Paul Heyman literally what said what I’ve been saying for years lol. The key guys weren’t there and Vince was too impatient to give it time..... Had he been patient it would’ve been the greatest storyline ever 🤦🏾♂️
Politics would still have gotten in the way. WWE guys were not going to put feelings aside to job to perceived WCW guys for the good of the business. The boys in the back just couldn't see the big picture. Instead, what they saw was why am I laying down for a 2nd or 3rd rate wrestler from a company that went under.
@@walker1984 ok and what is their choice? They do what they're told or they can go. This whole inmates running the asylum thing seemed to start around the wcw purchase. I would have had one of my "big names" particularly that overrated third stringer Triple H whom I would have jobbed to Booker! If I'm Vince I set the precedent "you refuse a job we will fire you or bret hart you. Nobody is bigger than this company especially you triple h you've never been a proven draw without mick Foley or rock or austin around you and booker t and scott Steiner have proven they can draw working with that nobody jeff Jarrett.. You do the job or you can pack your bags"
The angle was still hot with the guys they had. Vince and company just jobbed out the WCW guys and made it a McMahon family feud AGAIN. Only RVD and Booker survived WWE stupid ass invasion booking.
The word "Invasion" should never be associated with this angle. Jobber and mid-card talent hoping to have jobs, while Vince squats and takes a massive dumb over the wCw and ECW brands angle. Not as catchy but way more accurate.
Agreed, even if just unconsciously, Vince was going to make his brand look superior, the real "War" that happened between the brands in the mid to late 90s was real and Bischoff (who come to think of it SHOULD have been there to head up the WCW part!) almost put McMahon out of business. I mean I know that McMahon still probably held a grudge over them because of that. Another thing I think was really stupid is why did "Team WWF" have Chris Jericho on it, shouldn't he have defected to the WCW or something, that was dumb and it would have made more sense to have him be on team WCW since they were lacking star power any way!
@@kevinlee9929 Count me in with those people. I was a loyal wrestling fan from 1983, and became a Hulkamanic after he defeated the Iron Sheik in '84. I loved switching between WWF and WCW during the Monday night wars, seeing who jumped ship to the competition, and my wife even bought me shares of WWF stock for my birthday when they went public. Unfortunately, I saw the WWF get too big for their britches and steady go downhill after the purchase and terrible "invasion" angle. In the end I haven't watched WWF programming since the early 2000s. Such a shame.
@@kevinlee9929 are you serious? But that was back in the day like 04-05 I was like 7 and Eddie Guerrero vs Chris benoit storyline was great amongst other storylines.
This Austin heel turn sealed the deal of the best of times.. this storyline could have save Wrestlemania X7s Heel turn.. that was the dagger, the Invasion to Austin turning heel once more too much
They honestly could've used ppl like Raven and RVD In bigger roles but they we're reduced to Hardcore Title and raven was reduced to Heat, Raven was perfect he was a big deal in both ECW and WCW.
Vinces ego is so big that he couldn't stand to put any talent over that he himself didn't create. I know he was a great businessman but I can't help but think the WWE could be alot bigger if someone else was at the reigns. It's not a coincidence that every single one of Vinces business ventures outside of wrestling have failed dismally.
I actually believe that Wrestlemania X7 is the end of the Attitude. The moment Stone Cold became heel, the momentum was over. And seeing Austin in 2001 turn babyface & then back as a heel again for this Invasion Angle, could never bring back WWE’s peak ever again
Yeah. I remember when I was a kid watching the invasion, and just seeing how the WWF was not the same anymore. I saw how the storylines declined and the overall product just started going downhill from there.
@@leonarddillon256 I was never a fan of the "What!?" Stone Cold Steve Austin or Heel for that matter. He was so good when he was just the ass whippin Texas rattlesnake.
Yeah no LMFAO...They weren't going to pay the contracts of the top guys whos contracts were owned by AOL/Time Warner....They did what they could do with what they had...Nobody with a brain would be paying millions upon millions to get the tip top guys....
A few thoughts: 1. As per usual, great video man. I look for your content weekly. 2. Re Booker: the more I learn about this guy (and watch back his matches/promos), the more I like him. Taking the risk to join the WWE early was a good one to take, even if the WWE didn't give him the push they should have. 3. On Waiting for the stars to push the Invasion angle: I think that would have run the risk of the interest fizzling out. A year is a long time to wait when everyone is expecting the angle. There's something to be said for striking when the iron is hot. I think it was a lose/lose situation for the WWE. That said, 4. Burying guys like DDP, who was one of a very few legit stars in WCW who made the move was nothing more than the WWE shooting itself in the foot. I also agree that having Stephanie "own" ECW didn't make any sense. 5. I'm looking forward to Part 2!
I remember the raw after king of the ring Edge vs Billy Gunn. Billy hit a jackhammer on Edge and the crow started chanting for Goldberg. Also I forget which Raw but during one of Shane and Stephanie's many long winded rambling alliance promos on Raw you could hear the crowd chanting "we want Sting" lmao
Plus he didn't have much of an ego. Sting is the only other person I believe didn't sign just because of the treatment. I feel if book was treated better he would have gone in.
@@Chukijay that sounds nice but let's not act like Booker T was given a high push right away😐 it still took years for him to get his respect and even then it wasn't until he became King Book-Ahh
Sting vs Taker, Booker T vs Rock, Austin vs Goldberg, Hogan vs Triple H, Steiner vs Batista. All in big brutal hard hitting matches would've been great.
Some of them happened. I'd say Austin vs Goldberg The Rock vs The People's Champion Diamond Dallas Page DDP Steiner Brothers vs the Brothers of Destruction Sting vs Mick Foley 3 Count vs Too Cool and Rikishi
And an invasion from a group that in kayfabe took its time to recover and get stronger before invading could’ve paid off rather than a desperate group of lower-mid card guys doing whatever they could to eat.
Or if the WWF coffers hadn't taken a $muli-million hit from the XFL failure just before, though even if he still had the money Vince might still have balked at paying a wrestler "entertainment" money.
@@FriendlyDiscourse I know this is a troll comment. But if this video is just up and you have a comment on it means that you are subscribed to this channel... twisted much?
The best thing that happened during the Invasion Angle was when Stone Cold gave Kurt Angle that tiny cowboy hat, and I'm not even sure if that happened during the actual Invasion. Proves how crappy it was.
