Retro Review For WWF/WCW + ECW InVasion 2001
Smarks are stereotyped as cynical a-holes. Never satisifed with what they are seeing, always complaining, upset at the pushes of their favorite wrestlers, and having a higher than thou attitude thinking that "we are always right and the marks are stupid." They are the George Carlin of wrestling-always complaining, giving up hope, digusted at what they are seeing, and being funny by doing it. Yes, that is all true. But for a few short months, we were the happiest people in the world.
On March 23, 2001, Vince McMahon shocked the wrestling world all other by buying World Championship Wrestling from Aol/Time Warner. What once was a competive organazation and had almost, almost destroyed the WWF, the WCW, in recent years, had been a shell of its former self. Low ratings, decreasing attendance, backstage poltics, and horrific storylines all lead to the downfall of this once great giant. It looked to be the end of it all, but Vince McMahon, for no reason (except to save his company's own declining ratings although they would get worse over time) brought the company after Aol/Time Warner, WCW's parent company, cancelled its flagship show, WCW Monday Nitro and WCW Thunder. This was the dream of wrestling fans everywhere!! Finally, we would get to see the much anticipated WWF vs. WCW pay-per-view! Finally we would get to see the dream matches of all time: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Goldberg, The Rock vs. Booker T., Sting vs. Undertaker; the sky was the limit. And the smarks were loving it!
Then, we found out that all the WCW athletes had to have contract buyouts before joining the WWF and all the big stars didn't want to go to the WWF with less than what they were being paid doing nothing in WCW. But that was okay, because McMahon would build it up, and in about a year, all the WCW superstars would show up and invade the WWF. So, on March 26, 2001 at 8:01 p.m. est, the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro opened...with Vince McMahon. Unbelieveable indeed. It was supposed to be the end of WCW, it was only the beginning of a new era. As Vince McMahon laid the final nail in the coffin of WCW, Shane McMahon-Vince's own son- showed up in Nitro. This began the first ever historic simucast between RAW and Nitro. It was there that Shane annouced that he had brought the WCW. This was great! Now an Invasion sure was certain. Shane would lead the WCW superstars into war against Vince McMahon and the WWF superstars. Over the next three months, the WCW angle was downplayed which we all thought was a smart move, so when the time came, it would be a big suprise. Goldberg could spear Austin. Undertaker could be attacked by Kevin Nash. Booker T. could superkick The Rock.
Then, Triple H went down with a quad injury, and with a year's worth of storylines down with it, and declining ratings and attendance, Vince went with plan B and that was WCW.
Now we all thought, okay, it is a little too early, WCW is still young to new WWF fans. But that is okay, because now, even without the big stars, they will now be made to look strong enough to beat the WWF. Will go over the talent. Imagine, Chuck Palumbo going over Kane, or Shawn Staskiak over Chris Jericho. The threat could still be possible! The smile was still on our faces.
Then, Lance Storm from the WCW, invaded a RAW midcard match by superkicking Perry Saturn then running away.
This is when we first went, "WTF?, why start the Invasion with a midcard match? The fans didn't even know who the hell that guy was? It wasn't a Goldberg or Ric Flair? It was Lance Storm!" But, it became forgotten because at King of the Ring on June 25, WCW Champion Booker T. attacked Stone Cold Steve Austin signaling the start of the WCW angle.
Now, we were pumped and pumped big time. This is gonna be good. Rumor had it that there would be a WCW show on TNN maybe even going as far as giving RAW to the WCW. This may us all happy knowing that WCW was back on T.V. Hooray!!
Then, TNN, knowing the past of WCW, refused to allow a WCW show. This pissed us off. "TNN should thank their lucky stars they have the WWF. It is because of the WWF that they are even alive today!!" Ugghhhhh!!!! Frustration!!!
But then, the WWF decided to do a test run and have WCW matches on RAW and Smackdown! Great!! cool!! Surreal!!! The first main event in the new WCW was to be Booker T. vs. Buff Bagwell for the WCW World Title. Alright!! New stars to be born!!! We were excited for that!!!!
