WWE’s Biggest Mistake | Pro Wrestling Documentary

welcome everyone to the Russell pie subscribe now for more pro wrestling and pop culture content watching WCW and WWF in 2001 was possibly the time when I was most heavily invested as a fan of pro wrestling this wonderful world of spandex and sportsmanship brought me so many happy memories as I grew up watching pro wrestling on TV around this time so as you can probably imagine back then when I discovered that Vince McMahon had bought out his rivals in world championship wrestling and the two rosters would be colliding to prove once and for all who was the superior brand 10 year old me was delighted we would finally be able to see some of the industry's greatest icons coming face to face and it was something that I dreamed about since I became a wrestling fan all those years ago as WCW wrestlers began making surprise appearances during WWF programming the stage was set for a showdown of Epic Proportions pitting the best wrestlers from the two promotions against one another this time not merely first Supremacy over TV ratings in the Monday night Wars but to prove once and for all who were the better athletes entertainers and pro wrestlers the invasion was a financial success for the WWF with the WWF Invasion pay-per-view being watched by 770 000 televisions around the globe but despite its Commercial Success the angle received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike many felt that the storyline failed to live up to expectations that it lacked the drama and excitement that was promised and that it fell short of the hype surrounding the dream match scenarios those big stars from each brand that were promised never materialized there were huge inconsistencies with the way in which both WWF and WCW performers were characterized and perhaps most negatively of all the main focus of the show soon turned its attention not on the wrestlers but on those who pulled the strings backstage the McMahon Family but for those of us that were there who witnessed The Invasion storyline unfold it was an unforgettable moment in the history of professional wrestling it was a time of fierce rivalries of epic battles and of Triumph and defeat it was a time when the World of Wrestling was changed forever for better and for worse in this video we'll discover how The Invasion storyline could have been such a dramatic high-stakes moment in wrestling history and how at the time it attempted to capture the hearts and imaginations of fans around the world but ultimately failed it may not have been perfect but it was still a moment that will live on in the annals of wrestling law a testament to the power of competition and the thrill of victory but one which we'll soon find out could have been so much more who will discover why what had the potential to become the single greatest storyline in professional wrestling history for a myriad of differing reasons was seen by many in the years since as at best a deflating letdown and at worst the biggest missed opportunity in WWE's past to better understand the success and failures of the invasion it is important to see where we were in the world of pro wrestling and where it was heading around this time firstly we must look at the man who masterminded the entire storyline and who should ultimately receive both the praise and the criticism for its execution Vincent Kennedy McMahon it was we need something here it's here it's logical let's use it as a bridge to get where we need to go Mr McMahon at that time was never going to be that long character you say that now you look at the McMahon character and what defined Monday Night Raw in so many ways which were the Steve Austin and Vince McMahon era at this point we were only using Vince as the bridge to get us where we needed to go following the screw job Vincent McMahon became a staple of the storylines moving forward taking the final step from behind the scenes real-life owner of the company to the fictional Mr McMahon a tyrannical an all-powerful boss who sought total control over the wrestlers under his employ and would stop at nothing to see his favorite wrestlers named as Champion he was 100 evil and 100 entertaining a massive reason as to why WWF exploded in popularity around this time no chance that's what you've got up against a machine too strong greedy politicians buying Souls from us are puppets will find their place in line go tie a string around your finger now boy because it's just a matter of time because you've got no chance in hell according to composer Jim Johnson the idea behind his theme song no chance in hell was he's got the power the money and he was pretty much the only game in town rather than a song about one man I wanted it to be about the man while his ratings have propelled his family-run company's value to almost one billion dollars for a while we were winning the Monday night Wars we had a classic war of the Titans and it was played out every week live it was exciting watching the ratings take off and it was even more exciting to get under Vince's skin for me at 10 years old the coming together of two seemingly disconnected and rival wrestling companies blew my mind however the idea of an invasive set of wrestlers from a rival promotion was not a new idea by any means Paul Heyman and Vincent McMahon had already been working behind the scenes for years to bring ECW and WWE fans together Vince's curiosity with ECW started at the King of the Ring in Philadelphia when the King of the Ring events arrived in Philadelphia in 1995 the then home of explosive independent wrestling from extreme championship wrestling as the tournament reached its final stage between Savio Vega and Mabel the crowd predictably turned against the match loudly chanting ECW in unison it is said that this was the first time Vince McMahon himself became aware of extreme championship wrestling which could be seen as somewhat surprising regardless when the World Wrestling Federation returned the following year for the in your house Mind Games pay-per-view they capitalized on this incident in The Opening match of the show Savio Vega faced off against Justin the Hawk Bradshaw who would later become known as JBL as the show went live the arena reverberated with ECW chance even before Bradshaw made his entrance accompanied by Uncle zebakaya also known as Zeb Coulter or Dirty Dutch mantel Bradshaw entered the ring meanwhile eagle-eyed viewers at home caught sight of some familiar faces in the front row Tommy Dreamer Paul Heyman and the Sandman we didn't know what we were getting into we all met up in the parking lot we had the eliminators in the crowd as backup in case we got into a fight I found out later that Savio Vega was the only one who knew Bradshaw didn't even know about it he was ready to fight and Savio cut him off the execution was anything but masterful as these individuals were not so subtly featured on screen it was during this moment that the Sandman but the can of beer in hand unexpectedly spat in Savio Vega's face whilst he was fighting outside the ring WWF officials swiftly intervened removing the ECW Invaders and the rest of the show