I will say Booker T made a good career move and made more money long term and proving his talent over and over to WWE....as a kid I was a WWF vs WCW guy and Booker T quickly became one of my favs
You just keep coming up with the best content when it comes to Wrestling. I'm glad to see you put so much time, passion and effort into your channel my dude.
Let's say the example is ball park accurate: Vince won't pay Goldberg $$ in his prime, but rather overpay him in 2019 when he was just a shell of his former self.
@@Coldstone47034 yeah but he really should've been treated better the first time around. But old trips just had to have his way. They killed him after the rock died once he lost the chamber match
@@showtimesportsmedia6906 the problem was Goldberg got exposed. He wasn't able to have a WWF style main event match. He wasn't going to be allowed to just come in and squash top guys in 2 minutes. Having said that he still ran through everyone except HHH and even then look how strong Goldberg was at the elimination chamber. He destroyed Jericho and HBk and it took all of evolution to beat him.
You sir, have highlighted every single important moment from this era that we could care about and even allot we may not care to much for. You portray every wrestler in these bios for exactly who they were. Looking back and being a pre-20yr old, and watching your bios, we are educated in so many ways that 20yrs ago you could of never imagined. You have come across a goldmine and you treat it as a valuable commodity that we all have to have and it shows in the way you put together these clips and do commentary on things that most of the time no one knew 20yrs ago. Thank you for week after week of taking the time to make sure i am entertained. ALL HAIL WRESTLING BIOS FOREVER!!
When Shane announced on that last WCW nitro that he had bought WCW and had beaten Vince to the punch in buying them, the reaction was absolutely brilliant. Especially by Vince. Unfortunately it was all downhill after that. One of the biggest missed opportunities ever by the WWF. If they had either waited for the big stars or even bought out their time Warner contracts they would have had a great storyline for a year or more. They could have struck gold. That they didn’t was down to the impatience of the WWF management.
0:17 Lol Hearing Vince McMahon’s theme at the beginning is a suitable start to show that Invasion Angle wasn’t about WCW/ECW vs WWF, but instead another McMahon family feud. 😂
There’s many things that bother me about this train wreck of an angle, but seeing Rock say “who are you?” and seeing Austin stomp Taz like he was a jobber was enough to make me done with it
it still to this day boggles the mind to think what if Shane took over instead of Stephanie? If the Alliance won he could have turned the whole WWE into a WCW kind of company being advised by Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff. The fans would have loved it and it would have been an amazing end to Shane's feud with Vince.
@Misguided Angel Most of the guys you mentioned had a lot of potential and more years in the business than you even know about. And that wasn't even the point. Did you even read my post? Clearly not.
Great recap! The reason the WWE couldn't wait to do the invasion is the WCW brand would have been basically dead after two years of non activity. They needed to strike while it was still fresh in everyone's mind.
When this happened I was the target age for this type of content, I was hyped, I remember switching back and forth between Raw and Nitro, Thunder and Smackdown and I thought wow now they're going to be on the same show. I remember now that the handling of this is what made me stop watching WWF content. (still don't to this day!) The part that really made me mad was the handling of DDP, turned him into a creepy stalker?? Did Vince even watch WCW content?. Great videos man!
Vince wanted to destroy wcw that is the main reason why he didn’t wait for the bigger talent he wanted to make sure nobody would want anything to do with the wcw again and I think it worked
19 years later, I still think the WWF could have make The Big Show a.k.a. The Giant join WCW. He was a Power Plant alumni and a former champion. He wasn't the biggest name, but it was a name. Who TF is Reno!?
Саша I liked 2003 that’s it, 2002 wasn’t that great, the NWO invasion was terrible, and they lost all their major baby faces by the end of the year. 2003 was great with Stone Cold and Rock returning
@@roodypoochrisw Triple H & HBK in 02 made that year memorable for me, as was Lesnar's push & the dynamic of the brand split, and introductions of rookies that actually went somewhere (Lesnar, Orton, Cena, Batista). I actually prefer much of it to 2001 which felt more like a stale version of the Attitude era for me. They really did drop the ball with the nWo 2.0 though, but Bischoff as GM was great.
@@NitroNEXT Well yeah I agree it was much better than 2001, and I also really liked the HHH vs HBK fued, but other than that, it was pretty lame. Triple H and Chris Jericho had a terrible rivalry, Hogan became champ (I dont like the idea of super old superstars winning champions), and Rock and Austin were gone by the end of the year leaving us with Lesnar as the top star who wasnt that great in my personal opinion.
I remember being so excited about the invasion. I watched the invasion PPV and as the show went on, I got more and more fed up with it. The main events conclusion made me go "oh, come on!"🤦♂️😂😂
I honestly feel that it was a good idea. It was just due to egos, impatience, and executed poorly on the WWE's part. It could have been the biggest, but McMahon just choked on this clutch idea.
I really enjoyed the Invasion, I never watch WCW so didn't know who I was missing out on, I just knew this was another company of new guys coming in and taking over, it was exciting, I'd never heard of Nash, Hogan, Goldberg, Flair etc. so I didn't know these invaders weren't "top" guys.
Good video. The only thing you left out was Austin saving team WWF that night. You glossed over it like it was boring. It was exciting come on man from beginning to end in my opinion. That was a great ending to the show I thought. Austin doing a run-in and breaking up the brawl saving team wwf in the process that night in my opinion was the highlight of the entire storyline/angle. Beginning in the parking lot and ending in the arena. The pop that he got was unbelievable. That segment always gets my adrenaline flowing. I've often played that segment on here on my phone at the beginning of my 2 hour workouts at the gym, and sometimes towards the end of my distance running to give me a boost when I'm dead tired. Trying to get ready for the Chicago Marathon, it's not canceled as far as I know. I never get tired of playing that particular segment because of the rush it gives me during my training. I can't explain it.
Great job as always, Bios. The completely botched Invasion angle was the start of my decline in interest in wrestling. After Katie Vick and Muhammad Hassan, I was just about done. Thanks for helping me relive the good days with your excellent videos.
A complete burial from start to finish and the big stars especially Sting knew Vince holds a grudge and they would be buried immediately upon arrival in WWF.
@@maxmeza4859 He was put in a storyline where despite Sting making it clear he was there to stop The Authority abusing its power the announcers and Triple H treated it like it was a WWE vs WCW feud and that Sting was WCW's last remnant trying to "avenge" it even though in his promo Sting said that since WCW had been out of business for 13 or 14 years by that point so it'd be stupid. Then they had Sting's kayfabe worst enemies, the NWO come out to help him and the supposed "anti authority rebels" DX helping the company's COO. And instead of having Sting win like they should have Triple H won.