Then the match was a bomb. The fans booed viciously the entire time. July 2, 2001 was the first sign in the cracks of the angle. The message was clear: WE DO NOT WANT WCW ON OUR T.V. ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WE DO NOT KNOW!!! The fans cheered loudly as heels Stone Cold and Kurt Angle kicked out the WCW guys. Buff Bagwell was soon fired after that bad match but the angle continued. But what now? It was clear the fans did not want unknowns to be WCW. They also wanted the big stars. What to do?
Three letters: E.C.W. On July 9, 2001, with the angle already seem to be dying, the cult favorites Rob Van Damn and Tommy Dreamer from the ECW came through the audience and attacked Chris Jericho and Kane. Then, out of nowhere, WWF stars, Raven, Justin Credible, Tazz, The Dudley Boyz, and others stormed the ring appearing to attack the WCW and ECW invaders. But suddenly, the WWF guys turned...and attacked Jericho and Kane!! We now all knew what was coming and the fans in attendance knew. ECW WAS BACK!!! And it would be the third part of the battle. The Big Three was now at war!!! WE WERE ALL SO DAMN HAPPY!!! ECW! ECW! ECW! ECW! The BEST.RAW.EVER!! Before the night was over, there would be a ten man match between the WCW guys and ECW guys.
The match never came as the ECW guys and WCW guys embraced!! This was getting weird. Shane came out on the mic and annouced that the ECW and WCW had MERGED together to combat the WWF. ALRIGHT!! We all said!!! Now, the WCW looks to be more powerful than ever! They were now a threat and we were on cloud nine!!! Then, after wards, the WCW and ECW would turn on each other and we would enjoy that also. Sweet.
Then it was annouced that Stephanie McMahon Helmsy would be the new owner of the ECW. Okay, we all said, we could live without that, but look on the bright side, the ECW is back!!!! Hooray!! ECW! ECW! ECW! ECW! The angle seem to be getting better as the WCW/ECW Coaltion (as they were called), wreaked havoc in the WWF and Stone Cold turned face to lead the WWF into battle!! Now, we were pumped for the pay-per-view!!! The most anticipated event of all time!! They even changed the name to WWF vs. WCW/ECW InVasion with a red V.
And with that, I bring you back to July 22, 2001 at the Cleveland Gund Arena for InVasion!!
We start off with an AWESOME intro showing World World II clips put into InVasion clips.
The crowd is amped for this. The theme music is frickin' great. The set for the event is creative as it has the titantron at top with the InVasion logo in the center and a different entrace for the WCW/ECW and WWF guys. Now, this is a promblem I had that was a promblem with the InVasion. After the two merged, nothing changed. I was hoping that the WCW/ECW coaltion would get a better name then the Alliance. Not even it had a cool name before it. JUST ALLIANCE! I thought they would get a new logo but all we got was the WCW and ECW logos switching. And, now single shirt like the nWo or DX had. They all came out with ECW and WCW shirts and looked like they were lost or something. Sure, these things seem little but it makes up alot in the end. These little things would bite them in the butt at the end of the angle.
Your hosts are J.R. and Micheal Cole.
Lance Storm + Mike Awesome (ECW) vs. Edge + Christian (WWF):No entrance for Team ECW. Damn. Storm gets on the mic and saids the Coaltion will win tonight. This was during the middle of the Edge/Christian breakup angle. It plays no part in the match but I just wanted to point that out. Awesome misses a charge in the corner and gets worked on by Edge and Christian. Edge gets caught and double teamed by Storm and Awesome but headscissors Lance and sends him to the floor. Team E&C try a double-team plancha, but the two mess it up. OOh. Edge gets two on Storm back in the ring. Tag to Christian, who works on the Storm in the corner but gets crotched. Tag to Awesome who does his finishing move, the Awesome Splash, but it gets two. Way to kill the finisher in HIS FIRST MATCH! Idiot. Storm in with a kneelift and gutbuster that get two. Christian reveres a whip for a crossbody but Awesome nails him and whiplashes him for two. Backbreaker and a flying splash get two. He tries to go to the top again, but Christian reveres the powerbomb. Hot tag to Edge who cleans house with an Edge-O-matic on Storm that gets two. Storm then cradles Edge but Christian reverses that for two. Christian goes up and hits a flying clothesline on both and a Edge spear gets two. Storm awakes with his amazing superkick and Awesome covers for two. The Awesomebomb is blocked by a CHRISTIAN spear and Edge gets the pin at 10:11. **1/2 Hot opener but a bad sign of the entire InVasion itself. I was hoping we get a scorecard for the matches but not so I'll add it up. WWF:1 WCW/ECW:0
Vince McMahon is shown backstage smiling happily. Babyface Vince sucks. William Regal comes in and informs him that Stone Cold has arrived in the arena. McMahon tells him to give Austin the space he deserves despite the fact that Austin has been hugging him alot recently.
