El-P Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Yep, that's what Corny talked about. But still, we're talking about using known talent who represent their promotion. Steve Corino, Sandman, Raven, Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Justin Credible were available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 However well-booked the invasion angle could have been likely wouldn't have worked as the fans didn't want those WCW wrestlers. They wouldn't accept anyone other than the stars of late-90s Nitro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 Invasion did something like 750K buys with only DDP and Booker as the real WCW stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 I stand corrected, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 I don't know that you should. Part of me wonders if the reasons for that high buyrate were: (1) the tease of Austin going babyface again in the build (2) the expectation that some other WCW names would make surprise appearances on the PPV Obviously, there was no way to know this at the time, but they could have done an angle with all the top names except Sting and Luger had they just waited longer to start it. By the following summer, they had Hogan, Hall, Nash, Flair, and Bischoff. If you assume it starts with Bischoff's July 2002 debut, they could have run it a year and had Goldberg and Scott Steiner join later. Guys like Benoit, Michaels, and HHH would also be off the injured list and they could use them as well. Hall and Nash get run out of town early (Hall's firing and Nash's injury), and WCW retaliates by sidelining Rock. Shawn Michaels, disgusted by what he sees, comes out of retirement to defend WWE. If only we could always look into the future ... had they stretched it out to 2010, they could also include Bret Hart and make Bob Ryder an accurate reporter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 When WWE did finally get all those stars they didn't do too good a job booking them. I doubt they would have booked the invasion any differently if they had Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Bischoff, etc. Though reading about the ego clashes would have been a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Morris Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 If I'm not mistaken, one reason WWE rushed so quickly into the WCW Invasion was because the company wanted to make it appear to stockholders that they were doing something with WCW, only when it didn't work out, to blame it on the fact people viewed WCW as damaged goods, but hey, they still had the video library. EDIT: Also, there was the whole ordeal of Viacom not wanting to give WWE additional time slots to add WCW programming, thus adding to that urgency to rush things. But I agree that more careful planning might have allowed WWE to stretch things out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Another issue is that they had so many top WWF feuds left unsettled at the time they were intending to start the invasion angle. It's hard to do WWF guys vs WCW guys when Austin/Rock and Austin/HHH were left dangling, and people were wanting to see those feuds properly blown off. Rethinking this, I think the timeline that maybe should be focused on more is not necessarily when they started the angle, but more when they purchased the company. Had they purchased them in October 2000 when they tried the first time around, they would have had time to factor rolling out the WCW guys into the Wrestlemania build, or at least saw every angle through to a conclusion by the end of Wrestlemania so they could switch gears the night after. As it stands, they closed the deal about a week before Wrestlemania with a full card already in place (and post-WM plans already pretty much set as well). I'm curious how far in advance they decided Austin was turning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 If I'm not mistaken, one reason WWE rushed so quickly into the WCW Invasion was because the company wanted to make it appear to stockholders that they were doing something with WCW, only when it didn't work out, to blame it on the fact people viewed WCW as damaged goods, but hey, they still had the video library. EDIT: Also, there was the whole ordeal of Viacom not wanting to give WWE additional time slots to add WCW programming, thus adding to that urgency to rush things. But I agree that more careful planning might have allowed WWE to stretch things out. I always thought they rushed the Invasion angle because they panicked when the product really cooled off with the Austin/HHH vs. Taker/Kane feud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I thought the Invasion came about because the Booker T/Buff Bagwell match on Raw single-handedly torpedoed the WWF's plans to run WCW as a separate brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Their decision not to run WCW as a seperate entity had a lot to do with UPN and Spike not wanting to take a WCW show and get branded as the "wrestling network" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 But after they couldn't get additional time slots, wasn't the plan to make the Monday show the WCW show and the Thursday show the WWF show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 If I'm not mistaken, one reason WWE rushed so quickly into the WCW Invasion was because the company wanted to make it appear to stockholders that they were doing something with WCW, only when it didn't work out, to blame it on the fact people viewed WCW as damaged goods, but hey, they still had the video library. EDIT: Also, there was the whole ordeal of Viacom not wanting to give WWE additional time slots to add WCW programming, thus adding to that urgency to rush things. But I agree that more careful planning might have allowed WWE to stretch things out. I always thought they rushed the Invasion angle because they panicked when the product really cooled off with the Austin/HHH vs. Taker/Kane feud. I thought the Invasion came about because the Booker T/Buff Bagwell match on Raw single-handedly torpedoed the WWF's plans to run WCW as a separate brand.It was all of the above. And trying to run the XFL at the same time wasn't helping. Vince had WAY too much on his plate, and he tends to rush things and forget details and go back to his proven old standards when he's stressed like that. But after they couldn't get additional time slots, wasn't the plan to make the Monday show the WCW show and the Thursday show the WWF show?I don't remember ever hearing that. I can't believe Vince would even dream of giving up Raw on Monday nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I think he may be right, Jingus. Smackdown was supposed to become the WCW show, but UPN balked because they wanted the WWF and weren't smartened up apparently that Vince actually owned the whole thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 And Spike ended up giving them two hours later in the year anyway. Well gave them one hour initially, then two hours in 02 with Velocity/Confidential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boondocks Kernoodle Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Actually, I think Raw was to be the WCW show, but TNN didn't want it, and really, after Viacom paid all that money for the top-rated WWF, why would either TNN or UPN want to give either of those prime time slots to the toxic WCW brand? The funny part is that TNN also rejected a late-night WCW show on Saturday, but a couple of months later, took on WWF Excess in that slot, which no doubt got lower ratings than a WCW show would have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 They had really bad luck with injuries that year too. There was Benoit needing neck fusion and Guerrero getting sent to rehab and eventually released, and both figured to be a huge part of the Invasion storyline. I think Benoit was supposed to turn on Jericho and go with WCW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 The Rock was there after the summer and still pretty popular and they seemed to want to make the focus solely between a babyface Kurt Angle (who hadn't proven he could draw yet) and Steve Austin, who was stuck in a heel turn the fans weren't entirely behind. I can't recall anyone outside of Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho getting treated as any sort of big deal back then, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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