The history of Too Cool!!!! Everyone's solo story leading up to the formation, and the immense popularity of the group. Thanks. I'd love to see your take on it. Love your content.
I remember seeing this as a kid thinking this is one of the best things ever. Watching all those wrestlers face each other in the wwe and now realizing how much of a mess this angle was.
I remember the Invasion and was disapponted by not seeing many of the big players of WCW but I do remember Sean O'Haire - wasted potential for a wrestler of his size, skill and speed he could of been massive.
I believe they jumped the gun on the angle cuz the roster was being spread thin by mid 2001. HHH and Benoit were out with injuries, Rock was gone making a movie, they were running out of bodies and thus Vince panicked a little. I will say tho, the angle did help elevate guys like Angle and Jericho to more main even level. And obviously it helped guys like Booker and RVD on the other side.
I remember being in middle school during the Monday Night Wars era and my and my friends would talk about the hypothetical WWF vs WCW dream match ups we wished we could see like Sting vs The Undertaker, Sting vs Mankind, Goldberg vs Steve Austin, The Outsiders vs HHH/Shawn Michaels, The Rock vs Diamond Dallas Page, Harlem Heat vs The New Age Outlaws, Eric Bischoff vs Mr. McMahon, etc. If the actual merger angle had like even 2 of those matches at the time, it could have been incredible. I understand why it didn't happen at the time, but as mentioned in the video they should have waited a bit longer to try and get some of the actual WCW stars. Like Paul Heyman said, the WCW invasion roster was like something you'd see on a watered down version of Thunder. Also, making Stephanie the storyline CEO of ECW was just a slap in the face to the ECW brand and its fans. She was the total opposite of everything ECW was supposed to be.
On Stone Cold's podcast he had Buff Bagwell on talking about the Invasion, and SC said he was watching the Buff/Booker match recently (at the time of the podcast obviously) and thought it was pretty good. Then he saw Austin and Angle run in to beat up the WCW guys. Steve had no memory of doing that!
Not really. How can u forget RVD? and Billy Kidman was used a a top crusierweight and even won the title in MSG, when he returned from injury in mid03 they tried to make him a big deal when he was shown in the audience, but it didnt catch on. Kidman had ZERO charisma. Helms became Hurrican and still uses that gimmick to this day. Chavo was apart of the Smackdown6. Keep in mind, that you dont need to won world titles to be successful
@@maxmeza4859 RVD wasn’t a WCW guy. Kidman, Helms, and Chavo did well in their niches, I’ll concede that, but they all had obvious ceilings and none of them were around as long or as successful as Booker.
Great stuff. One thing not mentioned is that a number of the former WCW midcarders that didn't make it to WWF ended up in the developmental territory HWA (which was one of WCW's assets when bought out). A few matches from it are on UA-cam. Also, a few ex-WCW people decided to go to TNA when it started, some came to the WWE relatively soon after and some took much longer (Sting of course flat out refused to come to WWE for years).
It wouldn't have mattered if all the top talent like sting and Goldberg came over too. Vince woukd have squashed them anyway. Look what he done to DDP and booker T
@@Robman0908 "This", what? Youre saying it WWF was able to get the nWo, Sting, Goldberg, Flair, Savage,Luger,etc to join DDP and Booker T, they wouldve been "squashed like jobbers"? lmao, youre an idiot
Exactly the content I needed right now. Just getting back into wrasslin but was out during this time. Checked on this storyline about a week ago, but glad I get to hear it from you!
Aside from all of the great matches that came out of this, the entire so called invasion angle was a complete disaster and became all about the Mcmahons again The WCW / ECW alliance may have won a few big matches here and there but they were mostly booked to look completely weak, to make matters worse WWF wrestlers started "jumping ship" to join the enemy's side including their biggest star Stone Cold which was completely stupid. By the time we got to Survivor Series, it was mostly WWF vs WWF with 1 ECW guy and 1 WCW guy. What hurt a lot of this was we didn't have any of the big names like Goldberg, Sting and the NWO. If Vince waited until 2002 or 2003 when we had these guys in the company then they could have done the invasion angle and it would have worked out so much better than the car crash we got instead. We could have had tons of dream matches and it is such a shame that things didn't work out well because with time, care and good booking, this could have done huge business but sadly it is what it is.
If Triple H hadn't spent the Invasion angle in rehab, Stephanie probably wouldn't have been made the ECW owner, but they apparently "needed" something for her to do.
Another great video, I always found it odd that they had Booker T vs Bagwell for the Championship that night at the end of Raw. Also very weird to have Arn Anderson on commentary when I dont think he ever did commentary before. Seems like if they could have got Mike Tenay it would have worked or hell put Heyman back on commentary for WCW matches.
Weird that Vince and Time Warner couldn't work out some sort of deal where Vince agreed to pay a portion of the WCW's stars contracts. Would've been a win win for both sides.
Man, YOU ARE ON FIRE WITH THESE FREAKING AWESOME EPISODES! I can't hit the play button fast enough when I see your videos pop up! A true work of art! And OH, STEPHANIE, TRISH STRATUS, LITA! MMMMMM!
Glad you're covering this. Totally missed this whole period of wrestling but when I heard about it, I always wondered how it wasn't the most amazing story line ever. Then I figured it was because Vince just shat on WCW because he finally could which then had me wondering why everyone was so ok with that. I guess it's much more complicated than I imagined though. They should have had the best creative minds brainstorm together to come up with the best possible angle for each fight and the angle as a whole and also considered money no object to ensure both sides were represented by the best talent each had to offer. That should have been an all-in no brainier decision because it would have paid off huge. Sting vs. HBK, Austin vs. Goldberg, Undertaker vs. Hogan, Triple H vs. Luger, and on and on.. How did we pass up this opportunity for ANY reason? Anyway, can't wait for part 2.
Undertaker vs. Hogan wasn't a dream match by that point, it had already happened in the past. The money was in Sting v Taker due to the darker gimmicks the two had. HBK wasn't an active wrestler at that point due to his back injury, they didn't even expect him to have more than one match after Summerslam 02, it was initially supposed to be a one and done. Plus, at the time he only trusted Triple H to have his last match with.
