Did WWE Purposefully Bury Former WCW Stars?

Well, some would do better than others, to put it mildly. The Invasion got off to a hot start with the likes of Booker T, Lance Storm and Mike Awesome showing up and causing havoc on WWE programming. They were performing hit-and-run style attacks and it worked wonders. They looked like a force, willing to inflict damage quickly before scarpering in order to evade a receipt courtesy of the WWF henchmen.

Soon more layers were added to the story when wrestlers from the also defunct ECW joined forces with the WCW guys in a great angle on the July 9th, 2001 episode of Raw. ECW had been a presence during the War, but WWE did not see them as direct competition and Vince McMahon had, in fact, a working agreement with Paul Heyman which saw ECW talent move to the WWF and vice versa. He did not see them as a threat and held no ill will towards the Philadelphia-based outfit.

WCW was a different story, it seemed. A lot can be said as to why the Invasion angle was, on the whole, a major flop, but did former WCW wrestlers getting 'buried' have much to do with it? The absence of WCW icons like Sting, Ric Flair and Goldberg didn't help - most of WCW's top stars chose to sit out their guranteed Tim Warner deals, which were not acquired when WWE bought WCW - but WWE could have done a lot more with what they did have.

It was clear from the off that WWE brass had little-to-no faith in WCW as a brand, hence the merger with ECW and the appointment of Shane and Stephanie McMahon as their leader. The defection of Stone Cold Steve Austin to the Alliance at the Invasion pay-per-view was further proof, as if it were needed. No, the powers-that-be didn't see Booker T or Diamond Dallas Page leading the charge against The Undertaker and Kane et al.

But the question remains, did WWE actually bury them?

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