So given the magnitude of the Invasion PPV, or at least how big it will be in MY WCW invasion storyline, I have split the build up and the actual event into two blog posts. So whilst next week I will explain how I’d book the show itself, here now I’ll explain what I would have go down along the way of the the road to INVASION!
So I’ll explain my card for the PPV, along with how I’d get to each match, as well as any other business I’d have take place along the way. I’m sure you haven’t got time to read 4 weeks and 8 shows that I’ve rebooked so I’ll try and summarize best I can… (I also wont repeat myself so if the booking leading to a match has intertwined with another it’ll be listed elsewhere, so try and keep up ahahaha)…
WWF: ‘Team Xtreme’ (The Hardy Boyz, Matt and Jeff, & Lita) vs WCW: Christian, Test and WWF Women’s Champion Chyna
Jeff loses to X-Pac on the 25/6 Raw. Later that night we have Christian second Edge when they come out to confront the nWo, Hall and Nash then beat Edge and Christian when Christian bails on his tag partner mid match. Chyna beats Jacqueline and then after cuts a promo saying she has joined WCW. On SmackDown X-Factor beat Edge and Christian when Christian again bails mid match when the going gets tough, and Test costs Edge the match by attacking him. Team Xtreme are backstage talking when Chyna jumps Lita. On Raw Chyna faces Trish, and cuts a promo again praising WCW beforehand. Lita gets revenge by jumping Chyna when she’s backstage after the match. Christian and Edge talk and try and hash out what’s happened the last couple of weeks. WCW Champion Booker T talks to Test backstage and praises him, asking if he’d consider coming to WCW? Test says it depends on the money… On the 5/7 SmackDown The Hardys beat Saturn and Malenko in a tag match to open the show, and Team Xtreme bumps into Chyna after backstage, with both Test and Christian seen looking on from nearby. Jeff Hardy faces Test on the 9/7 Raw with Chyna and Lita both getting involved. The 12/7 SmackDown sees Lita and Trish beating Stacey Keibler and Chyna in a tag match with Lita pinning Keibler, and also Jeff Hardy beating Christian. On the final Raw Test (with Chyna) beats Matt Hardy (with Lita), and also in a tag match DDP and Christian beat Jeff Hardy and Edge in a tag match. On the final SmackDown Matt Hardy beats Test with everyone else in the PPV match at ringside.
WWF’s Chris Jericho defends the WWF Intercontinental Championship in an open challenge against someone from WCW
WCW Commissioner William Regal makes a match between Y2J and Tajiri on the 25/6 Raw, which Jericho wins prompting a furious Regal to state that WCW will get that Intercontinental title off of Chris Jericho. On the SmackDown after Regal still has green mist that was accidentally sprayed at him by Tajiri on Raw, but we get Regal and Tajiri beating Jericho and RVD. On the 2/7 Raw Shane McMahon has a backstage promo confrontation with Jericho, with DDP looking on. And on SmackDown after DDP beats Jericho after interference from Regal. Jericho retains the IC title on the 9/7 Raw against Regal in a street fight. On Raw the week after a backstage promo between Booker T and Shane McMahon sees Jericho interrupt, leading to a WCW title match that night, which Booker retains in after Shane gets involved to screw Jericho alongside a WCW ref, despite a WWF ref trying to do things right. On the final SmackDown Vince McMahon speaks to Jericho about the importance of the Intercontinental title to the WWF, and that with the open challenge he must be ready for anything and anyone WCW throw at him, so he makes a match between Jericho and Bog Show to prepare him. That match ends in a no contests when both DDP and Scott Steiner interfere and attack both.
Rhyno (WCW) defends the WWF Hardcore Championship against Tazz (WWF), William Regal (WCW) and RVD (WWF) in a Hardcore match
Rhyno successfully defends the Hardcore title against RVD on the 25/6 Raw after Test attacked RVD mid match, and we had another multi man brawl backstage around the title after. We also have Tazz cutting a promo from WWF New York on the 2/7 Raw, he is rather aggressive in his tone and much more like the ECW Taz… but he’s then jumped by Rhyno… meanwhile RVD beats Tajiri. Rhyno then defends the hardcore title on SmackDown winning against Raven, and then cuts a promo mocking Tazz, who then comes out to brawl with him. On the 16/7 Raw RVD is chatting with Big Show when they are attacked by Scott Steiner and Rhyno. So we have Rhyno as the crazy champion, Tazz as aggressive, somewhat re-born destroyer, RVD as the popular babyface, and Regal as the corporate asshole.