Hey man I had a free month of the membership, I went to join again and it came up as free again.. I did want to pay the cash to support the work, this channel is the best channel out there the test video is worth the admission and more alone.. I did order a t shirt instead to support.. Thanks for the videos man
For me if they had just stretched the invasion out several more months they would have had all of the top WCW guys that decided to sit out their contracts. If they had the likes of Hogan, Hall, Nash, Flair, Stiener, Rey Mysterio and Goldberg it would have made it much more worth while and the planned brand split as one being RAW and the other being Nitro would have probably worked more so if they had brought in Eric Bischoff to run it on screen like he did as GM of RAW. Then with the possibility of a third show of ECW with Paul Heyman running it on screen.
Another fantastic video. Appreciate all the hard work mate and these intro are killer Because "you've got no chance in hell" Keep up the great work mate
Vince wanted to strike while the iron was hot. If he waited a year after the WCW was bought then he would have ran the risk that the invasion angle would have never happened. There was a risk that no one would have cared at that point. So Vince moved forward with what he had. I thought that was obvious back in the day when it was happening. The biggest mistake IMO was how they booked DDP. He should have diamond cut WWF guys left and right.
Youre probably the smartest person here...Not to mention that by 2002, Austin's health was done and Hollywood was calling for The Rock...so I always LMAO when ppl are like "they shouldve waited 2 years"
Josh Adams I was a wwf guy too and back when I was forced to watch wcw when my cousin that was a wcw fam showed up I started recognizing those guys from wcw lol
Paul Heyman literally what said what I’ve been saying for years lol. The key guys weren’t there and Vince was too impatient to give it time..... Had he been patient it would’ve been the greatest storyline ever 🤦🏾♂️
Politics would still have gotten in the way. WWE guys were not going to put feelings aside to job to perceived WCW guys for the good of the business. The boys in the back just couldn't see the big picture. Instead, what they saw was why am I laying down for a 2nd or 3rd rate wrestler from a company that went under.
@@walker1984 ok and what is their choice? They do what they're told or they can go.
This whole inmates running the asylum thing seemed to start around the wcw purchase. I would have had one of my "big names" particularly that overrated third stringer Triple H whom I would have jobbed to Booker!
If I'm Vince I set the precedent "you refuse a job we will fire you or bret hart you. Nobody is bigger than this company especially you triple h you've never been a proven draw without mick Foley or rock or austin around you and booker t and scott Steiner have proven they can draw working with that nobody jeff Jarrett.. You do the job or you can pack your bags"
Paul Heyman sniffs poo poo from butt 💨💨💨💨😶🌫️
The angle was still hot with the guys they had. Vince and company just jobbed out the WCW guys and made it a McMahon family feud AGAIN.
Only RVD and Booker survived WWE stupid ass invasion booking.
@@alexmarquez9639theres a difference between losing for the good of a storyline and jobbing
The word "Invasion" should never be associated with this angle.
Jobber and mid-card talent hoping to have jobs, while Vince squats and takes a massive dumb over the wCw and ECW brands angle.
Not as catchy but way more accurate.
Agreed, even if just unconsciously, Vince was going to make his brand look superior, the real "War" that happened between the brands in the mid to late 90s was real and Bischoff (who come to think of it SHOULD have been there to head up the WCW part!) almost put McMahon out of business. I mean I know that McMahon still probably held a grudge over them because of that. Another thing I think was really stupid is why did "Team WWF" have Chris Jericho on it, shouldn't he have defected to the WCW or something, that was dumb and it would have made more sense to have him be on team WCW since they were lacking star power any way!
That is true. Chris was beginning to turn heel so it would have made sense for him to join the Alliance. Made more sense than Stone Cold
I think in this case either word actually works great.
@@kevinlee9929 Count me in with those people. I was a loyal wrestling fan from 1983, and became a Hulkamanic after he defeated the Iron Sheik in '84. I loved switching between WWF and WCW during the Monday night wars, seeing who jumped ship to the competition, and my wife even bought me shares of WWF stock for my birthday when they went public. Unfortunately, I saw the WWF get too big for their britches and steady go downhill after the purchase and terrible "invasion" angle. In the end I haven't watched WWF programming since the early 2000s. Such a shame.
@@kevinlee9929 are you serious? But that was back in the day like 04-05 I was like 7 and Eddie Guerrero vs Chris benoit storyline was great amongst other storylines.
Earl Hebner versus Nick Patrick is one of the greatest matches of all time.
That match was hilarious.
You must have missed Trish & Lita vs. Torrie and Stacie.
This Austin heel turn sealed the deal of the best of times.. this storyline could have save Wrestlemania X7s Heel turn.. that was the dagger, the Invasion to Austin turning heel once more too much
@@ryanhatch8033 They f'n trolled us with him turning face for like a week then turning back heel
Bro as a kid I hated Nick Patrick so much lmao
If there was one thing that ruined the Invasion storyline, it was Vince McMahon's ego. I think we can concur with that fact.
They honestly could've used ppl like Raven and RVD In bigger roles but they we're reduced to Hardcore Title and raven was reduced to Heat, Raven was perfect he was a big deal in both ECW and WCW.
Hey at least RVD was in main events and big angles... raven was a waste.
Vinces ego is so big that he couldn't stand to put any talent over that he himself didn't create. I know he was a great businessman but I can't help but think the WWE could be alot bigger if someone else was at the reigns. It's not a coincidence that every single one of Vinces business ventures outside of wrestling have failed dismally.
The Invasion was the end of the Attitude Era.
Early Invasion time was when I stopped watching personally
I actually believe that Wrestlemania X7 is the end of the Attitude. The moment Stone Cold became heel, the momentum was over. And seeing Austin in 2001 turn babyface & then back as a heel again for this Invasion Angle, could never bring back WWE’s peak ever again
Yeah. I remember when I was a kid watching the invasion, and just seeing how the WWF was not the same anymore. I saw how the storylines declined and the overall product just started going downhill from there.
@@leonarddillon256 I was never a fan of the "What!?" Stone Cold Steve Austin or Heel for that matter. He was so good when he was just the ass whippin Texas rattlesnake.
the draft was the end of the Attitude ERa
They turned a potentially golden storyline into another McMahon self-indulgence rush.
