World Championship Wrestling became the number one wrestling company in North America in the late 1990s. The rise of WCW was brought on by the cruiserweights, realistic storylines and, of course, the New World Order. WCW rose faster than anyone could have ever predicted but it also fell quicker and harder than anyone could have imagined. Once the World Wrestling Federation purchased WCW in 2001, fans were almost begging for the WWF to put on dream matches that they had envisioned for years. Imagine: Hulk Hogan vs. Steve Austin, The Rock vs. Ric Flair, The Outsiders vs. The New Age Outlaws, the nWo vs. Degeneration X...the possibilities were endless. Instead, we got an Invasion angle that lacked any drama and showcased none of wrestlers that WCW was most known for. Instead of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Sting we got Lance Storm, Booker T, and Mike Awesome. Eventually, there were more WWF guys on the side of WCW than original WCW wrestlers! The Invasion was a massive failure and cost Vince McMahon millions of dollars because of poor booking. However, the launch of the WWE Network has given WWE the opportunity to relaunch WCW Nitro and make World Championship Wrestling a household name once again.