proceeded without any issues following the controversial mass transit incident which led to the cancellation of ecw's first pay-per-view Paul Heyman managed to secure a deal that finally allowed the company to debut on pay-per-view in April 1997 before this Milestone the partnership between ECW and WWF was reignited starting on February the 17th 1997 episode of Raw the night after in your house final four during a match between Owen Hart and Flash Funk formerly known as two-cold Scorpio Paul Heyman appeared on air via telephone and engaged in a cave challenge with Jerry The King Lawler Heyman accepted the challenge agreeing to show up the following week at New York Manhattan Center for the time being it seemed like this would be the end of the interaction as ECW continued building towards their pay-per-view debut while ecw's barely legal might not have appeared to be the most outstanding wrestling show on paper the atmosphere The Passion of the competitors and Paul heyman's Infamous pep talk before the event were unparalleled the heat between the two promotions would intensify in the subsequent months when one of ecw's steadfast Stars started appearing on WWF programming Rob Van Damme now calling himself Mr Monday night formed a partnership with the King betraying his ECW family RVD showcased his skills on Raw facing off against the likes of Jeff Hardy and Flash funk in the following weeks leading up to ecw's Second major Pay-Per-View event Heat Wave taped on July 19th regrettably the ECW and WWE partnership quickly lost its momentum following a particular incident during a raw taping in Detroit a scheduled match between Sabu and Flash Funk was marred by backstage disagreements or political issues these complications resulted in the cancellation of a match that were supposed to feature Road dog against RVD however is said that during this time Vincent McMahon realized the potential of Paul Heyman as an Insider on the independent wrestling scene even going so far as to put Haman on the WWF payroll in order to keep a close business relationship between the two companies something which as we will see paid out immensely for both parties over the next two decades following their success during the Attitude Era and victory in the fabled Monday Night War this wrestling Behemoth was still exploding in popularity mere days after it was announced that Vince had purchased WCW a single cast took place where both companies showed would air simultaneously under the ownership of WWE however on the night just as Vince was celebrating his business strategy his son Shane came across the airwaves from the WCW portion of the show as the program went off air Shane explained that when Vince was about to purchase the company Shane managed to somehow sneak in and alter the WCW contract where the new owner's name was found on the paperwork it did say McMahon but to the shock of audiences around the world it said Shane McMahon this led to the beginning of the invasion of Vince McMahon's company at the hands of their long-term Monday Night War Rivals over the next few years we saw the likes of Nick Foley William Regal and even Stephanie McMahon take up the role of opposing manager to Vince McMahon the competitiveness of wrestling died with the end of nitro the Monday night Wars pushed WWE to do its best the fans were winning too in fact they were winning the most the New York Times reported Smackdown Ted Turner's wrestling career is over in what may be the ultimate plot twist in wrestling's ever vicious soap opera World Wrestling Federation entertainment Inc said yesterday that it would buy its most reviled rival and Mr Turner's Pet Project world championship wrestling a unit of AOL Time Warner the deal may put wrestling characters like the Rock and Hulk Hogan in the same ring it also means that many of the wrestlers who defected from the World Wrestling Federation to its Rivals to escape the wrath of the federation's outspoken chairman Vincent K McMahon will again become part of a circus like Empire while the Federation refused to say how much it paid for its competitors an executive close to the transaction says it was in the low eight figures analysts estimate that the WCW which has recently been played by deteriorating ratings lost as much as 80 million dollars last year the question now became who is WWE going to hire the older guys were a little nervous some of their contracts had these crazy stipulations for insane amounts of money it would have been impossible to bring them in um I think it's important to be taken seriously um as an entertainment company uh and and we are that uh and we have wound up to be the the only entertainment company of its kind still in existence and flourishing The Invasion however did not begin immediately after WrestleMania X7 the WWF needed time to prepare for their biggest show of the year and the storyline would have to wait contract negotiations were taking longer than expected and initial fan reaction seemingly didn't go the way in which the McMahon's had wanted WWF had been a rival organization to the WCW for quite some time with the new infusion of stars and the cross-branded story lines this does nothing but raise the potential for us we're very pleased to have come to an agreement to purchase that brand the initial plan was to continue running WCW as a separate entity with its own time slot on TNN later renamed Spike TV and now known as The Paramount Network to determine the name of the new show polls were even put up on both wwf.com and wcw.com unfortunately this plan fell through due to the fact that no television station was willing to touch WCW because of its reputation for losing money instead of giving up on the idea of incorporating WCW into its programming the WWF had carried out a brand extension in 1999. this resulted in the running of two televised shows Raw and SmackDown and the need for more stars to bolster the ranks so when it finally came time for the first of the world championship roster to appear on their Rival show who would the decision makers behind the scenes pick we'd seen Hogan Hall and Nash revolutionized the idea of a hostile takeover when they left WWF to join the WCW as the new world order that debut is one of the most iconic and memorable moments in all of pro wrestling history so as the invasion was about to begin this time in Reverse surely Vince McMahon realized how much of a crucial Landmark moment that first WCW wrestler to appear on WWF programming would be sir fan favorite like Sting Ric Flair or Goldberg could arrive instantly recognizable to even the most casual of wrestling fans from the day bringing with them star power and a Winner's Prestige and put the whole locker room on notice maybe you could introduce some hot up and comers to show the WWF fans that the company was looking towards the future and to inject some Vigor into the roster the likes of Rey Mysterio were on the roster at this point or maybe just go with the ultimate reverse NWO moment where Hogan Hall and Nash return as conquering champions of the WCW brand but no instead we got Lance stormed plant storm who performed a run-in during a match