It's something that will never get to see ever in this lifetime because Vince McMahon was too impatient
Yeah no LMFAO...They weren't going to pay the contracts of the top guys whos contracts were owned by AOL/Time Warner....They did what they could do with what they had...Nobody with a brain would be paying millions upon millions to get the tip top guys....
@@lutherheggs451 how come he won't he does it now with Brock he's been doing it for years he was just selfish
This storyline could have been huge. It could have dragged on for a while. I still to this day feel cheated out of it.
@@SouthEastSD619 I agree with you
A few thoughts:
1. As per usual, great video man. I look for your content weekly.
2. Re Booker: the more I learn about this guy (and watch back his matches/promos), the more I like him. Taking the risk to join the WWE early was a good one to take, even if the WWE didn't give him the push they should have.
3. On Waiting for the stars to push the Invasion angle: I think that would have run the risk of the interest fizzling out. A year is a long time to wait when everyone is expecting the angle. There's something to be said for striking when the iron is hot. I think it was a lose/lose situation for the WWE. That said,
4. Burying guys like DDP, who was one of a very few legit stars in WCW who made the move was nothing more than the WWE shooting itself in the foot. I also agree that having Stephanie "own" ECW didn't make any sense.
5. I'm looking forward to Part 2!
Fans: We want WCW. We want Sting, Flair, Nash, Hogan etc.
Vince McMahon: We have WCW at home.
Vince: You get to watch me feud with Shane and Stephanie.
I remember the raw after king of the ring Edge vs Billy Gunn. Billy hit a jackhammer on Edge and the crow started chanting for Goldberg. Also I forget which Raw but during one of Shane and Stephanie's many long winded rambling alliance promos on Raw you could hear the crowd chanting "we want Sting" lmao
😂😂😂
lol
Me and my friends actually like WCW at joke 🥴
In the end, BookerT got way more out of signing immediately with the WWF than by sitting out his contract.
The hustle paid off.
Yea Tru that...I can see it..It really does..
Plus he didn't have much of an ego. Sting is the only other person I believe didn't sign just because of the treatment. I feel if book was treated better he would have gone in.
It was a reward for his efforts. Vince has his head a hundred feet up his own ass but he acknowledges hard work and rewards it.
"Hey Vince, you'll never believe where I'm at.." :P
@@Chukijay that sounds nice but let's not act like Booker T was given a high push right away😐 it still took years for him to get his respect and even then it wasn't until he became King Book-Ahh
Sting vs Taker, Booker T vs Rock, Austin vs Goldberg, Hogan vs Triple H, Steiner vs Batista. All in big brutal hard hitting matches would've been great.
Triple h is trash
More like Hogan vs Austin
Goldberg vs Lesnar
Booker T vs The Rock
Sting vs The Undertaker
Scott Hall vs Shawn Michaels
Some of them happened.
I'd say
Austin vs Goldberg
The Rock vs The People's Champion Diamond Dallas Page DDP
Steiner Brothers vs the Brothers of Destruction
Sting vs Mick Foley
3 Count vs Too Cool and Rikishi
Batista didn't come in until the Dudleys split after Invasion.
Was the Brand wars then.
Reverend Dvon anyone???
OH TESTIFY!!!
@@xPadge112x and Lesnar also didn't arrive until 2002.
I'd like to see a standalone Booker T vid, was always a fan of his, especially when he started flying solo.
There's a reason why CM Punk said Vince is a millionaire that should be a billionaire 🙄
This could have been SOOOO much better, if they had just been a little more patient
And an invasion from a group that in kayfabe took its time to recover and get stronger before invading could’ve paid off rather than a desperate group of lower-mid card guys doing whatever they could to eat.
that had nothing to do with patience.
Or if the WWF coffers hadn't taken a $muli-million hit from the XFL failure just before, though even if he still had the money Vince might still have balked at paying a wrestler "entertainment" money.
Yeah they should have waited till 2003 when they had at least gotten Steiner and Goldberg and a few others. ..oh yeah and Flair
@@Rick-si1re 2003 was when Austin was done in the ring...Rock also went awoll to hollywood. Dumb idea
The biggest "What if" ever in wrestling.
For me the biggest "what if" would be WCW pay per view 2001 "the Big Bang"
No, that belongs to the: What if Mark Henry’s hand baby survived?????
@@Raysizum69 it did, it showed up in one of the raw anniversary episode last years, as a grown young boy
It could have been handled so much better.
What if Head actually talks to Al Snow 🤔
Constantly smashing out the content, and its dam good content at that.!
Hell yeah man. I completely agree!!!!! Love this content!!!!!
Smashing lol
Yep
@@FriendlyDiscourse What you doing with your life?
@@FriendlyDiscourse I know this is a troll comment. But if this video is just up and you have a comment on it means that you are subscribed to this channel... twisted much?
The best thing that happened during the Invasion Angle was when Stone Cold gave Kurt Angle that tiny cowboy hat, and I'm not even sure if that happened during the actual Invasion. Proves how crappy it was.
WWE vs WCW in the game, WWE 12 was better than the actual thing.
Oh, yeah. 💯
That is a fact.
Yep that and too many backstage brawls and handicap matches.
Rick I hated having to fight Vader and Booker T like 7 times
True
I will say Booker T made a good career move and made more money long term and proving his talent over and over to WWE....as a kid I was a WWF vs WCW guy and Booker T quickly became one of my favs
You just keep coming up with the best content when it comes to Wrestling. I'm glad to see you put so much time, passion and effort into your channel my dude.
Let's say the example is ball park accurate: Vince won't pay Goldberg $$ in his prime, but rather overpay him in 2019 when he was just a shell of his former self.
Goldberg to me was just an entrance & a cool spear. I only respected the Jackhammer when he used it on guys as big as the Giant or Reese
He got him still kinda in his prime in 03
@@Coldstone47034 yeah but he really should've been treated better the first time around. But old trips just had to have his way. They killed him after the rock died once he lost the chamber match
Showtime Sports Media The guy only had a 1 year contract
@@showtimesportsmedia6906 the problem was Goldberg got exposed. He wasn't able to have a WWF style main event match. He wasn't going to be allowed to just come in and squash top guys in 2 minutes. Having said that he still ran through everyone except HHH and even then look how strong Goldberg was at the elimination chamber. He destroyed Jericho and HBk and it took all of evolution to beat him.
