The WCW logo used as an identifier for The Alliance; this logo was introduced before The Alliance was formed and was intended to be the logo of the scrapped WWF-produced WCW weekly program
The stable came about as a result of the WWF's purchase of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March 2001. The Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) name was brought in later to help boost the presence of WCW after the original ECW promotion closed in April 2001.
The original plan for The Invasion storyline was WCW being a babyface group, led by Shane McMahon (who was the owner of WCW during the angle) to go against the heel owner of the WWF, Mr. McMahon. During May and June 2001, wrestlers identified as being "under contract to WCW" (such as Lance Storm and Mike Awesome) "invaded" WWF programming, by performing several run-ins during matches. The ultimate goal, reportedly, was for WCW to "take over" WWF's flagship show Raw Is War and rebrand it as its own television program, while the WWF would retain control of SmackDown! as their own show. To test the waters for this, the final twenty minutes of the July 2 edition of Raw Is War was given over to WCW, which (in kayfabe) brought in its own commentators (Scott Hudson and Arn Anderson), ring announcer (Stacy Keibler), referee (Nick Patrick), ring apron, and Chyron graphics, to present a match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell for Booker's WCW Championship (which he had won on the final episode of Nitro). This continued later that week on SmackDown!, where Gregory Helms lost the WCW Cruiserweight Championship to Billy Kidman and Booker defended the WCW Championship against Diamond Dallas Page.
The Booker/Bagwell title match, however, was very poorly received both by television viewers and the live crowd in the arena; sports journalist Michael Landsberg reported that many have called the bout "the worst match ever".[2] The two other WCW matches also received a negative fan reaction. The decision was thus made to make WCW a heel group who was out to destroy the WWF.[3] On the July 9 episode of Raw Is War, when then-face WCW owner Shane was scheduled to face Page in a street fight, the two instead attacked The Undertaker, turning Shane heel (Page had already debuted in WWF as a heel, as part of a stalker angle with Undertaker and his wife).
Later that evening, Vince and Shane agreed to put aside their differences and join forces to take out ECW once and for all in a twenty-man brawl between Team WWF (Hardcore Holly, Big Show, APA, and Billy Gunn), Team WCW (Chris Kanyon, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, Shawn Stasiak, and Mark Jindrak), and the ECW invaders. When the WCW and ECW wrestlers faced off in the ring, however, they did not fight but rather congratulated each other and attacked the WWF wrestlers. It was revealed that ECW had merged with WCW to form a "supergroup" to more effectively challenge the WWF and that Stephanie McMahon had purchased the defunct company. This combined group was originally referred to as "WECW" on WCW.com and then as "Team WCW/ECW," but the rights to ECW's assets (including the ability to use of its name on-air) were still being debated in bankruptcy court at that time, so the name of the group was changed to "The Alliance". The Alliance also extended to the WWF's developmental territory the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA), itself a former WCW developmental territory, where members appeared as "Team WCW".
Over the next few months, the two sides fought back and forth. Except for the feuds for select wrestlers (X-Factor and Christian, for example), every feud on WWF programming involved a WWF wrestler facing an Alliance wrestler. Ten combined WWF and WCW championships were defended among all the wrestlers in the various feuds. Over time, numerous WWF wrestlers would defect to The Alliance, including Test, William Regal, Ivory, and Christian. Former ECW and WCW wrestler Steven Richards would belatedly defect to The Alliance, bringing WCW alumni KroniK with him. In return, Chuck Palumbo and Torrie Wilson defected from The Alliance to the WWF. Kurt Angle also defected to The Alliance on the October 29 episode of Raw.
In the end, Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show) defeated Team Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Shane McMahon) when Angle double-crossed The Alliance by turning on Austin while he was fighting The Rock during the closing stages of the match. The Rock then pinned Austin, not only putting The Alliance out of business, but also being a symbolic victory of WWF's dominance over its former rivals. Earlier in the night, The Dudley Boyz defeated The Hardy Boyz to unify the tag team championships while Edge defeated Test to win the Intercontinental Championship. Despite his loss, Test entered the Immunity Battle Royal later that night and won.
