5 big WWE storylines that backfired

#1 Invasion - WWE vs the Alliance - 2001

WCW and ECW joined forces to take on the WWE

The invasion storyline which pitted the WWE up against the Alliance had the potential to be the biggest and best storylines in history, however, it failed to live up to anywhere near this standard.

From the outset, this rivalry appeared to be a feud between the McMahon's. Shane McMahon, who had purchased WCW in March 2001, took his brand onto WWE television in the summer of 2001 along with ECW led by Stephanie McMahon and Paul Heyman to form the Alliance. Stephanie did not represent ECW brand very well and you could have been forgiven for forgetting she was the leader at all.

Another problem was that many of the faces synonymous with WCW were not there. Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, Sting and former president Eric Bischoff were all missing and ECW talent was instead used to make up the numbers. What's more WWE stars such as Steve Austin and Kurt Angle jumped ship to join the Alliance in order to make up for their lack of big-name talent?

Another problem with the angle was that Stone Cold Steve Austin was a heel. Fans just didn't want to hate Austin and yet he was billed as the leading villain of the Alliance. When he initially returned to help the WWE fend of the Alliance, he received one of the biggest pops ever heard, but he turned heel soon after at Invasion 2001 costing team WWE the match. It would have made more sense for a natural heel like Chris Jericho to join the Alliance, rather than one of the most popular stars in WWE history.

This could have been the classic confrontation but it was flawed from the start as none of WCW's top talent from their heyday featured whatsoever.

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