WWF: The InVasion

The wrestling world has seen many up’s and down’s. Perhaps the biggest year in professional wrestling history was 2000: the year that WWF finally crushed WCW once and for all in the company wars by pushing some of the biggest names in pro wrestling such as Triple H, The Rock, and Steve Austin. Things were thought to be even better for the WWF in 2001 when Vince finally bought out his competition. WCW and ECW were no more and now the wrestling universe was in Vince’s hands. The wrestling world was rocked beyond all belief the night that Shane McMahon showed up on WCW television as the new owner of World Championship Wrestling. Would we see dream matches such as Stone Cold vs. Bill Goldberg? Would the Kliq get back together? Would we see the return of Hulk Hogan to the WWF for the first time in nearly ten years? So many possible scenarios undoubtedly ran through the mind of every wrestling fan world-wide. The WCW Invasion by all accounts should have been the single greatest thing in the history of professional wrestling…..

Instead it’s unanimously agreed today to be one of the biggest busts in the history of professional wrestling. Instead of seeing big name WCW stars battle it out with WWF’s finest, Vince McMahon rather chose to bury the WCW name by overloading the WCW roster with WWF and ECW names.

The final night of the failed InVasion angle saw Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and The Big Show) defeat Team Alliance (Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon) in a “Winner Take All” Survivor Series match. The PPV ended with McMahon raising his arms in victory, overjoyed and with a massive smile on his face. The Invasion was finally over.

But…

...



What if the InVasion only began that night?

North Carolina; Greensboro - Greensboro Coliseum
November 19, 2001

Vince McMahon's music hits and the chairman of the board strutted out to the ring. Vince called this a day of celebration as he officially got rid of an itch that’s been bothering him for what seems like an eternity – The Alliance. The Alliance Roster, with the exception of those who hold championships or won immunity – are history. He rewards the final WCW World Champion The Rock for his victory last night over The Alliance with a WWF championship match against Stone Cold Steve Austin at Vengeance. Vince McMahon thanks another man - Booker T - for his actions at Survivor Series. Vince comments on how ironic it is that the face of WCW, the man who kick-started the InVasion was the one to end it! Vince McMahon will publicly welcome Booker T to the WWF roster later tonight. Vince’s next order of business was to FIRE Paul Heyman from the announce booth. Heyman tries to strike Jim Ross, but ol’ Jim fights back. Security comes to ringside to escort Heyman out of the building. Vince introduces the returning Jerry “The King” Lawler! Vince’s last announcement for the time being would be that while Steve Austin could not be fired as he is WWF Champion, the minute Austin loses the belt he will be sure to publicly fire him, and just to soften him up for Vengeance, Austin will be in a handicap main event match tonight against the Brothers of Destruction. McMahon wishes Austin luck tonight.

WWF Womens Championship
Singles Match
Trish Stratus vs. Lita
Jerry Lawler couldn't have a picked a better time to return to the announce booth. Lita had Trish down at one point and went up top for something death-defying. Unftortunetely Trish was able to shove her off. Lita went crashing down to the floor. Matt Hardy rolled her back into the ring, but that was just the opportunity for Trish to nail a Chick Kick on Lita followed by a pin fall.
Winner and STILL WWF Women's Champion: Trish Stratus!

Backstage Vince McMahon greets the final remnants of The Alliance: DDP, RVD, and Christian. Vince asks them how it feels to know once and for all that the WWF was the better team. Vince doesn’t even let The Alliance answer the question as he informs them that all three will compete in a triple threat match tonight. RVD wishes both men luck and walks off. DDP lashed out at Vince and told him that if he thinks this is over he’s in for a rude awakening. As Page leaves, Christian tells Vince not to worry as Page is a “tool” anyways. Christian tells Vince he’s happy to be working for him again. Vince tells Christian to get out of his sight.

Non-Title Triple Threat Match
RVD vs. Christian vs. DDP
RVD was still not at 100% after the wicked Chokeslam from Hell through a table he took at the hands of The Undertaker last night. Christian and DDP on the other hand were riding a wave of momentum into this match-up. All three men got about the same amount of offense in. The match came to an end when RVD tried to land a Five Star Frog Splash onto DDP, but Page rolled out of the way. Christian, being ever the opportunist picked RVD up and nailed him with an Unprettier, but Page was right there to land a Diamond Cutter from out of nowhere on Christian and get the victory.
Winner: Diamond Dallas Page!

