10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 2001

No year divides the opinion of pro-wrestling fans like 2001. In some ways, the year produced moments we thought we'd never see, with WCW and ECW favourites battling it out with WWF's best on RAW and Smackdown. In other ways, it signalled the end to one of the industry's most popular ever periods.

2001 was dominated by the Invasion Angle which had more than its fair share of shocking moments, but other high-profile feuds and storylines also made this an enjoyable year from a pure entertainment perspective.

In order to get to grips with this chaotic year of Sports Entertainment, here are 10 shocking moments from WWF 2001:

---

#1 Booker T debuts and kicks off the Invasion Angle

5-time WCW Champion

The WWF Invasion Angle still stands as one of the most controversial and widely discussed storylines in the entire wrestling business. Some see it as a triumph that allowed WWF to show its dominance over what was ultimately a weaker competitor, while others view it as a wasted opportunity that marked the beginning of the downfall of WWF/E which it is yet to recover from.

As will be discussed later on, WWF's purchase of WCW left many of the latter's cohorts in limbo, unsure of how they would be utilised under the McMahons. In order to satisfy the desire of wrestling fans to see some kind of ultimate showdown between the two companies they had previously been forced to choose from, an angle was booked in which WCW would 'invade' WWF.

The angle started with a couple of appearances by former WCW characters such as Hugh Morris and Lance Storm on WWF TV. However, it all began in earnest with the debut of Booker T at that year's King of the Ring PPV.

The former WCW Champion interfered in the Triple Threat main event match, slamming Steve Austin through an announce table. On the next night's episode of RAW, Booker would appear again, this time attacking Vince McMahon before a group of WWF Superstars came to the boss's aid.

In order to symbolically announce the beginning of the feud, commentator Jim Ross would close out the show by saying: "the battle lines have been drawn."

#2 The formation of 'The Alliance'

Evil forces combine.

WWF and WCW were not the only companies involved in the boom period of professional wrestling between 1997-2001. As the two juggernauts were battling out for supreme dominance, Paul Heyman's ECW promotion was busy offering a more 'extreme' alternative.

The influence of ECW on the wrestling business is still being felt today, with WWE employing match stipulations and move sets created by them. Many indie and non-WWE factions also employ an ECW style of set up with the crowd's presence being felt close to ring-side and high-flying athletes crashing into the front rows.

It is only right, therefore, that Extreme Championship Wrestling made its presence known during the Invasion Angle. On July 9th, 2001, ECW original Rob Van Dam interrupted a match between Kane, Chris Jericho, Mike Awesome and Lance Storm. He was joined by Tommy Dreamer and later The Dudley Boys, Tazz and others. Paul Heyman came from the commentary table to announce his faction would be entering the company with ill intentions.

Shane and Vince McMahon would reluctantly join forces to deal with the outside threat. Later in the same night, a 10-on-10 match was scheduled with WWE and WCW representatives taking on the 10 ECW competitors under Heyman's guidance.

As WWE and WCW brawled in the ring before the match was allowed to begin, ECW then stormed the ring and eventually helped WCW clear house of the WWF guys. Heyman and Shane then embraced one another, announcing the formation of the Alliance, along with Shane's sister Stephanie, to the chagrin of a desperate Vince McMahon.

#3 Stone Cold joins the Alliance

Stone Cold turncoat.

With the WCW and ECW Alliance taking control of WWF, Vince McMahon turned to his once arch nemesis, Steve Austin, who was playing the role of a heel following his actions at Wrestlemania 17. McMahon pleaded with Austin to revert back to his old ways and unleash the type of no-nonsense, badass character who humiliated and ridiculed McMahon throughout much of the Attitude Era.

After a period of inactivity in which Austin refused to become involved in the happenings inside the ring, "The Rattlesnake" eventually made his presence known at the July 16th episode of RAW, providing some much-needed back-up to team WWF going into the Invasion PPV.

At the event, Austin teamed up with Jericho, Undertaker, Kurt Angle and Kane to take on DDP, Booker T, Rhyno and the Dudley Boys. As Angle had Booker T in the ankle lock, Stone Cold dragged a referee into the ring in order for a decision to be called. But instead of assisting his team mates, Austin performed his second major turncoat moment of the year by joining the Alliance, helping Booker score a pinfall victory over Angle.

Many see 2001 as the last great year for the Stone Cold character. He spent most of the rest of the year as a weak-looking character, sucking up to the man he once tormented and then turning his back on the WWF altogether, joining the rival team for no particular reason. In many ways, Austin would become the personification of the chaotic, confused Invasion Angle itself and much of that comparison started here.

#4 Kurt Angle threatens to drown Stone Cold

Austin Vs. Angle

The Attitude Era is known as one of, if not the most successful periods of the WWF's history. A major contributing factor to that was Stone Cold Steve Austin. Just as Vince was staring straight at the possibility being wiped out by a richer, more star-studded competitor, the Texan would emerge as the most exciting Superstar the fans had seen since Hulk Hogan.

