The Two Man Power Trip

[ColinBollocks]

Has anyone ever proposed a fantasy booking scenario for the Invasion that would've been any good and is realistic (ie doesn't involve them exceeding Time Warner's silly contracts to bring in the big names and then having to give the same kind of deals to all the big WWF names, thus scuppering the booking plans anyway because every cunt now has a contract that encourages them to be lazy and gives them a "that doesn't work for me, brother" clause)?

 

It was pretty much fucked from the off. I doubt this would have made much difference, but I'd have had Rock join WCW. He'd been screwed by the WWF in the spring so it made sense for him to oppose Vince and Austin.

Not really. It was poor booking that killed the thing (and a bit of bad luck). They blew their load in the first couple of months and then proceeded to complicate things with pointless turns and switches.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

The Invasion PPV was one of their biggest buyrates, and probably the biggest none Big Four buyrate ever. It did massive business, during a time when everyone was finding other things to do. So the interest was there even without the names. And by January 2002, Bischoff was available, Flair was available, DDP should have still had value, Hogan, Hall and Nash were available. Rey Mysterio was out of contract. Sting was even available by around March 2002. They'd have only had to keep the angle ticking over for a few months and they would have gotten plenty of names in. It was the angle every wrestling fan wanted to see, and the initial interest showed this. It wasnt the fact that they didnt bring the names in. It was the fact that they didnt do anything with the names they did bring in and they didnt bring in the names they should have brought in. There was only Goldberg on a longterm deal. And he could have been used long down the line.

[King Pitcos]

The Invasion PPV was one of their biggest buyrates, and probably the biggest none Big Four buyrate ever. It did massive business, during a time when everyone was finding other things to do. So the interest was there even without the names. And by January 2002, Bischoff was available, Flair was available, DDP should have still had value, Hogan, Hall and Nash were available. Rey Mysterio was out of contract. Sting was even available by around March 2002. They'd have only had to keep the angle ticking over for a few months and they would have gotten plenty of names in. It was the angle every wrestling fan wanted to see, and the initial interest showed this. It wasnt the fact that they didnt bring the names in. It was the fact that they didnt do anything with the names they did bring in and they didnt bring in the names they should have brought in. There was only Goldberg on a longterm deal. And he could have been used long down the line.

 

I always think that as well, if they'd just kept it going for a few more months, they could've had the NWO and Flair, and Triple H would've been back. But it was dead about two months before they ended it as it was. Do you not think a lot of people watched at first and bought Invasion expecting a Goldberg or Sting type to turn up, and lost interest when it became apparent that wasn't happening? The wrestlers they could afford at the time just didn't credibly match up against the WWF big names. Booker and DDP did a bit, and then RVD later, but apart from that, they had to have WWF wrestlers turn to give WCW some main eventers. And nobody gave a toss then because it was the same matches we'd already seen.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Do you not think a lot of people watched at first and bought Invasion expecting a Goldberg or Sting type to turn up, and lost interest when it became apparent that wasn't happening?

Definitely not. At least not for me anyway. The angles leading up to the Invasion were brilliant. Turning Austin heel again was mental, because the fans were throwing babies in the air when "The Old Stone Cold" returned. That Raw before the Invasion was one of the best shows they ever did. Vince McMahon, Undertaker and Fred Blassie were giving impassioned speeched to the whole locker room talking about how much of a threat WCW were, Shane McMahon and Paul Heyman was on the other side with all the WCW/ECW roster saying that without Stone Cold they were finished. Then Austin comes back at the end and the Alliance and the WWF have a massive brawl to set up the PPV match. It was built so well for weeks. WCW had been "Invading" for about two months by this point. Goldberg and Sting and the likes werent really in the mind. The angle was burning hot before the Invasion PPV.

[The King Of Swing]

Loved the Power Trip myself.

 

One odd thing I remember reading back in the day was that the Hardy's and Lita battering was punishment for something they had said (in a book I think) anyone here know if there was any truth to that?

[LaGoosh]

I doubt it. It was probably the best thing they could think of to get HHH & Stone Cold heat as the Hardyz and Lita were over like fuck back then. I didn't paticularly like them but seeing Stone Cold batter a woman with a chair (in a wrestling ring instead of his living room for a change) was disturbing viewing.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Loved the Power Trip myself.

 

One odd thing I remember reading back in the day was that the Hardy's and Lita battering was punishment for something they had said (in a book I think) anyone here know if there was any truth to that?

Funnily enough, I was listening to those great Observer Radios from the Eyada site recently (how jaded and bitter have Meltzer and Alvarez become since then?!) from around this time period and you here so many things that was supposedly going to happen at WrestleMania 17. According to the shows from the time period, they were trying to book a Hulk Hogan and Triple H match for WM17. After that broke down there was serious discussion about Triple H being added to the main event as a threeway (Triple H even cut a promo saying he'd beaten the Rock and beaten Austin and should be in the main event). Shawn Michaels was then penned in to be the guest referee for the main event, but then got sent home because he turned up off his face. To answer that though, Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy was originally the match meant for WrestleMania 17, but Matt Hardy and Lita kicked up a fuss and it got changed. So Matt Hardy and Lita were in the dog house around this period. Dont know if it had anything to do with Lita and the Hardys getting a good kicking though.

 

Another thing, which is interesting was that WWF were originally going to do a WWF vs ECW angle (or as Meltzer put it "WWF midcarders vs ECW"). But then Vince bought WCW and it got scrapped.

[Max Power]

Some of that is amazing.