WWF: The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray & D-Von) and The APA (Faarooq & Bradshaw) vs WCW: Mike Awesome & Lance Storm & Sean O’Haire & Chuck Palumbo
Faarooq issues the rallying call to the WWF locker room on the 28/6 SmackDown to be prepared to keep out WCW. Later a table match between The Dudleys and The APA is interrupted by Palumbo and O’Haire… the WWF locker room then comes out to beat them down. On the 2/7 Raw The Dudleys lose to Palumbo & O’Haire after Mike Awesome and Lance Storm interfere, The APA then make the save. Bradshaw leads another rallying cry to the WWF on SmackDown. The four teams have a big brawl on the 16/7 Raw. We have Bradshaw beat Storm on the 19/7 SmackDown, and The Dudleys and RVD beat Palumbo & O’Haire and Rhyno in a 6 man tag.
WCW’s Scott Steiner (with Stacey Keibler) defends the WWF European Championship against WWF’s Big Show (with Trish Stratus)
So on the 25/6 Raw Big Show tries to impress Trish, and later Show beats Matt Hardy with Steiner and Stacey seen watching on backstage. Big Show with Stratus by his side then squashes Perri Saturn on SmackDown and Steiner interrupts a match between Spike Dudley and Crash Holly. Show beats Billy Gunn on the 9/7 Raw.
WCW’S DDP defends the WCW United States Championship against WWF’s Edge
Diamond Dallas Page’s promo on the 2/7 Raw officially announces that Christian is a part of WCW now. We then have DDP vs Chris Jericho on the 5/7 SmackDown which both William Regal and Edge get involved in. On the 9/7 Raw Edge comes out before a Kane vs Lance Storm and Mike Awesome match to make it a tag, and after winning he cuts a promo on DDP and says he will win the US title at Invasion. Edge beats Storm on the 12/7 SmackDown. DDP & Christian beat Edge and Jeff Hardy on the 16/7 Raw.
WCW’s Booker T (C) vs WWF’s Kurt Angle for the WCW Championship
A lot of this feud ties into the story of Stone Cold Steve Austin and his road to Invasion, so I’ll mention more on this later… But on the 5/7 SmackDown Kurt Angle beats Booker T (non-title), and on the next Raw as Shane is trying to big up Booker, Kurt Angle comes in and challenges Shane to match later in the night, which Shane wins after nWo interference, much to the disappointment of Austin and Vince backstage after. The 12/7 SmackDown is main evented by Angle and Undertaker vs Shane McMahon and Scott Hall, which ends in a mass brawl between WWF and WCW stars. Angle states his claim to be the leader of the WWF in the absence of Stone Cold to Vince on the 16/7 Raw. Later that night Angle is speaking to the Brooklyn Brawler again stating his case, when Mike Awesome comes in. Angle beats Awesome and even bats off interference after from Chris Kanyon, Shawn Stasiak and Chavo Guerrero.
