10 Alternative Takes On Hated Wrestling Moments
8. The ECWCW Invasion
The toxic reaction to the Booker T Vs. Buff Bagwell match on the July 2, 2001 edition of Monday Night RAW underscored that the ECWCW invasion angle was doomed before it even started. For years, the WWF had conditioned its fanbase to accept WCW as a pale and literal imitation. The match was rejected en masse before Bagwell lowered himself into the grave those fans had dug for him.
There is no excusing McMahon's rampant ego trip; he depicted the two WCW headliners who had the passion to make the jump, Diamond Dallas Page and Booker T as perverted stalker and complete moron, respectively. He stripped away the identity of one act and amplified the broad strokes of the other in a counterproductive d*ck-measuring fit.
But the failure of the resulting angle was, at least, understandable.
The real WCW stars - Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Sting, Kevin Nash - all elected to sit out their cushy Time Warner contracts, leaving only a fleet of midcard acts. It was a missed opportunity - McMahon was on such a creative tear that he made stars of career tag team artists like Rikishi just one year earlier - but those midcard acts had been stigmatised as a company-killers.
The angle was half-hearted at best - but the house that fantasy booking built was erected on crumbling foundations.