WWE InVasion (2001)

Simply A Masterpiece

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

1. Lance Storm/Mike Awesome Vs. Edge/Christian - Stupid feud, stupid booking, WCW looked extremely weak. But that cooperation between E&C was great. Super moves, super opener, super match! 9/10 2. Referee Bout: Nick Patrick Vs. Earl Hebner - Of course WCW referee had to job. Wow, what a GREAT MATCH! That's what I want to see punching/kicking referees. 1/10 3. WWF Champs-APA Vs. WCW Champs-O'Haire/Palumbo - Bradshaw won over Palumbo, so another victory for WWF that has been under INVASION!! Invasion was big deal, wasn't it? 7.5/10 4. WWF Light Heavyweight Champ-X-Pac Vs. WCW Cruiserweight Champ-Billy Kidman - Billy cleanly defeated X-Pac. YES!! 8/10 5. Raven Vs. William Regal - I love these two guys, but that match didn't work somehow, crowd was boring and so. 6/10 6. The Big Show/Billy Gunn/Albert Vs. CHRIS KANYON!!/Shawn Stasiak/Hugh Morrus - Quick match without any chance to perform something better. 6/10 7. Tazz Vs. Tajiri - Not bad, but i saw far better matches from these two. 7/10 8. Hardcore Championship: Rob Van Dam Vs. Champ-Jeff Hardy - Best match of the evening. Rvd won in a perfect match. And not so much HC, which is good. 9/10 9. Bra & Panties Tag Match: Stacy/Torrie Vs. Trish/Lita - The right girls were undressed :) Stacy is gorgeous. 7/10 10. Inaugural Brawl: Diamond Dallas Page/Booker T./Rhyno/Dudley Boyz Vs. Chris Jericho/Stone Cold/Kane/Undertaker/Kurt Angle - All the stars inside, but like in the whole PPV, WCW was extremely weak. Stone cold turned on his group and Booker pinned Angle. 8/10

Everything was well build-up, the tension was here and the stakes were high. Given that both WWF and WCW-ECW had their 10 best superstars in the main event, the rest of the card did suffer from it. While it's not a great PPV, it was not bad either.Match 1: Edge & Christian vs. Mike Awesome & Lance Storm Solid match...nothing special but a good way to get off with Invasion. Lance Storm could have been a top wrestler IMO ..shame he was so underused in WWF. 5.5/10Match 2: Earl Hebner w/ WWF Referees vs Nick Patrick w/ WCW Referees Special Referee - Mick Foley Hahaha..wth? Great to see Mick Foley. The fans were actually pretty much into the "match". The match was horrible of course but it was fun. 3/10 (3 for the fun and Mick foley)Match 3: APA vs. Chuck Palumbo & Sean O'Haire Match I love APA and the passion they showed in the Invasion angle. Chuck and O'Haire can be quality as well. Like the opener, it was solid but not great. 5.5/10Match 4: X-Pac vs. Kidman I expected a little more from these two high flyers (well if you can consider X-Pac so)...again not bad but not great either. 5.5/10Match 5: Raven vs. William Regal Like Storm, I think Raven was underused by WWF, specially in the Invasion angle. The match was forgettable. 4/10Match 6: Shawn Stasiak, Chris Kanyon, and Hugh Morrus vs. Big Show, Albert, and Billy Gunn Good to see Billy Gunn back on PPV. Nothing special in the match. 5/10 (pretty average PPV so far)Match 7: Tazz vs. Tajiri Match Not bad at all. Tajiri is great...love those kick. 6.5/10Match 8: Hardcore Championship-Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy Fantastic and exactly what I was expecting from these two great wrestlers. Had it all...match of the night. 9.5/10 (should have been a little longer)Match 9: Bra and Panties Match -Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Stacy Keibler & Torrie Wilson How hot are these four? I actually enjoyed this a lot...but I wanted all four to lose.:D Quote of the night; Michael cole "Why am I calling wrestling moves?!?" 7/10 (7 for reason other that wrestling)Match 10: Inaugural Brawl Team WWF (Austin, Angle, Kane, Taker, Y2J) vs. Team WCW/ECW (Booker, DDP, Dudleys, Rhyno) Highly enjoyable contest with a lot of tension..I really liked it. The ending (shocking for some, predictable for others) was a nice twist in the plot. Good. 8/10