Senior Referee, Earl Herbner (WWF) vs. Senior Referee Nick Patrick (WCW) : This match is happening because of the way Nick Patrick has screwed WWF superstars in the past few weeks. This coming from a former member of the nWo so that shouldn't be a suprise. To prevent bias, Mick Foley is the special guest referee to a big pop. He has on a special made (i.e. Spray painted) referee shirt with the WCW,WWF, and ECW logos on them. All the referees come out for the respective men in a weird sight gag. Earl attacks and stomps a mudhole ala Stone Cold and gets two. Patrick attacks and stomps him. Earl comes back and the crowd cheers loudly with punches that all look sucky. Geez, all those years in being in the ring with wrestlers and he hasn't taken a LOOK at how to do it right! He gets lowblowed. Herbener sells it well and gets attacked by the WCW refs. Mick doesn't like that and he kicks them out. Good. Finally, a good referee! Herbner reenergizes with a "spear" sort of and pins Patrick at 2:50. Well that was lame. -** After the match, Patrick complains to Mick so Mick kicks his butt and brings back Mr. Socco to the approval of the fans. LAME!WWF:2 WCW/ECW:0
Backstage, Debra is frustrated after being kidnapped by Diamond Dallas Page (which is never mentioned again after this),Thursday on Smackdown!, but Sara consoles her with her hatred of DDP. Hmph.
Non Title Match: The APA (WWF) vs. Chuck Palumbo & Shawn 'O Haire:I REALLY didn't want this match to happen. Seriously. This bascially showed how much the WWF wanted the WCW to win. The APA were to first to oppose the entrance of WCW and were beaten by the WCW Tag Champs O' Haire and Palumbo for that. The two invaded a Hardy Boy match on the June 29th edition of Smackdown! but were beaten by the "Anti-WCW Miltia" (the WWF midcarders and jobbers) who beat them up in a memorable segment but made the WCW look bad. I just hate the APA for this. A brawl starts this off and, as usual, the A.P.A. win. I was the first one to call Palumbo and Gunn's tag team as gay. Seriously. From the moment, Billy and Chuck were introduced, I said "They are gonna be gay." Anyway, O' Haire clotheslines Bradshaw, but Faraqq back in turn with one. Another promblem with the InVasion, the WCW guys always cheated. He comes back with a kneelift but Bradshaw catched him with a fallaway slam. O'Haire kneelift gets two. Bradshaw comes back with the (lukewarm) tag and powerslams the future memeber of Billy and Chuck for two. O'Haire Pearl Harbors Bradshaw, but gets the Clothesline From Hell on Palumbo for the pin at 7:17. DUD. Damn you A.P.A.!! DAMN YOU!!! DAMNIT!! DAMNIT!! This is why I hate Bradshaw so much. WWF:3 WCW/ECW:0 Not good. Not good at all.
Vince is beaming! Chris Jericho comes in and chats with Vince saying that Paul E. should stand for..."Ewwwww gross!" Vince steals a Jericho line saying that WCW and ECW will never EVVVVEEERRR be the same agayn. They do the Stephanie line (you know, fitlthy, disgusting, brutal, trashbag ho.) while Stephanie, Paul Heyman, and Shane McMahon look on. Stephanie comes up with a memorable line saying, "I HATE CHRIS JERICHO! I HATE HIM! I HATE HIM!" Shane asks Kidman to bring the WCW back and he is calm saying, "There is a reason why everyone chants 'X-Pac Sucks!'" Good segment.
