The End of the Invasion

With the news that the WWF is set to end the WCW/ECW InVasion angle a week on Sunday at the Survivor Series, I would like to go on record as saying - it's about time.

When the angle began, I welcomed it with open arms. I really looked forward to seeing WCW's finest go up against the big guns of the WWF, and when ECW were added into the mix, people all around the world said that it wasn't a bad thing, it was a good thing.

But now, this angle has gone on for far, far too long. It has failed to grip us, to excite us, in the way that the NWO invasion of WCW did all those years ago.

Unlike the NWO, it never looked like the Alliance would win the war against the WWF. With the NWO, it always looked like, at the height of the angle, that they would gain complete control of WCW. What helped with this angle was the fact that Eric Bischoff, the leader of the NWO, was also the chief executive of WCW. In the storyline, he could get the NWO boys any deal he wanted to, because he also had the power in WCW.

But the problem that the Alliance had was that the only two WCW main eventers they had were Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page. If the WWF had  made an attempt to get more of the WCW big names under contract, it would have made more of an impact. Even Eric Bischoff, as inspirational leader of the Alliance, would have been an improvement. Think of this; how would the fans have reacted if the Alliance had been led by Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman, and not Shane and Stephanie McMahon?

One of the mistakes in the ongoing angle was to return Heyman to announcing duties on Raw. Although he probably would have been against it, Heyman as a key player in Alliance storylines would have been a huge boost, and far better than pushing Shane and Stephanie down our throats all the time. It would also have been the perfect time to bury the hatchet with a certain Jerry Lawler. If Lawler had returned to the WWF, we wouldn't have had to put up with Tazz's ever decreasing announcing ability.

As far as the calibre and current standing of the members of the Alliance are concerned, it would be wise to look at who are the leading players in the faction right now - Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, William Regal, Rob Van Dam, Shane McMahon. Austin and Angle are two of the biggest WWF stars at the moment. Shane McMahon, while co-owner of the Alliance on television, is head of the WWF's New Media department at Titan Towers. Regal, while not exactly up to main event level in the WWF, is still a WWF wrestler, and RVD's contract has recently been changed from a WCW one to a WWF one.

In short, the leading players in the Alliance are all WWF stars, and while I'm not knocking the ability of Booker T, DDP, The Hurricane and all their comrades, it doesn't really say much about the WCW stars the WWF took under contract.

The most recent "defection" from the WWF to the Alliance, Kurt Angle, really baffles me. I simply cannot understand why the writers would do this. It makes no sense whatsoever. I could go on for ages about why I think this is wrong, but what's the point?

Another failure in the storylines could be that there was a lack of leadership in the WWF camp. Vince McMahon was off the screen for ages, having only recently appeared in the past few weeks. William Regal, as WWF Commissioner, could have provided some sort of leader, but with his defection, another of which I'm left scratching my head over, left another gap. Mick Foley was brought into fill this gap, but what with his other commitments, I'm left to wonder if the WWF now have another commissioner who won't appear on air for months. Anyone remember Shawn Michael's tenure in that role?

The one man who could have filled the role was the prodigal son himself, The Rock. Returning after his leave to become a film star, Rock dominated Booker T in their feud to become the WCW champion. But apart from his engaging feud with Chris Jericho, something is different about the People's Champion. This doesn't seem like The Rock of old.

The Rock would have been perfect as the leader of the WWF faction. With Vince not appearing on TV, The Rock, with all of his charm and charisma could have rallied the troops, leading them into battle against Shane and Stephanie's army.

While writing this, I'm beginning to think of another possibility here. Wouldn't it have made more of an impact if it had been The Rock joining the Alliance, and not Kurt Angle?

And so, as we enter the final few days (apparently) of the InVasion angle, I am left to ponder how disappointed I'm becoming, how disenchanted with the WWF I have become over the past few weeks. No longer do I get excited when Raw or Smackdown comes on. More often than not, whenever one of these shows are on, I always seem to find myself doing something else. Raw and Smackdown seem to be nothing more than background noise to me these days, something which distracts me while I'm reading a book, writing a column, or surfing the Internet.

After reading this column, people will probably tell me that the some of the things I've written are wrong. They will tell me that at least we still have WCW. My reply would be that that's rubbish. If we still had WCW, why is it the likes of Booker T and DDP stand under a WWF sign every week. And why is it that all of the current WCW champions are all under WWF contract?

They will tell me that at least we still have ECW. My reply would that that's a load of bollocks. If we still had ECW, why did we never see Rhyno defend the ECW World and TV titles? Why was there no tournament to crown new ECW Tag-Team Champions? And if ECW was back, why is it that the only ones we saw on the big two shows and on pay-per-view were Rhyno and RVD? Where was ECW's most loyal employee, The Innovator of Violence, Tommy Dreamer? Busting his ass in a Stone Cold t-shirt on Heat and Metal, getting zilch fan reaction when he kicked the crap out of some jobber.

In conclusion, I will be glad when this whole InVasion angle is dead and buried, because if it goes on much longer, I may have to find something else to write about.