Considering the Invasion angle was a poor start (Booker T vs Buff Bagwell anyone?) WWE really did manage to produce a very good PPV which attracted a whopping 770,000 buys. I even stayed up and watched this PPV on Channel 4 till 5 o clock in the morning! Results from the PPV: - Edge and Christian defeated Lance Storm and Mike Awesome in a decent opener.Earl Hebner defeated Nick Patrick in a crap match with Mick Foley as referee. After the match Foley slapped the mandible claw on Patrick.The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) defeated Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo in a fair match.Billy Kidman defeated X-Pac in a grand match. However Kidman hurt his knees during the match and was out of action for about 8 months after.The Big Show, Billy Gunn and Intercontinental Champion, Albert defeated Hugh Morris, Shawn Stasiak and Kanyon in a passable match.Lita and Trish Stratus defeated Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson in a boring match.Raven defeated William Regal in a crap match.Tajiri defeated Tazz in a fair match.Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy to win the Hardcore title in a fantastic battle.Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, The Dudley Boyz and Rhyno defeated The Undertaker, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Kane, Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho when Austin turned heel and stunnered Angle.Overall Grade B

I remember seeing this pay per view in Champs Sports Bar with a crowd of about 100 people. Every match on the car was entertaining and captivating as WCW, ECW and the WWF battled for supremicy. How approtiate that this pay per view should take place in the same arena the WWF was at the night Shane McMahon announced his purchase of WCW the night the invasion began.Match #1 pitted ECW's Mike Awesome and Lance Storm against the WWF's Edge and Christian. A great tag team opener!Match #2 pitted WCW Senior Referee Nick Patrick against the WWF senior offical Earl "I Can't Count To 3" Hebner with Mick Foley as a guest referee. A boring match but good for a few cheap pops and laughes from Foley.Match #3 pitted WCW's Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo against the WWF's APA. Boring match. Better than the referee's match but not by much.Match #4 pitted WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman against the WWF Lightheavyweight Champion X-Pac. Both men put on an excellent match. One the best matches on the card.Match #5 pitted WWF Commissioner William Regal against ECW's Raven. A fairly decent match but nothing to get too excited about.Match #6 pitted WWF's Big Show, Billy Gunn and Albert against WCW's Kanyon, Hugh Morrus and Shawn Stasiak. This match was just thrown in to take up time on the pay per view. But it was a good match.Match #7 pitted ECW's Taz against the WWF's Tajiri. A good match with plenty of stiff kicks from Tajiri and suplexes from Taz. Plus the use of the infamous green mist.Match #8 pitted ECW's Rob Van Dam against the WWF's Jeff Hardy for the WWF Hardcore Championship. This was by far the best match on the card and reason enough to buy the video or dvd. Lots of high flying hardcore mayhem. Plus an insane van-daminator to Jeff Hardy knocking him off the stage!Match #9 pitted WCW's Torrie Wilson and Stacy Kiebler against the WWF's Trish Stratus and Lita in a tag team bra and panties match with Mick Foley as a guest referee (way to go Mick!). Lots of laughes from Foley and eye candy bouncing around the ring. Would have been better earlier on the card though.Match #10 pitted WCW/ECW's Booker T., Diamond Dallas Page, Rhyno and the Dudley Boys against the WWF's Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Kane and The Undertaker. This match was great but several factors could have mad it better. The Rock, could have gotten involved but he was off filming a movie (in mean suspended). Triple H. could have been a great addition to team WCW/ECW seeing how his supposed wife is Stephanie McMahon owner of ECW, but he was injured. The ending was a real shocked since every one expected Jericho to turn WCW/ECW since it was rumored at King of The Ring, but it never happened. The heel turn was given to... If you want to find out you'll just have to buy the dvd.