Indy Invasion Angle?

[lilnev2009]

With the talk recently of Samoa Joe potentially joining the WWE, I got to thinking: Could an Invasion angle work? In the "reality" era, we all know the history of some of the main stars so couldn't the "WWE" guys match up against the "Indy" guys? So the WWE side would be: Reigns, Brock, Ziggler, Orton, Barrett, Sheamus, Bray, Cena, Rusev, Nikki, Stephanie, HHH, Big Show. The indy guys would be: Rollins, Ambrose, Bryan, Joe, Steen (owens), Neville, Balor, Itami, Paige, AJ Lee, Harper, Zyn, Mizdow, Bubba, Cesaro, Kidd and maybe Punk as the leader of the Indy movement (plays into that changing the WWE thing) (doubt it but we are just talking). So at Wrestlemania 32 the matches would be:

Reigns vs Rollins-WWE Championship match
Brock vs Bryan
Paige vs Nikki-Women's title
Orton vs Ambrose- IC Title
Balor vs Bray
Neville vs Ziggler-US Title
Rusev vs Joe
Cesaro/Kidd vs Barrett/Sheamus vs Usos vs The Acension-Tag title
Punk vs HHH (HIAC)
Sting vs Undertaker
AJ vs Stephanie
Batista vs Rock (side note: will be Marvel vs DC also)
MITB- Zyn, Itami, Ryback, Swagger, Bubba Dudley, Mizdow, Miz, Rowan, Harper, Cody, RVD, Bo Dallas

Now I know that the Punk portion is a bit difficult to see happening but if pitched correctly, I think he would bite. So ever so gentle IWC do you think this could work and what do you think of this as a potential card

 

[bigpawpa27]

I think it could work. But I'm not sure if it will. It's kind of hard to put faith in another invasion angle considering what happened last time. But maybe things would be different this time around.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Sorry to rain on your parade but:

1) it wouldn't happen unless WWE got access to (at least) the Ring of Honor library, if not Combat Zone's as well (which likely they wouldn't be interested in whilst they are PG-focused) as there would be no point of reference to why the 'Indy' group have come together

and

2) what a lot of people forget: the VAST majority of WWE/NXT wrestlers come from independents. Only a select few don't (Reigns, Orton, etc); even Cena started in California's UWF. Sheamus and Barrett both started out in promotions in the British Isles; the list goes on.

Point is, why acknowledge certain wrestlers' Indy backgrounds whilst ignoring others?

The invasion concept worked (before WWE f**kes it up) in 2001 because most wrestling fans were aware, if not regular watchers, of both WWE and WCW, and a lot were aware of ECW. There was also, due to WWE's actual ownership, and Shane McMahon's on-screen ownership, of WCW, with constant rumours and speculation about WCW taking over Raw and WWE presenting Smackdown, an element of surprise over who would be victorious (at least at first), with ECWCW coming out on top at the initial ppv. Whilst the in-ring action theoretically would be good for the feud you propose, without ownership of the Indy promotions referenced, and with knowledge of how the ECWCW invasion ACTUALLY turned out, there would be a complete lack of drama in an Indy-WWE feud, as we'd know from the start that 'Team WWE' would win.

 

[jack knife bad guy]

I like it.. But on a smaller scale. Keep it 7 or so vs the authority. MAKE THE GROUP FACE!!! I don't think it needs to be all of the indy guys vs authority. I think you could have a couple of the indi guys on the side of the authority(Rollins). To make new stars possibly (Neville? Joe? Steen? Maybe not Steen) and turning them heel every so on and I love punk as the leader, but not yet let Bryan be the star of the group and for 2yrs taunting that HHH doesn't want him to call you know who. . (Punk) the group would be Bryan Zain Owens Balor Itami Neville.. later bringing on maybe Ambrose Joe and Cesaro turning on Kidd. And when the numbers even out. . In walks Heyman and punk..

