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Post by hbkjason on Nov 15, 2019 2:26:00 GMT -5
Wrestling Memories: Survivor Series 2001 Winner Takes All!
Taking place on the 18th of November 2001 (just one day before my birthday) the 2001 Survivor Series is an event I have a ton of great memories of. This was the end of the Invasion storyline that had been running for most of 2001. Say what you want about The Invasion and I know looking back it is easy to say that it sucked, it lacked the big stars, but I loved it! I was all in with this storyline and I was genially excited to see who would change sides each week. Of course, it would have been better had team WCW featured the likes of Goldberg, Sting, and NWO, but at the time I loved this storyline. Before the event I legit thought there was a chance the WWF could lose. I remember reading on a website at the time about how the WWF was having major problems with the World Wildlife Fund and that they may be forced to change their name. There was a rumor floating around that the WWF could become WCW! While I knew there was no way in hell Vince McMahon would do that, it did make me think if the WWF lost this match it would give them a reason to rebrand. The whole event was themed around the WWF vs The Alliance and it featured some cool title unification matches. There were so many titles in the WWF at this time it was kind of hard to keep up to date and it seemed like every second match on RAW or Smackdown featured someone with a title around their waist so I was kind of glad to get rid of some of the titles in all honesty. To tell the truth, the actual show itself is not the greatest event when I watched it back recently. The best of the matches (before the main event) was the tag team cage match that unified the WWF and WCW tag team titles between The Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz. As much as I enjoyed this match by the time, we got to this point these four guys had done all they could really do against each other so in that regard it did lose the WOW factor of their matches in the previous years. However, the addition of the storyline with Lita and Stacy being thrown into the mix did make it fun. I have been watching a lot of WWF from 2001 recently and it is kind of mind-blowing just how all over the place Test was during this time. I do not remember Test being as heavily featured as he was, but the guy actually had a very decent run and featured quite prominently in storylines during this time. He actually pulled double duty on this event which I thought was pretty cool. He may have lost the Intercontinental title against Edge, but he saved his job by winning a battle royal which was fun. The 2001 Survivor Series is all about the main event. Team WWF vs Team Alliance. It was heavily rumored that there was a traitor in the Alliance camp and that was a ton of fun. I really, really wanted it to be Stone Cold Steve Austin! By the way, I was not a fan of the Austin heel turn at all, but man he did a fantastic job. He played the psycho paranoid leader to perfection and I thought he was a lot of fun in the role. Still with that being said I wanted the old Stone Cold back. This match was intense stuff and I loved how it started with Rock and Austin just going at each other. I was legit in shock when Chris Jericho who was on team WWF attacked The Rock and nearly got him eliminated. This was really where Jericho started to come into his own as a heel. I thought it was super strange how Angle tapped out to The Rock’s horrible looking sharpshooter, but as soon as that happened that was when I knew it was Angle who would be the one to jump ship. Angle would come back, nail Austin with the title and allow The Rock to be the survivor. This was a fun match to bring the whole Alliance storyline to an end. It really did make me wonder what would happen in the WWF in the coming weeks and it was a very crazy time that is for sure. It is not the best Survivor Series event and there was only one Survivor Series match on the card, but the main event is a great deal of fun and well worth checking out. What are your thoughts on Survivor Series 2001 and do you think the WWF could have ended the Alliance storyline in a better way than they did? |
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Post by JokerFC on Nov 15, 2019 6:54:53 GMT -5
By this time? The Invasion had been stone dead for about 2/3 months. It was just a disaster for me and a crushing end to the greatest boom period ever. Team Alliance says that more than anything. At the time at the age of 21 I was delighted to see it end.
Jericho's heel turn & push should have occurred @ Inavsion in 2001. It was he that should have turned on Team WWF then beaten Austin for the strap @ Summerslam. The heat coupled with a few successes? would have made him a legit over heel straight away.
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Post by hbkjason on Nov 15, 2019 8:29:59 GMT -5
By this time? The Invasion had been stone dead for about 2/3 months. It was just a disaster for me and a crushing end to the greatest boom period ever. Team Alliance says that more than anything. At the time at the age of 21 I was delighted to see it end. Jericho's heel turn & push should have occurred @ Inavsion in 2001. It was he that should have turned on Team WWF then beaten Austin for the strap @ Summerslam. The heat coupled with a few successes? would have made him a legit over heel straight away. Great idea about Chris Jericho My biggest miss of the invasion was not putting the turtle on RVD at No Mercy. He was so over at this time that I always felt him getting the title here would have made him a legit main event guy. By the time they did it five or so years later it was too late. |
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Post by Hulkster2001 on Nov 15, 2019 10:01:30 GMT -5
My question towards this angle besides where’s the main WCW guys, is why the &*ck was Austin on the Alliance side?
