmpSXNEM
Bruce Prichard, a creative team member at the time, admitted on his Something to Wrestle With podcast that the idea did not make sense:
"I don't even remember who came up with Rikishi," Prichard said. "Vince McMahon loved it and thought that no one was going to guess that (...) Well, of course, nobody was going to guess that because it makes no sense for Rikishi to be the guy who ran over Steve Austin! We then force-fed the whole storyline. It was not a bright spot during our creative tenure during this time." (H/T Pro Wrestling Stories)
The storyline led to a match at No Mercy 2000, where Austin and Rikishi fought to no contest. The Texas Rattlesnake defeated his rival eight days later in a Steel Cage match on the October 30, 2000, episode of RAW.
Do you have any memories of Rikishi running over Steve Austin? Let us know in the comments section below.
Watch the LIVE coverage of WWE Specials - Crown Jewel 2022 on SONY TEN 1 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) and SONY TEN 4 (Tamil and Telugu) channels on November 5, 2022, from 9:30 pm (IST).
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the video if you use Solo Sikoa's quotes from this article.