Non Title Match: Billy Kidman (WCW)vs. X-Pac (WWF): This is just a match for the best cruiserweights in the division. Kidman actually has wrestling trunks on which sucks cuz the cutoff jeans rule! X-Pac, trying to gain babyface heat, wears a WWF Shirt but to no avail as the crowd still hates him and still chants X-Pac Sucks! Poor, pathetic, sad X-Pac. Tsk. Tsk. Kidman is the first babyface from WCW on this show. X-Pac attacks first but still gets booed. You can tell by the look on his face that he really hates this. Kidman attacks and he gets cheered. Kidman with the hurricarana and enzugri which send X-Pac to the floor and comes back with two. X-Pac goes 1998 on us and gets Kidman from the top rope and with a spinning heel kick for two. That ends shortly, as 'Pac goes to 2001 and has a chinlock. Kidman reverses but gets suplexed. X-Pac decides to really go back in time to the 1-2-3 Kid but misses the Soumersault. Kidman Ryden Bomb gets two. X-Pac decides to take it to the eighties with the Flair pin for two. He tries to finish off Kidman with a powerbomb but YOU CAN'T POWERBOMB KIDMAN! Kidman decides to end it, but when he goes up top, X-Pac send Kidman to 2002 with an X-Factor for two. He tries the Broncobuster, but is kicked in the nuts and Kidman finally ends it with the Shooting Star Press, which gets a big pop, for the clean pin at 7:13. *** Match of the night so far. The WCW finally wins one!! WWF:3 WCW/ECW:1 But, I think it is the small men so it "doesn't count." Still, good match.
Backstage, Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keilber discuss how good they look compare to the WWF divas. (Uh...you ARE the WCW divas!)They also say how no one would see them in their bras and panties tonight. They then want to give The Hardy Boyz a private viewing. Sounds interesting.
Raven (ECW) vs. William Regal (WWF): This match has no backstory to it at all. It is just to give as much WWF guys as possible something to do. And add to the fact that Raven is face and Regal is a heel but all the WWF guys are de facto face and all the WCW/ECW guys are de facto heels so it really gets to be confusing. Regal (as the norm for the WWF guys tonight), beats on Raven and gets a clothesline. Double-arm suplex and a brawl. Back in, he gets two. Regal dumps Raven and they brawl again. Raven wins and gets a clothesline for two. Crowd is dead. Regal comes back with a suplex that gets two. High knee but Raven revereses it for a rollup for two. BOOOOORRRR-IINNG! Bulldog gets two. A sunset flip is reversed by Regal for two. Rollup and suplex both get two. Boring. Raven tries a DDT but it is reversed and he ends up outside. This allows Tazz to do a run-in and suplex Tazz giving Raven the oppturnity to do the Raven Effect for the pin and meaniless win at 6:35. 1/2*. The WCW is coming back but it keeps on winning the wasteful matches and by cheating. Sucks. WWF:3 WCW/ECW:2
Vince McMahon is backstage with Undertaker and Kane. McMahon gives him a pep talk but when he mentions Diamond Dallas Page, 'Taker chokes him and leaves. McMahon smiles at the job well done.
Six Man Tag Match:Big Show, Billy Gunn, and the worst Intercontinental Champion of all time, Albert (WWF) vs. Hugh Morrus, Shawn Staskiak, and Chris Kanyon (WCW): This match is nothing more than time filler, as it was annouced about 40 minutes before the event. Wasteful, forgettable match as the WWF guys press-slam the WCW guys even before the match begins. Kanyon and Gunn start it off. They do a pinfall reversal sequence. Kanyon with a Russian Legsweep stroke combo. Staskiak comes in and the fans chant Meat. I guess the memories of wrestling fans are longer than expected as the fans even remember Staskiaks run as Meat from June to November of 1999. A big brawl and Albert gets Staskiask with the big kick. Messuhugganator gets two. WCW punk out Albert, but he tags in Gunn. A sequence sees Staskiask mess up a DDT attempt and Hugh Morrus pins Gunn at 4:23 to end that mess. * But nooooooo, Vince doesn't even want the low to mid carders to look like fools so lets make the WCW newcomers look like Jobber To The Stars! Yes, the WWF team destroys the WCW Team to make them even look more like stupid. Way to go Vince. FIRE YOUR WRITTING STAFF NOW! Stupid Big Show. WWF:3 WCW/ECW:3
Backstage, Shane-O-Mac talks to Booker T.. That is all. In Regal's office, a pissed off Regal tells Tajiri to destroy Tazz. That is all.
