How would you book the Invasion angle in WWE in 2001

[Terry Gyimah]

If anything how would you book the Invasion angle back in 2001 in WWE? Well how I would book it:

I wouldn't involve ECW in any way shape or form...it would be WWE taking on WCW

The Invasion would last from the night after WrestleMania 17 all the way up until WrestleMania X-8

Austin wouldn't be heel during this Invasion

Ex WCW guys like Guerrero, Benoit, Jericho, Saturn, etc would also be involved and you would think that their loyalty would be to the WCW but it won't be...it'll be to the WWE

ECW guys the only one I would bring in would be Rob Van Damme

However the WCW guys I would bring in to make it more important are Goldberg, nWo (Hogan, Hall, Nash), Flair, DDP, Booker T, etc. to follow

But I would bring in Bischoff and have WCW win control at Survivor Series but WWE would win back control at WrestleMania X8 but doing it in War Games

 

[@smarkmouth]

It really came to one critical failure for the invasion, the thing they absolutely failed to do. Treat WCW like a proper threat. You'll hear that the Invasion failed due to the lack of stars, which is true, but due to contracts, that couldn't be avoided. That doesn't mean that the Invasion angle didn't have some excellent building blocks to work on.

It started strong. Have WCW competitors sporadically appear and jump WWF stars, culminating with Booker T disrupting the triple threat championship match (Benoit/Jericho/Austin). I'd leave that period untouched.

To launch the first blow on the WWF, Big Show defects to WCW. Instantly, you have a face for the idea of defection, and when booked right, he's a genuine threat. Icing on the cake would be renaming himself "The Giant", and spitting on the legacy of one of the building blocks of WWF, Andre. Follow suit with a couple other former WCW names and WWF defectors.

Second blow; Booker T wins the WWF championship on Monday Night Raw. Sometimes, the less build to a match, the better. This is the case here. Don't spend weeks building up to a PPV. Book it at the top of the show and end the flagship WWF show with WCW star Booker T as champion. Let the WWF and its audience know that it can all be taken away like that!

With these two ingredients, a scenario is created. WWF wants it's title belt back, but at the same time, distrust is spread among it's ranks. Imagine someone like Saturn challenging for the IC title, but another WWF guy costs him worried that he'll take it to the rival brand. Better yet, build up Jericho as an ostracized member of the WWF locker room, with fear that he's a potential turncoat (and maybe, ultimate savior) in this invasion.

Pretty much the virtual opposite of this happened. WCW was never seen as a threat by the WWF audience due to Vince's fragile ego. At every turn, WWF had the upper hand, right up until the Survivor Series go home show. Sure, WWF would have a few defections, but when it was someone so quintessentially WWF like Stone Cold, it was less shocking than it was insincere.

 

[kenvin100]

Think about that Survivor Series match. You had Rock, Jericho, Bros of Destruction and Big Show. The Alliance had SCSA, Kurt Angle, Booker T, RVD and Shane. More than 80% of this match had WWF guys. If Vince had the balls to bring in the top talent from all companies it would've been a match to remember. Instead, the Invasion angle was a great idea when Booker T attacked SCSA at a PPV but morphed into a giant cluster fuck thereafter.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I think it should have started off slower, Instead of them ending it at survivor series maybe have the invasion win the match with the stipulation being that they get their own tv show.
Then eventually giving them their own show instead of the brand split they had in 2002 keep Raw the WWE show and give Smackdown to the WCW/ECW invasion gradually bringing in more WCW talent like Goldberg, Flair, Bischoff and Sting etc once their time warner contracts ran out. WWE RAW would have had plenty of talent to keep exlusive to their own show and Smackdown could have used the best of the ex WCW and ECW guys and also adding some of the upcoming talent at this time like Brock, Cena, Orton, Batista.
I think that would have made for a natural rivalry that would have lasted for years.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

The reason the Invasion failed was because WWE made all about Austin, Rock and the McMahons once again. All about them.

Just like the previous poster said. I wouldn't change anything about what he said.