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TheEvilDoink1987
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Nov 15, 2019 11:30:21 GMT -5
The most vivid thing I remember about that event/time was being so hyped for Smackdown! Just Bring It which came out a few days later. My brother had just bought a PS2 and we couldn't wait to play the latest wrestling game on a new system. Spent the weeks beforehand tuning up with other classics like NHL Hitz and a little gem called Grand Theft Auto 3. We had a blast when it came out although it didn't feel or look too much different from the previous Smackdown! games. Probably the weakest entry from the early years of the franchise considering how Know Your Role expanded so well on the original and both Shut Your Mouth & Here Comes the Pain are just legendary.
I really don't have too many fond memories about the PPV itself. In retrospect, it was great because it signaled the miserable end of the disaster that was the Invasion angle. With that mess finally flushed down the toilet, it allowed the company to get back on track after what had been a disappointing stretch following WrestleMania XVII. Ric Flair debuting the next night on Raw was more awesome than anything from the Invasion storyline.
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Post by rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield on Nov 15, 2019 11:39:02 GMT -5
My question towards this angle besides where’s the main WCW guys, is why the &*ck was Austin on the Alliance side? You would recall Austin did the unthinkable earlier in the year at WM X7 and recruited the help of Vince McMahon to reclaim the WWF Championship against The Rock. Afterward is where we saw the paranoia, insecurity, and neediness develop in Austin, especially toward Vince. This was also when Kurt Angle was trying to curry favor with Vince, which Austin didn't take kindly and accused Mr. McMahon of essentially grooming Angle to take his spot. Once Heyman, Shane, and Stephanie were revealed as the main authority figures of the Alliance, they manipulated Austin's frame of mind to join their side. |
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Post by hbkjason on Nov 15, 2019 11:39:06 GMT -5
My question towards this angle besides where’s the main WCW guys, is why the &*ck was Austin on the Alliance side? Hey, I think we were all asking that as it was such a strange move. As much as I did not like it, Austin pulled it off as best as he could. |
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Post by Hulkster2001 on Nov 15, 2019 13:29:52 GMT -5
My question towards this angle besides where’s the main WCW guys, is why the &*ck was Austin on the Alliance side? You would recall Austin did the unthinkable earlier in the year at WM X7 and recruited the help of Vince McMahon to reclaim the WWF Championship against The Rock. Afterward is where we saw the paranoia, insecurity, and neediness develop in Austin, especially toward Vince. This was also when Kurt Angle was trying to curry favor with Vince, which Austin didn't take kindly and accused Mr. McMahon of essentially grooming Angle to take his spot. Once Heyman, Shane, and Stephanie were revealed as the main authority figures of the Alliance, they manipulated Austin's frame of mind to join their side. I know why, I’m just asking why. Seriously Austin should’ve been leading team WWF, he got fired from WCW via a FedEx which lead to his awesome promos in ECW leading to the WWF. Honestly they should’ve never had him turn heel, people still loved Austin and nothing was going to change that. (Also they should’ve had the main guys from WCW like Hogan, Flair, Nash, Goldberg, Sting, etc.) |
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Post by LA Times on Nov 15, 2019 13:47:00 GMT -5
Awful. Look at who was representing the WCW/ECW Alliance
Stone Cold-WWF's biggest star during their most profitable period in history
Kurt Angle-Only ever worked in the WWF at that time
Shane McMahon-Son of the WWF owner
Jim Cornette once said that the money the WWF couldve spent on guys like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, Eric Bischoff, etc for the Invasion and made millions of dollars, Vince spent it on the XFL and lost millions.
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Post by drifter on Nov 15, 2019 14:55:29 GMT -5
Sad thing is, when Survivor Series rolled around with the winner take all, it was basically putting down a lame horse. Sad thing is, just look at the year after the Invasion ended, you had Hogan, Hall, Nash, Flair, Bischoff, Steiner and Goldberg (he was a little over a year after, but still) all show up. Imagine if they started off things slower with the Invasion angle, building things up, and you would have ended up getting the big names involved. And to be a big broader with the Invasion as a whole, I still wouldn't have had ECW and WCW form the Alliance. I would have had ECW still involved, but play up their history as the rebels and outlaws of the wrestling world. Maybe playing both side of WCW and WWF for their own gain.
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Post by The Brain on Nov 15, 2019 16:25:03 GMT -5
Rock and Austin(2 mega stars of the AE) are the final two in a ''war'' between WWF and WCW/ECW.
If that doesn't show how badly they botched this angle than I don't know what will. Nearly 20 years later and I'm still shaking my head at this mess.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Nov 15, 2019 21:16:22 GMT -5
The greatest moment for us wrestling fans was the night Shane McMahon appeared on WCW Nitro to declare war with Vince.... the worst moment for us wrestling fans was the night Shane McMahon appeared on WCW Nitro to declare war with Vince.