WWF’s Kane & The Undertaker defend the WWF and WCW Tag Team Championships vs WCW’s Scott Hall & Kevin Nash of the nWo
This feud gets underway after taker and Kane successfully defend their belts agains Palumbo and O’Hair on the 25/6 Raw. Hall & Nash then attack them sparking a mass WCW vs WWF brawl. On the SmackDown after Scott Hall jumps Kane after he’s beaten Albert, before escaping through the crowd. Taker cuts a passionate promo on his loyalty to the WWF on the 2/7 Raw before beating Test, and later that night an nWo video mocks him for it, saying he couldn’t of hacked it WCW against the nWo… BROTHER!!! On the next SmackDown we have another classic-style nWo video where the theme this time is mocking Kane and how he has been and will forever be in his brother’s shadow (we’re trying to make the nWo not cool, but hated). On the 9/7 Raw Undertaker is scheduled to be in a handicap match against Lance Storm and Mike Awesome, whom took exception to Taker’s promo upping the WWF. But Taker is attacked backstage by a number of WCW guys (and we see Kevin Nash in the background, and later we see him giving money to this who performed the attack). Kane later arrived at the building having heard about this and tells WWF Commissioner Mick Foley that HE wants the handicap match instead. Kane is joined but Edge and the two get the win with Kane being seriously aggressive in his offence. Later that same night Taker and Kane help even the odds when Hogan and Hall try and interfere in Kevin Nash’s match vs Stone Cold. On the 12/7 SmackDown Undertaker speaks with Vince and a main event is made with Taker and Angle vs Shane & Hall. On the same show we also have Kane fail to win the hardcore title from Rhyno after more WCW interference. The main event tag ends in a no contest after a mass wcw v wwf brawl. The final Raw sees Taker and Kane teaming up to take on Rhyno and Scott Steiner but this ends in a huge brawl… and a certain someone helping out… and the final SmackDown sees Hall and Nash take on Angle and Austin but we get another brawl with WCW standing tall at the end.
WWF’s Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs WCW’s Goldberg
The 25/6 Raw sees Stephanie go Into her fathers office (we at this stage don’t know where Triple H’s loyalties lay…). On SmackDown in a sit down interview with JR she explains how difficult the last few months have been for her husband and her family, but that Triple H will return to the WWF soon and that her brother will regret what he has done and that payback is a bitch. To end the 28/6 SmackDown from MSG after all the WWF mainstays are in the ring, Vince goes back up the ramp to confront Shane but is met by a Spear from Goldberg. Triple H returns to open the 2/7 Raw and he questions if he should maybe join WCW to turn his recent run of bad luck around? But then he fires back with a big babyface fire promo, before castrating Bill Goldberg for spearing Vince. Goldberg comes out and we have a huge pull apart brawl of the levels of Cena-Lesnar a few years back. In his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia Goldberg opens the 9/7 Raw. He talks about how much he loves WCW and how he’s happy he can finally show the WWF what they are all about. He hammers all the top WWF stars (Austin, Taker, Kane, Angle – all to set up future matches) but focuses on Triple H for being a kiss ass and to afraid to come over to the big leagues of WCW because he was afraid of him. He says WCW is invading the WWF and that “Triple H… YOU’RE NEXT!”. Vince McMahon then comes out and says he wanted to give Goldberg a proper welcome… so out come X-Factor (X-Pac, Albert and Justin Credible) but Goldberg smashes them easily.
WWF’s Stone Cold Steve Austin (with Vince McMahon) defends the WWF Championship against WCW’s Hollywood Hulk Hogan of the nWo (with Shane McMahon)
Ok so my thing here is to make this Invasion ppv the biggest it can possibly be. And for me this is the biggest match I can make at this time. This Invasion ppv needs to be where it all goes down and this match is just that, THE match imo. One thing that we make very clear from the start is that this will be one on one, Hogan vs Austin, no outside interference allowed. Later in the build that is subtlety altered when Shane makes it so no WCW or WWF ROSTER MEMBERS can interfere and only Vince (on behalf of Austin) and Shane (on behalf of Hogan) can be ringside.
So naturally a lot of this build will be focused on Austin. A lot of it based on his actual build to this PPV which contained some of the best stuff on WWF tv I’ve seen.
Raw 25/6: more Vince-Austin love in stuff… with Kurt “3rd wheeling” much to Austin’s annoyance. They both end up going to WWF world to try and find Booker T and Shane after being called out. But they’ve already gone back to the arena and this means Vince is left on his own to suffer an attack from Hogan. Hogan also earlier does a big promo parading his King of the ring trophy that he sprays nWo on.
SD 28/6: loads more Austin-Vince stuff, hugs and everything, with Austin only so upset at WCW after seeing what it’s doing to Vince. He even goes to the ring to call out WCW and the nWo, which leads to a big brawl involving a load of WCW and WWF guys.
