10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About WCW
2. The Invasion Wrestlers WERE Enough
The Invasion storyline failed - but not for the reasons WWE tries to sell you on in documentaries.
Vince McMahon and co. are always quick to absolve themselves of all blame for the situation, referencing the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and The Outsiders sitting at home, living off their old contracts rather than giving them up to work for less money in WWE. How can it be WWE's fault when they couldn't secure WCW's biggest names?! The invading force didn't have enough star power! It was doomed to fail!
False.
With 775,000 buys, Invasion remains the most successful non-WrestleMania pay-per-view in WWE history. This tells us that the existing WCW troup, with Booker T the biggest name, was enough. At least at this point, WWE didn't need their Flairs, Goldbergs, and Hogans because the threat of these interlopers invading WWE programming, popping, getting over, and creating a tangible sense of chaos was a draw itself. The pay-per-view's phenomenal business success shows us this.
This should have given WWE more than enough juice to effectively run the Invasion storyline beyond the pay-per-view, until those expiring contracts started coming up. Indeed, the company progressively debuting WCW's biggest names gradually across the ensuing months could conceivably have kept it going for years, keeping the money rolling in and perhaps inspiring more old WCW fans to keep tuning in.
WWE could have done this. It was in their hands, and the booking was working heading into Invasion.
Ultimately, they chose not to.