Tazz (ECW) vs. Tajiri (WWF): Again, a match with no true backstory other then the fact that Tajairi fooled Tazz with an ECW shirt then attacked him. Tajiri attacks Tazz to start with a heel kick and a standing moonsault for two. What is with the WWF guys starting off first? Couldn't they atleast have the wCw guys beat the WWF guys first so that the fans can say, "Wow, maybe the WCW have a shot after all." I mean this isn't rocket science! Tazz suplex. Tajiri comes back but Tazz comes back with a lariat. Tazz now beats him up and gets a takedown for two. Whiplash gets two. Tajiri reverses a whip into his AWESOME handspring elbow. The Tarantjula! Seated dropkick gets two. Tajairi finishes it off with the green mist and a spinkick for the pin and the win at 5:44. *1/2 Well, so much for the WCW/ECW comeback. WWF:4 WCW/ECW:3
Backstage, the Hardy Boyz are worried about Lita in the bra and panties match and Jeff's match against Rob Van Damn coming up next. Then, RVD, a heel, attacks Matt with a steel chair and yells to Jeff, "You're next!"
Meanwhile, at WWF New York, Hardcore Holly is signing autographs at the store. I thought he was a heel? A guy wearing a wCw t-shirt stops by and the fans boo. Holly is upset saying that no WCW guy belongs at WWF New York. He rips the dude's shirt off and the dude runs away like a wuss. Holly's anger diappears like that and he is back to smiling as he signs an 11-year olds boy's picture. Funny segment.
WWF Hardcore Title Match: Jeff Hardy (Champion) (WWF) vs. Rob Van Damn (Challenger) (ECW):The only title defended on the card, and its the hardcore title? Wow, just wow! Here is RVD in his WWF debut and he gets *no* heat. Fast forward to 1 year later, and he is one of the most over stars in the company. Hard to believe I know. Heh. Anyway to the match!! RVD debuts his unorthodox style to the suprise of the crowd, but when he stops to pose, Jeff attacks from behind. Dropkick gets two. A weird rollup gets two. RVD with a cool standing moonsault gets two. Rolling Thunder gets two. What does that name have to do with his character? Jeff comeback sends RVD to the railing. Jeff baseball slides him, but Rob counters Jeff running on the rails and they brawl into the crowd. Back to ringside, Rob uses a legdrop on the railing but Jeff powerbombs him off the apron. Simply awesome!!!! Jeff grabs a HUGE FREAKING LADDER and goes up but Rob pushes him up and Jeff takes a bump to the floor. They brawl up the entrance, and in a HOLY COW moment, he debuts the Van Damniator that sends Jeff to the bottom of the floor. Ladies and gentlemen, RVD is now a superstar. You can tell because the fans have now started chanting "RVD! RVD! RVD! RVD!". And he continues with an incredible twisting leg drop for two. Back into the ring, Rob grabs a chair and does the dropkick to the face with it, but a moonsault misses as Jeff uses his knees to block it. Hardy fights back with a DDT for two and a German Suplex for two. Jeff does an awesome looking jawbreaker and wants to finush it off with a Swanton Bomb, but it misses and RVD debuts the ***** Frog Splash to the roar of the WWF crowd for the pin and the Hardcore Title at 12:32. **** Match of the night right there! The moment a superstar is born and the card gets better right there! WWF:4 WCW/ECW:4
1st Ever Tag Team Bra & Pantie Match: Lita & Trish Stratus (WWF) vs. Torrie Wilson & Stacy Keilber (WCW): Yipppeeeeeeeeee!!!!! Hot girls in their underwear!! Does it get any better than this! I don't get why matches like this suck, they are good for me!! Now, lets get on with the match! YES!!! Mick Foley is the special guest referee for this one, thereby going with the stipulation added into his contract for InVasion. All I can say is lucky! This match is happening due to the WCW divas flirting with the Hardy Boyz a few weeks prior to this. I knew there had to be a women's match in this card and this was it. Here we go!! The WCW divas try