With The Alliance's loss, nearly all of their members lost their jobs in storyline following the match. Exceptions were made for Stone Cold Steve Austin, then-WWF Champion; The Dudley Boyz, who won the WWF Tag Team Championship; Stacy Keibler, the Dudleys' manager; Rob Van Dam, who at the time was the Hardcore Champion; Christian, who at the time was the European Champion; Immunity Battle Royal winner Test; and Alliance Commissioner William Regal, who was forced to join the "Mr. McMahon Kiss My Ass Club" to keep his job. Some of them would be hired back over the next few months, with the majority of them returning when the brand extension began. The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, which was held at the time by X-Pac, was quietly retired and replaced with WCW's Cruiserweight Championship.
The next night on Raw, Mr. McMahon celebrated his victory by making a slow return to his villain character, aligning himself with The Alliance members that kept their jobs. Later that night, he resumed his rivalry with Austin, who turned face by attacking Angle and aligning himself with a returning Ric Flair, who was revealed, in storyline, to have bought Shane and Stephanie's stock in the company prior to Survivor Series, making him the new co-owner of the WWF, along with McMahon. After being "fired", Shane walked out on his own and congratulated his father for his victory, and spent most of the next eighteen months away from television; he would return to feud with Kane in 2003. Stephanie blamed Shane for everything and was escorted out of the arena by security, but unlike Shane she made a quick return and began appearing again shortly after the return of her then on-screen husband Triple H in January, which led to a three-month-long feud that ended shortly after WrestleMania X8.
One of the more important changes following Survivor Series was the removal of the WCW branding from The Rock's WCW Championship, with the title becoming known simply as the World Championship. Co-owners McMahon and Flair decided that, since there were now two world championships in the company, a tournament would be set up at Vengeance in December to crown an Undisputed WWF Champion. Current WWF Champion Stone Cold Austin was to take on Kurt Angle while World Champion The Rock was to take on Chris Jericho, with the winners then facing off to become the first undisputed champion in company history. Jericho, who had been feuding with The Rock over the WCW Championship dating all the way back to October, won the World title while Austin defeated Angle to retain his WWF Championship. Jericho, thanks to a returning Booker T, defeated Austin to become the first Undisputed WWF Champion. Following the crowning of the inaugural Undisputed WWF Champion, mentions of WCW and The Alliance ceased on WWF programming.
Lance Timothy Evers, known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to TNA Wrestling where he works as a producer. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), where he held a combined 13 total championships.
Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes was a Mexican-American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). A prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero, he was widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time.
Andrew James Robert Patrick Martin was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/WWE) under the ring name Test.
WrestleMania 17 was the 17th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on April 1, 2001, at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, Texas. It was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Texas. Twelve matches were contested at the event, including one broadcast exclusively on the Sunday Night Heat pre-show.
X-Factor was a professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation led by X-Pac that featured Justin Credible and Albert.
The Invasion was a professional wrestling storyline in the World Wrestling Federation during the Attitude Era that ran from March–November 2001 and involved stables of wrestlers purporting to represent World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)—which merged to form The Alliance—placed against a stable of wrestlers purporting to represent the WWF. The storyline began shortly after the WWF's acquisition of WCW in March 2001, and concluded with a "winner takes all" match between The Alliance and the WWF at Survivor Series.
The WCW World Tag Team Championship, originally known as the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version), was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling Federation. It was the original world tag team title of WCW and remained active until it was unified with the WWF Tag Team Championship.
WWF Invasion was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on July 22, 2001, at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. This event was initially planned to be the fourth Fully Loaded PPV, as it was advertised at the King of the Ring event, which immediately preceded Invasion, although the decision to replace Fully Loaded was made in May. Invasion was the first pay-per-view to feature the ongoing Invasion storyline, which featured wrestlers from the WWF taking on The Coalition, a combined force of wrestlers from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), later known as The Alliance. The event featured WWF wrestlers facing WCW and ECW wrestlers.