on May 28 episode of rora's War a talented and seemingly nice enough wrestler but when compared to the named list was this fairly Bland and lesser-known midcarder the best person for such an important role okay so the first WCW appearance was perhaps a misstep but then WWF fully tripped and seemed to fall flat on its face by 2000 everybody was talking about the company going under or being sold people were reading the dirt sheets rumors were everywhere Hugh Morris made his WWF debut on the June the 4th episode of Roar is War by attacking Edge completely unannounced and to the cheers and booze of the crowd in attendance Morris climbed the top rope with his Foe on the mat and performed a beautiful moon salt the technical prowess of the move was seemingly all this debut had to offer though Hugh Morris a man with a pun name and almost nothing else memorable about his character excellent what a start Mike Awesome was not a man of fierce loyalty to any one particular wrestling promotion he had recently abandoned his role as ECW world champion and left to join what he saw as a greener pastures in WCW awesome is related to Hulk Hogan and felt he would receive favorable treatment in the new company because of it however shortly after his arrival in world championship wrestling the company was bought by the WWF and now here we are Mike Awesome a huge lump of a man who had made a name for himself against wrestling purists with his hard-hitting power bombs and ridiculously sickening chair shots he was now running down a backstage walkway under an arena and flattening the WWF Hardcore Champion Rhino Blindside in him and snatching the WWF belt away from his Fallen enemy Mike Awesome posed proudly with his new championship in a company which he wasn't officially signed to oh the joy of the invasion and the 24 7 hardcore Championship rule at this time we knew something was coming but I always thought that we were going to get a reprieve a lifeline at King of the Ring on June the 24th then WCW wrestler Booker T interfered during the triple threat Main Event match for the WWF Championship nearly costing Stone Cold Steve Austin the title a confrontation which finally felt fitting for such a big occasion the next night on Raw which was held in New York City's Madison Square Garden a confrontation occurred between WCW owner Shane McMahon and WWF owner Vince McMahon during the altercation Booker T came from behind to deliver his finisher move Booker T had spoken as the WCW champion on the last ever episode of Monday Night Nitro in a moment which saw him lacking confidence and is now well recognized Charisma however as he appeared from behind the unaware Vince McMahon things were different the crowd exploded as the owner of the WWF was sent crashing to the map by a scissor kick and then pummeled by Booker T's quick beat down before the final flourish from the WCW champion and a trademark spinner Rooney this incident marked the official start of the invasion storyline with rora's war commentator Jim Ross announcing the battle lines have been drawn on June 28 2001 WCW Tag Team Champions Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Hare made their WWF debuts by invading Smackdown by attacking The Hardy Boys and The Dudley boys during a tag team match before fleeing after WWF wrestlers came out after them to the ring despite the initial animosity towards the WCW product and talent WWF attempted to integrate them by giving WCW the final 20 minutes of the July 2nd episode of Raw with Scott Hudson and Anne Anderson as the announcers in place of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman during a match between Buff Bagwell and Booker T for the WCW Championship WWF wrestlers Kurt Angle and then WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin interfered in retaliation by beating Booker T up with Bagwell joining angle and Austin by attacking Booker T unfortunately this match was not well received by the audience in attendance at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma Washington with some online calling it the worst match ever due to the negative reaction from the core WWF viewership towards the WCW product and talent coupled with the fact that a world championship wrestling program tailored to appeal to a WWF fan base would not come to fruition the entire WCW contingent was abruptly turned heel this was a departure from the original plan of having WCW Talent strictly attack heal WWF wrestlers we bought WCW because it would be a great way to propel our Core Business the sports entertainment genre to a New Height I thought I'd retire in WCW I never imagined that I would end up with me going into WWE as the WCW Champion it was a situation where you hope that some of these guys that we did bring in somebody might break through somebody might break out what would our lives be like without competition now we have no choice we are going to lose our bargaining power it was unique to be a performer at that time and as a fan it was insane overnight the roster had almost doubled in size alongside the current WWF performers Vince McMahon and his team of writers also had to factor in the wrestlers in their current programming however Molly Holly had a positive reaction at the time they were fantastic my first day there everybody came up shook my hand and welcomed me they all wanted to go into the ring with me and train with me and help me learn the wwf's way of doing things but even with this bulging list of contracts in hand Vince McMahon still wanted more there's other brand out there um why not incorporate it ECW had introduced a new and Innovative style of professional wrestling that differed from mainstream promotions like WWE and WCW it combined elements of traditional wrestling with high flying Maneuvers hardcore and a gritty more realistic presentation the extreme nature of the matches along with the Innovative storyline and characters appealed to a niche audience looking for something different the popularity of the company had begun to explode due to the prevalence of tape trading back at the time and as the irons were red hot Vince McMahon saw the opportunity to strike on July the 9th 2001 wrestling fans of extreme championship wrestling witnessed one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the brand the episode of Raw which was held at the Philips Arena in Atlanta Georgia featured a series of shocking events that changed the landscape of the company forever the night started off innocently enough with Kane scheduled to face Mike Awesome and Lance Storm in a handicap match however things took an unexpected turn when Chris Jericho came out and offered to beat Kane's partner turning it into a tag team match near the end of the bout Jericho applied the walls of Jericho on last storm but just as the crowd thought that Jericho and Kane had the upper hand Rob Van Damme and Tommy Dreamer ran through the audience and into the ring launching a surprise attack on Kane and Jericho in response WWE wrestlers consisting of The Dudley boys Taz just incredible Rhino and Raven rang to the ring to Aid their WWE UF colleagues after a brief standoff the WWF Cavalry