Which did the E screw up more?

[willywonka666]

VOTE!

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

I'd have to say the Invasion, while everything was still fresh in our minds and still relevant, they f***ed it up.

The new "ECW" was Dr. McMahonenstein digging up a long dead corpse and putting a derranged brain inside of it. We knew it wouldn't be the same, we just didnt think it'd be like......THIS.

[Deleted]

I say WWECW. At least with the invasion it made SOME sense to have the WWE guys win and not look weak. ECW could've gone a long way but is, at this point, a launch pad for a few guys and a bury for everyone else. It's a mockery of the old ECW, and what it could've become.

[Ace Diamond]

I'd say the InVasion, it was the "can't fail" angle of all-time...and it failed.

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

aodpilot said:

I'd say the InVasion, it was the "can't fail" angle of all-time...and it failed.

Exactly, ECW already died once, when it was good.

[THE Dinobot]

The InVasion, easily. Due to the petty booking decisions, the biggest potential money-maker ever failed.

[seanwalsh]

The return of ECW.

Because unlike the Invasion, they had a ton of "ECW Originals" under contract already and were able to get the other big ones. With the Invasion, the big WCW names (Hogan, Sting, Goldberg, Flair, Luger, Nash, etc) were not to be found; instead they had the secondary folks to work with.

ECW had the potential to be its old self MUCH easier than the Invasion could be anything like WCW.

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

seanwalsh said:

The return of ECW.

Because unlike the Invasion, they had a ton of "ECW Originals" under contract already and were able to get the other big ones. With the Invasion, the big WCW names (Hogan, Sting, Goldberg, Flair, Luger, Nash, etc) were not to be found; instead they had the secondary folks to work with.

ECW had the potential to be its old self MUCH easier than the Invasion could be anything like WCW.

Actually they had BETTER ECW talent during the Invasion, IMO

The Dudleys, Mike Awesome, Raven, Stevie Richards, Rhino, Spike Dudley, Lance Storm, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Tajiri, Tazz

The only big names missing there that they have now are Balls Mahoney, Sabu and the Sandman.

[Chainsaw]

I say, right now, it's tied.

[normcoleman]

chainsawiscaw said:

I say, right now, it's tied.

Yep, I give the edge to to the Invasion. Had they waited until they signed the big guys, you really would have had a good angle.

[salTy]

The only reason the 'new' ECW had any appeal was due to the originals like Dreamer, Sandman, and new blood like Punk, Knox, Thorn. The cards, booking, and angles have sucked.

The only interesting angle has been Knox beating Kelly Kelly.

[Butchie]

Tough call. I have to go with the Invasion. It was supposed to be the greatest angle ever in wrestling. It seemed like a can't-miss ordeal. And WWE blew it.

[maxx420]

normcoleman said:

chainsawiscaw said:

I say, right now, it's tied.

Yep, I give the edge to to the Invasion. Had they waited until they signed the big guys, you really would have had a good angle.

The fact that big WCW names such as Flair, Hogan, Nash, Hall, Steiner, Goldberg & Eric Bischoff all appeared on WWE programming within two years of the InVasion angle says to me that they could've afforded to bring in some of those guys at that point. Steiner had massive injuries which needed heaing, so that's fair; Goldberg had loads of time left on his massive Time Warner contract, that too is understandable. But at least some of the others could've been persuaded to make the trip.

[hollywood]

It's very, very close. Both seemed like can't-miss angles, and the E screwed them both up. I'm leaning toward the InVasion, though. It began when wrestling was still at an all-time high (perhaps not it's highest, but still pretty damn high), and it ended with the ridiculous "brand extension."

The Return of ECW simply sucks. And when it's over, it'll just go away with few lasting repercussions.

[Deleted]

ECW.

You've got to give WWE some slack on the Invasion, since the whole purchase happened so quickly and their were so many egos, logistics, booking changes that needed to be made.

Where as with ECW, they basically could've done anything they wanted to with it and go in any direction. How they've choosen the absolute worst direction possible is beyond me.

[shemmy86]

I for one think there should be a both option for this one.

[T.J. "the Crippler" Stevens]

I think The Invasion had more going for it to begin with. The momentum from the actual Monday night war was still there. It had a much bigger upside, so WWE had to work harder to screw it up. I think the Invasion is a bigger failure.

[skskillz]

Guys, ECW at its peak was a niche. It had its core fans, but it was never a big money machine. It was a popular "underground" type promotion that catered to the smarks (much like ROH today). Bringing ECW back was a no-win situation. Older fans would be turned off, and newer fans wouldn't care about the old ECW cast-offs and newer ECW talent (other than CM Punk, I guess). The money potential for this venture was zero, zilch, nada.

The Invasion on the other hand was the single biggest potential angle ever. If the WWF/E put every ounce of resources they had on bringing in the big names in WCW (Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Flair, Bischoff, Sting, etc), then it could of been a HUGE glob of money. Imagine a card with: Hogan/Rock, Austin/Goldberg, Undertaker/Sting, Outsiders/Dudleyz, McMahon/Bischoff.....that's not even mentioning Jericho, DDP, Booker T, Angle, Flair, Steiner, etc. That's a WrestleMania supercard.

The argument here would be "not all of those guys wanted to sign", but all of them (with the exception of Sting) did end up signing within a year anyway. They didn't have to rush the angle without the major pieces being apart of it.

WWECW was a minor botch. Invasion was arguably the biggest botch ever.

[Bub (BLM)]

I can't bring myself to vote due to the correct answer being "Both".

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

skskillz said:

Guys, ECW at its peak was a niche. It had its core fans, but it was never a big money machine. It was a popular "underground" type promotion that catered to the smarks (much like ROH today). Bringing ECW back was a no-win situation. Older fans would be turned off, and newer fans wouldn't care about the old ECW cast-offs and newer ECW talent (other than CM Punk, I guess). The money potential for this venture was zero, zilch, nada.

The Invasion on the other hand was the single biggest potential angle ever. If the WWF/E put every ounce of resources they had on bringing in the big names in WCW (Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Flair, Bischoff, Sting, etc), then it could of been a HUGE glob of money. Imagine a card with: Hogan/Rock, Austin/Goldberg, Undertaker/Sting, Outsiders/Dudleyz, McMahon/Bischoff.....that's not even mentioning Jericho, DDP, Booker T, Angle, Flair, Steiner, etc. That's a WrestleMania supercard.

The argument here would be "not all of those guys wanted to sign", but all of them (with the exception of Sting) did end up signing within a year anyway. They didn't have to rush the angle without the major pieces being apart of it.

WWECW was a minor botch. Invasion was arguably the biggest botch ever.

I agree with MOST of what you said, but....weren't Hogan, Hall, Nash, and Goldberg only signed AFTER their Time Warner contracts expired? Perhaps McMahon couldn't justify spending whatever it would take to buy them out, and maybe they didnt want to BE bought out.

Waiting for the contracts to expire and then signing them would ruin a lot of the "heat of the moment" he was going for with the angle, and thats another year tacked onto the already older guys like Flair, Hogan, Nash and Hall