The 2001 SummerSlam was the 14th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on August 19, 2001, at the Compaq Center at San Jose in San Jose, California. It was the last SummerSlam promoted under the WWF name, as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. It was also the last SummerSlam held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.
The 2001 Survivor Series was the 15th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on November 18, 2001, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was the last Survivor Series to be produced under the WWF name, as the company would be forced to change its name several months later as the result of a verdict in the World Wildlife Fund's lawsuit against the company; the company became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. It was also the last Survivor Series held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.
The Attitude Era was a major era of professional wrestling within the World Wrestling Federation. The term "WWF Attitude" was used to describe its programming from November 9, 1997, to May 6, 2002. It began during the Monday Night Wars, a period in which WWF's Monday Night Raw went head-to-head with World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) Monday Nitro in a battle for Nielsen ratings each week from September 4, 1995, to March 26, 2001. In June 1996, Stone Cold Steve Austin became King of the Ring, defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament final. To cap off the victory, Austin delivered his “Austin 3:16" promo, starting the buildup to the Attitude Era. The era was officially initiated on November 9, 1997, at Survivor Series 1997, when a video package aired ending with the first use of the "WWF Attitude" scratch logo; this was immediately before the main event featuring Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, which retrospectively would be known as the Montreal Screwjob due to the match's controversial finish. WWF's programming in this era featured adult-oriented content, which included increased depicted violence, profanity, and sexual content. This era was part of a wider surge in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States and Canada as television ratings and pay-per-view buy rates for WWF and its rival promotions saw record highs.
The 2001 Vengeance was the inaugural Vengeance professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on December 9, 2001, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. The event replaced the promotion's usual December PPV, Armageddon, for the year 2001; Armageddon was reinstated in 2002 with Vengeance moved up to July. The theme music for the event was performed by Drowning Pool and was called “Sinner”. It was also the only Vengeance event promoted under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. It would also be the only Vengeance held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.
The 2002 No Way Out was the fourth No Way Out professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place on February 17, 2002, at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the final No Way Out promoted under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May. It was also the final No Way Out event held before the WWF introduced the brand extension in March.
The 2001 Judgment Day was the third Judgment Day professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It was sponsored by RC Cola. The event took place on May 20, 2001, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. It was the final Judgment Day promoted under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002, although early promotional material for that year's Judgment Day event still bore the WWF logo. It was also the last Judgment Day held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.
The 2001 Backlash was the third Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on April 29, 2001, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois and was presented by Castrol GTX. Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WrestleMania X-Seven.
The 2000 Judgment Day was the second Judgment Day professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on May 21, 2000, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The inaugural Judgment Day was an In Your House event held in October 1998. As a result of Owen Hart's death at Over the Edge in May 1999, Judgment Day was reinstated to replace Over the Edge in 2000 and was rebranded as an annual WWF pay-per-view event.
The 2001 King of the Ring was the ninth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation that featured the 15th King of the Ring tournament. It was the final King of the Ring PPV and tournament held under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. The event took place on June 24, 2001, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The main event was a Triple threat match, a match involving three competitors, for the WWF Championship. Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho to retain the title. The undercard featured the 2001 King of the Ring tournament, which was won by Edge.
The 2000 King of the Ring was the eighth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation that featured the 14th annual King of the Ring tournament. It took place on June 25, 2000, at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The main event was a six-man tag team match between the McMahon-Helmsley Faction and the team of The Rock and The Brothers of Destruction. Triple H's WWF Championship was defended in the match. Rock pinned Vince to win the title. The undercard featured the 2000 King of the Ring tournament, which was won by Kurt Angle. The 2000 edition was the largest King of the Ring tournament, with 32 competitors taking part.
The 2001 Unforgiven was the fourth annual Unforgiven professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on September 23, 2001, at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the final Unforgiven event held under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. It was also the last Unforgiven held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.
The 2001 No Mercy was the fourth No Mercy professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place on October 21, 2001, at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the final No Mercy event held under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. It was also the final No Mercy held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.
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