turned around and attacked Kane and Jericho as the fans realized that they were all former ECW wrestlers prompting Paul Heyman to leave the announce table and enter the ring Heyman high-fived the wrestlers and announced that ECW has been brought into the invasion and I feel like adding and injecting ECW into the mix and into the alliance it made it more interesting for sure was it done perfectly no it wasn't because it would have been much better if people that would have been viewing this program went oh well those are all different entities there's WWE and they're taking on WCW along with ECW but it really just seemed like now WCW and ECW were a part of WWE and I think it just watered it down so so much and took away so much of the dream appeal Heyman talked about how he had grown tired of sitting beside Jim Ross and discussing WCW vs WWF stating that he felt that everyone had forgotten about his company he then announced that this Invasion just got taken to the extreme the shocking turn of events had the crowd on the edge of their seats wondering what would happen next at the end of the night the WWF wrestlers entered the ring the WCW wrestlers came into the ring accompanied by Shane McMahon and before ECW entered the WCW and WWF wrestlers started to brawl the WWF roster cleared the ring but then was stormed by the ECW combatants and taken out the WCW Fighters then came into the ring high-fived the ECW men and then dismantled the WWF wrestlers as Paul Heyman and Shane McMahon hugged in Triumph upon seeing a stun Vince McMahon asking what was going on Shane admitted being responsible for all the events that just transpired and announced that ECW and WCW merged to form the alliance with Stephanie McMahon as ecw's new owner this shocking announcement left fans in disbelief and many wondered what would happen next in the World of Wrestling the WWF had to adjust its program programming to accommodate the new angle many of the existing storylines were put on hold as the focus shifted to the Rivalry between the WWF and the brand new alliance I thought it was okay considering it was and I hated the way the invasion was played where WCW didn't have its own show it didn't have its own platform and WCW guys were constantly on WWE programming there was a point where every match was like WWE versus WCW and I feel like it never had the feel of a dream Feud or dream program that it should have had against these seemingly insurmountable odds WWF needed a leader someone whose achievements were respected by the locker room who could pull together the troops and face off the oncoming Onslaught as the current world WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin had recently turned Hill aligning himself against The Rock at WrestleMania to become a pawn of Vince McMahon naturally the Texas rattlesnake was the man tasked with spearheading their company's defenses as the tension mounted Stone Cold's character took a dramatic turn no longer the beer swilling foul-mouthed son of a bitch that fans had come to love he began to show a more emotional side Vince McMahon tried to cheer him up when he was clearly stressed from the threat of the alliance he even played Kumbaya and we are the champions for stone cold on an episode of SmackDown but the world champion of WWF remained unresponsive it wasn't until Vince McMahon asked Austin to lead WWF into the pay-per-view that the tension between the two reached a boiling point McMahon told Austin that he needed the Old Stone Cold back the one who didn't take any crap from anyone he owns lost intern knock him down even asking the crowd for their support but Austin shook his head and left the ring turning his back on McMahon the situation only escalated from there on an episode of Raw Austin was shown drinking and playing Paul at a bar downtown while McMahon and the WWF wrestlers were holding a meeting backstage as the wrestlers United Austin could be seen watching the events on the television he then proceeded to slam his cue stick on the pool table and leave later that night during a match between DDP and Rhino and Kane and The Undertaker there was interference from the alliance the WWF wrestlers were overwhelmed with many of them fighting backstage but just when it seemed like the alliance had the upper hand a truck was seen driving to the arena Austin came out proceeded to beat down any WCW and ECW wrestlers in his path he then came to the ring trash talking on the way down and beat down the alliance wrestlers one by one giving stunners to most of the men in the ring thanks to Austin's return the WWF was in good shape for the upcoming pay-per-view but the tension between Austin and McMahon was far from resolved this Sunday's show has the chance to be a real entertaining pay-per-view or it has the possibility to be a train wreck it can be a hell of a spontaneous explosive program with a lot of unique first-time match-ups but the reality of it is because you do have so many new pairings you do have so many inexperienced guys you do have some guys that are tighter than hell as far as being nervous you can have some hellacious wrecks out there WWF invasion was held on July the 22nd 2001 in Cleveland Ohio it served as a pivotal moment in the ongoing storyline originally the event was planned to be the fourth installment of the fully loaded pay-per-view series and had been advertised as such during the King of the Ring event which directly preceded The Invasion however in May the decision was made to replace fully loaded with Invasion the pay-per-view further intensifying the anticipation surrounding the event the decision to incorporate The Invasion storyline into a dedicated event generated significant excitement and Intrigue among wrestling fans worldwide it showcased a fusion of talent from multiple promotions and set the sage for intense matches and confrontations as the WWF fought to protect its Legacy against the invading forces the first match at the event featured Lance Storm and Mike Awesome against Edge and Christian hedging Christian won after a series of high-flying moves on a pin for One mic the second match was WCW senior referee Nick Patrick and WWF senior referee Earl hebner with special guest referee Mick Foley oh hebner emerged Victorious after delivering some hilarious looking kicks and punches followed by a pinful the third match saw the APA of farook and Bradshaw take on Sean O'Hare and Chuck Palumbo the APA secured the win after hitting their signature moves and Bradshaw executing a clothesline from hell for the PIN in the fourth match WWF light heavyweight champion X-Pac faced WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman Kidman went on to win the match over his rival the fifth match pitted Raven from ECW against WWF commissioner William Regal Raven emerged Victorious after hitting his finisher The Raven effect DVT for the pinful the sixth match featured the Big Show Billy Gunn and Albert against Chris Canyon Sean stasiak and Hugh Morris Morris and stasiak secured the victory after a series of combined moves leading to Morris pinning Billy Gunn the seventh match saw Taz from ECW facing Tajiri Tajiri emerged