to flirt with Mick Foley, but the WWF divas come in and a catfight erupts. The match cools down as Torrie smacks Trish around but Trish comes back with a suplex. This was before she improved as a wrestler but she was getting there. Trish tags in Lita and Torrie tags in Stacy. Lita beats up Stacy alittle then pulls her shirt off to reveal a yellow bra. Micheal and J.R. themselves aren't taking this match seriously, even saying it on air, just to see hot girls in their underwear! Stacy runs and Lita chases her. Torrie kicks her and Lita is dazed. Torrie pulls Lita's hair and then, with the help of Stacy, pulled Lita's shirt off to reveal a rainbow color bra. Yummie. Lita is now pissed and uses a hair pull on Stacy with her shirt. She goes up top for a splash but misses and now tags Trish in who cleans house on Torrie. Torrie attacks and pulls off Trish's shirt off to reveal a red bra, but Trish reverse it into a roll up and pulls off Torries pants!! J.R. calls it the most scientallating reversal he has ever seen. Damn right. Lita tags in Trish and they pulled Torrie's shirt off to reveal white bra and panties. One girl down, one to go. Trish bodyslams Stacy and Lita moonsaults her and pull her pants off to reveal yellow bra and panties and win the match at 5:03. DUD for the match but ******+ for all the men out there (me too.)Trish and Lita leave together and almost fall into the entrance pit. Mick tries to pick up Torrie and Stacy's clothes but they grab them and leave to boos. Wow. What a match. Cool. Wow.WWF:5 WCW/ECW:4
An ad for RAW the next night.
The leaders of the WCW/ECW Coaltion each give a little pep talk with the wrestlers of WCW/ECW for the Inagural Brawl. Very good.
An AWESOME look at the InVasion so far.
Okay HERE WE GO!! This is it. This match will determine the course of the InVasion. It was the most anticipating match of the night.
Inagural Brawl: Booker T., Diamond Dallas Page, Rhyno, & the Dudley Boyz (WCW/ECW) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, & Kane (WWF): The crowd pops huge for Angle. This was the first show in which Angle became a face even though he never offically turned. All the WWF guys became faces by default actually. A big brawl begins and Austin enters to a massive pop. Angle begins with Rhyno and stomps a mudhole in him. Austin does the Lou Thez Prez and then superplexes him which is incredible for two reasons: 1)Austin hardly ever uses top rope moves. 2.)Austin has a bad back. Incredible indeed. Austin tags in Jericho who attacks with a forearm. You know, one of the cool things about the InVasion was how all the WWF guys came together. It was truly an awesome site to see the five men stand together, strong in the ring. Even the month before, at King of the Ring, Austin had been beating up Jericho. I really got emotional about it. Booker T. gets tagged and is also made a victim of Jericho. He is chopped a few times and even arm dragged which is pretty cool. A missle dropkick gets two. Tag to Angle, tag to D'Von who gets first blood (not the match, the attack). Tag to Kane, who gets a sideslam for two. Backdrop suplex, but then the Dudleyz reverse it for a double-team neckbreaker for two. Kane gets his awesome flying lariat for two. Undertaker, in, clotheslined by Bubba. ROPEWALK!! Bubba comes back, however, with a suplex and tags in Rhyno, to continue the carnage. DDP in with a discus clothesline for two. DDT for two. The Booker Man is tagged in and gets a two count off of the Undertaker. Booker is made the victim in only his third WWF match with a DDT for two. Austin comes in to a big pop. The stunner is block and out we go. Stone Cold suplexes Booker over the railing. Jericho is tagged and goes for the Walls of Jericho which DDP blocks. Jericho gets punked on for awhile but gets the tag to Angle who suplexes both Dudleyz but gets Bubbabombed. Rhyno is back in for a two count. Booker comes in with his signature axe kick for