10 Reasons Why WWF Vs WCW Invasion Angle Failed

8. Vince & Shane McMahon's Roles Were Confusing

The rivalry between Vince McMahon and his son Shane was something that was very hot in WWE in the early part of 2001. Vince was the biggest jerk in wrestling as he drugged his wife Linda McMahon so he could cheat on her with Trish Stratus and he even had Trish wheel her around at wrestling events to show us how much of a jerk he was. All of it led to a fantastic sports entertainment brawl at WrestleMania 17 between Vince and Shane that saw get Vince get his ass kicked by everybody around him including Shane, Linda, Trish and referee Mick Foley. This happened after Shane was announced as the owner of WCW, which people cheered because we liked Shane. When they went ahead with the Invasion angle that summer, Shane was booked like a heel even though the fans still really liked him. Remember that crazy King of the Ring 2001 match with Kurt Angle? Shane got his ass kicked. He took some ridiculous bumps as his head bounced off glass, cement and everything else while going toe to toe with the great Angle. That was against Angle in a heel role. Then Shane went out there trying to invade WWE with WCW and we were supposed to hate him? No. We liked Shane. He worked hard. He was entertaining. Vince's character was all over the map. While he tried his best to play the babyface owner of WWE that was worried that his company would be taken away from him by Shane, Stephanie and Paul Heyman, it just wasn't the right role for him. Vince was not a sympathetic character. He was an a**hole and the crowd reactions to him everywhere he went told us that. After the storyline ended, he ended up a heel again as he celebrated with heel Chris Jericho as the Undisputed Champion. In early 2002, he continued as a heel by bringing in the New World Order to "poison" the company he fought so hard to keep. Booking Vince as a face was a big mistake at that point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeAsznxYxds It was difficult for people to boo Shane during the angle while Vince was still the best villain in the wrestling world. If there's confusion at the top for the main characters on the show then it's going to move on to everybody else too. They spent all that time building Vince up as this egotistical jerk that nobody in his family likes and then we're supposed to all of a sudden cheer the guy? It was a bit much. That whole year was likely difficult for the McMahons because not only was the XFL a $200+ million money loser for them, but they also didn't really know what they were going to do with WCW once they got it. There were plans for it to be its own brand. That didn't happen. Instead, they threw all the wrestlers on TV and we witnessed one of the most overbooked, confusing years in wrestling history.