Victorious after a combination of strikes and a pinfall following a buzzsaw kick in the eighth match Rob Van Damme took on Jeff Hardy for the WWF hardcore Championship Van Damme won the match and became the new champion after hitting his signature move including a five-star frog splash the ninth match was a bra and panties match which featured Tory Wilson and Stacy Keibler of WCW against Trish Stratus and leader of the WWF Stratus and Lita emerge Victorious by removing their opponent's clothes The Invasion pay-per-view known as one of the most iconic and highly anticipated wrestling events in their company's history reached its Pinnacle with the inaugural brawl between team WCW and ECW as the alliance and team WWF fans of the WWE Universe were glued to their seats as they witnessed a Clash of Titans Stone Cold Steve Austin Kurt Angle Chris Jericho Kane and The Undertaker represented team WWF while Diamond Dallas Page Booker T Rhino and The Dudley boys fought for their opponents as the intense match approached its climax tensions escalated to unprecedented levels all the wrestlers found themselves falling outside the ring leaving only Booker T and angle inside of it angle managed to apply his Infamous ankle lock on Booker T who quickly submitted but there was no referee present to witness their dramatic moment seizing the opportunity Austin renowned for his unpredictable nature drag the referee into the ring raising hopes amongst fans that Justice would be served however in a shocking turn of events Austin delivered his signature stone cold stunner move to angle instead incapacitating him he then threw Booker T on top of angle's Fallen body and instructed the referee to count the pin securing the victory for WCW and ECW in the alliance and leaving the audience in disbelief adding further fuel to the fire Austin made a stunning Proclamation the following night claiming that he joined the alliance because they appreciated him more than the WWF ever did he pointed out Vince McMahon's alleged favoritism towards Kurt Angle who Austin believed was being groomed to be the next WWF Champion as evidence of McMahon's lack of appreciation for him this shocking betrayal by Austin blew my mind at the time who stone cold at the helm the alliance now held the WWF Championship InterContinental and hardcore belts in addition to all of the WCW titles the momentum it seemed was with them Vince McMahon was seemingly on the ropes and was now in need of a new leader if his company stood any chance of survival we were expecting a new owner or new company to save us let me tell you this Vince McMahon would not have won if we had a new owner Diamond Dallas Pages Brown in WCW was marked by his immense popularity as a face character resonating deeply with the audience he earned the moniker of the people's champion in WCW embodying an authentic fan-made character in the upper echelons of the main event scene according to Bruce Pritchard DDP expressed his desire to work with the rock citing their shared nickname pritchard's tone implied skepticism suggesting that WWE had no interest in the idea unfortunately the feud between Diamond Dallas Page and The Undertaker during The Invasion storyline is widely regarded as a major disappointment WWE brought in DDP as a mysterious and sadistic Hill character whose stalked Undertaker's wife for weeks aiming to create a gripping narrative the matches between DDP and Undertaker had already faced challenges with Undertaker needing to appear strong in protecting his wife's honor it was reported that Undertaker grew frustrated with ddp's involvement in planning the matches considering DDP as the new guy coming from world championship wrestling this led to DDP being pushed down the card and even being pinned by Undertaker's wife Sarah their rivalry culminated in a tag team match at SummerSlam where unfortunately Diamond Dallas Page faced defeat against the Undertaker meanwhile several championships changed hands during the event Undertaker and Kane became coal holders of both the WWF and WCW Tag Team titles after triumphing over Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Canyon in a still cage match I wasn't as worried as some other people WWE contacted me pretty early so I knew I had a job I didn't want to talk about it though when so many other people weren't sure the big deal for me were the guys backstage the crew guys who'd been with us for 20 years they were hard-working talented guys who'd done nothing to cause our problems what was going to happen to them the storyline aimed to pit the biggest names from WCW and ECW against the WWF stars and all-out War however it fell short of expectations with notable absences and missed opportunities we didn't have guys like Goldberg we didn't have sting we didn't have Kevin Nash we didn't have all the major players in the WCW to face the WWF Superstars fans long to see these iconic wrestlers go head to head with their counterparts but their absence hindered the storylines true representation of world championship wrestling the reason for their absences varied many WCW wrestlers had contracts with AOL Time Warner wcw's parent company and chose not to wrestle for less money resulting in them sitting at home instead of joining The Invasion other factors such as injuries ongoing contract concerns and concerns about backstage Behavior further limited the participation of WCW Talent sting said I talked with Vince McMahon and he was really good to me I'll put it this way all the guys from WCW that went to WWE when the acquisition happened by then to me there wasn't a real WCW because the WCW was for so many years it was Hall and Nash it was Hogan it was Sting it was Luger it was The Steiner Brothers it was you know a certain package of these guys that were gone they come back to back and they turn around and they look at each other and The Rock looks at Booker T and he said who are you and you know that one little comment was all it took to just bury somebody in my opinion bury somebody like Booker T and let's let the world know that you're a WCW guy and you're a peon here it was gonna require lots of work from Booker T to try and come back and he did because he's a talented guy and after all the years I'd put into wrestling at that point it just seemed like a gamble to me similarly ECW was missing key Superstars and several ECW Originals did not sign contracts until the ECW brand relaunched in 2006. the usage of the company name on air was also disputed and legal action was taken against the WWE for using its theme song even within the WWE roster some notable SARS were absent during The Invasion storyline Triple H was sidelined due to injury while Sean Michaels was on a Hiatus Rikishi and Big Boss Man were inactive through their entire storyline and didn't return until December of 2001. