The Invasion (professional wrestling)

This article is about the storyline. For the pay-per-view, see WWF Invasion.

Poster for the eponymous WWF Invasion pay-per-view, which features the faces of Shane and Vince McMahon morphing together.
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The Invasion was a professional wrestling storyline in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) during the Attitude Era that ran from March to November 2001 and involved stables of wrestlers purporting to represent World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)—which merged to form The Alliance—placed against a stable of wrestlers purporting to represent the WWF. The storyline began shortly after the WWF's acquisition of WCW in March 2001, and concluded with a "winner takes all" match between The Alliance and the WWF at Survivor Series.

The idea of a supercard featuring the two top promotions of the Monday Night War was considered to be a dream match scenario in the eyes of many wrestling fans, as it would allow the fans to see which promotion would be superior in kayfabe. The angle began when Mr. McMahon's son, Shane McMahon, announced as part of the storyline on WWF's Raw Is War and the final episode of WCW's Nitro (which merged into a simulcast) that he had bought WCW from under his father's nose.[1] This led to several run-in appearances of WCW wrestlers during Raw Is War and SmackDown! over the months following WrestleMania X-Seven.[2]

In June 2001, the angle grew in intensity as other WWF storylines somewhat abated to make room for the central Invasion storyline. WCW and ECW merged to form The Alliance and challenged the WWF's control over the wrestling industry.[3] An "Inaugural Brawl" took place at the Invasion pay-per-view, where WWF's top star Stone Cold Steve Austin defected and joined The Alliance.[4] Many inter-promotional matches occurred during the Invasion between The Alliance and the WWF, leading up to the climax of the angle at Survivor Series, when Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, Big Show, The Undertaker and Kane) defeated Team Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Shane McMahon) in a "winner take all" elimination tag team match.[5] Immediately after the match, The Alliance disbanded.

The angle saw financial success for the WWF, with the Invasion pay-per-view garnering a buyrate of 775,000, one of the largest non-WrestleMania buyrates in company history. Despite its commercial success, the angle received mixed reviews following its conclusion, and is generally historically considered a major disappointment by fans and critics.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beginning was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Arnold Furious (February 14, 2004). "Smash wrestling". Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference ECWarrives was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Invasion Results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Survivor Series and Title Info was invoked but never defined (see the help page).