 

I thought that the final and major reason that the angle went to shit was that the WWF basically squashed WCW. At the very start, if DDP and Booker had gone over Austin/Rock and Taker, then as posted above, the angle could have bubbled up nicely at least until the following years Wrestlemania - when you add the nWo, Mysterio, Bischoff and others.

 

I've said it before, but the pop DDP gets on his debut is massive, as was Booker T's when he ran in and Axe Kicked Vince whilst Angle and Austin were fucking about at WWF New York. Perhaps the biggest contributing factor was the Booker T/Buff Bagwell match which was shit on by a very pro-WWF crowd. If that match was maybe held at a Raw in Atlanta or the Carolinas the response would have been different, which maybe would have given Vince the confidence to pull the trigger on the re-launce of Nitro.

 

So you have guys like DDP, Booker, RVD, Heyman, Kanyon and Rhino carrying the angle in through the summer and autumn, with the addition of Flair after Survivor Series. Then in the New Year the main men become available to maintain the momentum to Wrestlemania and beyond.

 

Or something.

[Loki]

I thought it was a real shame for the Invasion angle that Benoit was out injured for the whole thing. He would have been a perfect guy to have as a main event WCW guy - he was established as main event in WWF, but had loads of WCW background to play off. Plus you could have booked some really good matches with him in.

[PowerButchi]

Yeah, especially as in 2001 I still saw him as more of a WCW guy than a WWF guy.

[MinceMcMahon]

I loved the Power Trip and I wish it lasted for longer.

 

They should've delayed pulling the trigger on the invasion angle until 2002 when most of the main eventers were available. They could've teased the angle for a year with WCW wrestlers interrupting PPVs and title matches but no full scale invasion. An ECW invasion would've made more sense in 2001 as back-up for a heel Austin, with the Invasion PPV taking place at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

[King Pitcos]

Some of that is amazing.

 

I thought that the final and major reason that the angle went to shit was that the WWF basically squashed WCW. At the very start, if DDP and Booker had gone over Austin/Rock and Taker, then as posted above, the angle could have bubbled up nicely at least until the following years Wrestlemania - when you add the nWo, Mysterio, Bischoff and others.

There's no way Paranoid Steve would've agreed to lose to lads who were second-tier in the company that had just gone out of business. Rock probably would've done so, but I can't see them ever booking him to come back for the big return at SummerSlam that year just to play jobber to DDP and Booker. WCW needed someone with genuine credibility once the initial "whoa they're invading them" buzz wore off. Unless Goldberg got bored of getting paid millions for nowt and decided to work for WWF for half of what he'd get paid for sitting at home, someone big had to switch sides.

 

Did Booker T ever factor into any dream match WWF vs WCW fantasies people had? I know a lot of people were into the idea of Rock vs DDP because they both called themselves the people's champion, and that was a missed opportunity, though probably not as much as Rock vs Austin III at SummerSlam.

 

If that match was maybe held at a Raw in Atlanta or the Carolinas the response would have been different, which maybe would have given Vince the confidence to pull the trigger on the re-launce of Nitro.

Was it Vince who stopped plans for a WCW relaunch? I thought none of the channels agreed to having a WCW-only show off them.

[Magnum]

They should've delayed pulling the trigger on the invasion angle until 2002 when most of the main eventers were available. They could've teased the angle for a year with WCW wrestlers interrupting PPVs and title matches but no full scale invasion. An ECW invasion would've made more sense in 2001 as back-up for a heel Austin, with the Invasion PPV taking place at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

 

I think I agree with that. Though at the time the temptation was probably too great to gorge on the cash cow the Invasion was supposed to be, there should have really been enough mileage in storylines involving the existing WWF roster to carry them through most of 2001. The ECW angle would have been a nice foreshadowing for it, and they could have even had a couple of those run-ins from people like Lance Storm and Mike Awesome thrown in over a number or months rather than weeks just to pique people's interest. Even just holding off until early 2002 and having Flair, the nWo and potentially Bischoff available would have added so much more star power to the angle.

[Max Power]

There's no way Paranoid Steve would've agreed to lose to lads who were second-tier in the company that had just gone out of business. Rock probably would've done so, but I can't see them ever booking him to come back for the big return at SummerSlam that year just to play jobber to DDP and Booker. WCW needed someone with genuine credibility once the initial "whoa they're invading them" buzz wore off. Unless Goldberg got bored of getting paid millions for nowt and decided to work for WWF for half of what he'd get paid for sitting at home, someone big had to switch sides.

 

Did Booker T ever factor into any dream match WWF vs WCW fantasies people had? I know a lot of people were into the idea of Rock vs DDP because they both called themselves the people's champion, and that was a missed opportunity, though probably not as much as Rock vs Austin III at SummerSlam.

 

 

Was it Vince who stopped plans for a WCW relaunch? I thought none of the channels agreed to having a WCW-only show off them.

 

I always thought it was Vince who pulled the plug on the relaunch eventually. Even though there was no channel agreeing to the broadcast as you say, I'm sure McMahon planned to eventually bin Smackdown in favour of Nitro or something similar. Could be wrong though. I imagine that someone will either confirm or poo-poo this.

 

As for Paranoid Steve. You're probably right, although in my Fantastical Wrestling Utopia, he looks at the lights for Booker, RVD and every other geezer I would have booked against him. Initially at least.

[King Pitcos]

Even though there was no channel agreeing to the broadcast as you say, I'm sure McMahon planned to eventually bin Smackdown in favour of Nitro or something similar. Could be wrong though. I imagine that someone will either confirm or poo-poo this.

I read it was planned to replace Smackdown as well, but I thought it was UPN who put the kibosh on it. It might've been Vince after the Booker-Bagwell match, though.