You sir, have highlighted every single important moment from this era that we could care about and even allot we may not care to much for. You portray every wrestler in these bios for exactly who they were. Looking back and being a pre-20yr old, and watching your bios, we are educated in so many ways that 20yrs ago you could of never imagined. You have come across a goldmine and you treat it as a valuable commodity that we all have to have and it shows in the way you put together these clips and do commentary on things that most of the time no one knew 20yrs ago. Thank you for week after week of taking the time to make sure i am entertained. ALL HAIL WRESTLING BIOS FOREVER!!
You mam, have gotten brush burn on your knees
The output on this channel just continues to impress. You are killing the game right now.
I’ve spent the last 3 months working as a nurse on a covid + ward for the elderly. Your videos help keep me going. Cheers mate
Thank you. Stay strong brother
Ryan Paladino, thanks man. Stay smart, stay safe
When Shane announced on that last WCW nitro that he had bought WCW and had beaten Vince to the punch in buying them, the reaction was absolutely brilliant. Especially by Vince. Unfortunately it was all downhill after that. One of the biggest missed opportunities ever by the WWF. If they had either waited for the big stars or even bought out their time Warner contracts they would have had a great storyline for a year or more. They could have struck gold. That they didn’t was down to the impatience of the WWF management.
Misguided Angel should have bought out their contracts then. That would have guaranteed brilliant storylines.
LMAO that shot of Vince at 18:41 perfectly describes the whole Invasion in a nutshell
0:17 Lol Hearing Vince McMahon’s theme at the beginning is a suitable start to show that Invasion Angle wasn’t about WCW/ECW vs WWF, but instead another McMahon family feud. 😂
Stone Cold and RVD's interactions made it worthwhile for me. The watch segment was hilarious.
"raaa vaaaa daaa WHAT"
There’s many things that bother me about this train wreck of an angle, but seeing Rock say “who are you?” and seeing Austin stomp Taz like he was a jobber was enough to make me done with it
Don't forget the Undertaker saying that DDP "isn't famous because he sucks). And then beating him around like a jobber at King of the Ring.
TheSBleeder that too
DDP got it worse. He went from a main event star in WCW to a jobber in WWE. Vince just would not let his pettiness go.
Razz was ruined in the WWF by mid 2000.
If you mean Taz than yes,I agree. He was ruined by mid 2000.
The WcW/EcW "invasion" was the biggest waste of talent ever all we got was Vince putting over WWE again and again.
And it’s been going on now for nearly 20 years, Vince still to this day buries WCW as much as possible
@@My19812011 he does it to NXT stars as well
it still to this day boggles the mind to think what if Shane took over instead of Stephanie? If the Alliance won he could have turned the whole WWE into a WCW kind of company being advised by Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff. The fans would have loved it and it would have been an amazing end to Shane's feud with Vince.
@Misguided Angel Most of the guys you mentioned had a lot of potential and more years in the business than you even know about. And that wasn't even the point. Did you even read my post? Clearly not.
Yea just dump those wwe talent to aew and get overpushed then jobbed
the scissor kick that Booker T hit on Vince was the absolute best!
Blame Stasiak!
"WCW Thunder vs the rest of the WWF." Never looked at it that way before!
Great recap! The reason the WWE couldn't wait to do the invasion is the WCW brand would have been basically dead after two years of non activity. They needed to strike while it was still fresh in everyone's mind.
Glad I've witnessed this channel growing, it really is a part of my weekly schedule
I always wanted an R-truth vs Booker T match. The battle of the real scissors kick 🤣
K-Kwik at the time.
Yep to amazing athletes would have been great
You’ve done it again! This is exactly where I am on the WWE network..I’m literally watching KOTR 2001 RN as I type this!
When this happened I was the target age for this type of content, I was hyped, I remember switching back and forth between Raw and Nitro, Thunder and Smackdown and I thought wow now they're going to be on the same show. I remember now that the handling of this is what made me stop watching WWF content. (still don't to this day!) The part that really made me mad was the handling of DDP, turned him into a creepy stalker?? Did Vince even watch WCW content?. Great videos man!
Vince wanted to destroy wcw that is the main reason why he didn’t wait for the bigger talent he wanted to make sure nobody would want anything to do with the wcw again and I think it worked
That maybe true but Vince also loves success and this story line would've could've been wayy better
now they all going to AEw
19 years later, I still think the WWF could have make The Big Show a.k.a. The Giant join WCW. He was a Power Plant alumni and a former champion. He wasn't the biggest name, but it was a name. Who TF is Reno!?
I agree. The Giant joining WCW would have made more sense then Austin joining.
Oh man, this work rate of yours is crazy man!!! keep up the amazing content coming buddy!!!!
Seriously. This channel is churning out amazing stuff.
I thought the Invasion storyline could of been better if they added Sting Goldberg and Nash and Hogan for WCW and if HHH didnt get injured
Underrated UA-cam Channel definitely deserves to be bigger.
It's relatively new. It will pick up.
The Invasion was terrible, it was the beginning of the downfall of WWF
Nah. Making YOU the WWE Champion ruined the company.
Саша I liked 2003 that’s it, 2002 wasn’t that great, the NWO invasion was terrible, and they lost all their major baby faces by the end of the year. 2003 was great with Stone Cold and Rock returning
Саша best years? Maybe in wwe but damn sure not wwf lol
@@roodypoochrisw Triple H & HBK in 02 made that year memorable for me, as was Lesnar's push & the dynamic of the brand split, and introductions of rookies that actually went somewhere (Lesnar, Orton, Cena, Batista). I actually prefer much of it to 2001 which felt more like a stale version of the Attitude era for me. They really did drop the ball with the nWo 2.0 though, but Bischoff as GM was great.
@@NitroNEXT Well yeah I agree it was much better than 2001, and I also really liked the HHH vs HBK fued, but other than that, it was pretty lame. Triple H and Chris Jericho had a terrible rivalry, Hogan became champ (I dont like the idea of super old superstars winning champions), and Rock and Austin were gone by the end of the year leaving us with Lesnar as the top star who wasnt that great in my personal opinion.
The quality of your videos is untouched man.
I remember being so excited about the invasion. I watched the invasion PPV and as the show went on, I got more and more fed up with it. The main events conclusion made me go "oh, come on!"🤦♂️😂😂
I honestly feel that it was a good idea. It was just due to egos, impatience, and executed poorly on the WWE's part. It could have been the biggest, but McMahon just choked on this clutch idea.
