The F*&%ing Invasion | Wrestling With Wregret

Reboot Month concludes with a "fond" look back at the storyline that killed the passion for many a wrestling fan ... the WCW/ECW Invasion storyline!
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@zmanbrianzane

[@HolymanChurch]

The only winner of the invasion angle was RVD. He got the exposure on main screen TV that he needed to launch his career. His matches with Jeff Hardy were the best through the angle.

[@josephtelegen8754]

You're right, but that didn't really have anything to do with the angle; he was pretty low on the initial card. RVD actually represents possibly the only time the WWF/WWE ever *instantly* listened to fan response and gave a mid-carder a push. Not that that lasted after HHH got back...

[@shafqatishan437]

And then, a year later, he got buried by hhh

[@tariqtelesford9045]

In addition to y2j

[@doeyjiaz4798]

@@sarahp936 his DUI arrest sure didnt help either

[@Thor-Orion]

Tariq Telesford yep, i was about to bring up how Jericho’s work in this storyline heavily elevated him up the card.

[@TheDanzomanzo]

The more expensive WCW superstars would arrive just in time......to the 'HHH burial era'.

[@BurntRAM]

+TheDanzomanzo 14 years later you can now add Sting to that list of burials.

[@TheDanzomanzo]

BurntRAM Aye......it's a crying shame.

[@Raytheman581]

+TheDanzomanzo Well rey mysterio didn't get jobbed out to MR H.

[@BurntRAM]

raymkkkk So one guy? A cruiserweight at that Lol ok.

[@Raytheman581]

BurntRAM Hey, you never know bro, HHH could have buried him just cause. After all they did feed rey to the big show.

[@AllieRX]

If Vince didn't waste money on the XFL, maybe he would've bought the top WCW stars' contracts during the sale.

[@mgb4692]

And yet the XFL had more to do with the long-term growth of WWE than recreating a "war" that that the WWF had quite frankly conquered for at least two years at that point. The latest with Smackdown should reinforce that.

[@armandotorres8962]

MGB What exactly did the XFL do to grow the company?

[@MrBoboliciousness]

And the XFL is coming back lol

[@SRPC21]

Or.... Just wait a year until their contracts ran out saving hundreds of millions of pounds in the process! Holy shit what a concept!

[@LaParka420]

MGB huh

[@kdo5954]

WCW vs WWE vs ECW should have been the best damned thing ever, it was such a let down. How depressing. BTW, I'm binge watching your videos, they are AMAZING.

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Glad you like the vids!

[@KegOfMeat]

The finale should have been Team WWF: Co Captain Stone Cold Steve Austin, Co Captain The Rock, The Undertaker, Triple H, Kane, Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho with Vince McMahon vs. Team WCW/nWo: Co Captain Sting, Goldberg, Ric Flair (WCW), Co Captain Hollywood Hogan, Randy Savage, Booker T and Big Show (nWo) with Eric Bischoff vs. Team ECW: Captain Rob Van Dam, Terry Funk, Sandman, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero with Paul Heyman. What would happen is Shane would "buy" WCW on March 26, 2001 and then bring back the nWo at WrestleMania X-Seven where they would attack Rock, Austin and then Shane and a month later Eric Bischoff would debut on WWF TV and reveal that he had bought WCW with the wrestlers and put the bid in when Vince and Shane put their bids in.

[@AceTheSkylord]

+Wrestling With Wregret Did Adam do a good job??

[@KegOfMeat]

Ace The Skylord Yeah it was good.

[@Dim4323]

their would be a new invasion. wwe vs Tna vs Lucha underground

[@racdragon306]

I think the only good thing that came out of the 'alliance' story line was the Jeff Hardy vs RVD wars. Those matches helped introduce RVD to wrestling fans who weren't familiar with ECW and helped establish Jeff's single career.

[@fro-zone2k]

Not mention Rob Van Dam was the only babyface in the entire Alliance group due to how likable his character was.

[@GregHuffman1987]

@@fro-zone2k They should have done a storyline around when Jeff turned heel for a week or two where he became obsessed with getting his win back on RVD. Instead he would have to go to TNA to get that win. Dumb.

[@namikstudios]

@@fro-zone2k to WCW fans like me, The Alliance were the faces and WWE were the heels, despite WWE's best efforts to present WCW and ECW as the bad guys. Even DDP as the terrible stalker heel character was always a face to me.

[@mikepeterson764]

The best thing that happened during the invasion, was when Angle drove the milk truck and JR screamed "The Olympic milk man"

[@fro-zone2k]

Facts, that along with Rob Van Dam were the only highlights throughout this awful storyline.

[@TheDalinkwent]

Excellent breakdown. Its interesting how WWE's decline began with should have been the biggest angle in wrestling history. Its sad Vince's ego pissed away the potential of this storyline.