Backstage Kurt Angle has arrived. He asks a WWF employee where he can find Vince McMahon. The employee is about to let him know when Booker T walks by. Kurt grabs Booker by the shoulder and asks him what on earth got into him last night. Kurt called Booker a “bonehead” that cost him and the entire Alliance their jobs. Booker told Kurt to stop being so full of crap and kept on walking.

Singles Match
Taz vs. The Big Show
Jim Ross informed us that Taz had been rehired as a WWF roster member doing announcing for Friday Night Smackdown, and as a “welcome home” of sorts he would wrestle the 500 pound giant on RAW. This was a mis-match to say the least, and despite Taz’s efforts to ground and pound the Big Show, he was simply no match for the giant. Big Show planted him back first into the mat with a vicious Showstopper to pick up the pinfal victory!
Winner: The Big Show!

A limo pulled up backstage with the license plate “WCW” on it. The announcers were sure Shane McMahon had arrived in this limo. A big ol’ truck pulled up ahead of the limo with none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin in it. Austin got out of the truck. He started knocking on the limo door, trying to get Shane out. But there was no answer. Austin gave up trying and just made his way into the arena with Debra.

Yohoshiro Tajiri enters Vince McMahon’s office holding the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Vince yells at Tajiri for not being able to gain a victory over William Regal last night. Vince tells him he’s lucky because he had plans to unify the WCW Cruiserweight and WWF Lightheavyweight tiles, but since the Lightheavyweight champion X-Pac is injured that means that Tajiri by default is the holder of the unified championship which will be called the World Cruiserweight Championship. Tajiri bows as a show of respect and gracefully exits. At the time same time Chris Jericho enters Vince’s office. Jericho asks Vince to make the WWF Championship match at Vengeance a triple threat. Jericho gives Vince a whole rant about how he carried The WWF on his back, long before The Rock returned. He was the real savior. Vince didn’t seem to agree, but said as the former WCW Championship, Jericho deserved a chance, so what he was going to do was pit Jericho vs. Rock in the main event next week on RAW is WAR. If Jericho won, the PPV match would become a triple threat. If not it will remain Austin vs. Rock. Jericho isn’t too pleased that he has to earn his shot, but he’ll take what he can get.

Handicap Match
Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker and Kane
The WWF fans loved seeing Steve Austin, the former Alliance leader, in a two-on-one disadvantage here. However, being the underdog Austin was able to gain the sympathy of a portion of the arena. Austin knows better than anyone how to give a beating, but tonight he sure as hell took one. While Austin fought like a champ in this one, he couldn’t pick up the victory like a champ as Undertaker and Kane hit him with the double chokeslam for the victory.
Winners: The Undertaker and Kane.

After the match, as The Unndertaker and Kane celebrated, the lights went out for a moment. No one quite knew what to make of this. The announcers apologized for the production issues.

Booker T was backstage heading to the ring. Austin saw him and started cursing at him. The two nearly came to blows but before it could escalate into anything commissioner Mick Foley and a swat team of security had Austin restrained and escorted from the building. Austin called Booker a yellow bastard as he was taken away. Foley got in Booker’s face. He told Booker that he was under orders from Vince McMahon to keep him safe from any former Alliance Members tonight. Booker politely thanked Foley. Foley told Booker that while he’s thrilled WWF won last night, he doesn’t feel Booker is responsible for it. Foley claimed that The Rock may have very well made the comeback on his own. Foley told Booker that he would risk his very life for the WWF if it came to it. Foley would never sell out, and the fact that Booker sold-out WCW is disgusting even if they were the opposition. Foley told Booker he couldn’t respect a man like him. Booker told Foley he didn’t know what he was talking about. Booker didn’t sell out at all he claimed. He told Foley to keep his eyes glued to the TV monitor up next to educate himself on what’s really going on…”Sucka”