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit who were formerly ECW and WCW Stars working for the WWE at the time were also absent due to injuries and personal issues the culmination of the invasion storyline the Survivor Series Main Event showcased an imbalance in representation the alliance was primarily represented by five wrestlers three of whom had defected from the WWF this further diluted the essence of what should have been an epic showdown between the two wrestling powerhouses so when the company was bought out I was told right off the bat that they were interested in me but they wanted me to let my WCW contract run out once it ended we would sit down and do business I thought it was a nice way of saying we're not interested because a lot of contracts were bought out Chavo Guerrero Booker T A lot of guys so again I'm thinking is Vince McMahon really going to open up the doors for me because he doesn't believe in small guys I would hear that sometimes from Kevin Nash from Scott Hall but I never lost hope and sure enough that contract expired Jim Ross reached out and said okay we're ready to do business and that's when I signed so they kept their word stinged at an interview he said the reason he never went to WWE was because of the way that they treated Booker T when he first got there he said I was disrespected by The Rock when I first got there I should have been treated better and what he was talking about when me and rock we did our angle and rock goes who are you and I go my name is he goes it doesn't matter what your name is for him to have missed out on 15 years maybe of time because of that angle I did with the rock I just thought that was a very unwise thing to do Eric Bischoff a prominent figure in WCW was also a notable absence from The Invasion storyline which could have benefited from his involvement According to Jim Ross he approached Bischoff on behalf of WWE to gauge his interest in a potential on-screen role Ross believed that Vince McMahon and vision Bischoff as a figurehead with Shane McMahon overseeing WCW and eventually leading the alliance however Bischoff expressed his desire to take a break from wrestling and declined the offer as a result Paul Heyman assumed a similar role as one of the leaders of the alliance alongside Shane and Stephanie McMahon on The Rock's long-awaited return WWE released the following statement we've had a tremendous couple of months with the WCW ECW storyline and our Invasion pay-per-view last Sunday fan interest continues to increase on a weekly basis and we believe that the Rock's return will further increase the visibility of our programs and our brand this Monday will be a very special night for the World Wrestling Federation and our millions of fans on July the 26th during an episode of SmackDown the rock made his long-awaited return after a cave suspension he was confronted by Shane Stephanie and Vince McMahon who attempted to convince him to join their sides Shane made a surprising offer to the Rock who had been absent from the ring since WrestleMania 17 inviting him to join the alliance Vince acknowledged past mistakes and promised not to repeat them but also made it clear that he could not guarantee never screwing Over The Rock in the future if it benefited the business The Rock responded by delivering a rock bottom to Vince and a people's elbow to Shane with his Allegiance is still not set in stone in the same episode Kurt Angle issued a challenge for the WCW Championship to Booker T which Booker T accepted however angle's Title reign was short-lived as Booker T reclaimed the championship on July the 30th during Raw SummerSlam in 2001 would prove to be another pivotal night in the ever convoluting Invasion storyline with a heavy emphasis on the ongoing competition between team WWF and the alliance something that is reflected by the fact that every match on the pay-per-view pitted a WWF wrestler against an opponent who had firmly worked for either WCW or ECW the second match saw the Intercontinental Belt contested between Edge and Lance Storm with the WWF man coming away from the great match with this belt in the third Match test and The Dudley boys defeated the APA of Farooq and Bradshaw who teamed with Spike Dudley in what turned out to be both hard-hitting and vicious the fourth match saw light heavyweight champion Tajiri loses belt to x-park as the WWF representative ended the night with the Cruiserweight belt around his waist also match number five brought us Rhino and Stephanie McMahon representing the alliance in a losing effort to Chris Jericho after the WWF wrestler made his opponent submit the sick match of the night is my personal favorite Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Damme treated us to a high-flying and death-defying Ladder Match a moment which stands out clearly to me as a wrestling fan one which I was so excited to revisit as I was creating this video I was in love with both men at the age of 11 and this match did not disappoint two Maniacs willing to put it all on the line in order to deliver their special brand of heart racing entertainment and although Jeff Hardy lost his WWF hardcore belt that night both participants proved crucial in making the event so spectacular match number seven continued to deliver in terms of Hardcore action and brutality as we saw Undertaker and Kane leave from their still cage match with both the WCW and WWF tag team belts enemy slapping ham Fest against Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Canyon now that the company had two top titles it was always going to be a struggle to decide which of the company's most prestigious belts got to headline each pay-per-view normally I dislike it when a wrestling show claims to have two main events as often times one of the matches is much bigger than the other at SummerSlam in 2001 this was certainly not the case in the eighth match of the night Kurt Angle put in a performance of a lifetime to come out Victorious against possibly his most formidable photo date Stone Cold Steve Austin was willing to cheat lie and deceive he was willing to push the barbarity of the match to another level but was outclassed and out wrestled by the Olympic gold medalist this led to Stone Cold losing the match via a disqualification which in my opinion slightly deflated the end of the contest this would Mark The Rock's return to prominence and set the stage for a WCW championship match against Booker T at SummerSlam which The Rock emerged Victorious from marking the second time the WCW Championship transitioned from WCW to WWF ownership I think the TV ratings were certainly a factor the WCW roster as the talent we were able to retain didn't hold that Sizzle and provide the singular threat against the WWF like they would have if we had had the entire WCW roster intact with all the established main stars that had the name identity we didn't have that luxury so the ECW thing was really a great idea to put the WWF in a state of Jeopardy with this threat of these two organizations combined I think it's good booking in that respect I think we overestimated what we thought we had in WCW not necessarily the talent but with the brand itself around this time Chris Jericho's Star had continued to rise with fans clamoring to see him face off against some of the newer WCW and ECW signings he said well right now everything is so new it's basically anybody actually the only guy that I had worked with before was X-Pac and I am looking