The WWF rode the wave of the McMahon vs. Austin rivalry for the better part of four years which enabled the company to bring much-needed viewers back to RAW and helped other Superstars swell the ranks of Vince's impressive main-event and mid-card division.

However, once the war had been won and the dust had settled, Stone Cold went through a dramatic character change, first turning heel at Wrestlemania X-7 and later joining the Alliance. In his absence from the babyface side of the ranks, in stepped Kurt Angle who would effectively become the leader of WWF's fight back against WCW and ECW.

Austin and Angle feuded over the WWF Championship throughout much of the summer, leading to a handful of shocking moments. Stone Cold initiated the heat between the two when he threw Angle's medals into a river on an episode of Smackdown. On the following episode of RAW, the former Olympian would get his revenge 100-times over.

As Stephanie was presenting her ally with a new pick-up truck, Angle ambushed Austin from behind, driving off with him in the back along with rope and a cinderblock. Footage later cut to the pair at a riverside with Austin blindfolded and tied to the block. Angle threatened to throw Austin in the river, an act that would cause the death of the former WWF top babyface.

After a period of time in which fans witnessed a complete reversal of the previous Austin character, the Texan cried and begged for his life, offering to give Angle a shot at his title at Unforgiven. The situation was resolved but not before Angle threw his nemesis into a kiddie pool and drove off leaving Austin stranded at the roadside.

#5 Ric Flair returns to the WWF

Return of the Natch'

Whether or not the Invasion Angle was a success is still up for debate amongst wrestling fans today, but the fact that the storyline didn't even make it to Wrestlemania 18 should tell you a lot about how invested the company were in the whole thing. The official end to the angle came with Survivor Series 2001 in a winner takes all match between the two sides.

After a Rock Bottom and a pinfall victory for The Rock over Stone Cold, WWF finally emerged as the victor, just as they had in real life by winning the Monday Night Wars.

The PPV also saw many of the mid-card belts unified, essentially incorporating and eventually wiping out the legacy of WCW and ECW into the WWF. By the time the new year came around, the Invasion Angle was all but a distant and largely regrettable memory.

However, Shane and Stephanie would not give up the fight without adding one more sting in the tail. After Vince began a transition back to being a heel, forcing former Alliance members out of his company, a returning Ric Flair would come in and shatter Vince's mood with a shocking announcement.

Flair informed Vince that his two children had sold their shares of the WWF to him, making Flair a joint owner of the company along with McMahon. In one stroke of writing, Flair's return led to the WWF reverting to the days of old, with Austin coming back into the fold by turning babyface and attacking his former enemy for stripping him of the WWF Championship.

#6 Edge spears Jeff Hardy in mid-air

Spear heard round the world.

2001 wasn't all about backstabbing and double-crossing; it also had its fair share of memorable matches and feuds. One of the most famous bouts of the year came at Wrestlemania 17 in what would become known as TLC II.

One of the reasons why the Attitude Era was so successful for the WWF was the sheer amount of talent in its tag-team division. Leading the way were three of the industry's greats in the form of Edge and Christian, The Hardyz and the Dudley Boyz.

The trio had first revolutionised tag-team wrestling at Wrestlemania 16 in a triangle ladder match for the Tag-Team Championships. The bar would then be raised at Summerslam 2000 in the first ever TLC (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs) match.

They would not stop there, however, as the second TLC match was booked for Wrestlemania X-7 in 2001. The teams knew they had their work cut out to top the previous one and it's safe to say they did just that. The popularity of that year's Wrestlemania is owed in large part to this classic spectacle.

This match was a cocktail of shocking, high-intensity moments, but perhaps the most memorable came when Jeff Hardy found himself dangling in mid-air, holding onto the Championship belts suspended above the ring. Edge would leap off a ladder, spearing Jeff and dropping him down to the mat below. It was in the instantly popular moment with the fans who exploded with appreciation.

When we look back to any WWE highlight reel, this moment is sure to make the list, and for very good reason.

#7 Vince humiliates Trish Stratus

Too far?

The vast majority of wrestling fans love the Attitude Era, and understandably so. However, there were moments during that period in the company's history where the limits of acceptability were pushed to the point where the fans were turned off rather than entertained. Arguably, the most notable of them involved Vince McMahon and Trish Stratus.

Vince was going through perhaps his most overt heel run in the first half of 2001, turning into an egomaniac after beating WCW in the Monday Night Wars. He began playing with people and disrespecting his family, especially his wife Linda.

During a storyline in which Linda was in a permanently comatose state, Vince would humiliate his wife with the help of Trish Stratus, flaunting their affair in front of the entire WWF fan base. As Wrestlemania 17 approached, Vince's behaviour became more extreme, deciding to turn on Trish and subject her to the most humiliating ordeals imaginable.

