how should they have booked the invasion?

partyndbs

well i liked it back when i was 10, loved the alliance

but loads of ppl say it wasnt good/or as good as it could have been so what should they have done differently?

drayme

Booked WCW as equals. In the beginning at least.

The end.

CMpunked

drayme wrote: »

Booked WCW as equals. In the beginning at least.

The end.

Equals to?...


IMO the ecw/wcw team didn't seem like as much of a threat looking back on it from here.
Like you, I loved it when I was young. I have always been an ecw mark and my markyness wanted the alliance to win at SS and take over, but then I was terrified about what would happen to the wwf.
Ah. Memories.

drayme

CMpunked wrote: »

Equals to?...


IMO the ecw/wcw team didn't seem like as much of a threat looking back on it from here.
Like you, I loved it when I was young. I have always been an ecw mark and my markyness wanted the alliance to win at SS and take over, but then I was terrified about what would happen to the wwf.
Ah. Memories.

NXT Season 1 didnt look like threats too until they attacked Cena and wrecked the kip. They didnt have an nth of the exposure or history ECW or WCW had.

The whole situation of buying out WCW contracts and hiring WCW talent was very iffy as it would have messed up the WWE contract structure at the time. Also WWE morale would have dropped as they would be left wondering why are the losers getting paid better than the winners.

Lord TSC

I agree with the equals part, but I'd add "Buy out the nWo and Goldberg''s contracts out" as well..

If anyone had questioned it, I would have pointed out it was good for overall business and a thriving WWE would mean increases in everyone's pay...

parker kent

I have always said the same thing, instead of a brand extension with Raw and Smackdown, they should have just had Smackdown as the show with the WCW titles. Create 2 distinct brands with a decent draft on Raw (like the original with Vince and Ric Flair.) That in itself would have been pretty epic and then let it build slowly from there. The WCW brand needed its reputation repaired to ensure the fans cared. Vince could have announced that he had bought WCW and was gifting it to his children.

Build the WCW and ECW guys in conjunction with a few additions from the WWF roster on Smackdown. Give fans a reason to believe in them and support them. Build up guys like RVD, Booker T and combine with a few additions like Eddie Guerrero etc. Then use the respect shown to the WCW brand as a tool to sign Sting. Steiner and Goldberg should have been approached at the time of the buyout and booked as the head-liners on the new show. I'd also have used Paul Heyman to manage a stable on the show of ECW wrestlers, to ensure they kept their unique identity. Something simple like a story where Heyman wanted to win all the titles and replace them with the ECW versions. It would also help Jerry Lynn, the Impact Players etc get over.

All of this could have happened between the summer and the Royal Rumble. Then during that period in the build to Wrestlemania, some small links could happen between the shows and Mania could have had the first ever meetings between certain WCW and WWF wrestlers. Build the dream match scenario. Which would lead to an invasion on the post Mania Raw where WCW invaded and Shane McMahon revealed he wanted to take over, destroy the WWF etc. This would be the perfect moment for Sting to debut. End Raw with the lights going down and then we see Sting standing over a prone Stone Cold Steve Austin or Undertaker. That story could have been used for most of the rest of the year, building to a Survivor Series match and the eventual victory of Vince.

Then afterwards, Vince would gain control of both shows much like happened in the original story. But this would have seen a year and half out of the angle instead of 3 months and the name value of WCW would not have been destroyed. There would also be a legitimate reason for the brand extension. Which would mean PPVs like Bragging Rights would have some value. They could also have kept the big 5 shows as dual shows (like originally happened after the brand extension. The B shows could have been split between the 2 shows, with the Smackdown/WCW PPVs using classic WCW PPV names like The Great American Bash, War Games etc. They sort of did that anyway, but again it would all have had more reason.

Edit: The NWO could have been used on Raw and they could claim Vince was behind them all along. As WCW inferred numerous times. It would be sort of cool to have Hulk Hogan return to save the WWF.

Mr.Nice Guy

^ According to Jericho, Vince planned something along these lines but after the horror show botchfest between Booker T and Buff Bagwell he quickly changed his mind.

I think the problem with the Invasion was Vince allowed his ego get in the way of business. Even the inclusion of ECW, which could have salvaged it, was ruined in the same night with Stephanie gaining control of it. The whole thing became about the McMahons and the 'war' ended with Rock pinning Stone Cold. It needed the likes of Sting, Goldberg, nWo, Flair, Steiner etc. to mean something. It wasn't bad imo but it wasn't breathtaking either and on paper it should have been. It could have been the biggest storyline ever.

parker kent

Yeah I read that about the original plan as well. Not signing Steiner and Goldberg was the deathknell of WCW though. It simply needed their star power to save it. Imagine that night on Raw if it were Goldberg's first ever WWF appearance. Buff Fraking Bagwell should never have been placed in that position. Was almost like Vince wanted WCW to look terrible.

