WWE Invasion 2001: 5 Awesome Things And 5 That Sucked

2. RVD And Jeff Hardy Stole The Show

It was very smart of WWE to put this match on at Invasion because they were two of the best high flyers in the business. Both guys were babyfaces even though RVD was part of the heel Alliance group. This was at a time when Hardy was mostly a tag wrestler, so seeing him singles was a treat. RVD came into WWE very hot a few weeks prior to this. The crowd reactions for him were interesting because everybody that was a part of the Alliance (like he was) usually got booed by the fans. RVD was an exception to that because the fans wanted to cheer him due to all of the athletic things he could do. The fan loved his high flying moves and they didn't want to boo the guy. Since it was a Hardcore Title match that meant there were Hardcore rules and they could brawl around the arena. They did a good job of utilizing a chair to add some emphasis to their offensive moves. When Hardy missed a Swanton Bomb, he went crashing onto the Hardcore Title after RVD moved. That led to RVD hitting an impressive Five Star Frog Splash on Hardy, who had the Hardcore Title on his chest, and that meant that RVD was the new Hardcore Champion. What isn't known is whether RVD was supposed to act like a heel or if WWE didn't mind it because they figured the fans were going to cheer him no matter what. It didn't matter. All that matters was they put on a very entertaining matchup that excited the crowd from start to finish.