Which WCW wrestlers should have been included in the invasion angle?

[Radical Canadian Goose]

Ok its been common topic for years, and still ongoing, did the invasion angle suck? not particularly (in my opinion) should Sting have been part of the angle (well yeah, he was the face of the franchise) But my queston is (mind you I'm a big cruiserweight fan) is who should have been "included" in the sale of Wcw to WWE?

Personally I say Lash Leroux, Evan Karagias, Norman Smiley, Scott Norton, Goldberg (yeah I know he came later), Alex wright, Disco Inferno, Lenny and Lodi, La Parka, El Dandy, and the rest of the cruiserweight division, and of course Sting...

what do you all think , would WWE have had a legitimate lightweight division today? and would sting and goldberg helped the invasion?

 

[The Scarred One]

If my memory serves me correctly, Lash Leroux and Evan Karagias did come over with the sale. But they were sent to the developmental territory and worked there during the Invasion angle, only to get released some time over the next year. As for the other people you mentioned, with the exception of Sting and Goldberg, they had either been fired from WCW or just weren't good enough to bring over to WWE. No disrespect.

As far as the big names go, there was nothing really the WWE could do because many of them had deals with Time Warner, not WCW. The WWE could offer them a deal, but it was really up to them to get bought out by Time Warner. For most of them, they had rather just stay at home and collect their money. It definitely would've been great if the likes of Sting, Ric Flair, Goldberg and Scott Steiner (the last three eventually coming over to WWE in the next couple of years) had taken part in the Invasion angle. That way, it could've been the greatest storyline that had ever been done.

 

[muzz-rocks]

I've been thinking about this for awhile now and there is no question that if Sting and Goldberg had been involved in the Invasion angle, the alliance would have seemed like a much bigger threat! We all knew that WWE were going to win the war eventually but it would've been great to see these 2 guys come in and dominate. I also believe that Hogen should've been the voice of the Invasion instead of Shane and Steph. Hell, even Bichoff would've been a better leader. Ofcourse, Hogen would never have been part of the Invasion angle because of politics and what have you. I think it would've been also pretty cool to see Scott Stiner involved somehow, just for his power and comedy timing.

I was also thinking about the ECW guys that should've been involved. Shane Dougles (i'm not sure if he was part of either brand by the time that the doors had been closed) would've been a great addition to the alliance along with Mikey Whipwreck and The Sandman.

Personally, i would've loved to have seen a 3 way war during the Invasion angle of WWE vs WCW vs ECW. It would've been great to see a war of words between Shane Dougles and Hogen, Tajiri and Whipwreck vs The Hardy Boyz vs Sean O'Hare and Pulumbo, The Sandman vs Mick Foley vs Terry Funk and Bichoff, Hayman and Vince having some shoot style segments.

 

[MMK]

If this angle was to be done properly, then you have to use the WCW roster from 1997. Thats when they were at their best. That's the WCW people remember. It should have been Bischoff leading a team composed of Hogan, Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Sting, Flair, DDP, Rey Mysterio, and Scott Stiener.

Aside from Sting, who has always declined WWF, every single one of those guys could have easily been used in the storyline. Hogan, Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Flair, Bischoff, Stiener, and Mysterio all showed up in WWF shortly after the invasion storyline ended. The reason WWF used WCW jobbers like O'Haire, Palumbo, Awesome, and Storm instead, was because they wanted WCW to look weak and WWF to look far superior. It was never supposed to be a fair fight. Vince would never risk the WCW guys getting more cheers than the WWF guys. Which is why the storyline ended up being such a disappointment.

DDP was the only main WCW guy used in that storyline. And when you look how badly he was used, it's no wonder Sting wanted no part of it.

And even if they couldn't get the guys I listed (which they easily could have seeing as how they all showed up in WWF not long after), then you shouldn't even attempt the storyline at all. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. No second rate crap for me thank you.

 

[EastCoastFan]

It's been well-documented that the number one reason the bigger WCW guys (Hogan, Nash, Sting, Goldberg, ...) weren't involved with the Invasion was because they were under contract to AOL Time Warner and Vince only offered them 50 cents on the dollar to buy out their contracts. Given a choice between sitting on their butts for full pay and "working" for half pay, they took the money.

Overall, it didn't matter who was involved with the Invasion: Vince's ego would not let him make WCW (later, the Alliance) look like a threat. Add to this the lack of star power and if it hadn't been for the influx of ECW guys, the Invasion would have died right after the Booker T/Bagwell match.

 

[Orton Pose \__0_/]

If this angle was to be done properly, then you have to use the WCW roster from 1997. Thats when they were at their best. That's the WCW people remember. It should have been Bischoff leading a team composed of Hogan, Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Sting, Flair, DDP, Rey Mysterio, and Scott Stiener.