[@michaelrivera8360]

@SuperPikachu Jexs no even close after Wrestlemania 17 was the decline off casual and mainstream interest in wrestling

[@michaelrivera8360]

@SuperPikachu Jexs I understand but in reality WWE went downhill really in 2002 but I respect your opinion bro :)

[@michaelrivera8360]

@SuperPikachu Jexs yeah I know specially on smackdown with the amazing Heyman era of writing with smackdown six but I meant casual and mainstream attention wise,2002 was the start of the downfall for WWE again

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

"Downfall" means there's a crash - it hasn't crashed yet - it's dipped HEAVILY but until/if it crashes THEN you can say the downfall started then with any legitimacy. Until that happens you're just pissing in the wind. The stock market dips, but until it crashes nobody's jumping from windows during a dip in profitability.

[@MrBoboliciousness]

WWE never declined if you have nothing to compare it to. There still isn't even any competition for them. They've monopolized the wrestling business.

[@shaggy1513]

Seriously this is the only case where the amount of subs someone have pisses me off! You have 150k, while you should have millions! You are so underrated.

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

+CrutonTheLobster Aw thanks! Maybe one day...

[@shaggy1513]

If you keep growing at this speed you will reach a million soon. Never stop posting man.

[@TheMistahWooseNetwork]

I wholeheartedly agree!

[@LukeMSmith-ou8gh]

I'm sure Brian Zane is fucking PROUD of how many subscribers he currently has, myself being one of them. Most fans that have channels here on KZbin dedicated to wrestling and talking about it could only dream of having the type of popularity that Brian has (believe me, A LOT of them are pretty pathetic when it comes to their subscriber numbers, lol). Don't worry too much about it.

[@TheMistahWooseNetwork]

Luke Mahserjian-Smith Damn right!

[@DJSkandalous]

Ill tell you what was wrong with this angle. It was too many jobbers on the WCW and ECW roster. Rhyno, DDP, Booker, Kidman were all made out to be jobbers. And at that they ruined the angle by making every WCW and ECW character a heel. Vince wanted to punish these guys, that was obvious but if he had no vendetta and wanted to make real money he would have tried to get some of these guys over in order to make the angle better. Also the WCW angle did not need ECW. I would have kept ECW as their own show or had most of them on Sunday Night Heat. WCW angle needed more former WCW talent such as Nash, Hall. Hogan, Steiner brothers, Sting, Goldberg, Lex Luger, Ric Flair, Mr Perfect, Stevie Ray and even a personality like Eric Bishoff. With this talent in place you would have no need for that awful Booker vs Bagwell segment that ruined everything. One you had Bagwell betray WCW, the announcers were terrible, and it was on as the main event! Terrible booking all around. Back to the wrestlers, Yes a lot of these were waiting for their contracts to run out but Vince should have negotiated with them to get them there sooner. Maybe even giving the likes of Sting and Goldberg creative approval or rejection power in order to sway them. The perfect angle I believe would have been Sting, Booker T, Goldberg, Benoit (if he didnt get hurt), Mystyerio, DDP, Ric Flair, Billy Kidman vs Team WWF. I would have had the likes of Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, and Eddie defecting. Eddie got suspended and Benoit got hurt but if they could have avoided that then those guys would have been ideal to join team WCW. Saturn as well would have been a good choice to move into team WCW the likes of Chavo, Kidman, Kanyon etc I would have also signed but used them to a lesser degree. Mostly as jobbers. Kidman would have been ideal to use and push in the actual real invasion angle but they misused him. If the likes of Goldberg and Sting were around, he could take a backsteat a bit but still be midcarder and cruiserweight material. I would have had team WCW actually win the Invasion. But I would have it prolonged a bit more with team WWF scoring two victories in a row. From there I would have introduced the NWO as Bishoff's backup plan which would be comprised of Hall, Nash, Hogan, Lex Luger, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell and Mr Perfect/Konan/Xpac. That is atleast how I would have done it. I would have also had the NWO eventually take over Smackdown and call it WCW Smackdown/Nitro. From there it would have been all WCW guys with WWF crossovers much like the 2016 brand split. The actual reason WWF didn't keep Nitro as its own show was because no tv provider wanted to deal with it. But Vince should have been more forceful and demonstrating that under new management and with WWF crossovers that it would turn out better. Raw and Heat would be for WWF while Smackdown/Nitro would have been for WCW. Thunder could also eventually returned since team WCW would have had a lot of talent to fill more then one show. Under WWF writing and crossovers or defections, i think a WCW Smackdown/Nitro would have turn profitable, especially when the NWO arrived. The NWO could have also been more heavily utilized if they ignored the Hogan chants and just kept him as a heel. Also you would have had Hogan, Luger, Steiner, Buff Bagwell, Xpac, Mr Perfect, Big Show to keep the NWO afloat while Nash suffered a injury and Hall was fired. Again this is just what I would have wanted to happen. But evidently it all comes down to Vinces Ego. The WWF lockerroom may not have wanted to take a backseat but there was more then enough WWF weekly shows to make use of both rosters. The bait and switch of guys flip flopping should have been kept to a mininum with only the likes of several former wcw stars going to the WCW brand like the radicals. I wouldn't have had a single WCW guy defecting to the WWE. Sorry for the long post, I just felt the need to explain how I would do it. Long story short just signed better wcw talent. Kept Nitro on the air or take over Smackdown and then introduce the NWO as a backup plan. The angle wouldn't have ended WCW, it would have just kept them in check. WWF would have never won smackdown back from WCW/NWO. It would have became a brand extension. WWE should have done this this year with the brand draft. They should have had Shane reboot WCW with Bishoff/Sting as the GM. Introduce the WCW titles on WCW Smackdown/Nitro. Put Booker T on commentary. Made Nash the bodyguard of Ziggler and Flair the manage of Alexa Bliss. Also would have had other WCW legend cameos. I think this angle would have worked better because it would re-introduce inactactive trademarks, help promote wcw programming, increase wcw shirt and memorbillia sales, as well as made use of wcw lineages and history instead of creating new title belts with zero prestige.

