Before the storyline culminated towards the end of 2001, there were some odd bumps in the road. Vince McMahon made the decision that summer to integrate WCW branding into parts of “WWE Raw,” complete with new graphics and commentators. However, he never fully committed to the idea, likely because the reaction to the first segment was horrendous. As a result of the poor crowd reactions, the WCW side became the heels, opposing a heroic coalition of WWE wrestlers.

In one of the most baffling decisions made during the invasion, the company had “Stone Cold” Steve Austin defect to the WCW team at the Invasion pay-per-view, maintaining his position as a heel after faking out fans to believe he’d turned face again. As the year wore on, the story grew more and more convoluted and nonsensical. A decision was made to end the invasion at Survivor Series in November. In the end, the last two people left in the ring were Austin and The Rock, meaning that the hyped-up WCW Invasion concluded with WWE’s two biggest stars.

In the years since, there are few who deny that the storyline did not live up to its potential. From the illogical plot to the lack of notable WCW names, the Invasion is a storyline that will go down in history for its wasted potential.