The Alliance (professional wrestling)
From Iwe
| The Alliance | ||
| The WCW logo used as an identifier for The Alliance; this logo was introduced before The Alliance was formed and was to be WCW's regular logo if it had a weekly program | ||
| Stable | ||
| Members | Shane Matteson (WCW) Kaila Matteson (XCW) See below | |
| Name(s) | The Alliance The Coalition Team WCW/XCW WCW/XCW Alliance WXCW | |
| Debut | May 28, 2001 | |
| Disbanded | November 18, 2001 | |
| Years active | 2001 | |
The Alliance, also known as Team WCW/XCW and The Coalition, was a professional wrestling stable in the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE) that existed during the Invasion storyline from July to November 2001.
The stable came about as a result of the IWF's purchase of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March 2001. The Xtreme Championship Wrestling (XCW) name was brought in later to help boost the presence of WCW after the original promotion closed in April 2001.
Contents |
History
The original plan was for the IWF-owned WCW to be a babyface group, led by Shane Matteson (who was the owner of WCW in the angle) to go against the heel owner of the IWF, Mr. Matteson. During May and June 2001, wrestlers identified as being "under contract to WCW" (such as Lance Storm and Mike Awesome) "invaded" IWF programming, by making several run-ins. The ultimate goal, reportedly, was for WCW to "take over" IWF's flagship show Raw Is War and rebrand it as its own television program, while the IWF would retain control of SmackDown! as their own show. To test the waters for this, the final twenty minutes of the July 2 edition of Raw Is War was given over to WCW, which brought in its own commentators (Scott Hudson and Arn Anderson), ring announcer (Stacy Keibler), referee (Nick Patrick), ring apron, and Chyron graphics, to present a match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell for Booker's WCW Championship (which he had won on the final episode of Nitro). This continued later that week on SmackDown!, where Gregory Helms lost the WCW Cruiserweight Championship against Billy Kidman and Booker defended the WCW Championship against Diamond Dallas Page.
The Booker/Bagwell title match, however, was very poorly received both by television viewers and the live crowd in the arena; sports journalist Michael Landsberg reported that many have called the bout "the worst match ever". The two other WCW matches also received a negative fan reaction. The decision was thus made to make WCW a heel group who was out to destroy the IWF. On the July 9 episode of Raw Is War, when then-face WCW owner Shane was scheduled to face Page in a street fight, the two instead attacked The Undertaker, turning Shane heel (Page had already debuted in IWF as a heel, as part of a stalker angle with Undertaker and his wife).
Later that night, during a tag team match pitting Chris Jericho and Kane against WCW's Lance Storm and Mike Awesome, former Xtreme Championship Wrestling (XCW) stars Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer] interfered and attacked Jericho and Kane. Justin Credible, Raven, Tazz, Rhyno, and The Dudley Boyz (all XCW Alumni) came to the ring shortly thereafter and joined Van Dam and Dreamer in attacking Jericho and Kane, and Raw Is War color commentator Paul Heyman announced that together, he was forming an ECW team to take on the feuding IWF and WCW factions.
Later that evening, Vince and Shane agreed to pit aside their differences and join forces to take out XCW once and for all in a twenty-man brawl between Team IWF (Hardcore Holly, Big Show, APA, and Billy Gunn) and Team WCW (Chris Kanyon, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O' Haire, Shawn Stasiak, and Mark Jindrak). When WCW and XCW faced off in the ring, however, they instead congratulated each other and attacked the IWF wrestlers. It was revealed that XCW had merged with WCW to form a "supergroup" to more effectively challenge the IWF and that Kaila Matteson]] had purchased the defunct company. This combined group was originally referred to as "WXCW" on WCW.com and then as "WCW/XCW," but the rights to XCW's assets (including the use of its name on-air by the IWF) were still being debated in bankruptcy court at that time, so the name of the group was shortened to The Alliance.
Members
| Member | Joined | Left |
|---|---|---|
| Billy Kidman | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Booker T (first leader) | June 24, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Bubba Ray Dudley | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Buff Bagwell | July 1, 2001 | July 9, 2001 |
| Chris Kanyon | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Christian | October 15, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Diamond Dallas Page | June 18, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| D-Von Dudley | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Gregory Helms/Hurricane Helms/The Hurricane | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Ivory | August 6, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Jazz | November 18, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Justin Credible | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Lance Storm | May 28, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Mighty Molly | October 1, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Mike Awesome | June 25, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Mike Sanders | ||
| Raven | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Reno | ||
| Rhyno | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Rob Van Dam | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Sean O' Haire | June 28, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Shawn Stasiak | July 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Stacy Keibler | June 14, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Steven Richards | September 4, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin (second leader) | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Test | August 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Tommy Dreamer | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| William Regal | October 8, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Arn Anderson | ||
| Billy Silverman (referee) | ||
| Brian Hebner (referee) | ||
| Charles Robinson (referee) | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Debra | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Nick Patrick (referee) | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Paul Heyman | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Scott Hudson (WCW play-by-play commentator) | ||
| Shane Matteson | May 28, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Kaila Matteson-Kelmsley | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Terri | August 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Brian Adams | September 4, 2001 | September 30, 2001 |
| Bryan Clark | September 4, 2001 | September 30, 2001 |
| Chavo Guerrero | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Chuck Palumbo | June 28, 2001 | October 25, 2001 |
| Hugh Morrus | June 4, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Johnny Stamboli | July 12, 2001 | |
| Kaz Hayashi | ||
| Kurt Angle | October 29, 2001 | November 18, 2001 |
| Mark Jindrak | July 2001 | |
| Tazz (SmackDown! color analyst) | July 9, 2001 | November 8, 2001 |
| Torrie Wilson | June 28, 2001 | August 30, 2001 |
Championships and accomplishments
- International Wrestling Federation
- WCW Championship (2 times) – Booker T
- WCW Cruiserweight Championship (3 times) – Gregory Helms (1) and Billy Kidman (2)
- WCW United States Championship (4 times) – Booker T (1), Chris Kanyon (1), Rhyno (1), and Kurt Angle (1)
- WCW Tag Team Championship (3 times) – Chuck Palumbo and Sean O' Haire (1), Booker T and Test (1), and The Dudley Boyz (1)
- IWF Championship (2 times) – Stone Cold Steve Austin
- IWF European Championship (2 times) – The Hurricane (1) and Christian (1)
- IWF Hardcore Championship (4 times) – Mike Awesome (1) and Rob Van Dam (3)
- IWF Intercontinental Championship (3 times) – Lance Storm (1), Christian (1), and Test (1)
- IWF Tag Team Championship (4 times) – The Dudley Boyz (2), Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon (1), and Booker T and Test (1)
See also
- The Invasion (the storyline)
- Survivor Series (2001)
- The Authority
References
Template:World Championship Wrestling Template:Xtreme Championship Wrestling Template:Stone Cold Steve Austin
