10 Times Vince McMahon Cut Off His Nose To Spite His Face

8. The Invasion Sabotage

Vince McMahon
WWE.com

The ECWCW Invasion has to go down as wrestling's most excruciatingly wasted opportunity ever.

Fans had been salivating over what was for years an inconceivable prospect. When WWF/E Inc. finally bought out WCW in early 2001, fans everywhere were scribbling down ideas as to how it should be booked. Any one of those crumpled up notes would have been preferable to the soul-destroying dross we were subjected to.

Again, it's not as if Vince couldn't book an angle befitting the historic event - it's that he didn't want to. The notoriously awful Buff Bagwell Vs. Booker T RAW main event apparently moved Vince to cool his enthusiasm over the entire angle, and while it was an unqualified disaster, the WCW brand could have been resuscitated with a little patience and desire. Instead, despite a brief glimmer of hope with the introduction of the allied power of ECW, only Booker T and Rob Van Dam were booked with even a modicum of flattery. That Vince entrusted WWF stalwart Steve Austin, a man with a known grudge against the Dubya See Dubya, to be the leader of the Alliance says it all.

Vince realised his mistake a year later, and implemented the brand split. He should have just used his considerable coin and bought out at least some of those Time Warner contracts.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!