I really enjoyed the Invasion, I never watch WCW so didn't know who I was missing out on, I just knew this was another company of new guys coming in and taking over, it was exciting, I'd never heard of Nash, Hogan, Goldberg, Flair etc. so I didn't know these invaders weren't "top" guys.
I didn't watched either
Good video. The only thing you left out was Austin saving team WWF that night. You glossed over it like it was boring. It was exciting come on man from beginning to end in my opinion. That was a great ending to the show I thought. Austin doing a run-in and breaking up the brawl saving team wwf in the process that night in my opinion was the highlight of the entire storyline/angle. Beginning in the parking lot and ending in the arena. The pop that he got was unbelievable. That segment always gets my adrenaline flowing. I've often played that segment on here on my phone at the beginning of my 2 hour workouts at the gym, and sometimes towards the end of my distance running to give me a boost when I'm dead tired. Trying to get ready for the Chicago Marathon, it's not canceled as far as I know. I never get tired of playing that particular segment because of the rush it gives me during my training. I can't explain it.
Great job as always, Bios. The completely botched Invasion angle was the start of my decline in interest in wrestling. After Katie Vick and Muhammad Hassan, I was just about done. Thanks for helping me relive the good days with your excellent videos.
This is awesome. And very timely, was just thinking about this angle this past week.
A complete burial from start to finish and the big stars especially Sting knew Vince holds a grudge and they would be buried immediately upon arrival in WWF.
@Misguided Angel have you seen how ddp was booked in the invasion storyline? it Vince McMahon after all
Sting should have never come to WWE
when did Sting get "buried immediately up arrival"?
@@money345atherley2 That was Undertaker who personally didnt like DDP, not Vince
@@maxmeza4859 He was put in a storyline where despite Sting making it clear he was there to stop The Authority abusing its power the announcers and Triple H treated it like it was a WWE vs WCW feud and that Sting was WCW's last remnant trying to "avenge" it even though in his promo Sting said that since WCW had been out of business for 13 or 14 years by that point so it'd be stupid. Then they had Sting's kayfabe worst enemies, the NWO come out to help him and the supposed "anti authority rebels" DX helping the company's COO. And instead of having Sting win like they should have Triple H won.
The history of Too Cool!!!!
Everyone's solo story leading up to the formation, and the immense popularity of the group.
Thanks.
I'd love to see your take on it.
Love your content.
I remember seeing this as a kid thinking this is one of the best things ever. Watching all those wrestlers face each other in the wwe and now realizing how much of a mess this angle was.
I know. My jaw dropped when the WCW/ECW invasion began. I was so excited then it just was a big let down. Just every match simply being interrupted
Mate your my favourite provider of content of anything. I look more forward to these than anything Netflix has to offer. Brilliant mate
I remember the Invasion and was disapponted by not seeing many of the big players of WCW but I do remember Sean O'Haire - wasted potential for a wrestler of his size, skill and speed he could of been massive.
Remember watching this as a 13/14 year old and watching Lance Storm coming out and thinking, is this it? The hype definitely didn't live up
I believe they jumped the gun on the angle cuz the roster was being spread thin by mid 2001. HHH and Benoit were out with injuries, Rock was gone making a movie, they were running out of bodies and thus Vince panicked a little. I will say tho, the angle did help elevate guys like Angle and Jericho to more main even level. And obviously it helped guys like Booker and RVD on the other side.
I remember being in middle school during the Monday Night Wars era and my and my friends would talk about the hypothetical WWF vs WCW dream match ups we wished we could see like Sting vs The Undertaker, Sting vs Mankind, Goldberg vs Steve Austin, The Outsiders vs HHH/Shawn Michaels, The Rock vs Diamond Dallas Page, Harlem Heat vs The New Age Outlaws, Eric Bischoff vs Mr. McMahon, etc. If the actual merger angle had like even 2 of those matches at the time, it could have been incredible. I understand why it didn't happen at the time, but as mentioned in the video they should have waited a bit longer to try and get some of the actual WCW stars. Like Paul Heyman said, the WCW invasion roster was like something you'd see on a watered down version of Thunder. Also, making Stephanie the storyline CEO of ECW was just a slap in the face to the ECW brand and its fans. She was the total opposite of everything ECW was supposed to be.
On Stone Cold's podcast he had Buff Bagwell on talking about the Invasion, and SC said he was watching the Buff/Booker match recently (at the time of the podcast obviously) and thought it was pretty good. Then he saw Austin and Angle run in to beat up the WCW guys. Steve had no memory of doing that!
Man this video was great. Brought back so many memories. Shout out to this channel.
Booker T is the only WCW guy that had anything resembling sustained success in WWE and even his career there was spotty at best.
Not really. How can u forget RVD? and Billy Kidman was used a a top crusierweight and even won the title in MSG, when he returned from injury in mid03 they tried to make him a big deal when he was shown in the audience, but it didnt catch on. Kidman had ZERO charisma. Helms became Hurrican and still uses that gimmick to this day. Chavo was apart of the Smackdown6. Keep in mind, that you dont need to won world titles to be successful
@@maxmeza4859 RVD wasn’t a WCW guy. Kidman, Helms, and Chavo did well in their niches, I’ll concede that, but they all had obvious ceilings and none of them were around as long or as successful as Booker.
Great stuff. One thing not mentioned is that a number of the former WCW midcarders that didn't make it to WWF ended up in the developmental territory HWA (which was one of WCW's assets when bought out). A few matches from it are on UA-cam. Also, a few ex-WCW people decided to go to TNA when it started, some came to the WWE relatively soon after and some took much longer (Sting of course flat out refused to come to WWE for years).
This angle could have gone better if they had waited a year.
If only you were there in that room with all those dumb brains 😒
It wouldn't have mattered if all the top talent like sting and Goldberg came over too. Vince woukd have squashed them anyway.
Look what he done to DDP and booker T
@@MN_2003 If they waited a year, Austin's health was declining and Rock was off to Hollywood. Terrible idea, kid
@@23and0 Uh yes it wouldve,kid. If WCW top guys came over, it wouldve been more convincing. Goldberg and STing are way above DDP and Booker T
@@Robman0908 "This", what? Youre saying it WWF was able to get the nWo, Sting, Goldberg, Flair, Savage,Luger,etc to join DDP and Booker T, they wouldve been "squashed like jobbers"? lmao, youre an idiot
As always a class video, thank you 👍🏻
Shane McMahon's jerseys were always 🔥
Exactly the content I needed right now. Just getting back into wrasslin but was out during this time. Checked on this storyline about a week ago, but glad I get to hear it from you!
