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Twenty Years and Counting: How WWE Invasion in 2001 Changed the Face of Wrestling Forever
When is a heel not a heel?
Wrestling, as an entertainment spectacle, has always relied on goodies vs baddies, heroes vs villains, light against shade – that dates back to the 1970s and the days of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks. That way, the heat on the heel is easily generated, while the face is able to enjoy the full support of the crowd and those watching on from home.
But then we have the anti-hero – that guy or gal who you really ought not to be cheering for, but somehow you just can’t stop yourself.
In fiction, the likes of Travis Bickle – yes, he’s a killer, but he’s killing the bad guys! – and John Wick are anti-heroes, and in sport, you have someone like Conor McGregor, a strutting peacock of a man who it’s hard not to like given that he tends to follow up his bravado with action.
You’ll be able to see if the Irishman lives up to the billing in his next fight, with the Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier betting odds suggesting he can expect a 50/50 battle with an opponent he has tackled twice before… with mixed results.
*This Day in History* July 22, 2001 – WWF Invasion takes place in Cleveland, OH featuring the feuds of WWF vs. WCW/ECW pic.twitter.com/jfHLymMapH
— WWEalerts (@WWEalerts) July 22, 2018
The WWE has had some fantastic anti-heroes through the years, with the likes of Ric Flair and Chris Jericho able to somehow retain the support of many despite saying or doing despicable things designed to draw heat.
But arguably the true breakthrough moment for anti-heroes in sports entertainment came during the invasion angle in WWE in the early 2000s, when Vince McMahon – having acquired the rights to rivals WCW and ECW – decided to team up those from the dissolved franchises against his galaxy of stars.
A bizarre rivalry was born, and fans didn’t know which side they were supposed to be on… but was that McMahon’s intention all along?
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
As he set about protecting his brand while burying his rivals, Vince drew up his blueprints for the invasion angle.
That culminated in the Invasion PPV, which celebrates its twentieth birthday this very month. It wasn’t to everybody’s taste, but it remains the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania box-office event in the company’s history.
Invasion was a curious collection of matches where superstars who were previously heels suddenly found themselves cheered as representatives of the WWE brand, while conversely heroes from WCW and ECW were booed for competing against the ‘home’ team.
The ultimate face, Stone Cold Steve Austin, led Team WWF (as the company was then known) in a ten-man tag battle, joining forces with the Brothers of Destruction (who he’d been feuding within the months prior to Invasion) and Chris Jericho, who was a heel but now cheered.
On the other side, Booker T – a face in WCW – was joined by hardcore favorites Rhyno and the Dudley Boyz, who found themselves generating heat despite their prior fan love.
Confused? You should be, and no doubt were.
https://twitter.com/wwedelorean/status/1285952759108378624
Perhaps most surprising of all, Vince allowed Team WCW/ECW to leave Invasion with the bragging rights, winning that ten-man tag when Stone Cold turned heel to hand victory to the brand he was supposed to be burying.
The invasion angle would continue until Survivor Series, with Stone Cold – now a heel but still cheered by a small portion of the crowd – heading the newly named Austin became a face again.
While that period of WWE history is not remembered fondly by many, it did create a monster rarely seen in the organization until that point – the anti-hero heel that’s not really a heel. Many have tried, but few have mastered the art quite like Stone Cold did 20 years ago.