excellent "InVasion" primer article | from Rick Scaia of Wrestleline.com

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INVASION PREVIEW
July 20, 2001

By Rick Scaia
WrestleLine/WrestleManiacs

At the end of the day, there isn't a whole lot about the wrestling business that most "smart" fans believe is really real. But the one thing that we ALWAYS believed in was the fact that different wrestling companies really did hate each other. They were at war for ratings, fans, and talent, and it wasn't just for show like the contrived battles we saw in the ring.

Which brings us to Sunday, where the three dominant wrestling companies of the 1990's are going to go to war... all on one show. Well, sort of...

The WWF, WCW, and ECW will all be represented at the aptly titled Invasion pay-per-view. But the truth is that they all exist under the banner of the WWF now. There is no genuine competition, none of that very real disdain that once existed between the companies, because outside of the context of WWF programming, neither WCW or ECW really has its own existence.

On the downside, this does mean that we'll have to suspend disbelief to really buy into the interpromotional feuding... but on the upside, it means that we'll get decisive finishes, unlike genuine interpromotional matches of the past where cheap, unsatisfying draws were the usual outcome as both companies tried to protect their own talent.

Despite the storylines, the only way Vince McMahon can lose in this affair is if fans just don't tune in. And from the looks of things the past two weeks, that's not what's happening. There are fans who avidly flipped back and forth between RAW and Nitro who are just curious to see the two companies now battling each other. There are loyalists who stuck with one show throughout who want to cheer that company on to victory. And then there's the ECW Factor, thrown in at the last instant, which has mobilized the ever-rabid faction of Extreme Mutants who may be in a minority, but who make up a very vocal and excitable minority. Interest is running undeniably high as we inch closer to the big PPV.

I may not be able to add to your interest, but hopefully, by running down the announced card for Sunday's show, I'll be able to help you maintain your excitement as we count down to Invasion.

STEVE AUSTIN, KURT ANGLE, UNDERTAKER, KANE, AND CHRIS JERICHO vs. BOOKER T, DALLAS PAGE, THE DUDLEY BOYZ, AND RHYNO (Inaugural Brawl)

It's that tried and true plot: an outside threat forces enemies to become allies. And so it is that Kurt Angle has found his inner bad-ass, drawing cheers from fans and respect from Taker, Kane, and Jericho. And more importantly, this is how we've ended up with the return of the "Original Recipe" Stone Cold Steve Austin; no more hugs and sing-alongs, cuz it's whoop-ass time.

All in the name of protecting the honor of the WWF against these invaders.

Booker T and DDP are the only former main eventers from the WCW camp to make the jump over to Shane McMahon's "New WCW." They are joined by three of the former main eventers from ECW's roster, the Dudleys and Rhyno. In fact, on this squad, you've got the joint WCW World and US Champ in Booker and you've got Rhyno, who was the joint ECW World and TV Champ when the company closed up shop. DDP is a former WCW Champ, while the Duds have double digit tag title reigns between ECW and the WWF.

It's a formidable fivesome, though the WWF team boasts some impressive qualifications of it's own. In addition to current champ Austin, there are three former WWF World champs on the team: Angle, Taker, and Kane. Though he's never held the big strap, Jericho's had his share of gold in the WWF, as well as being the only member of Team WWF to hold titles in both ECW and WCW.

In the absence of any hype to the contrary, I'm assuming this'll be a standard tag match to a single fall (not elimination style or anything fancy)... and though conventional wisdom suggests that a big 10-man tag match is likely to be a giant mess with little to no quality wrestling, the fact is that I'm holding out some hope. Thinking back to the classic 10-man main event of the 1997 Canadian Stampede pay-per-view, it is possible to have a great match with this many participants.

In fact, this roster of 10 workers may even be, top to bottom, more talented: no LODs or Jim Neidharts here... Steve Austin, of course, is the only common denominator between the two matches.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this main event will avoid the schmozzy fate of most 10-man matches: if the in-ring action is well-constructed and if the extracurriculars (you know Vince, Shane, and Stephanie McMahon -- as well as Paul Heyman -- are gonna have SOMEthing to say about the outcome of this match) are meshed in well, this could be a good one. Cross them fingers.

My Prediction: Every sensible bone in my body says that this is a custom-tailored opportunity for the WWF to go over and prove its superiority once and for all. But I think if this storyline is to continue, and if WCW/ECW guys are going to continue to have jobs, then they should get the win here. I don't know how, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that some kind of shocking upset swerve will end with Team WCW/ECW getting the win.