In scenes that are not typically repeated during WWE's current PG-rating era, Vince would force Stratus to strip down to her underwear and bark like a dog in front of the crowd. Even in an era in which the fans lapped up controversy and sexually charged story angles, the mood of the arena during this segment was noticeably awkward and uneasy.

In one sense it did set up Wrestlemania 17 perfectly, with Trish getting her revenge by slapping Vince and causing him to lose his match against his son Shane, but there is definitely a reason why the company doesn't tend to talk about these scenes anymore today.

#8 Triple H finishes a match with a torn quadricep

A true professional.

The year 2000 was a promising 12 months for Triple H. With The Rock and Stone Cold firmly cemented as the top talents on the roster, the WWF needed to look towards the future and decided to call up guys like Hunter into more prominent roles.

Despite losing his Wrestlemania match to The Undertaker at Mania X-7, 2001 was still looking to be an important year for the Game. After Austin's heel turn at the event, the two temporarily formed a tag-team called 'The Two Man Power Trip' after Triple H helped Austin during a Mania rematch with The Rock.

However, as the team were about to really turn things up on the main event scene, Triple H suffered an unfortunate injury during a RAW main event with Jericho and Benoit. As he was running to help his partner Austin, his quadricep muscle came completely off the bone, causing him excruciating pain without a doubt.

In a similar way to how Austin had continued to wrestle after suffering a broken neck during Summerslam 1997, Triple H decided the best thing for his character would be to carry on as well. To make matters even more extreme, Triple H agreed to be put in the Walls of Jericho submission hold, probably the worst type of move for that particular injury.

Both Hunter and Chris Jericho have talked about the incident, with Jericho being particularly surprised that the Game agreed to it. Moments like these not only help a Superstar fit into his or her character but also set them up nicely for a long and respect-filled career.

#9 Stone Cold joins forces with Vince McMahon

Shaking hands with the Devil.

Most of the shocking backstabbing moments in 2001 came as a direct result of the Invasion Angle, but perhaps the most unexpected of all came a few months before in the main event of Wrestlemania 17.

For the second time in three years, long-term rivals Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock would meet in the final match of Wrestlemania for the WWF Championship. The two biggest stars of the Attitude era would come together, this time with Vince McMahon more directly involved in the match.

When the bell rang to announce the start of the match, Vince and Austin were still very much enemies and most fans assumed Vince was there to prevent Austin from becoming the champion like he had done so many times before. By the time the match was over, however, the entire landscape of the WWF had been changed forever.

In bemusing and startling scenes, Vince McMahon gifted Austin a steel chair which the Rattlesnake used to beat down his opponent and score a pinfall victory. Austin took his belt and ended his three-year rivalry with McMahon with the most unlikely handshake in the entire wrestling business.

This is a moment that a lot of fans first mention when you bring up professional wrestling in conversation. A whole generation of young adults who had witnessed Austin and McMahon tear each other apart over the WWF Championship were now witnesses to an alliance between the pair.

It is also a perfect example of why shock value is not always a positive. In many ways, this decision signalled the direction the WWF was going to go in the future. Now that WCW had been vanquished, Vince was free to do whatever he wanted, and if that meant turning the most beloved babyface heel at Wrestlemania, then so be it. Fans were going to have to get used to the Vince McMahon ego ruining that which they once loved.

#10 Shane McMahon purchases WCW

Beginning of the end.

We cannot compile a list of shocking moments from WWF 2001 without mentioning the purchase of WCW by Vince's son Shane McMahon. This would not just make the top 10 of 2001's shocking moments, but would probably feature somewhere in the top three of an all-time list. Every wrestling fan knows where they were when this segment was aired.

In late 2000, it appeared as though WCW would be bought by a partnership which included Eric Bishoff, the GM of WCW throughout its heydey. The deal rested on whether Turner Broadcasting still wanted to air Nitro and Thunder on its programming. When the company acquired a new CEO, a decision was made not to continue WCW's weekly shows claiming that they did not fit in with the long-term vision of the corporation.

WWF were then left as the only viable purchaser of WCW and acquired all of the rights to its video library in March 2001. On Monday, 26th of March, Vince McMahon opened RAW with a split screen also showing Nitro's broadcast from Panama City Beach in Florida. The plan was for Vince to finalise his purchase on live television.

Then, in scenes that delighted both WWF and WCW's audiences, Shane McMahon appeared on Nitro claiming that he had struck a deal to purchase WCW from under his father's nose. This was all within the confines of kayfabe of course, but it did set the scene for the Invasion Angle that would dominate WWF programming for the remainder of the year.

As iconic a moment as this is, it will always be felt in rather bittersweet terms. Fans knew there would have to eventually be a winner in the Monday Night Wars, and WWF certainly had the better roster and long-term planning of the two. However, as with most walks of life, a little competition usually brings the best out of all involved, and with the absence of WCW in 2017, WWE are often accused of not trying hard enough to entertain its fanbase.

It is an era of wrestling we shall perhaps never know again, but as the old adage goes - all good things must come to an end.

---

Send us news tips at [email protected]