[@neospadesace366]

2PacRemix ECW lacked star power as well. No sabu, No sandman, No steve corino, No shane douglas, No terry funk, hell not even balls mahoney. The ECW roster was better than WCW but there were missing keys that made me scratch my head.

[@edwinmunoz926]

2PacRemix You are so right even I always said that, I truly believe the angle didn't work was because Vince didn't want to properly push WCW as equals or better yet as a bunch of guys out for blood against the company that put them out of business. If he had I'm sure most if not all WCW mainstays would've joined McMahon. Allowing McMahon to run WCW as a separate entity with it's own TV show , ppv shows and house shows

[@DJSkandalous]

the funny thing is the nwo arrived like 4 months after the invasion storyline. He could have prolonged it and kept the angle going until the nwo arrived! I dont understand why he canceled it so quickly. DDP and Kidman should have looked more like big time threats too. And they should have a re-united Harlem Heat right off the bat to take on Kane and Taker etc.

[@skinhead-ej8ff]

2Pac Remix sorry man way too long but I'll like anyway

[@EZRDEN]

In my opinion Vince should have waited a few months after he bought WCW and then buy the contracts of top WCW guys like Hogan Nash Flair Sting Mysterio Steiner Goldberg Hall Luger Mr Perfect and Konnan. Booker T DDP Bagwell and Kidman should have been signed too. Then with all the names The Invasion might’ve been something.

[@Richard__Cranium]

Stone Cold, Rock, HHH, Taker, Angle vs. Hogan, Nash, Hall, Sting, Goldberg...could you even imagine?

[@masked6242]

That match is brighter than my future

[@GaryTurbo]

+Richard Cranium  Austin Booker T feud for WWE Championship, Angle VS Storm and Rock feud with DDP

[@charlottecorday8494]

I can imagine Sting and Hall doing 99.6% of the work on their side.

[@halospartan117899]

The Heyman promo on Vince McMahon was a small positive for me during this time at least, what are your thoughts on that Zane.

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Definitely one of the few genuine highlights of this storyline! A fitting (non-wrestling) way to close out the angle, as it was on the last Smackdown before Survivor Series, I believe.

[@BloodoperaBlackvomit]

+RedskinsCanefan21 to be honest, Heyman is a highlight on every thing he is on. The guy is amazing and clearly the best promo going today.

[@kenterminateddq5311]

+Bloodopera I agree but I don't think the Alliance storyline is that bad. At least, the top stars are still entertaining and some of the WCW stars are a breath of fresh air.

[@actionjackson4982]

@@kenterminateddq5311 did you enjoy watching both companies?

[@kenterminateddq5311]

@@actionjackson4982 Eh, I like WWF and ECW.

[@MikeyMUnited]

It was in my opinion Vince's ego. WCW was booked to look weak from the start. Trouble was the WWE had been conditioning its fans for years to believe WCW was second rate, and they really needed to build them up to be a credible threat. Ego dictated they get buried - because it was all about WWE dancing on the grave of WCW.

[@taedollar8865]

Ok wcw did the same they shitting on vince an he shitted back

[@sebastiannock942]

@@taedollar8865 Hell, look what they did to Bret when he jumped over. Then again, WCW buried it's own guys as well, talking Benoit, Jericho, Guerrero, Mysterio, etc.

[@taedollar8865]

@@sebastiannock942 exactly people kill me trying to just put things off on on vince beacuse he won the war

[@taedollar8865]

@@theitfactorjameswheezer2852 you're asking why ?

[@orlandodanielperez5131]

People kill me when they say Vince had an ego for “burying” WCW guys. If wcw had won they would have treated WWF guys the same way. Vince had every right to gloat.

[@seanwjones07]

Agreed..."The Invasion" was every wrestling fans wet dream and they completely dropped the ball! Just Imagine if they had Nash,Goldberg,Hollywood, Steiner,Flair, with Booker and DDP. It would have been way more legitimate! Heck Sting might have changed his mind sooner if it all played out well.

[@Kaltagstar96]

Jones206 With the way the Alliance was booked I think even Jeff freakin' Jarrett would legitimise the Alliance more than they were in real life.

