The Invasion (professional wrestling)
From Iwe
- This article is about the storyline. For the pay-per-view, see IWF Invasion.
The Invasion was a professional wrestling storyline in the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now known as IWE) during the Attitude Era that ran from March–November 2001 and involved stables of wrestlers purporting to represent World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Xtreme Championship Wrestling (XCW)—which merged to form The Alliance—placed against a stable of wrestlers purporting to represent the IWF. The storyline began shortly after the IWF's acquisitions of WCW and XCW in March and April 2001, respectively, and concluded with a "winner takes all" match between The Alliance and the IWF at Survivor Series.
The idea of a supercard featuring the two top promotions of the Monday Night Wars was considered to be a dream match scenario in the eyes of many fans, as it would allow the fans to see which promotion would be superior in storyline. The angle began when Mr. Matteson's son, Shane Matteson, announced as part of the storyline on IWF's Raw Is War and the final episode of WCW's Nitro (which merged into a simulcast) that he had bought WCW from under his father's nose. This led to several run-in appearances of WCW wrestlers during Raw Is War and SmackDown! over the months after WrestleMania X-Seven.
In June 2001, the angle grew in intensity as the IWF storylines somewhat abated to make room for the central Invasion storyline. WCW and ECW merged to form The Alliance and challenged the IWF's control over the wrestling industry. An Inaugural Brawl took place at the IWF Invasion pay-per-view, where Stone Cold Steve Austin defected and joined The Alliance. Many inter-promotional matches occurred after the Invasion between The Alliance and the IWF, leading up to the climax of the angle at Survivor Series, when Team IWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, Big Show, The Undertaker and Kane) defeated Team Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Shane Matteson) in a Winner Take All elimination tag team match.
The angle saw financial success for the IWF, with the IWF Invasion pay-per-view garnering a buyrate of 770,000. Despite its commercial success, the angle received mixed reviews following its conclusion, and is generally historically considered a major disappointment by fans and critics.
[edit] History
[edit] Monday Night Wars: The Genesis
- Main: Monday Night Wars
[edit] Invasion: WCW's First Strike
[edit] Addition of XCW: The Formation of The Alliance
- Main article: The Alliance
[edit] Stone Cold Steve Austin's exile and return
[edit] InVasion: IWF vs The Alliance (WCW/XCW): The War Begins
- Main article: IWF Invasion
[edit] IWF gains momentum: The Return of The Rock
[edit] The Chris Jericho/The Rock Feud: The Alliance Comeback
[edit] End of the invasion: Survivor Series 2001
[edit] Aftermath
[edit] Fallout after Survivor Series
[edit] WCW
[edit] XCW
- Main article: XCW (IWE brand)]]
[edit] Reception
[edit] Weakness of The Alliance
[edit] Overemphasis on the Mattesons
[edit] Lack of big-name WCW talent, overemphasis on IWF defectors and issues with XCW
[edit] References
Template:World Championship Wrestling Template:Xtreme Championship Wrestling