JEFF HARDY vs. ROB VAN DAM (Hardcore Title Match)

Does anyone really care what the story is here... something to do with RVD running in on a Hardy match on Monday, right?

What matters is that this could be a show-stealer. Could be. I qualify myself because I can imagine that no matter how good these two are, there may be problems putting together an instant classic only the third time they've ever been in the same ring together.

Still, I can't help but be excited by the prospect of Jeff Hardy and RVD in a match where anything goes. Highspots all over the building? Fine. Tables, ladders, chairs? Legal. This is essentially the same environment in which Van Dam had so many killer matches in ECW, which should help smooth his transition.

Four years ago, this match took place on RAW, and Jeff Hardy got squashed. In the years since, RVD grew into a key main event player in ECW, while Jeff Hardy opened eyes and dropped jaws with his high flying stunts. This time around, we aren't going to get a 4 minute showcase for RVD; this time, it's as close to a smart fan's wet dream as we get on this whole card. I'm thinking Jeff and RVD will deliver.

My Prediction: WCW/ECW has already won the Hardcore Title once... I think on Sunday, they'll do it again. RVD is one of the invading coalition's best prospects as a singles star, and I think he'll get the win over Hardy.

LITA/TRISH STRATUS vs. STACY KEIBLER/TORRIE WILSON (Bra and Panties Match)

Like the previous match, this is one where I don't think a lot of attention to back story is necessary. In fact, I don't think there was any: one night, they just sort of announced that this was going to be a match at Invasion, and since then, the divas have been at war.

Lita and Trish are not the most willing of partners, though their recent skirmishes against Stacy and Torrie have apparently brought them closer together. I don't think that'll be much more than a minor sidebar here. Kind of in the same way that I don't think that actual wrestling moves will be more than a minor sidebar in this match.

My Prediction: Hmmm, let's see.... four hot broads in a match that isn't over till two of 'em are stripped down to bras and panties? I think the real winners here will be the fans! Yeah! It's been too long since I've gotten to use that line! If I had to take a guess, I'd say Trish and Lita will get the win; Stacy and Torrie get stripped down in some sort of perverse "initiation" to the ways of the WWF (as if Torrie's creepy angle with Vince a few weeks back wasn't initiation enough!).

ACOLYTES vs. SEAN O'HAIRE/CHUCK PALUMBO

It's the WWF tag champs versus the WCW tag champs... but no titles on the line here. It's all about pride. Or something like that.

O'Haire and Palumbo were part of the earliest phases of the WCW invasion, targeting the Acolytes almost a month ago, when the APA was rallying the mid-card troops against the WCW'ers. Since then, the Acolytes managed to defeat the Dudleys for the WWF tag belts, adding further fuel to the fire.

This is actually a really good match-up, I think. The Acolytes are a convincing power team, which is what they'll need to go up against the sizeable duo of O'Haire and Palumbo. O'Haire's also a singles star in the making, with a great moveset and tremendous agility for a guy his size. To some extent, you might say the same thing about Bradshaw, who has been noticeably improved in the ring since dropping some pounds earlier this year.

My Prediction: The APA get the win... O'Haire and Palumbo are still "prospects," while Bradshaw and Faarooq are established stars already; there are other places on the card where WCW/ECW victories make more sense.

EDGE/CHRISTIAN vs. LANCE STORM/MIKE AWESOME

This is a feud over use of the word "awesome." It doesn't sound all that compelling when you put it down on paper like this, but somehow, with Edge and Christian's goofy charm, it works.

E&C didn't much cotton to the arrival of Mike Awesome, since they and they alone reek of awesomeness. After E&C helped Jeff Hardy beat Awesome for the Hardcore Title, we found ourselves on course for this tag match. Awesome is back teaming with his old Team Canada partner, Lance Storm, for the occasion (even though the Team Canada gimmick was in WCW, and now both are representing ECW).

Lotsa talent in the ring for this one. If Storm can continue to get solid heel heat with some pre-match mic work and if the fans are fully buying into E&C as babyfaces, this one could be a super contest.

My Prediction: I'll call this one for the ECW guys... perhaps the latent dissension between Edge and Christian resurfaces long enough for Storm and Awesome to steal the win? Something like that...