[@shawnschaitel838]

Jones206 most had contracts with Turner networks and not wcw and the problem is most of them were paid more the vince was willing to for guys willing to sit on ther ass for guaranteed monye

[@TheVarietyVendor]

Jones206 I think WWE should've waited with the storyline. Maybe till early or mid 2003. Would've been awesome, especially with the talent available.

[@landrykkb]

Shawn Schaitel I actually didn't blame Vince for not wanting to match those Time Warner contracts any more than I do them said recipients of those phat contracts for not wanting to participate when they were paid not to have to.

[@LawrenceW78]

+Jones206 I also think it shouldnt have been ECW and WCW against the WWF, why would ECW and Paul Heyman team with WCW when in real life Heyman couldnt stand WCW? You shouldve had Eric Bischoff in the mix with the WCW mainstays also to really give it some flavor

[@Thor-Orion]

The problem with the first wcw match was because they didn’t want to wait a week. The next raw was in the heart of wcw country; Georgia. The Milk Truck moment was actually a high point of the Invasion:

[@zombiewarrior88]

12:05 *music in background* DIG DIG DIGGITY! DIG DIGGITY DOG!!!!

[@alancardwell7587]

I heard it too, I was like, N64 No Mercy?! haha

[@tenup1715]

SOCKO

[@benjaminsmith6400]

No mercygame haha i loved it i remember

[@hwoarangthedoorbell]

BREAK IT!

[@michaeljensen3548]

Sockoooo 😂

[@exeortegarubio]

How come Ric Flair returned the day after this angle ended?

[@thewriter2634]

*That's when his contract ended.*

[@johnrotuno1077]

I must add myself to the list of commenters who discovered your channel and binge watched:) Thank you , sir. These are a blast!

[@runeknytling]

Point is: Stephanie, ruining WWF/WWE since 2001.

[@MetalMadness_00]

Rune Knytling she should've sat this one out at this point she was nothing more then Triple H's wife and when he got hurt she was forgotten

[@chrismas9448]

It’s not really her fault tho

[@Tafeafc]

@@chrismas9448 She was in charge of creative at this time wasn't she?

[@chrismas9448]

Tafea FC hey man I made that comment 8 months ago so I have no idea what I meant when I made that

[@joshbouman1654]

In 2000 they fired the guy who wrote the HHH vs Rock angle and replaced him with Steph. There's reports of him being mocked and chastized backstage for planning plots months in advance and using storyboards... this company.

[@kidofsteel0362]

It's funny,as a 13 year old watching this I actually had fun throughout the whole thing. As the years started to pass and Big WCW names like Hogan,Goldberg,Steiner,Nash,Hall,Flair all wound up coming back was what got me thinking. Then years later I realized Wow,the invasion actually sucked lol. I didn't know anything about the time warner contracts or anything like that when I was younger.

[@GregHuffman1987]

If they were just patient and waited a few years to enact the Invasion angle it could have been superb.

[@cjvaye99]

I remember this angle well because I actually started watching wrestling with WCW in 1996 and switched in late 1999. so I knew all the big WCW names. I remember week after week waiting for sting, goldberg, Scott Steiner and the nwo to arrive. I was 10 or 11 and kept thinking they would show up eventually lol.

[@Ryderz651]

Brian, Excellent Video by the way. But I wanted to comment about Kurt Angle. I felt that pre-Angle joining the Alliance, he was one of the most likable characters as a face and his hokey behavior and comedic attitude, made him more of a sympathetic character for the situation of him going up against Austin. Especially after Summerslam, how over he was with the people at the time. I don't know maybe its the little kid in me who loved Angle and was hyped about the milk truck moment, but I truly get what you mean. Since Angle wasn't the bad ass he became to be known for today, it was hard to take him as the saving grace of the WWE right after Stone Cold defected. He seemed a bit too "cookie cutter" to say the least and his character was too serious.

[@lukas187x]

For me, the low point of the storyline has, is, and always will be, Stephanie "Nipple H" McMahon being introduced as the owner of ECW. I might be called out for bias, cause I have never been a fan of Stephanie McMahon, but her being involved in the storyline at all made no sense. One, she never had any dealings with ECW. Two, she had just concluded a feud with her brother, so partnering together made no sense. Three, Paul Freaking Heyman was under contract with the WWE at that time, and he would have been the more logical choice to lead the Alliance. Four, the McMahon family feud which dominated the WWE in 2000 was already concluded (technically), and now they want to bring it up yet again, only this time on a grander scale. Like most of us, we were already sick of seeing the McMahon family feud, and trying to resurrect it yet again just burned out any remaining interest I had with this storyline. That is just my personal opinion, and I think you made some very valid points backed up with sound evidence. Keep up the good work with these videos.

[@isaiahkayode6526]

Fact Brother Pure Fucking Fact!

[@sproy1]

I actually liked the idea of Steve Austin defecting to the Alliance. Think about it: Austin and Vince McMahon were arch nemeses. Austin hated McMahon's guts. The new owner of WCW, on the other hand? Well, Shane was the one who signed Austin back to the WWF after Vince McMahon fired him! Remember that? Austin was fired from WCW before he got kayfabe fired from WWF, sure. But it was Eric Bishoff who did the firing, whereas Shane gave him a job back. So, that's one of the few parts of the Invasion that made sense to me.

