5 Things About WCW/ECW Invasion That Ruled (And 5 That Sucked)

2. The 'Old Stone Cold'

Despondent over Vince's instructions to get serious and give him a stunner on the July 12th 2001 Smackdown, Austin went AWOL on the following Raw. Vince told Austin that he needed the 'old Stone Cold', the one that would beat the hell out of anybody and do whatever it took to win because they had never had a threat like the Alliance before. Vince found Austin at a local bar and went to talk to him. Austin remained silent, just sitting and drinking beer. Austin's wife Debra also couldn't get through to him. It was only when Austin witnessed the rabble-rousing Freddie Blassie speech imploring the WWF wrestlers to stand up and fight on the bar's TV that Austin seemed moved. As Raw's main event drew near the question was whether Stone Cold was on his way back to Texas or if he was on his way to the arena. Of course Austin, with pool cue in hand, turned up at the arena and took out pretty much every single Alliance member with a Stone Cold Stunner as JR went into serious hyperbolic mode. The reaction when Austin's music hit is unlike anything you will hear in wrestling today. The angle was a major triumph and one of the reasons that the Invasion PPV managed to draw a phenomenal 775,000 PPV buys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH0r-XqeL7g