forward to her working with him again others obviously you've got Austin and Mankind and guys like the rock also guys like Edge and Christian and Triple H pretty much everybody like I said I'm just excited to be there so anybody that they want me to work with I'm looking forward to it however out of all the names that Jericho wanted to face an interesting story unfolded involving the Rock The Rocks returned to WWE had seen him berate and belittle Jericho highlighting his lack of success in high profile matches Jericho determined to prove himself challenge the rock for the WCW championship at WWF no mercy in 2001. following these events subsequent episodes of Raw and SmackDown showcased into promotional matches between the two factions one notable match featured Chris Jericho defeating Hugh Morris via submission only to be attacked by Rhino afterwards who proceeded to destroy part of the stage design this incident led to the introduction of the iconic fist stage design in the subsequent week leading into Survivor Series Kurt Angle had become disillusioned with the WWF management and begun to feel unwanted by Vince McMahon sensing weakness Shane McMahon got into Curt's ear and lavished him with Promises of riches success and Glory if only he were to change his Allegiance and join WCW and ECW in their Invasion at this time angle made the decision to join the alliance and shock the wrestling World After All Kurt was a man who had always been loyal to WWF both on screen and off this led to weeks of frantic preparations behind the scenes as Vince McMahon and team WWF knew they would soon have to come face to face with a man who was until recently one of their biggest assets on the November the 5th episode of Raw Vince McMahon responded to Kurt angle's defection by announcing that a member of Team Alliance would also defect during a match at the upcoming Survivor Series event Steve Austin confronted Vince about it and Vince claimed that Austin would be the one to defect this announcement caused many alliance members to become suspicious of Austin who vehemently denied the allegations and labeled Vince as a liar in an attempt to clear his name Austin interrogated members of Team Alliance including questioning Booker T and sitting with Rob Van Damme in a room with a light shining on him for an intense interrogation during the same episode The Rock won the WCW Championship from Chris Jericho however after the match Jericho attacked the rock in the ring this chain of events ultimately led to a high-stakes winner take all match at Survivor Series featuring team WWF consisting of the rock Chris Jericho leading the Undertaker Kane and The Big Show against the team Alliance of Stone Cold Steve Austin Kurt Angle Booker T Rob Van Dam and Shane McMahon as the match reached its climax The Rock and Jericho were left facing Austin the match continued with The Rock and Austin battling fiercely each stealing and reversing their signature moves during the fight the referee was knocked down and Austin hit the rock with a stone cold stunner and pinned him however as there was no referee to count the pinful Austin tried to revive the down referee angle rushed into the ring grabbed the WWF championship belt and struck Stone Cold with it revealing himself to be The Defector that Vince McMahon had been alluding to All Along The Rock then managed to get back on his feet hit Austin with a rock bottom and pinned him the groggy referee finally came around and counted the three ceiling team WWF Victory and ending The Invasion storyline following the disbanding of the alliance the WWF found itself in a predicament concerning the numerous championships they had accumulated from acquiring all of their Rivals belts as a result each individual title value diminished to address this issue the WWF initiated a process of unifying several championships several titles were unified on this night as well Edge defeated tests to combine the WCW United States Championship and the WWF Intercontinental Belt while The Dudley boys triumphed over the Hardys in a still cage match to merge the WCW and WWF tag team belt Additionally the final ECW member Jazz made her debut during a six-pack challenge for the vacant WWF Women's Championship which was ultimately won by Trish Stratus her Survivor Series alliance members test won a battle royal featuring both Alliance and WWF wrestlers earning him immunity from termination for a year over the following weeks test exploited this immunity attacking and bullying other wrestlers for no reason and often assaulting referees whenever he was confronted he would remind everyone of his immunity from being fired however this angle was eventually abandoned and mostly forgotten the immunity was also extended to any Alliance member who held a championship at the conclusion of Survivor Series stone called Steve Austin who was the WWF Champion The Dudley boys Rob Van Damme Billy Kidman and Christian all received this immunity of these wrestlers everyone except RVD who was already cheered by fans despite being in the alliance remained a hill Stacy Keibler the manager of the dudleys and Taz a Smackdown commentator who had been kicked out of the alliance week prior also received Immunity on the raw following Survivor Series Vince McMahon then revealed that he had assumed complete ownership of the company indeed the alliance had just been such a unmitigated disaster for all of us involved you know yes I mean why not I mean you know as a flexible human being in a flexible businessman you have to go with you know what conditions our conditions change sometimes beyond anything you have to do with them and you either rock with them or or you die in 2003 following the invasion of the NWO and the return of Hulk Hogan Vince McMahon begun to interfere in matches to ensure that the Invaders from WCW would not dominate his roster during the iconic match between Hogan and The Rock McMahon came to ringside and distracted Hogan allowing for the rock to attack him from behind with a chair before gaining the victory this led to bad blood between Hogan and McMahon and their storyline carried on through much of the year when it came time for the pair to finally oppose one another in the ring WrestleMania proved to be the most fitting of stages after all if you go back to the very beginning WrestleMania won almost two decades prior an event set up in Hogan's name and used as a tool to promote the company's top star created and funded by Vince McMahon the pair's careers diverging and combining over the course of almost 20 years to finally come Toe to Toe on the stage which they were both instrumental in the founding of magic moments like these are few and far between so regardless of my personal feelings on the two men and the quality of their match it is hard to argue with the magnitude of this encounter despite the intense action and rivalries during The Invasion the WWF ultimately emerged as the dominant Force successfully faulting the alliance's attempt to seize control of the wrestling world during the storyline there was a pattern of WWF wrestlers consistently defeating their ECW and WCW counterparts in into