[@robertcliffjr9339]

Also IRL, Austin worked for ECW also. So I agree, it made some sense for Austin to lead the Alliance for he was a former wrestler for both companies; something they NEVER mentioned throughout the whole angle.

[@samsational168]

Yeah too bad the actual reason they gave was Austin being jealous of all the attention Vince was giving Kurt Angle...

[@aaroncamp9284]

About the only winners in the Invasion were RVD, Booker T, and Jim Ross (his overselling the whole Invasion angle as an announcer was some of his best work as a pro wrestling announcer).

[@stufaman]

How many dreamed of seeing WWF vs WCW's finest. When it finally happened, it ruined most wrestling fans dreams. But have you noticed how business picked up for many independent companies back then? While they didn't have the big names, they basically ran things a lot better than WWF did.

[@ZERO9098767]

I'm currently watching the Invasion angle, and, personally, IMO, I liked it at first. The first few weeks were good, and, then, the Invasion PPV happened, which was pretty fucking boring, and that's when it all went downhill in entertainment value, IMO. After that (even before that) every god damned episode of Raw and Smackdown ended the same exact way, with pretty much the same exact shit happening during the shows. Charles Robinson screws over a WWE wrestler DDP beats the shit out of Undertaker (sometimes Kane, too), after being a fucking massively disturbing creep Stone Cold and Debra start crying about fucking cookies The Alliance destroy the WWE wrestlers in the main event. EVERY FUCKING EPISODE

[@MJjuice89]

Although this review is nearly 3 years old, this is the first time I've come across this guy's channel. This review was hilarious and right to the point. You've got a new sub my friend :)

[@brianbradshaw7540]

Loving the show, Brian. Was recommended the channel by the guys from AE Podcast and been binge watching. Funny enough, I had actually seen your hilarious Vince Russo "Blame Someone Else" skit a while ago which featured Kefin, Adam and Billy, before I had discovered AE Podcast. The only reason why I never really continued watching is because I really don't like "top [place number here]" lists but you are entertaining and funny. Keep up the great job!

[@KeINeR777]

I stumbled across this channel and it's pretty good. Subbed. Keep on going man!

[@brentscott6326]

is the background music from no mercy the game?

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

+Brent A Yep!

[@ericlafaso2292]

+Wrestling With Wregret love the videos bro

[@akoznampomamiose]

+Brent A its WcW nwo revenge theme,not no mercy

[@ericlafaso2292]

No he is right it is from no mercy i was playing the game last week

[@MalGK24]

+Eric Lafaso game was fun as Hell

[@immersion726]

Another reason: The XFL. Vince had the XFL so pumped more money into it rather than buying the big names of WCW and making a good damn invasion. Obviously everything else was correct too lol

[@gocanuckurself1]

I just ate three bags of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn. Don't judge me.

[@dumpsterfire7916]

Love these videos... This guy is seriously talented. Creativity is what WWE is lacking

[@AliTheGreat24]

Invasion should have started at SummerSlam 01' and ended at Mania 18' At summerslam taker gets attacked by sting to set up a mania match At no way out taker returns as the dead man kickin WCW/ECW ass But the invasion should have ended at Mania Taker vs Sting Austin vs Goldberg Hall && Nash vs APA or something lol WCW tag titles Dudleys vs E&C WWF tag titles RVD vs Jeff Hardy vs Jericho ( turned on WWF ) Lightheavy weight or tv title The Rock ( WWF Champion ) vs Hogan ( WCW champion ) Anymore ideas?

[@futuregohan4837]

Undertaker= Original Deadman Black And Purple Circa 1994

[@barkboingfloom]

I got to watch the first shots of the the Invasion in the Tacoma Dome. It was a pretty cool moment to be a part of. People go to Raw in person 52 times every year. But I got to witness wrestling history!

[@xxParkFanxx69420]

The WWF No Mercy music haha DIG DIGGITY DOG

[@drewmathie305]

First time I watched these videos on Wrestling with Wregret, and they are awesome! Thanks heaps for some great analysis, and a tad funny :)

[@AaronCoates]

Great video man! I had stepped away from wrasslin back when the invasion angle happened. I totally agree, it sucked. It steered me away from wwe altogether, and I'm just now coming back. Subbed for sure. This was pure gold!

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Aaron Coates Glad you like the show, thanks for subscribing!

[@AaronCoates]

No problem man. You guys whoop buttocks.

[@nicholasdiaz3731]

I have been watching a lot of you videos in the last week. I think you came up on the side of some Double Toasted videos, but I gotta' say - You're easily the best wrestling critique show. Please keep 'er going with the great content. You just earned yourself a new subscriber.

[@sonicheroxd5767]

Vince should've either waited this angle out until the Time Warner contracts expired or actually grown a pair and buy out the contracts. If he had done that he would've definitely had made much more money than he actually did from the Invasion angle.

