Was the inVasion angle rushed?

[Hugh Mungus]

In a post, I beginning to think that looking back at the inVasion angle, I think that it's been rushed.

Think about it; with Triple H and Benoit sidelined with injuries, as well as The Rock still making movies (but was scheduled to return at SummerSlam), they were running out of wrestlers who are at least very over with the crowd, as well as shaking off the ring rust. Not to mention the sudden out-of-the-blue appearance of ECW with minimal buildup.

Had it been given the proper build-up time, do you think that it would have been decent?

I know that in either event, the WWE would win.

[chunkylover53]

If I wrote the storyline here's how I would do it. I would sign ALL big name talent BEFORE they appear on television, and try to keep it a secret as much as possible. I'd start out with the undercard talent and not put them in storylines whatsoever. Just have a 10 minute match with JR and Paul Heyman playing up their stats.

After the WCW talent feel they aren't getting the respect they deserve they start to rebel and THATS when the invasion begins. One by one you have guys like Ric Flair, DDP, Booker T, Goldberg, Hall, Nash, and Sting gradually show up on WWF programming. It has to involve all that talent or it wouldn't work. The storyline could go into 2002 with Triple H making his triumphant return to fight WCW.

Hulk Hogan would appear at some point and play the wildcard. Which side would he choose? The company that made him famous and who he put on the map(WWF)? Or the company that brought new life into how we view Hulkamania? It could've gone either way and had an awesome result.

So yes, it was rushed in the sense that it started too soon. It should've started in late 2001 and go well into 2002.

[The King of Memphis Tennessee]

It was rushed, but understandably so. WWF (pre-E) was trying to capitalize on the recent purchase of WCW while the company was fresh on fans' minds. Imagine trying to do it a year later, newer fans would probably ask, "who are these guys and where did they come from."

[angryauthor]

Mar 22, 2010 11:41:04 GMT -5 The King of Memphis Tennessee said:

It was rushed, but understandably so. WWF (pre-E) was trying to capitalize on the recent purchase of WCW while the company was fresh on fans' minds. Imagine trying to do it a year later, newer fans would probably ask, "who are these guys and where did they come from."

I agree that they needed to start it pretty much immediately, or at least plant the seeds immediately. However I feel it could have had more thought put into it, and made it drag out longer than it did.

[SAJ Forth]

I always felt like they somehow made 5 months feel like a year because not much was going on.

[OGBoardPoster2005]

I wish WCW running as a separate brand worked. I remember hearing WCW trying to get Spike TV to give them a time slot for a WCW Show.

[bob]

maybe but at the end of the day Vince's ego wouldn't let anyo fthe WCW guys look credible during it (see DDP)

[Milkman Norm]

Probably but I think there were fundemental issues at work beyond that that made the angle suck. WWE had done a near perfect job since about mid 1998 on of both promoting their own brand and attacking the WCW brand. At the same time WCW was doing all it could to make it self look bush leauge and hickish. For example as soon was Raw started beating Nitro in the raitings by small margins, lets say Raw averaged a 3.5 and Nitro averaged a 3.3, WWE would use the numbers as if they had clubbered WCW by a huge margin. Meanwhile WCW was doing things like not promoting their sold out house show tours or talk about how they were more financal sucessful than they were year prior. So fans go the idea that WWE was winning and WCW a total disaster years before that self-fulfilling prophesy came true. Flash forward to 2001. For three years fans have been told that WCW is a joke, and WCW has looked like a joke for great periods of time. Then all the sounded WWE brings the guys whose work they have burried for years in as part of their company and expects marks to buy them as threats? Even with more time I don't think that every was going to happen.

[Hugh Mungus]

Mar 22, 2010 22:49:23 GMT -5 OGBoardPoster2005 said:

I wish WCW running as a separate brand worked. I remember hearing WCW trying to get Spike TV to give them a time slot for a WCW Show.

The problem at the time was that WCW was seen as "biohazard", and TNN wasn't touching it with a 10-foot pole.

Mar 23, 2010 12:16:21 GMT -5 bob said:

maybe but at the end of the day Vince's ego wouldn't let anyo fthe WCW guys look credible during it (see DDP)

I wouldn't say it was completely Vince's fault, though historically, he was reluctant, if not outright refuse, to push stars he didn't "create". And DDP, at the time, was hobbled with injuries, so he wasn't able to perform at the same level he was in 1997-2000.

Vince was willing to give WCW a chance, but changed his tune after Buff Bagwell killed WCW's chance to get over.

Do you think that the InVasion angle was their "Plan B"?

[Flying Leg Kicks]

ECW was reformed and merged with WCW in less than an hour. Yes it was rushed.

I recall the Observer or Figure 4 writing about how the WWE pissed away weeks worth of storylines in one hour.

[johnnyk9]

no it went to long

[Hugh Mungus]

Mar 25, 2010 6:56:06 GMT -5 johnnyk9 said:

no it went to long

And that's where we disagree.

[DXKramer]

If maybe instead of just canning WCW, the WWE continued to let it live, maybe it would have been a better storyline.

[theaman]

It was rushed, but for a while it worked. I think the invasion storyline was actually fairly decent, or at least working, until around Summerslam. Obviously it had fundamental flaws from the getgo, which resulted in the storyling being a complete failure, but those flaws really didn't show up until about Summerslam. After that is when it completely collapsed, but for those ~2 months, it was pretty compelling.

[Raging_Demons]

I think it was more like: "Well let's give the fans what they want by giving them WWE vs WCW." Unfortunately at the hands of WWE's "Brain Trust" it didn't go that well so they were trying anything to make it work because SOMEBODY believed "The InVasion" would be money!

So in the end they threw everything including the Kitchen Sink into the storyline but I believe in the end WWE would had win no matter what.

[JMA]

I think the Invasion angle should've actually started RIGHT AFTER WM and ENDED at "InVasion." Of course, by "ending" I mean the feud ends and both companies get their own show and PPVs. There would still be a single PPV where the companies would clash each year.

[josh]

Depends on what you mean by rushed. Are you asking did they just jetpack through it and not give it enough time, or are you saying they rushed into it when they should have waited for bigger stars?

[Hugh Mungus]

Apr 7, 2010 11:25:11 GMT -5 josh said:

Depends on what you mean by rushed. Are you asking did they just jetpack through it and not give it enough time, or are you saying they rushed into it when they should have waited for bigger stars?

As I said before, with Triple H and Benoit sidelined with injuries, as well as The Rock still making movies, they were running out of wrestlers who are at least very over with the crowd, as well as shaking off the ring rust. Not to mention the sudden out-of-the-blue appearance of ECW with minimal buildup.

[navajomartian]

What was the question? I was looking at the sig just above



Oh yeah...........yeah rushed out the door like a half cooked stacker from Burger King.

[Hugh Mungus]

Apr 7, 2010 11:25:11 GMT -5 josh said:

Depends on what you mean by rushed. Are you asking did they just jetpack through it and not give it enough time, or are you saying they rushed into it when they should have waited for bigger stars?

I'm saying that the WWE went into panic mode after losing several top stars to injuries (HHH, Benoit), as well as the XFL debacle.