The moment we’d all been waiting for was here. Vince McMahon was back in the ring with Team WWF – Big Show, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kane, and The Undertaker. Rock and Jericho were clearly showing animosity towards each other but both played it cool as this was a big moment for the WWF as they were celebrating their victory. Vince McMahon told the fans it felt really good to get through an entire show without any invasions, outside interferences, or distractions. The WWF was finally back to normal. Vince wanted to end the show right by thanking the members of Team WWF. Vince thanked all five members for being with the WWF through the war. He compared Team WWF to a great NBA team. But he said the starting five isn’t always the end all be all of the team. Sometimes you need a sixth man. The WWF had a sixth-man at Survivor Series and Vince wanted to publicly award him –Vince introduced the newest WWF signee…Booker T!

Booker made his way out to a mixed reaction from the fans. Booker T shook Vince’s hand , which was a sight no one thought they’d ever see. All five team WWF members shook Booker’s hand although they weren’t as pleased with his presence as Vince was. Booker took the mic and explained himself. He started off by saying that believe it or not he was as relieved as Vince was that The Alliance was history. He said despite the efforts of everyone involved, The Alliance was a failure. Vince was grinning from ear-to-ear as Booker buried his former company. Booker said that in the last 24 hours so many WCW fans have shown their disgust at him for being a turncoat. At that moment many of those WCW fans in the arena spoke up and booed Booker. Booker said he wasn’t going to apologize for killing WCW. Booker told them that in case they hadn’t noticed WCW’s been dead since March 23, 2001. The night that Vince McMahon bought WCW. Vince asked Booker if he was feeling alright, because he got his names mixed up. “You mean the night that SHANE McMahon bought WCW, Book. I know it’s been a tough day”. Booker told Vince he was feeling just fine and he didn’t mix up any names. Booker pulled out a contract from his back pocket. He lifted up for the camera to see as he dropped a bombshell on the wrestling world – back in March when everyone thought Shane snuck in from under Vince and purchased WCW, it was nothing more than a hoax. Vince and Shane have been working together all along! This whole war was nothing more than Vince attempting to bury WCW further in the ground. Before the camera could get a good look at the contract with Vince’s name on it, Vince snatched it away from Booker’s hands and yelled “where the hell did you get this from?” The WWF superstars were just as surprised as everyone else. Undertaker grabbed the paper out of Vince’s hand. Undertaker took a good look at it and showed it to everyone else. Booker left the ring. Booker answered Vince’s question by pointing to the Titantron.

We get a shot of the limousine from earlier with the WCW license plate. After a few seconds the windows rolls down and hell freezes over when ERIC BISCHOFF’s face shows up on WWF television. Bischoff exits the limousine and begins heading down to the arena. Everyone is shocked, most of all Vince McMahon. Just then a group of four masked men hit the ring and start attacking Team WWF. Booker T joins in on the fight with the masked men. Each of them has a weapon. Two are holding bats, one has a steel pipe, the other has a chair. The masked men and Booker T are able to destroy the WWF superstars with their weapons. Booker T lands a scissors kick on The Big Show. Masked man #1 hits the Diamond Cutter on The Rock and peels his masked off to reveal himself as…Diamond Dallas Page! Masked man #2 is a big guy that lifts Kane up and drops him on the mat with a powerbomb. Then masked man #3 hits a variation of a crucifix powerbomb on Chris Jericho. Masked men #2 and #3 take off their masks to reveal…KEVIN NASH AND SCOTT HALL! The final masked man batters Undertaker in the back of the head with the steel pipe and then lays him out with a reverse STO. Then this masked man turned his attention towards Vince McMahon, sprawled out on the mat. He crouches down to lock him in a sitting camel clutch. Booker T takes the mask off this fifth man to reveal…”BIG POPPA PUMP” SCOTT STEINER! After a few moments Steiner lets go of the hold while blood drips down the face of Vince McMahon.

All five former WCW employees raise each others hands high in the air and Eric Bischoff steps out onto the stage with a big grin on his face clapping for the beating he just witnessed to end the show.

South Carolina; Florence
November 22, 2001

The show opened with a video package highlighting last Monday’s RAW is WAR; particularly Booker T’s shocking revelation and the impact made by the group of former WCW members Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Scott Steiner, Booker T, DDP, and Eric Bischoff on Team WWF.