[@YupISaidIt]

Why would he just shell out all that money to buy out the Time Warner contracts? You're clearly a mark who doesn't understand wrestling and you also don't understand business economics.

[@stanggeef741]

The only fond memory i had from watching this was the menu music from "No Mercy" on the 64. Invason could of been amazing, instead it was lackluster at best.

[@justanaveragenobbie]

Adam for creative

[@shkumbinkadriaj5610]

#AdamForWWECreative

[@killatre12]

New Jack for Creative

[@Hapexwrestling]

Imagine if the Invasion was the NWO backed by Goldberg, Sting & the rest of the WCW Roster, vs the WWF led by Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock & The Undertaker. If the funds were there, WWE could have had the greatest roster in the history of wrestling, the dream matches would have been insane.

[@WF10Dale]

If it followed the biggest stars of the Monday Night Wars it'd of been Team WWF - Stone Cold, the Rock, Undertaker, Kane, Mick Foley, Triple H Team WCW - Goldberg, Sting, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair

[@EricRatcliffeNewcomicday]

You know the only positive about the invasion: The birth of The Hurricane angle. :)

[@JG6Wrestling]

Do I hear the backstage music from WWF No Mercy in the background there?

[@Hovito86]

Omg I thought I was the only one!! Best wrestling game ever.

[@blinkth3dog]

Vinny's high eye look when he's told crazy news always cracks me up

[@conedx]

i'm halfway through my second video of yours and i'm already sold. sub'd and will be watching so many more. good vids! i'll never get tired of wrasslin' talk.

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

0ofreako0 Glad to hear you're a fan! Thanks for subscribing and I hope you enjoy the rest of my videos!

[@christophercoleman1895]

Wrestling With Wregret the invasion angle sucked

[@theilluminati7552]

0ofreako0 Same here. I even went and watch some of Z-Man's old Portland matches. He sure knows how to take a bump!

[@ECWwinger452]

I noticed the background music is the same music for the main menu of Nintendo 64's wrestlemania 2000 and no mercy

[@CritterDex]

I remember as a teenager I absolutely LOVED the invasion storyline!

[@MrDman21]

"No quads were torn during the making of this video."

[@skrich2]

This show reminds me of Nostalgia Critic for wresting.

[@mistere.m.p.1573]

They sound the same, don't they?

[@seanwjones07]

Zane is better tho...;)

[@tenup1715]

Getting more of a AVGN vibe from this guy

[@BorislavVeselinov]

@@tenup1715 same.

[@TheJames-Edward]

Your shows are amazing, just wish there were more! lol

[@GregHuffman1987]

If they would have gone ahead with the original plan of Mick Foley vs McMahon instead of Shane, I wonder what effect that would have had on the WCW angle.

[@patrickracer43]

Tbf, the simulcast between Raw and Nitro gave us an iconic meme

[@KingJaymo2k11]

If the end of Rock/Austin WM17 was the death of the Attitude Era, then the Invasion storyline was an atomic bomb on its grave

[@TheBradRules]

Love the Homestar Runner figurines!

[@newparadigmbeings4127]

Loving the N64 No Mercy sample in the background!

[@MikeJr9284]

I actually liked the Invasion angle, despite the fact that big named WCW guys like Hogan and Sting weren't there.

[@landrykkb]

Mysterious N (btw I'm a dude) Nothing whatsoever against the WCW talent they used in that angle,but you just knew that angle was ineffective without the likes of Sting & Ric Flair.

[@MikeJr9284]

John W Landry That's true

[@MikeyGeenius]

love your videos man 4 videos in and I'm hooked. you got me as a subscriber. Keep up the good work

[@ra0929]

I wish we had gotten to see more of Heyman as the ECW leader, especially given his rep as svengali. ECW should've been the wildcard, the company that took on both WCW and WWF

[@alexcameron8724]

Would you consider doing a Top 8 Worst WWE Storylines video?

[@jameslightsey1761]

LOL N64 WWF NO MERCY MUSIC PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND.

[@mdf3530]

It's the Nitro theme

[@whaduzitmatr]

At the end of the video was the No Mercy N64 theme even I recognized it

[@Magdra]

Great video. Loved that you threw in WWF No Mercy stuff, my favorite wrestling game of all time.

[@matthewnolan2042]

So... Now what? After today, this is so surreal.

[@BryWithAWhy]

Honestly, I was 12 years old and had never watched WCW, so I really enjoyed the Invasion storyline and remember it with nostalgia. But now I can totally see why for older fans at the time it was a major letdown.

[@calamaty9963]

Guess those contracts couldn't have been bought cause millions of $ were put in that XFL train wreck.

[@bloodguzzler]

I like that when the milk truck started spraying, Austin just stood there as if he said "Uh-uh, I ain't selling this..."

[@jaredengland1764]

So basically no Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Sabu, and Justin Credible . Wow all that talent for nothing.

[@jaredengland1764]

+SadClownSatire Have you seen his rivalry with Raven.