The damn music/siren/whatever the hell the noise was when they were "invaded" killed it (at least for me)
You did a great job with this bud! Loved it, gave me a proper nostalgia rush but a new perspective on what went down. On to part 2...
It’s insane how many opportunities Vince McMahon have blown
Aside from all of the great matches that came out of this, the entire so called invasion angle was a complete disaster and became all about the Mcmahons again
The WCW / ECW alliance may have won a few big matches here and there but they were mostly booked to look completely weak, to make matters worse WWF wrestlers started "jumping ship" to join the enemy's side including their biggest star Stone Cold which was completely stupid. By the time we got to Survivor Series, it was mostly WWF vs WWF with 1 ECW guy and 1 WCW guy.
What hurt a lot of this was we didn't have any of the big names like Goldberg, Sting and the NWO. If Vince waited until 2002 or 2003 when we had these guys in the company then they could have done the invasion angle and it would have worked out so much better than the car crash we got instead.
We could have had tons of dream matches and it is such a shame that things didn't work out well because with time, care and good booking, this could have done huge business but sadly it is what it is.
If Triple H hadn't spent the Invasion angle in rehab, Stephanie probably wouldn't have been made the ECW owner, but they apparently "needed" something for her to do.
Another great video, I always found it odd that they had Booker T vs Bagwell for the Championship that night at the end of Raw. Also very weird to have Arn Anderson on commentary when I dont think he ever did commentary before. Seems like if they could have got Mike Tenay it would have worked or hell put Heyman back on commentary for WCW matches.
Weird that Vince and Time Warner couldn't work out some sort of deal where Vince agreed to pay a portion of the WCW's stars contracts. Would've been a win win for both sides.
Man, YOU ARE ON FIRE WITH THESE FREAKING AWESOME EPISODES! I can't hit the play button fast enough when I see your videos pop up! A true work of art! And OH, STEPHANIE, TRISH STRATUS, LITA! MMMMMM!
I love how you say Dubya-see-Dubya. I dunno why it just sounds cool.
Great as always , ready for pt 2
Wish Sting was apart of this angle. Even wish Bret Hart would have been forced to have came back to WWF.
Bret Harts Career was over at this time, kiddy
Glad you're covering this. Totally missed this whole period of wrestling but when I heard about it, I always wondered how it wasn't the most amazing story line ever. Then I figured it was because Vince just shat on WCW because he finally could which then had me wondering why everyone was so ok with that. I guess it's much more complicated than I imagined though. They should have had the best creative minds brainstorm together to come up with the best possible angle for each fight and the angle as a whole and also considered money no object to ensure both sides were represented by the best talent each had to offer. That should have been an all-in no brainier decision because it would have paid off huge. Sting vs. HBK, Austin vs. Goldberg, Undertaker vs. Hogan, Triple H vs. Luger, and on and on.. How did we pass up this opportunity for ANY reason?
Anyway, can't wait for part 2.
Undertaker vs. Hogan wasn't a dream match by that point, it had already happened in the past. The money was in Sting v Taker due to the darker gimmicks the two had. HBK wasn't an active wrestler at that point due to his back injury, they didn't even expect him to have more than one match after Summerslam 02, it was initially supposed to be a one and done. Plus, at the time he only trusted Triple H to have his last match with.
We wanted Hogan, Nash and Goldberg but we got
Palumbo, Helms and Stasiak
Hey man I had a free month of the membership, I went to join again and it came up as free again.. I did want to pay the cash to support the work, this channel is the best channel out there the test video is worth the admission and more alone.. I did order a t shirt instead to support.. Thanks for the videos man
Thanks man. I think the free offer was extended until July (I'm not sure, it's a UA-cam thing) but thank you!
Stephanie Mchman as the owner of ECW,was too far.
Hell Yea! Thanks So Much for Another Awesome Video! Can't wait for Part 2👊🙂🤘
This is one of the topics that I was dying to watch, Thanks Wrestling bios 👍👍
idk how I haven't found your channel before now. Excited to see your videos!
That invasion angle was all messed up should've waited till the contract issues was solved.
Yo - your videos are really well done. Thanks for all the work and entertainment
You forgot to mention that Mike Awesome showed up on the Raw from Madison Square Garden and won the Hardcore Title from Rhyno
For me if they had just stretched the invasion out several more months they would have had all of the top WCW guys that decided to sit out their contracts. If they had the likes of Hogan, Hall, Nash, Flair, Stiener, Rey Mysterio and Goldberg it would have made it much more worth while and the planned brand split as one being RAW and the other being Nitro would have probably worked more so if they had brought in Eric Bischoff to run it on screen like he did as GM of RAW. Then with the possibility of a third show of ECW with Paul Heyman running it on screen.
This could have been one of the best angles ever...butttt we know how they F”d it up
I've been waiting for this one! Excellent content as usual brother. Best wrestling channel on UA-cam.
DDP had a major pop when he showed up, just to get buried like he did...
The Greatest Wrestling Bios video EVER!!!!
McMahon’s ego is way too big not to put himself front and center in the Invasion storyline.
Yes a new wrestling bios upload! :) that made my day even better then it already was!
Way to go Staziak🤦🏻♂️
He was well buried after that.
Another fantastic video.
Appreciate all the hard work mate and these intro are killer
Because "you've got no chance in hell"
Keep up the great work mate
Vince wanted to strike while the iron was hot. If he waited a year after the WCW was bought then he would have ran the risk that the invasion angle would have never happened. There was a risk that no one would have cared at that point. So Vince moved forward with what he had. I thought that was obvious back in the day when it was happening. The biggest mistake IMO was how they booked DDP. He should have diamond cut WWF guys left and right.
Youre probably the smartest person here...Not to mention that by 2002, Austin's health was done and Hollywood was calling for The Rock...so I always LMAO when ppl are like "they shouldve waited 2 years"
Amazing Video, bro. I had forgotten so much.😅 Lookin' to watch that Invasion PPV on the Network soon.
Being that i was a WWF guy back in the day. I have always enjoyed this storyline. I still have the invasion pay-per-view on DVD.
Josh Adams I was a wwf guy too and back when I was forced to watch wcw when my cousin that was a wcw fam showed up I started recognizing those guys from wcw lol
Was waiting for this one!! Love your videos man