We have a huge tag match on the 2/7 Raw. Instead of the awful booker t vs Buff Bagwell match they did in real life, we have Austin and Angle vs Hogan and Booker T. Hype this throughout the show as the HUGE deal it is, have backstage stuff between Austin and Angle where it’s goofy and funny but they really don’t get on. Angle tried but Stone Cold doesn’t want to know. But when it comes to the tag match it’s Booker and Hogan who don’t get on, and Angle ends up pinning Booker.
On the 5/7 SmackDown… we have this segment… keep this 100% as it was becuase it’s FUCKING GOLD
Also Austin helps Angle again beat Booker T in the main event.
The 9/7 Raw sees a fired up Austin call out the WCW and nWo for their disrespect shown to Mr McMahon… and later he beats Nash despite outside interference.
On the 12/7 SmackDown we get one of my ALL TIME favourite segments:
Later that night we have this…another all time classic segment:
So the 16/7 Raw was all about Austin. It was a classic attitude era show where one underlining story ran through the whole show and it was awesome. So I’ll keep it largely as it was… the show opens with Austin in a bar near the arena on his own drinking and looking all sad. Vince talks to Kurt Angle at the arena who tells him where Austin is, and Vince just wants to find Austin. When he gets to the bar he speaks to Debra, who tells Vince that she hasn’t seen Steve like this for a long time. Vince calmly speaks to Austin (who doesn’t say anything back to him), Vince explains how nobody has ever threatened the WWF like this WCW Invasion, that everything he has said about how Austin is the greatest champion we have ever had and that he NEEDS him to lead the WWF into Invasion, but he NEEDS the old Stone Cold, Austin just ignores him and a crestfallen Vince returns to the arena. We later get an nWo video again where they’re just ripping into Austin and laughing at his current state of mind. Later that night we see Vince on the phone deeply upset and he says to someone “Look I know you might be the last person he might listen to, but you know more than anyone just how much we NEED the Old Stone Cold back to stop WCW, I need you to try and talk some sense into him and remind him who he is”… later we cut back to the bar when Stephanie and Triple H walk in. Stephanie talks to Debra as Triple H walks over to Austin and says “Look, I know we haven’t always gotten along, heck we’ve beat the crap out of eachother. But dammit you’re Stone Cold Steve Austin. The WWF Champion. The Texas Rattlesnake. You don’t get the reputation you have by giving out hugs. You get it by kicking ass. And hey I know as well as anyone nobody stomps a mud hole, or whoops somebody’s ass like Stone Cold Steve Austin. So you need to ask yourself if you’re really the man you think you are. And you need to do, what’s right”… again Austin just ignores him.
Towards the end of that Raw we see Shane and Hogan leading the WCW locker room in a rally call backstage where they hype eachother up for Invasion. Vince then calls one for the WWF, and even brings out wheelchair bound legend Freddie Blassie to try and inspire the WWF locker room. Austin sees all this in the bar and during a game of pool with Debra, he throws the balls across the table and smashes the cue. He then walks off with Debra asking where he’s going?
So… the individuals involved in this will be different in my world of course, but basically all the WWF guys and all the WCW guys are out for a big brawl after the main event tag match to close the go home Raw… and the show ends with something very similar to the following. Now irl this was one of the loudest pops of ALL TIME… so sit back and enjoy…
So that’s the card for Invasion sorted. Now I’d have other stuff go on of course, but this PPV needs to be built up to like its as important as Wrestlemania so I need to keep the stories not relating to the show down to a minimum. There’s be segments along the way with Vince and Shane etc but they all relate to the Invasion as a whole. And also the ongoing story between Vince and Linda for the divorce she is seeking, with a big segment opening the 28/6 SmackDown between the two…The Invasion irl ended up being about the McMahons and I don’t want my invasion to go that way…
So yeah that’s pretty much everything in place. Next week I’ll do a blog post where I book the full Invasion 2001 PPV.
Josh.
NobodyisReady.com 