5 Things The Invasion Storyline Did Really Well That Everyone Refuses To Acknowledge

When people look back on the invasion storyline all anyone ever does is say negative things about it. Sure, it wasn’t what it should have been, but it also wasn’t half as bad as people make it out to be.

The biggest problem/complaint is that WWE didn’t sign WCW’s top stars which prevented the angle from reaching its full potential. No, they didn’t sign WCW’s top stars. Yes, they definitely should have. But it didn’t happen, can we just get that out of the way now? Go ahead get it all out of your system. Are you done? Ok let’s move on.

Once you let go of the fact that WWE didn’t involve any of WCW’s top stars and look at the storyline with an open mind, it’s not hard to see that it was actually really well done.

#5 – Entertaining Segments

One of the things that the invasion storyline did well was create memorable segments that are still remembered fondly by fans to this day. You just can’t argue with the fact that Shane McMahon appearing on the titantron announcing to his father that he’s purchased WCW is one of the most epic moments in wrestling history. Everything about that segment was done perfectly.

Although an ECW invasion had already been done in WWE before. and it’s been done many times since ad nauseam, the invasion storyline had without a doubt the best version of an ECW invasion to date. Watching ECW stars rush the ring and attack WWE wrestlers, you figure out what’s going on pretty quick. But seeing Paul Heyman leave his spot at the commentary booth and cut a heartfelt promo really raised the stakes.

Who could ever forget when Vince McMahon begged Steve Austin to bring the old Stone Cold back. Steve Austin then pulled up to the arena in his truck and stunned EVERYONE. Still to this day people talk about this segment and share the video all over social media. It’s one of the most beloved segments in WWE history.

Those are just a few great segments which were featured during the angle and that’s only scratching the surface. The point is, there’s a lot of segments that happened during the invasion storyline that people still adore to this day and will continue to remember fondly for years.

#4 – It Showcased Younger Talent

It’s already been well documented that WWE failed to bring in WCW’s top stars for the invasion, but the upside to this is that it allowed the company to showcase a lot of younger talent. Many of WCW, ECW and even WWE’s up and coming stars got to steal the spotlight night after night which helped them to solidify their wrestling careers.

Rob Van Dam was arguably never hotter in his WWE career than he was during the invasion storyline and his matches with Jeff Hardy allowed audiences to see how good Jeff could be as a singles wrestler. Booker T was pretty much the captain of WCW and Rhyno was made to look like a monster on behalf of ECW. Guys like Lance Storm, Tommy Dreamer and Kanyon also got their time to shine. Event Test played a pretty big part in the storyline.

WWE may not have had WCW’s top stars, but a lot of younger guys benefited from their absence.

#3 – Unpredictability

If you were watching WWE during the invasion you truly got the impression that anything could happen at anytime. Wrestlers were switching sides every week and if they weren’t switching it was being teased that they would. You truly never knew who was going to show up or who was going to turn on who and it kept you glued to the television.

Not knowing what was going to happen truly made WWE must see TV during this time period.

#2 – The Best McMahon Vs. McMahon Feud To Date

Seeing the McMahons feud with each other is something that’s been done time and time again but the stakes were never higher than they were during the invasion. Vince owned WWE, Shane owned WCW and Stephanie owned ECW. You felt as if each McMahon had never been more powerful.

It was one thing to see Shane and Stephanie feud with Vince over something petty, but watching them try to drive Vince out of business and destroy his legacy really made you feel for the guy. The McMahons will always have a complicated relationship but this angle showcased their complicated relationship perfectly and to this day it hasn’t been done better.

#1 – The Survivor Series Match

If you just take the time to look, you’ll see that a lot of really great matches took place during the invasion storyline. There were a lot of entertaining contests, but the main event at the 2001 Survivor Series pay-per-view is a strong contender for best Survivor Series match ever.

This match had everything. It had star power, it had action, it had unpredictability and it had loads and loads of drama. When you become a wrestling fan, this is the type of match that gets you hooked.

You can talk trash about the invasion angle all you want but if you can watch Vince McMahon’s locker room speech before the match, and not get chills then you might not actually be a wrestling fan. Watching Vince and his team go into battle and seeing the look on Vince’s face after his team is victorious truly is a special moment in wrestling history.

There have been a lot of classic matches that have happened at the Survivor Series pay-per-view but like we already stated, this one is a strong contender for the best Survivor Series match of all time.