Aside from Sting, who has always declined WWF, every single one of those guys could have easily been used in the storyline. Hogan, Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Flair, Bischoff, Stiener, and Mysterio all showed up in WWF shortly after the invasion storyline ended. The reason WWF used WCW jobbers like O'Haire, Palumbo, Awesome, and Storm instead, was because they wanted WCW to look weak and WWF to look far superior. It was never supposed to be a fair fight. Vince would never risk the WCW guys getting more cheers than the WWF guys. Which is why the storyline ended up being such a disappointment.

DDP was the only main WCW guy used in that storyline. And when you look how badly he was used, it's no wonder Sting wanted no part of it.

And even if they couldn't get the guys I listed (which they easily could have seeing as how they all showed up in WWF not long after), then you shouldn't even attempt the storyline at all. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. No second rate crap for me thank you.

In what way was Lance Storm a jobber, the guy was on the verge of holding the Canadian, 100KG and under, Sask Hardcore and WCW championships at the same time,

on the invasion angle
the first nWo, rey, sting, steiner, booker, ddp, storm, MIA

though obviously the contract issues with time warner etc stopped what would have made the alliance seem a threat, but in the end, it would have been a squash and obviously for the guys from WCW, that was bad for their own business

 

[JJ15776]

And even if they couldn't get the guys I listed (which they easily could have seeing as how they all showed up in WWF not long after), then you shouldn't even attempt the storyline at all. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. No second rate crap for me thank you.

Right, because surely nothing changed in the YEARS that passed between the time WWE bought out WCW and the time they showed up in WWE. It's not like they all had massively expensive contracts that the WWE couldn't buy out and they all sat around until the contracts expired or were bought out by Time Warner. Oh, wait...that IS what happened. My bad.

Give me a break. If the WWE could have brought those guys in, they would have. Period.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

i'd say Hogan, Goldberg, or Sting because they were main faces in WCW where you could fill the void Austin filled in turning heel.

now if i had my own personal pick, it'd be Savage because he could still work better than Hogan and i'd have goosebumps at the possibility of Rock vs. Savage, since Hogan/Rock was a good match (theirs would've been better).

but the reason i say the first 3 was because anyone else still wasn't a "big enough name" to carry the Alliance without a WWF heel turn somewhere around there. like Booker & Page were carried in the Federation, same thing with anyone not named Sting/Hogan/Goldberg

 

[Big Ol' Buckta AIDS]

It's been well-documented that the number one reason the bigger WCW guys (Hogan, Nash, Sting, Goldberg, ...) weren't involved with the Invasion was because they were under contract to AOL Time Warner and Vince only offered them 50 cents on the dollar to buy out their contracts. Given a choice between sitting on their butts for full pay and "working" for half pay, they took the money.
...................

Tons of people seem to forget that. It's not like the WWF had the ability to buy out all of those ridiculious contracts that so many WCW guys had. Could they have bought out some of them? Sure, but that would mean paying those guys at least what they were making in WCW for the rest of their careers, and you'd have the new wrestlers of today, like Cena and Orton etc getting crazy amounts of money because those older contracts would have set a precident. So yeah, although it kind of sucked (looking back on it, idk anyone who was complaining while it was going on) The WWF clearly made the best out of a bad situation.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

Tons of people seem to forget that. It's not like the WWF had the ability to buy out all of those ridiculious contracts that so many WCW guys had. Could they have bought out some of them? Sure, but that would mean paying those guys at least what they were making in WCW for the rest of their careers, and you'd have the new wrestlers of today, like Cena and Orton etc getting crazy amounts of money because those older contracts would have set a precident. So yeah, although it kind of sucked (looking back on it, idk anyone who was complaining while it was going on) The WWF clearly made the best out of a bad situation.

i disagree respectfully on the contract situation. Vince could've bought off a few contracts, the guy was (or still is? who knows) a billionaire. he bought WCW for roughly $2 million, which some say the trademarks themselves or the video collection was worth that much if not more. Vince got a hell of a bargain, if he would've bought off a few contracts but not Hogan's of course, last i read/heard Hogan's was the biggest contract by WCW and if anyone went over his, they'd be paid the same (from an interview Scott Hall said he tried to have Bret raise his stock for a bigger contract so he'd get paid the same or somethin like that).

but anywho, Vince could've done more. it's the fact some WCW guys came with the same and others took the buyout to go to the WWF (because they were gonna be forgotten in the future or would've been non-relevant by the time their contracts were up, unlike the rest) and Vince tried to make it work. i mean, the guy had Buff Bagwell vs. Booker T for the WCW title as a main event when he could've had Goldberg vs. Hogan or something similar, the guy was just being deservedly cheap. big contracts would've have set the precedent either because Vince could let them go, of course he would never do boatloads of guaranteed deals.

 

[blockanWo]

The reason they werent brought in is because of two reasons. Both have been covered in seperate posts.

A) Guaranteed Money. All the big stars were on non transferable contracts. This has been confirmed by many people, including people like Nash and Hall. Vince offered them 50 cents to the dollar on their contracts if they came back full time. As Nash said in a RF Video shoot, he had the choice of being on the road busting his ass for half the money or he could be at home smoking pot and watching TV. They all chose the cash. Except for Booker and DDP who went out and busted their arse and were made to look like idiots.