It turning into a WWF angle about the McMahons featuring WWF wrestlers was a joke really. It had to be about the 2 biggest wrestling organisations, not another McMahon story.

Machismo Fan

If they were patient and waited it out, the slow introduction of big names (Flair in November, nWo in February '02, Steiner in October '02, Goldberg in March '03) could've kept it going strong for quite a long time.

SlickRic

here's Cornette's take.

awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnVF2tYCx0Y

Rjd2

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

. The whole thing became about the McMahons and the 'war' ended with Rock pinning Stone Cold. It needed the likes of Sting, Goldberg, nWo, Flair, Steiner etc. to mean something.

True, but if they had all the WCW stars it would have been a nightmare politically backstage trying to keep so many ego's happy.

duuuaaaane

They shouldn't have done alot of things.

1. They should have paid whatever it took to bring in Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Flair, Steiner, Bischoff in. They all signed eventually. It would of made it seem like a threat and felt like WCW.

2. They shouldn't have made it such an obvious storyline when they had Shane McMahon show up in Daytona Beach. It was a believable invasion following that.

3. They shouldn't of had rebranded WCW. The logo was poor and unrecognisable. They had the original logo on Shane's car plate, why not continue using it?

4. They shouldn't of had them take up air time on Smackdown! and bring in commentators and give WCW a guest spot before the Invasion. It didn't make sense.

5. They shouldn't of allowed them backstage, in inter-brand matches and to compete for these titles. It wasn't logical.

6. They should of had their own events elsewhere, with or without TV. Vince planned to do it before, he stated so on WWE Corporate website following the acquisition of the company. It could of easily taken over a spot on one of WWE's many 1 hour recap shows and looked like it's own entity.

Lord TSC

Rjd2 wrote: »

True, but if they had all the WCW stars it would have been a nightmare politically backstage trying to keep so many ego's happy.

In what other business would the backstage egos really be taken into account ahead of what was best for the entire business? Truth be told, anyone with an ego problem should have been sat down and told that if the Invasion worked, wrestling would have been hotter than ever, and then EVERYONE would have got a huge bonus, them included. Pandering to ego at the behest of the overall product is probably the most annoying aspect of wrestling nowadays...

parker kent

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

In what other business would the backstage egos really be taken into account ahead of what was best for the entire business? Truth be told, anyone with an ego problem should have been sat down and told that if the Invasion worked, wrestling would have been hotter than ever, and then EVERYONE would have got a huge bonus, them included. Pandering to ego at the behest of the overall product is probably the most annoying aspect of wrestling nowadays...

Plus other than Sting, they signed them all eventually.

KrazeeEyezKilla

Vinces ego would have never alowed anything decent to come from the Invasion. The lack of superstar names was given as a reason for it's failure but these were the same fossils that helped kill WCW and when they eventually did move they didn't do much. The nWo were a flop in WWF in 2002. Hall was a gone after a couple of months, Nash was always injured and Hogan had no interst in anything that wasn't him pretending it was 1985. I remember Steiner was injured for most of the year and the likes of Sting & Goldberg weren't going to move.

The best bet would have been to make use of Bishoff & Flair. Also Raw & Smackdown had become incredible stale and overexposed by then (it still is today which is why I never watch it anymore). The invaders should have been properly invading with matches been interupted and constant mayhem backstage. The Alliance just showed up and acted like they were in the WWF. Also Stephanie should have been kept a million miles away from it. Shane would have alright at the start before being kicked out by Bishoff.

DM_7

Vince was a bigger star than any of the WCW or ECW guys brought into WWF.

Vince could have made himself the leader of WCW, kayfabe turning his back on WWF fans/Superstars.

I would have enjoyed that more.

Terry

I would have liked to have seen Scott Hall repeating his initial WCW appearance, only with a slight difference.
This time he would talk about how the NwO had taken over one promotion, but he was there to represent a group who were going to take over all three promotions.

Now I know how unreliable Hall is, but he was working at the time, so this scenario is viable.

Then they bring in the NwO a couple of weeks later, but throw a swerve by having HBK, HHH, Rock and a few others join them. Then they kick Hogan and Bischoff and the dead weight out and declare the NwO dead.

Here's where I, much like the current WWE creative team, hit a stumbling block. I'm not very creative myself.

Anyway, just like a lot of people have said here, it was all about Vince's ego being massaged, but it shouldn't have been.
Yes, he did beat the competition, but only because the competition allowed the egos of the performers get way out of control. That and crappy booking and the finger poke of doom and some many other really poorly thought out stuff.

Christ, the mid 90's was a great time for PW.
I'd love to see TNA pick up their game and give WWE a good run for their money. It would benefit all of us.