[@SRPC21]

+jared England Dreamer was a competent worker but I wouldn't call him 'talented' out of the crop of wcw, ecw and wwe talent available at the time! As the face of ECW, the WWE definitely misused him though

[@jaredengland1764]

Samuel Coe Dreamer will be one of my favorites to watch in ECW along with the Dudleys, Sabu, Raven, and Rhyno

[@SRPC21]

***** Yes, there was a place for him, for sure. I just wouldn't call him 'talented' in the conventional manner (I wouldn't call Roy Keane particularly 'talented', who was Manchester United Captain, but that didn't mean he's not good at football)

[@LuckyDT]

Please tell me this is sarcasm.

[@TheMistahWooseNetwork]

Although I like the Invasion review, Adam Blampied's booking idea of the Invasion angle was awesome! Yes, it is because Brian Zane was in it, but at the same time, ECW should have stayed out, and it really should have been the McMahon's vs. Eric Bischoff!

[@TheGeekyComrade]

This video would have been the perfect video to include Ambrose saying "Nope"

[@rusalexander1757]

As a WCW fan, and a WWF and ECW supporter when this went down, Jesus....it could not have happened in a more fucked up way. I had such high hopes. It killed me as a regular wrestling fan. I check in periodically....will never watch regularly or encourage younger fans from here on out....

[@dylanparker130]

haha, the music at the end made my day - no mercy on the n64? :D

[@Freeze55]

The way the Invasion was handled drove me away from wrestling until last year.

[@HunterPhenomMakoy]

Think about this: you take away just a couple of the worst mistakes in wrestling history and in the middle of the Invasion we’re watching a triple threat match between Bret, Owen, and Kurt Angle.

[@DoubleAgents]

I don't care what anyone says, the milk truck was legend!

[@ferox965]

I remember how exciting the similcast was. And then all of a sudden, it was just another McMahon angle...what a drag.

[@tjjordan4207]

Imagine if WWE released a video game that had the Invasion storyline we should have gotten, and the players got to choose between WWE or WCW.

[@tonybeattie3980]

Ok, not going to lie, I'm not even a huge attitude era guy but assuming it was done well, I could see myself having a TON of fun with that game. I''d probably pick WCW if for no other reason than the nWo and Bret Hart (assuming you got to play as or at least be aligned with them).

[@tjjordan4207]

@@tonybeattie3980 Bret Hart wasn't with WCW when they closed down but he was with them for 2 and a half years, so he would definitely be part of the WCW team. Or otherwise be considered more of a "choose which side" kind of thing, especially with Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.

[@tonybeattie3980]

@@tjjordan4207 True. I forgot about that- then again, if this game would take place in an ideal universe, then Bret may not have got injured by Goldberg at Starrcade which if I remember correctly is why he got released.

[@clintdeangelis5082]

The only good thing about Stephanie being named owner of ECW is that leather mini skirt she wore when she came out after the announcement lol

[@kenterminateddq5311]

Why didn't Vince use Tony Schivaone to call the WCW match in WWF???

[@SauROnmiKE]

Bryan do you have the original videos somewhere else, since many of them are cut? Decided to go on a Wregretful Journey to the good ol' days.

[@downtownclown679]

when dx invaded nitro....that was the closest.....imagine if they'd gotten into the building

[@crazyhayn]

Running a WCW match in a WWF town in the Pacific Northwest was a terrible booking idea. The only chance a "new" WCW had would have been a TV match in Norfolk or Charlotte. Booker T and DDP were good acquisitions, but they were too eager to get "anything" on WWF TV. So, we got the Stalker Page and comic relief Booker T.

[@redplanet667]

seeing as they went and hired Bischoff and Russo not long after this anyway then I think it really should've been either Bischoff or Russo or even both of them who "bought" WCW teaming with Heyman Vs the McMahons it shouldn't have been McMahons Vs McMahons, but when you look at how much money they threw away on the doomed XFL project that year if only they had stayed away from football and spent that money bringing in Hogan, Nash, Flair, Steiner etc for this angle

[@shamimislam3201]

RVD was the only thing intreasting about the alliance. He was the only member that never cheated and won all his matches cleanly. His matches were also epic especially the hardclre matches he had with Jeff Hardy.

[@colerobinson6426]

Like if you came here after Adam Blampied What Culture Review

[@umeratif5799]

I came after I watched how WWE should've booked the invasion but I'm not gonna like

[@colerobinson6426]

+Umer Atif Ahaahaha😂

[@AmericanWrathchild]

The Invasion angle was basically just an excuse for the Mcmahons to flex on national TV every week. "Try to fuck with my shit? Bet, y'all jobbers now".