Plus, Austin with WCW? What the hell. Austin should have stayed with the WWF team, he was already alligned with Vince. Rock should have stayed with the WWF team. But given all the history Rock, Austin and Vince had, it would create another story: a civil war inside the ranks of team WWF.

That's how Booker T and Big Show go to WCW and that's how WCW capitalizes and keeps the upper hand.

Plus I never understood why Chris became a heel. He was massively over as a babyface and from what I'm getting is that he turned heel because of Austin and The Rock being the two top babyfaces. You know, Austin would have kept his heat, hadn't he started acting like a babyface around November. Plus, him going against Vince and Vince being the good guy didn't help.

The biggest problem with the Invasion wasn't the lack of stars really, but rather the lack of story consistency and progress.

My changes:

• Austin and The Rock stay with team WWF. Vince McMahon stays as the leader.
• Austin is a heel and Rock is a face. Both men want the leadership: fans and wrestlers want The Rock to lead, while Vince hands it to Austin.
• Friction is created.
• WCW gets the upper hand and keeps it. WWF Championship goes to WCW. The WCW Championship stays with WCW. You can have Kurt Angle deflect to WCW if you want in order to balance the star power and have him and Booker T as the two champs.
• At Summerslam, the WWF loses the WWF Chmapionship to WCW as Angle beats Austin, while Booker T retains against The Rock, after Austin and Vince doing stupid shenagians, which cost The Rock his match.
• After Summerslam, the WWF splits into two sides: Austin leads RAW and Rock leads Smackdown.
• The battle continues at two fronts now. Rock is doing a great job over at Smackdown defending the company. Austin, instead of focusing on WCW, focuses on The Rock and tries to sabotage him. This leads to Austin vs Rock, winner gets full control of WWF. Austin wins.
• The Rock deflects to WCW and now it's Austin vs WCW and The Rock. For Survivor Series is announced a 5-on-5 WarGames match. One week before the event, Shane discovers that The Rock is in fact a double agent working for an "outside source". Shane has the Rock set up and beaten up by WCW wrestlers.
• At Survivor Series, WCW wins the match due to Austin's egoism. WCW rules the WWF.
• The next PPV is Starrcade. Shane retires the WWF Championship after Survivor Series and calls the WCW Championship the only real championship. WCW sets up their tyranny. In the midst of all that, the last hope of WWF steps up, puts his career on the line at Starrcade and challenges the WCW Champion to a match. His name is Chris Jericho.
• One week before Starrcade, the unthinkable happens: Rock and Austin return to clear the ring from WCW wrestlers. It looks like the two of them are gonna fight, but they finally shake hands! It's the moment fans have been waiting ever since the Invasion begun! At Starrcade, we have Chris Jericho vs the WCW Champion and Rock & Austin vs a team of WCW wrestlers. If Rock and Austin win, the WWF Championship returns.
• At Starrcade, Rock & Austin win and Chris Jericho also becomes the WCW Champion! There's still hope for the WWF!
• After Starrcade, Ric Flair is announced as the new "leader" of the unofficial WWF company. It is announced that the winner of the Royal Rumble will win the vacant WWF Championship! Y2J will defend against both Angle and Booker T.
• Triple H also makes his return before the Royal Rumble in 2002 at Madison Square Garden. The odds are in favor of the WWF even more.
• The Final-4 of the Rumble are Triple H, Stone Cold, The Rock and DDP. It looks like WCW is done fore. However, que to NWO music!!! Hogan, Nash and Hall appear from the crowd. Triple H goes for DDP and the NWO attack Austin and The Rock and eliminate both men. HHH is hammering away DDP, but the NWO catches him and pushes him away. It's now Hogan, Hall, Nash and DDP vs The Game. They corner him and as they go for the attack they turn around and attack DDP! The beat the crap out of DDP. Triple H then eliminates DDP and the 4 of them make the Kliq gesture to end the show! Triple H is the new WWF Champion! The crowd is in shock...
• The whole gig leads to the final battle taking place at Wrestlemania 18.