two. DDP with a weird looking rotation powerbomb for two. Wassup! Drop for two. The match slows down a bit, as DDP gets a facelock which leads to a tag to Austin which the ref doesn't see. Sucks. DDP gives the Diamond Cutter to Kurt! but that is stopped and a pier-six brawl erupts. In the chaos, Rhyno goars Booker T. by mistake. UT chokeslams DDP and for some reason, powerbombs referee Charles Robinson. (Well, he DOES work for the WCW). The climax begins as Undertaker and Diamond Dallas Page brawl all the way to the back and are never ever seen again during the match. This leaves the match four-on-four. Kane takes care of both Dudleyz and chokeslams D'Von through the American annouce table. The Spanish annoucers should be very pleased with that. But, Bubba-Ray and Rhyno suplex Kane through the Spanish annoucers table. Well, so much for that. Jericho fights back by putting Rhyno through a wooden table thus elimantaing two thirds of the match. That leaves Stone Cold, Bubba-Ray, Kurt Angle, and Booker T. left, two-on-two. Bubba-Ray is Angle-Slammed to bring it down to three but the ref gets bumped. You could see it coming. Now the question was, who would turn? Angle or Austin? Angle puts the Ankle-lock on Booker T. while the annoucers cheer Stone Cold for trying to wake up the referee. (uh..when does that happen?) Stone Cold forgets that and...KICKS ANGLE. He stunners him allowing Booker T. to get the pin and the win for Team WCW/ECW at 29:30. ****1/2. WWF:5 WCW/ECW:5 WHAT? Inconclusive finish?! At the most anticipated pay-per-view of all time? Couldn't the WCW win? Nope, Vince wouldn't like that. Shit, I don't believe this. Austin celebrates with Shane, Stepahnie, and Paul as the annoucers moan that Austin has taken the WWF Title to the WCW/ECW Coaltion. I sit in shock but anger. Austin gives beers to all three while Vince McMahon is laid out by Stone Cold (I think. They never showed it on camera.) The three owners of the Coaltion tease McMahon as they drink beer with Stone Cold to end the show.
Final Thoughts:Well, that wasn't how I pictured the first WCW vs. WWF pay-per-view to end. The next night on RAW, Shane McMahon offically renames the WCW/ECW group The Alliance and that is pretty much the end of the InVasion angle right there. For the next 4 months, the Alliance would be turned into Jobber To The Stars for the WWF guys as the angle shifted away from a bunch of renegades from the remains of the once mighty WCW fightning to put the company that put it out out of buisness to WWF traitor Stone Cold Steve Austin keeping the WWF Title away from American hero Kurt Angle while being a terrible leader who treated the WCW and ECW guys like crap. The angle also concetrated on the control Shane and Stephanie had over the WCW and ECW guys then the WCW and ECW guys themselves. The angle was aborted at Survivor Series last November, as Team WWF defeated Team WCW/ECW and it ended with Stone Cold vs. The Rock. A WWF guy vs. a WWF guy. Vince had offically ruined what was supposed to be the biggest money making angle of all time. And it would only get worse from then on.
As for InVasion itself, it wasn't what I expected. Lots of the matches weren't what I dreampt about as I saw the Monday Night wars. Plus, add to the fact that the WWF won almost every match and that doesn't help at all.
However, the last three matches are great for specific tastes. RVD vs. Hardy is a match of the year canadiate. Plus, it is still technically the first ever WWF vs. WCW/ECW Pay-Per-View so it has historical signifance. And, it took place as we anticipated the future for both promotions. Lets face it, as a smark, I was on cloud 9 during the three weeks in July as I was in anticipation for InVasion.
So, bottom line, it is Recommended for historical signifance.Mildly recommended for the RVD/Hardy match and The Inagural Brawl.
Feedback is welcome thank you.
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