10 Times Jim Cornette Got It Absolutely Right
7. Some Perspective On The Invasion
Jim Cornette: The Calm Voice Of Reason is probably the "Chilly McFreeze" of desperate autobiography title pitches, but his response to the WWF's bungling of the ECWCW Invasion angle adds some measured shade to what is generally considered a stark, black and white picture.
Many cite it as the biggest missed opportunity in the history of wrestling - myself included - but what's often lost amongst the dissent is the sheer extent to which the WCW brand had been damaged before Vince McMahon purchased the rights to it.
To Cornette's mind, the WWF couldn't draw on WCW's genuine star power to drive it. The contracts of Goldberg et al. allowed them to sit on their a*ses for the same amount of - if not more - money. Spending creative resources on rehabilitating the WCW name, and jobbing star WWF names out to the midcard likes of Hugh Morrus, may have made the WWF's bread and butter mouldy.
The insight that WCW botched the Invasion before it began, if a little too forgiving to Vince McMahon, is a sound one. WWE have made their money back, and then some, on the videotape library. That much is indisputable. Sadly, we'll never know how much potential money was lost - but on reflection, Cornette's viewpoint is vindicated when one considers the failure of the nWo's 2002 return.
Even WCW's most famed and marketable brand was all but done for.