B) This was Vince's way of killing WCW. As many have put it, the civil war was over, Vince was never going to let a bunch of confederate guys come in and get over on his tv show. Why on earth would Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, Sting, Hogan, Goldberg, Scott Hall want to rock up and be buried and lost in the shuffle.

 

[streicher187]

They should have used Benoit and the Radicals saying they where sent ahead to scout the WWE and where part of the invasion. Other then that the only one that would have made a difference would be Sting.. I think Goldberg is the most overhyped guy in history. The best would have been having the NWO(original) feud with DX

 

[King Patrick Star]

I posted this on another thread, but I think it fits great here. For the Invasion, I would have included the following Stars and Stables…

Survivor Series 2001

In this version of the “Invasion”…the War has just began.

Round One

Match One
Blue Word Order – Big Stevie Cool, Hollywood Nova, Da Blue Guy, and Taka Michinoku
vs.
ECW – Shane Douglas, The Sandman, Raven, and Taz

Match Two
New World Order – Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and The Big Show
vs.
WCW – Ric Flair, Big Van Vader, Booker T., and Sting

Match Three
NWA – Steve Corino, Jason Rumble, and The New Heavenly Bodies ("Casanova" Chris Nelson and "Vivacious" Vito DeNucci)
vs.
The Radicalz – Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho

Match Four
D-Generation X – Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Mr. @$$, and Road Dogg
vs.
WWF – Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Kurt Angle, and Undertaker


Round Two

Match Five
The winner of match 1
vs.
The winner of match 2

Match Six
The winner of match 3
vs.
The winner of match 4

Round Three

Match Seven
The winner of match 5
vs.
The winner of match 6

I have a question. When advancing to the next round, should the winning team start back at full strength or should only the Survivors move on in the Tournament??

Imagine the longevity of the Invasion storyline if they had this many Stars available to them. It sure would not have ended at the 2001 Survivor Series. It may have even gone way past WrestleMania X8. It may still be going on today with the new faces. Imagine all the twists and turns during this expanding Invasion. I would like to think that even the 4 Horsemen could have made a WWE debut.

 

[Toroc102]

I think if WWE had just signed Flair and Sting(the only two real WcW products(add Goldberg as a sweetener))and added them to the Invasion a lot of shit could've changed. Flair should've been the "owner" of WcW from the beginning(instead of idiotically debuting one day after the Invasion storyline was completely over with), and together him, Sting, Booker T, DDP and whoever else(RVD?, they could've done something better with Y2J or Chris Benoit)would've been a lot cooler than seeing Kurt Angle, Stone Cold, and Shane and Stephanie McMahon being the main focus of WcW.

Sigh it could've been great, too many people defend WWE on this one, when you look at all the other things they spend money on, you realize what a prideful move not paying these contracts were. Vince could've been the bigger man, and banked off of it.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It's been well-documented that the number one reason the bigger WCW guys (Hogan, Nash, Sting, Goldberg, ...) weren't involved with the Invasion was because they were under contract to AOL Time Warner and Vince only offered them 50 cents on the dollar to buy out their contracts. Given a choice between sitting on their butts for full pay and "working" for half pay, they took the money.

THANK YOU

At least someone in here knows what they are talking about. WWE could not have used any of the guys that you have listed because they were already signed to contracts elsewhere, and would have lost money had they joined the WWE for the Invasion. Knowing how money-driven guys like Hogan, Steiner and Nash are, do you really think that they would have ever considered signing for Vince for less money? It was no coincidence that they all jumped to the WWE as soon as they were available- for even more money probably.

They would definitely have made the invasion better, and for that reason I believe the WWE should have held off the storyline until WCW could have been made a viable threat to the WWF. You wouldnt eve have needed ECW to be involved if WCW was strong enough on its own, without guys like Hugh Morrus and Hurricane.

However, Vince obviously wanted to go with it as soon as he had bought out the competition, to bury them once again while WCW still meant something to the fans, his ego would not let him wait, even though the storyline would have been a guaranteed money spinner, and one of the biggest of all time.

I still loved it, but it could have been so much better. I would personally have waited until Nash, Rey, Hogan, Hall, Godlberg, Flair, Sting etc were all available, and I would have liked to have seen Scott Steiner, Vampiro, Juventud Guerrera and Stevie Ray (Harlem Heat baby!) involved.

The teams could have looked like this.

WWF

Austin, Undertaker, Kane, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Big Show, Chris Benoit

WCW

Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, Ric Flair, Sting, Scott Steiner, Booker T, DDP

There could have been better cruiserweight action, with Mysterio and Juvi going up against the best of the WWE, and wrestlers such as Mike Awesome, Lance Storm and so many others should have been properly used.

So many possibilities....no wonder wrestling was at its absolute peak at this point in my eyes.