WWF Commissioner Mick Foley was in the ring to start off the show. He apologized for the ending to Monday’s RAW. Foley claimed if the accusations against Vince were true, he was NOT in on the hoax, and that he wanted answers just like everyone else. Unfortunately Vince McMahon was in the hospital tonight after the beating he took from Booker’s crew. Vince would be back on TV Monday. However Smackdown would go on as planned with or without Vince. Foley announced tonight’s main event would be Edge and Christian vs. Jeff and Matt Hardy.

Just then DDP’s music hit and he made his way out through the fan section. DDP hopped the rail and entered the ring. Foley asked Page how he had the nerve to even show up after what he did. Page told Foley he was proud of his actions. Foley told Page that if anyone not under contract with WWF (obviously implying Bischoff, Nash, Hall, and Steiner) were caught in or near the arena he would call the local authorities. Page asked Foley what kind of a hardcore legend he was; calling the police at the first sign of trouble. Page ended the conversation by claiming he wasn’t there to start trouble, he just wanted Foley to deliver a message to Vinnie Mac: “Tell McMahon that the fight with the big boys aint over. It’s just getting started. We can’t call ourselves WCW because Vince owns the rights to the name, but we want it back. So tonight I’m laying out the challenge. Us vs. you guys at Vengeance: we win, we get WCW back. You win, we leave WWF alone forever.”

World Cruiserweight Championship
Singles Match
Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Crash Holly
Not a better way to kick Smackdown off then with a championship match. Crash Holly and Tajiri had no problem flying around the ring. Crash started the match off hot by hitting Tajiri with successive dropkicks. Tajiri took back control of the match by countering a powerbomb into a flip-over DDT. From here on until the finish Tajiri dismantled his opponent. Finally Crash countered a Tarantula attempt and was able to grab a hold of Tajiri for a flying tornado DDT. Crash made the cover but the champion kick out at 2. Crash waited on the apron for Tajiri to rise to his feet, looking to come off with a springboard cross body. Tajiri rose to his feet and Crash used the ropes as leverage to catapult his body into the ring. Just then Tajiri nailed him in the head with a Buzzsaw Kick in mid air! Tajiri made the pinfall and retained his belt.
Winner and STILL World Cruiserweight Champion: Tajiri

After the match the lights went out again just as they had on RAW. Announcers Taz and Michael Cole apologized as this is twice in one week this has happened.

Edge was backstage talking to some other WWF wrestlers about what happened on Monday. They all seemed to agree that if the accusations were true they didn’t feel happy about being played like a flute for some Vince McMahon ego boost. Just then Christian entered the locker room. Christian agreed with Edge and said that’s exactly why the two former partners should start over. Christian apologized for turning on him. “You can blame the McMahon’s for tearing us apart”. Christian told Edge even though it was a non title tag team match tonight, he’s positive they could get a title match down the line if they won tonight. He extended his hand to Edge and asked him to picture the E&C connection back together again: one the IC champ, one the European champion, and BOTH the World Tag Team Champions. Edge shook Christian’s hand and accepted his apology.

[/b]Tag Team Match
APA vs. Scotty and Albert
The APA secured the victory with a Clothesline From Hell/Dominator combo on Scotty 2 Hotty before the commercial break.
Winners: APA

We returned from commercial break to the sound of glass breaking. WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin was here! Austin wasted no time and demanded he get some answers. He knew Vince wasn’t here but he saw “Daddy’s Little Princess” backstage and told her to get her ass out to the ring. [b]Stephanie McMahon came out to a loud chorus of boos. Austin asked her if this whole Alliance was bullshit or not. Before Stephanie could answer the question Booker T’s music blared over the speakers. Booker told Austin he didn’t need to ask. Wasn’t the fact that she was here proof enough? Booker told Austin if he wanted to see the WCW acquisition documents with Vince’s name on it he could go visit him, Taker, Kane, Rock, Big Show, and Jericho in the hospital in Greensboro. “Or maybe me and my friends can put yo ass there wit em?” Austin begged Booker to try. Booker was ready to come down to the ring and fight, taking his watch off and pulling his sleeves down. But half-way up the ramp he simply shook his head and retreated backstage. Austin called Booker a “yella son of a bitch”. Stephanie added “YEAH”. Austin stared at her for a moment and then gave her a Stone Cold Stunner as revenge for playing him! Austin celebrated with a few beers as the fans cheered him on.