Vince named off all those names. Big Poppa Pump, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, Sting, and such, and not one of those men came in at that time frame. But at the same time, I don't blame them. They got to sit at home collecting fat pay checks from Time Warner still for however long their WCW contract was around for. Talk about wasting money! You get rid of the wrestling show because you don't find it to fit your needs, only to still pay out millions of dollars to guys to sit at home. Brilliant!
Looking back, Vince should have turned Thursday Smackdown into a WCW show. Keep it WCW for a year, and when guys like Hogan, Steiner, Nash and such came available, start the invasion angle then. But they opted to speed it up, and make such dream matches as Albert, Big Show and Billy Gunn vs. Kanyon, Hugh Morrus and Shawn Stasiak a reality for us wrestling fans! Ha ha ha ha
As for Survivor Series?? The only thing I liked out of it was Test vs. Edge.
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Post by Kill Em' All on Nov 23, 2019 0:15:04 GMT -5
That main event was balls to the walls. The initial build up to Invasion 2001, with that one crazy ass brawl and the main event was the highlight. My heart still hurts thinking how it was blown. However, I still really enjoy a lot of the matches in this time period. I think they're was some good quality matches hidden behind all this. They did a good job blowing the angle off, and setting up Invasion 2001.
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Post by PJ on Nov 23, 2019 7:24:07 GMT -5
By this time? The Invasion had been stone dead for about 2/3 months. It was just a disaster for me and a crushing end to the greatest boom period ever. Team Alliance says that more than anything. At the time at the age of 21 I was delighted to see it end. Jericho's heel turn & push should have occurred @ Inavsion in 2001. It was he that should have turned on Team WWF then beaten Austin for the strap @ Summerslam. The heat coupled with a few successes? would have made him a legit over heel straight away. Great idea about Chris Jericho My biggest miss of the invasion was not putting the turtle on RVD at No Mercy. He was so over at this time that I always felt him getting the title here would have made him a legit main event guy. By the time they did it five or so years later it was too late. Turtle...Turtle! |
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Newsted
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Post by Newsted on Nov 23, 2019 7:40:01 GMT -5
The teams made no sense. It should have been:
WCW/ECW: Hogan, Nash, Hall, Sting, RVD.
WWE: Rock, Austin, Jericho, Undertaker, Kane.
That would have been a proper "best of" both sides. But nah, we got this mess, with Austin being a WCW guy. What the F.
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TheEvilDoink1987
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Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Nov 23, 2019 9:24:52 GMT -5
The teams made no sense. It should have been: WCW/ECW: Hogan, Nash, Hall, Sting, RVD. WWE: Rock, Austin, Jericho, Undertaker, Kane. That would have been a proper "best of" both sides. But nah, we got this mess, with Austin being a WCW guy. What the F. Horrible. Another storyline that shoved every McMahon into the spotlight. The most frustrating thing about it is that those big WCW names all eventually made their way to WWF/WWE anyway. Then again, even though Sting/Goldberg/Hogan would've made the whole angle much more credible (and of course profitable) than Palumbo/Stasiak/O'Haire, the end result wasn't going to be any different. The WWF would be booked to dominate while the WCW guys all get buried. The whole angle was about one thing. Who was the best company in wrestling? WWF or WCW. Not a chance in hell Vince was going to allow his creation look inferior to their biggest rival. That entire debacle which probably cost him millions and millions of dollars, but for Vince it was worth it since he got to stroke his own ego at the end of it all. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2019 15:19:12 GMT -5
Bad ending to a bad storyline. This should have been the best storyline of all time. It wasn't and wrestling hasn't been the same since!
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Post by JokerFC on Nov 24, 2019 4:22:19 GMT -5
I actually get the heartburn at the reveal that Steph was the new owner of ECW....its incredible.
The Invasion didn't need the nWo or Sting. Both should have been left to later dates.
Flair, Luger & both Steiners were willing to negotiate their TW contracts. They both should have been brought in. Flair to lead WCW alongside Heyman leading ECW.
BUT? It could have worked with what they had if the guys they had were used properly.
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Post by hbkjason on Nov 24, 2019 4:38:05 GMT -5
Great idea about Chris Jericho My biggest miss of the invasion was not putting the turtle on RVD at No Mercy. He was so over at this time that I always felt him getting the title here would have made him a legit main event guy. By the time they did it five or so years later it was too late. Turtle...Turtle! The dangers of using my phone to post! I swear the auto correct on this thing just does whatever the duck it wants  Also thanks to all for the replies, been very interesting to read your guys thoughts on this angle. |
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Post by JokerFC on Nov 24, 2019 4:50:34 GMT -5
Pity Bagwell didn't behave himself. DDP, Booker & Bagwell being booked correctly alongside RVD & Others could have delivered something here.
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