[@KingstonHawke]

They were off to a great start with the Shane buying Nitro moment. That's a moment that will live on forever (similar to the ECW turning on WWF moment). And this angle could've had 20 of those moments. The most any angle ever could've. They should've kept Nitro running on TNT for a few months as part of the deal with AOL. AOL wouldn't have minded the temporary boost in ratings. And AOL had all those guys under contract still. Now you have the real WCW stars leading the invasion. And you have WWE guys showing up on Nitro as well. Fast forward to the conclusion 3 months from then. It's WCWs Sting, Goldberg, Hogan (who I'd of had return as the climax to the last PPV) vs Austin, Angle, and Rock and the winning team gets Monday. It would just be Sting and Goldberg for a while holding their own. Hogan would show up late like he did at Bash at the Beach, and the surprise would be that he wouldn't heel turn instead he'd save the day. And then Bret Hart would interfere and Austin would allow Bret to cost the WWE Mondays. The fall out would be crazy and could spawn a bunch of different stories. Raw would move to Thursdays to replace Smackdown, Nitro would replace Raw on Mondays. Some wrestlers would hate Austin for his disloyalty to the WWE, some would love him for sticking it to Vince in the ultimate fashion. Vince would stick the newly debuted Brock on Austin. Nash and Hall would turn on Hogan for not turning on WCW. Sting and Goldberg would take up for him, and then HBK and Triple H would interfere and reunite The Cliq. You really just end up with a rebranded Smackdown (to WCW), an infinitely more epic transition period, and end to the MNW. And because you've got all these superstars with contracts ending you could have a lot of fun writing certain guys off that you know you wont be bringing back.

[@robertmyles9124]

I just realized that at Survivor Series 2001, Team WCW/ECW held the WWF Championship and Team WWF held the WCW Championship. The definition of irony.

[@ItsBrettFoo]

Hey at least we got a great Jeff Hardy RVD fued their ladder match at Summer Slam for the hardcore championship was great

[@timaloy865]

i know this is an older one but i'm actually really starting to enjoy your videos.

[@travismcdonald6576]

It was more vital for Vince to piss away millions on the XFL than bring in the real stars of WCW.

[@josephtelegen8754]

In retrospect the milk truck was pretty funny. I'll say it again if I have to.

[@MrElmasrapido85]

I wanted to see goldberg vs austin , undertaker vs sting ,Dx vs NwO

[@WIllieDallman]

Been watching all your videos. So good.

[@thunn35]

All the good WCW stars got paid to sit at home for 2 or 3 years. They should have kept Nitro going and replaced Smackdown with it

[@jonbourgoin182]

I like how Austin has gone on record to say he regrets turning heel at wrestlemania 17, but I’ve never heard him state how he felt about turning on team WWE and joining the alliance. That was infinitely worse than his heel turn at X-7 and made even less sense. Especially when you consider his firing at WCW via FedEx package courtesy of Eric Bischoff.

[@HonestFarmerLigue1Fan]

the stupid thing is putting Kurt Angle in InVasion team when he had never been in WCW and he rejected ECW trial. One time Kurt Angle watched Raven doing his hardcore stuffs on Sandman and Kurt yeeted himself away from ECW venue, fearing for his life.

[@andybryant5646]

I like ECW but it should have just been WCW vs WWE that was the fight we have want to see since the 80's with Crocket vs Vince.

[@MarkLyell]

I agree with almost every word you said here - I have to majorly disagree on your assessment of Kurt Angle as the WWF's main face after Austin jumped. When Angle turned face, his "my gold" promo received an insane pop in his hometown Pittsburgh and the reason I felt the whole goofy milk and cookies thing worked was because a huge part of that was the real Kurt Angle. We're talking a guy who won the gold medal with a broken neck and became a huge star in wrestling within a year of his debut - he's just quality through and through and becomes the best at seemingly everything he does. The WWF gave him what appeared to be a goofy gimmick and because Angle is so great, he took it and made it ridiculously over. I was the world's biggest Austin mark in the Attitude Era but I was heartbroken when Angle lost to him at Summerslam 01 and the rematch at Unforgiven where Kurt finally beat him was brilliant. I despised 99% of that Invasion crap but Angle's emergence as a face who could lead the company and just a major superstar in general was cemented in his antics with Austin, I thought he was brilliant.

[@SirFailsalot91]

Well, since the Invasion bombed as hard as it did for the WWF Vs. WCW rivalry, I'm curious about your opinion on the WWE '12 Hero Story is/would be *Spoilers for a four year old game whose story can be easily looked up on Wikipedia* Former WCW stars turn against the WWE and plan to resurrect WCW by burying the WWE; WWE loses at Wrestlemania and WCW takes over, but in a Winner-Take-All 12-Man Hell in a Cell tag-team match at Starrcade, Team WWE wins, WCW is once again buried and "The Status Quo is God" is invoked just to give us a feel-good happy ending, all thanks to custom Superstar Jacob Cass (voiced by A-Double himself, Austin Aries) Even fictional events in their video games don't stop ol' Vinnie Mac from treating WCW like shit, I wasn't even a WCW fan and I still admit they did better than WWF the majority of the time during the MNW... B|

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Ponder von Lampgurgle Sounds convoluted!

[@SirFailsalot91]

Oh, and I should add, Rey Mysterio turns heel in the story ... Yeah, Cena can't turn heel, even in fiction, but ultimate babyface Mysterio can

[@billywelker5245]

Ponder von Lampgurgle well I mean......... Rey was in WCW so..........

[@tyrrelly16]

Are you gonna do nexus anytime soon ?