Here's how I would do it Reigns wins at wm but Rollins cashes in with help of the authority.. DB walks out and calls out Rollins who then says the next night on RAW Bryan can have his title shot. Next night in walks Owens with the NXT title and Sammy Zain. HHH and Stephanie are confused but happy when they shake hands with the guys. . Owens said more are coming. . Later on in walks Neville Itami and Balor. And when it looks like Bryan is gonna lose the 5 Indy guys to beat up big show Kane Henry j&j and HHH in front of Stephanie would be amazing while the whole place chants YES!! Indy Comm. Wrestlers. ICW ICW. ICW. ICW.. CENA BECOMING AUTHORITY could change things then in walks Heyman and punk on the side off the ICW. . Reigns. . What happens to reigns?? I know. . Easy. . He has programs against Wyatt Rusev Orton and then a heel Cena. . And then is the headliner and finally becomes the champ for good at WM 33 or 34..

 

[whoopin' ass]

Have to agree with Wrestlingaholic. The biggest problem is wwe is never going to let someone come straight from the indys to the main roster, let alone win over their own talent. Without that, the angle is meaningless. However if they are in NXT for 6-12 months before this happens, they are no longer from the indys. If Sami Zayn were on Raw tomorrow, it isn't El Generico coming in from ROH, no more than Seth Rollins is Tyler Black now. Unless they are wrestling indy shows while showing up on Raw and Smackdown and wwe acknowledges that they worked for other promotions(which won't happen - Sting has been sitting at home for the last 15 years according to them), it won't come across as indy guys invading wwe, it will come across as NXT guys trying to invade the main roster which would have about as much success.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If something like this were to go down, I'd keep the group smaller, maybe start out with 3 or 4 wrestlers and add maybe another 3 to 4 over time. Possibly the best way to go is acknowledge the indie background of the wrestlers, but don't continuously harp on it. Also, I believe there should be some sort of reason beyond "we're here to change things" schtick because we've heard lots of rebellious characters in wrestling say that they intend to "change" things. It just seems a little too lazy to me. I think you'd need something that could hold some appeal for internet fans, indie fans and the more mainstream fans, which could be difficult.

Just based on what I've seen, this MIGHT be something that Triple H could be interested in, but it's not something I see Vince McMahon going for. It's too outside the box for him and he has this notion that if you're not a star in WWE, then you really don't matter. It could be an interesting idea, depending on who made up the indie faction and all, but Vince strikes me as being too closed minded for this to happen; I just don't think he'd see the appeal and since he believes he knows better than everyone else, that'd be the end of it.

 

[laodaron]

The worst possible idea for the WWE, who places so much stock in the Performance Center and NXT and FSU, would be to validate the Indys as a real place to learn wrestling.

HHH's top gripes with guys coming in from the Indys is their bad habits, their inability to work in front of a crowd that isn't in a Bingo Hall, and their lack of comprehension of what the WWE style is. Validating those three things as being relevant (whether they are or not isn't important nor is it relevant to the discussion) would be the complete undoing of all the goodwill NXT has garnered throughout the wrestling world.

 

[rge2010]

Terrible idea for reasons already mentioned. Simply have NXT invade (again).

 

[chibet]

vince mcmahon might bite if a deal could be struck where he would gain rights to the bullet club design….

 

[Dave]

Yeah, because the last Invasion angle in the WWE went so well...

Nah, I don't like this idea at all. Personally, I think that if something like this was to go ahead, the WWE would have to be sure that they could handle it properly this time. The Indy wrestlers that you are talking about could have a big future in the WWE, or are already having a nice push. You don't want to sacrifice that by doing an invasion angle honestly. All of the guys you mentioned are good enough to make it on their own without the need for something so radical.

In terms of the card you've suggested, I like it. It gives a lot of time and main event features to people who have never had the experience of that event, which could be a good or a bad thing. But for the sake of this thread, I like the match card. Again, I don't think it needs to be played out as an invasion angle to get these matches set up. But I'd be begrudgingly willing to give it some time and see it play out before damning it.

 

[rge2010]

vince mcmahon might bite if a deal could be struck where he would gain rights to the bullet club design….

- he probably has never heard of them and I doubt the majority of WWE fans haven't either - just the 10%ers and the Japanese.

Styles is the main man, the main man WWE have never approached to sign. The rest are either WWE failures or wrestlers McMahon will never have heard of.