TAJIRI vs. TAZZ

Tajiri is rapidly becoming a crowd favorite, by the sounds of things. Outside of the ring, his goofy character is making people laugh. In the ring, his stiff kicks and incredible offense are convincing people he's for real.

It was the outside of the ring goofiness that led to this match: Tajiri was sitting in on color commentary, a move not appreciated by Tazz, who vacated that color man position on SmackDown! when he defected to ECW. Tazz attacked Tajiri and now we find ourselves with this match-up.

Tajiri will no doubt be seconded by William Regal, which might give him an edge. Then again, Tazz is riding high on the strength of his appearances on "Tough Enough"; he's been reborn as the bad-ass he used to be back in ECW. But he IS in ECW now. I mean... oh, nevermind, I'm starting to confuse myself.

My Prediction: Even with Regal and the blinding green mist, I don't see Tajiri getting the win over the Tough Enough star. Another one for the invaders.

X-PAC vs. BILLY KIDMAN

Again, we've got two champions here, but no titles on the line. X-Pac is the WWF's Light Heavyweight champ, while Kidman holds WCW's Cruiserweight Title. With no gold on the line, this is just a straight-up match to see who is the best of the under 225 lbs. crowd.

Starting with a series of matches against Eddie Guerrero earlier this year, X-Pac's been looking better in the ring than he has in years, adding back in some of the aerial arsenal that had been on hiatus, supplementing the wide array of kicks and martial arts stuff he'd focused on. Kidman is an all around solid performer, too, who has spent the last few years adding to his arsenal so as not to be perceived as nothing but a high flyer.

Both these guys have plenty of ways to impress us, so it'll be interesting to see which ones they use. Also interesting: despite the de facto babyface status of every WWF'er, X-Pac might be one guy who continues to get heel heat. If the fans don't want to get behind Kidman (because of his WCW membership), then that might leave us in the unfortunate position of having the crowd sitting on their hands, not cheering either guy. That could get ugly.

My Prediction: I want this one to go to Kidman, but I think I'll pick X-Pac, if for no other reason than it's as good an excuse as any to drop CRZ's name when I mention the old "X-Pac never jobs in singles matches" heuristic.

EARL HEBNER vs. NICK PATRICK

As a wrestling match, this'll suck. But for whatever reason, the confrontations between these two in the last couple weeks have drawn huge cheers. Even if it's just a few minutes of sloppy rolling around, punching, and kicking, I have a feeling it'll at least be a few sloppy minutes where the crowd is enjoying itself.

One question: who officiates the officials?

Another question: can we get Joey Styles to come in just for one match so he can screech "REF FIGHT! REF FIGHT!"?

My Prediction: Earl Hebner gets the win. This is probably his one chance to do something like this, and he deserves to get his hand raised. Hey, maybe use the old Twin Hebner ploy to confuse and confound Patrick!

EXTRAS?

That's only eight announced matches, and Jim Ross hinted yesterday that the final card would probably feature 10 or 11... so some things'll be added before Sunday. Topping the list of talents not currently booked are Raven, Big Show, and IC Champ Albert.

In addition to looking for a few additional matches to be added, I think there are two major issues that bear a quick mention here, as they might impact either the Invasion PPV or the on-going Invasion storyline.

First is SmackDown's revelation that Shane and Stephanie McMahon sold their shares of the WWF to finance this Invasion. What I want to know is: who did they sell to? That's 50% interest in the WWF now floating around out there unclaimed, which could be used as a major storyline twist. If the same buyer took both Shane and Steph's shares, that will NOT sit well with Mr. McMahon.

The second issue is the impending return of The Rock. We all know that he's featured prominently in ads for SummerSlam. But he'll be back before then. And when he comes back, we're going to need an explanation why. Is he going to circumvent his WWF suspension by defecting to WCW/ECW? Is something dire going to happen to make Vince so desperate that he revokes the suspension and brings the Rock back to the WWF?

Hey, maybe the two issues are intertwined: maybe big shot movie star Rock is so wealthy now that he had enough money to buy out Shane and Steph and he'll just reinstate himself? Nah, nevermind... that's just silly talk off the top of my head.

In any case, those are some of the extracurriculars to think about as we get closer to Sunday's Invasion pay-per-view. As always you can come on back to WrestleLine in the 11pm (eastern) hour for my full match-by-match recap. Then on Monday, we'll add more coverage of the event, including Scott's detailed PPV Rant and more.

See you then.....
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