Singles Match
Val Venis vs. Perry Saturn
To groans from the audience, Val Venis made his return in RTC uniform. Before the match he gave everyone a lecture about how the level of sexual content of WWF was all wrong….there wasn’t enough of it! Venis stripped the uniform off the cheers from many females in the audience. Venis’ return match could be considered a success as he finished Saturn off with a Money Shot for the victory!
Winner: Val Venis

A graphic appeared hyping up this Mondays RAW. Vince McMahon would be there to address the WWF as to the accusations made against him by Booker T. The announcers speculated as to whether Shane McMahon would be in attendance.

Commissioner Foley was backstage working on some documents in his make-shift office when former Alliance Commissioner William Regal entered. Regal told Foley he got his message about coming in to discuss his status with the WWF. Foley said he was given specific orders by Vince to take special care of “Mr. Regal”. Regal was delighted to hear this. Foley said that Vince in fact sent him a voice recording that he wanted William Regal to hear. Foley pulled out his cell phone and waited for the message to play. When the time came he put it on speaker for Regal to hear. Vince’s voice came over the speaker: “REGAL….YOU’RE…FIRED!” You could hear the fans laughing in the background. Regal was humiliated.

The World Tag Team Champion Hardy Boyz were in another part of the arena alongside Lita being interviewed. They were asked first and foremost for their thoughts on what transpired between Eric Bischoff’s group and the WWF. The Hardy’z said they weren’t sure what to be more shocked about: Booker’s revelation or the arrival of the former WCW wrestlers. Next they were asked about their main event match tonight. Jeff said he was happy to see Edge and Christan had buried the hatchet because those two gave them some of the best matches in the history of tag team wrestling and now that the Dudley’z were gone, they needed new opponents to go to the extreme with. The main event match is next!

Non-Title
Tag Team Match
Edge and Christian vs. Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff)
This was a match straight out of 2000 with lots of back and forth action. Edge and Christian hadn’t seemed to miss a beat as partners despite the recent separation. Edge and Christian isolated Jeff for much of the match. Finally Jeff countered a Double Flapjack attempt with a Double DDT! Jeff clawed his way and finally tagged in Matt. Matt went wild! The two Hardy brothers joined together to clear Christian from the ring with a double dropkick. They then set their sights on the legal man Edge. Matt placed Edge in the corner and got on all fours in front of him. Jeff was looking for a Poetry in Motion as he retreated to the opposite corner. However, Edge pulled a rabbit out of his when he beat Jeff to the punch and used Matt’s body as a catapult for a flying spear onto Jeff! What a move! Matt immediately went for a Twist of Fate on Edge, but Edge pushed him off into Christian who was back in the ring. Christian landed Matt face first into the mat with an Unprettier. Edge was ready to end the match there, but Christian wasn’t done. He suggested Edge try to make Matt tap with the Edgecation. Edge set up for the move on Matt when out of nowhere Christian kicked him in the gut and delivered the Unprettier onto him. Christian left the ring and came back with his European Championship. Christian waffled Edge in the face with it. The ref had enough and threw the match out.
Winners: No contest

Christian got on the mic and looked at the broken Edge on the mat. He told Edge he didn’t want to be partners with him again so Edge could steal the spotlight. He just wanted Edge out here with his guard down to he could send the world a message, that he was the better man! Christian laid out a challenge for Edge at Vengeance: Christian vs. Edge, with both the European Championship and Intercontinental Championship on the line. The show had come to an end with Christian standing tall over his former partner....or so we thought.

Apparently something had happened backstage to Mick Foley. The camera immediately cut to his office. WWF Commissioner Mick Foley was seen lying on the concrete of his office. The entire office set had been dismantled. Foley was spray painted with the letters “WCW” on his back. The camera zoomed in further second-by-second until all we were left with were those 3 infamous letters..