Wrestlemania 18 looks like this:

1. WWF Champion Triple H (heel) vs WCW Champion Chris Jericho (face)
2. Rock vs Hulk Hogan
3. Stone Cold vs Nash (if he doesn't get injured in my continuity) or Hall
4. Undertaker vs Sting [Sting would have come had the WWF treated WCW better; the story is that Sting comes to help the WWF against the NWO, Taker goes heel on him because he does not trust him]
5. Championship Unifications matches
6. Angle vs Flair
7. DDP (face, with WWF) vs Booker T (heel, with WCW)

 

[DirtyDickSlater]

ECW should have never teamed with WCW. Have Stephanie/Heyman (ECW) vs Shane/Bischoff (WCW) vs Vince/Linda (WWF). Have a triple threat elimination war games type match similar to when Team WCW vs Team Piper vs Team NWO 1997 Uncensored. Triple Threat faction feuds only has been done a few times. DX vs Hart Foundation vs The Nation and DOA vs The Nation vs Los Boricuas

 

[Kyphael]

The reason the Invasion failed was because WWE made all about Austin, Rock and the McMahons once again. All about them.

Just like the previous poster said. I wouldn't change anything about what he said.

Plus, Austin with WCW? What the hell. Austin should have stayed with the WWF team, he was already alligned with Vince. Rock should have stayed with the WWF team. But given all the history Rock, Austin and Vince had, it would create another story: a civil war inside the ranks of team WWF.

That's how Booker T and Big Show go to WCW and that's how WCW capitalizes and keeps the upper hand.

Plus I never understood why Chris became a heel. He was massively over as a babyface and from what I'm getting is that he turned heel because of Austin and The Rock being the two top babyfaces. You know, Austin would have kept his heat, hadn't he started acting like a babyface around November. Plus, him going against Vince and Vince being the good guy didn't help.

The biggest problem with the Invasion wasn't the lack of stars really, but rather the lack of story consistency and progress.

My changes:

• Austin and The Rock stay with team WWF. Vince McMahon stays as the leader.
• Austin is a heel and Rock is a face. Both men want the leadership: fans and wrestlers want The Rock to lead, while Vince hands it to Austin.
• Friction is created.
• WCW gets the upper hand and keeps it. WWF Championship goes to WCW. The WCW Championship stays with WCW. You can have Kurt Angle deflect to WCW if you want in order to balance the star power and have him and Booker T as the two champs.
• At Summerslam, the WWF loses the WWF Chmapionship to WCW as Angle beats Austin, while Booker T retains against The Rock, after Austin and Vince doing stupid shenagians, which cost The Rock his match.
• After Summerslam, the WWF splits into two sides: Austin leads RAW and Rock leads Smackdown.
• The battle continues at two fronts now. Rock is doing a great job over at Smackdown defending the company. Austin, instead of focusing on WCW, focuses on The Rock and tries to sabotage him. This leads to Austin vs Rock, winner gets full control of WWF. Austin wins.
• The Rock deflects to WCW and now it's Austin vs WCW and The Rock. For Survivor Series is announced a 5-on-5 WarGames match. One week before the event, Shane discovers that The Rock is in fact a double agent working for an "outside source". Shane has the Rock set up and beaten up by WCW wrestlers.
• At Survivor Series, WCW wins the match due to Austin's egoism. WCW rules the WWF.
• The next PPV is Starrcade. Shane retires the WWF Championship after Survivor Series and calls the WCW Championship the only real championship. WCW sets up their tyranny. In the midst of all that, the last hope of WWF steps up, puts his career on the line at Starrcade and challenges the WCW Champion to a match. His name is Chris Jericho.
• One week before Starrcade, the unthinkable happens: Rock and Austin return to clear the ring from WCW wrestlers. It looks like the two of them are gonna fight, but they finally shake hands! It's the moment fans have been waiting ever since the Invasion begun! At Starrcade, we have Chris Jericho vs the WCW Champion and Rock & Austin vs a team of WCW wrestlers. If Rock and Austin win, the WWF Championship returns.
• At Starrcade, Rock & Austin win and Chris Jericho also becomes the WCW Champion! There's still hope for the WWF!
• After Starrcade, Ric Flair is announced as the new "leader" of the unofficial WWF company. It is announced that the winner of the Royal Rumble will win the vacant WWF Championship! Y2J will defend against both Angle and Booker T.
• Triple H also makes his return before the Royal Rumble in 2002 at Madison Square Garden. The odds are in favor of the WWF even more.
• The Final-4 of the Rumble are Triple H, Stone Cold, The Rock and DDP. It looks like WCW is done fore. However, que to NWO music!!! Hogan, Nash and Hall appear from the crowd. Triple H goes for DDP and the NWO attack Austin and The Rock and eliminate both men. HHH is hammering away DDP, but the NWO catches him and pushes him away. It's now Hogan, Hall, Nash and DDP vs The Game. They corner him and as they go for the attack they turn around and attack DDP! The beat the crap out of DDP. Triple H then eliminates DDP and the 4 of them make the Kliq gesture to end the show! Triple H is the new WWF Champion! The crowd is in shock...
• The whole gig leads to the final battle taking place at Wrestlemania 18.