promotional matches often securing clean victories conversely most of the alliance's wins were tainted by controversy involving interference and disqualifications this discrepancy in outcomes led to critics pointing out the over-emphasis on Steve Austin as he seemed to be the sole credible Superstar within the alliance and after all he was actually a WWF wrestler Matt Hardy expressed the sentiments of WWE Talent regarding the invasion stating man everybody in WWE hated it I mean we know it wasn't good for the industry we knew it wasn't good for the talent he further noted that the acquisition of WCW and the subsequent demise of ECW diminished their leverage in negotiation for better deals and compensation a prominent example of this disparity was evident during the inaugural poll at The Invasion pay-per-view while Steve Austin's pivotal role in the match secured a WCW and ECW victory over the WWF Slam Wrestling noted that the performance of The Alliance fell short compared to the WWF wrestlers they highlighted how the alliance was depicted as disorganized and inferior often executing mistimed moves that inadvertently harmed their own teammates in contrast the WWF Squad was portrayed as a cohesive and well-coordinated unit the portrayal of the ECW and WCW wrestlers as weak and reliant on double teaming and underhanded tactics sent a clear message that they were not on the same level as their counterparts speculation arose regarding their motivation behind this imbalance suggesting that Vince McMahon sought to avoid portraying the WWF as weak in its battle against the alliance McMahon had fiercely competed with WCW in the Monday night Wars and it's likely that he was unwilling to present the Rival brand as equally formidable her smash wrestling pointed out this could explain why WWF wrestlers needed to defect to the alliance as it created the illusion of a credible threat to the wwf's dominance from 2001 when Vince soon realized that in order to better manage the enormous roster he was now the sole owner of he would need to split the company into two separate and competing brands with WWE Smackdown and rawata era's rival programs with rival rosters the brand split meant that in opposition to the dastard Lima man character the other show would be run by another on-screen manager the utilization of WCW Talent was a significant issue with the invasion angle while WWE did bring in talented wrestlers from WCW such as Booker T Diamond Dallas Page and before that Chris Jericho they were not given the opportunity to shine to their full potential this lack of credibility and excitement could have been addressed by providing these wrestlers with prominent storylines that position them as legitimate threats to WWE's top Stars one approach to improving the angle would have been to emphasize the experience and accomplishments of the WCW wrestlers given that the company had been a prominent promotion for over a decade many of their wrestlers have achieved championships and competed in high profile matches recognizing and highlighting these achievements would have added credibility to the WCW wrestlers making fans more invested in their characters and viewing them as formidable competitors another key aspect would have been given the WCW equal footing with WWE's top Stars rather than booking them as mid-card wrestlers or jobbers the WWE could have showcased them in matches against established Superstars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock and yeah they did that with Booker T but not with many others this could have created thrilling match-ups and helped establish The credibility of the WCW brand a critical flaw of the invasion angle was the lack of a gradual build up the integration of WCW and the integration of WCW wrestlers into programming felt rushed happening mere weeks after the purchase to enhance the angle a slow burn storyline could have been implemented gradually introducing the wrestlers as surprise guests on WWE television this approach would have generated excitement and anticipation among fans leading up to an ultimate showdown between the two promotions moreover the WWE could have placed greater emphasis on the history and rivalry between the two promotions by utilizing video packages and interviews with wrestlers from both sides the significance of the storyline could have been magnified this approach would have fostered a greater sense of excitement and emotional investment from fans heightening the intensity of the Rivalry in addition to the WCW Talent the integration of extreme championship wrestling wrestlers could have been better executed while the focus was primarily on WCW bringing in ECW wrestlers offered an opportunity for diverse rivalries and match-ups the WWE could have given the ECW wrestlers a more prominent role in the storyline allowing for a more comprehensive and engaging narrative lastly the WWE could have garnered more excitement for the invasion angle by bringing in bigger names from WCW instead of predominantly featuring Mig card or lower level Talent the inclusion of well-known files such as sting Goldberg or Kevin Nash would have elevated the angle and generated greater fan interest timing also played a crucial role the ideal moment to initiate the invasion would have been immediately after Shane McMahon's purchase of WWE on the final Nitro this would have Capital this would have capitalized on the momentum and interests surrounding WCW at the time waiting until June to start the angle was a missed opportunity as striking while the iron was hot could have propelled The Invasion forward more swiftly and captivated more fans The Invasion storyline which we watched unfold in 2001 was an ambitious and highly anticipated angle in professional wrestling the concept pitted the World Wrestling Federation against wrestlers from the defunct world championship wrestling and extreme championship wrestling promotions merging the latter two into one faction known as The Alliance despite its potential The Invasion storyline ultimately fell short of expectations and is widely regarded as a failure this video is delved into the reasons behind the storylines demise focusing on the absence of talent unbalanced booking issues with characterization under utilization of wrestlers and a lack of long-term Vision additionally it's examined the role of fan expectations the pressure to deliver a blockbuster storyline and the implication of corporate ego and the politics backstage however with all that being said The Invasion storyline was still a whole lot of fun to go back and watch and I certainly enjoyed it as a 10 year old boy at the time perhaps things could have gone differently and maybe in hindsight we would all like to change certain things about that time period but for me it's one of my favorite times in all of pro wrestling history and it reminds me just why I'm a fan even to this day thanks for watching [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: Wrestle Pod

Views: 21,719

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Id: UGLN5CxgA04

Length: 65min 0sec (3900 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 07 2023