Wrestlemania 18 looks like this:

1. WWF Champion Triple H (heel) vs WCW Champion Chris Jericho (face)
2. Rock vs Hulk Hogan
3. Stone Cold vs Nash (if he doesn't get injured in my continuity) or Hall
4. Undertaker vs Sting [Sting would have come had the WWF treated WCW better; the story is that Sting comes to help the WWF against the NWO, Taker goes heel on him because he does not trust him]
5. Championship Unifications matches
6. Angle vs Flair
7. DDP (face, with WWF) vs Booker T (heel, with WCW)

I would have enjoyed watching this all year long a hundred times over the crap we got instead. The problem with Vince is, when he doesn't get things his way right off the bat, he doesn't know how to improvise and take things slowly, he blows it all off and rushes it just to say he got it done and move on to the hottest thing.

 

[Darkshadow1234]

One of the main problems was that they treated wcw like garbage. They made the wrestlers look like jobbers compared to wwe stars. That was one big problem.
Another problem was there wasnt enough big names to do the invasion.
And they should of slowly built up the invasion. Then have a conclusion at wrestlemania 18.
Ecw shouldnt of joined forces with wcw.That was stupid. Ecw should of been separate from wcw.

They should of had an war games type. Or elimination tag or elimination chamber type match for wwe, ecw, and wcw. As a conclusion.
Just one idea

 

[relentless1]

Vince should have paid for the big contracts right off the bat, mistake number one.

Imagine the possibilities:

Hogan, Sting, Goldberg, Flair, the Outsiders, DDP, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Eric Bischoff; Id have defections like Benoit, Big Show, Malenko

vs

Austin, Rock, Foley, Taker, Kane, HHH, Dudleys, Angle, Jericho, Guerrero, Vince, X Pac, New Age Outlaws

the possibilities are endless; that story could have lasted til wrestlemania 20 if Vince had wanted it to.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

But also think about all the dream matches that could have happened if this Invasion angle were done right such as:

Sting vs Undertaker
Hulk Hogan vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
Kurt Angle vs Mr Perfect
Goldberg vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
Ric Flair vs Kurt Angle
The Rock vs DDP
Triple H if he were healthy vs Kevin Nash

 

[TEIWCSCSAATBHPHASP]

I think Scott Steiner definitely would've been the flagship cornerstone for Team WCW if the InVasion angle was done properly. Kanyon is NOT the MVP for WCW, Steiner was the MVP for WCW in their dying days. Nash, Sting, Goldberg, DDP and Booker T already had a turn, plus WCW had heels as their top draws, so logically, Steiner should be the MVP instead of Kanyon.

The InVasion angle....done properly....is a massive financial exchange boon between the promoters and the fans and everybody wins.

 

[Ubermensch]

Hindsight is always 20/20, but there was some glaring errors that even Vince should have recognized:

-Too much McMahon(s). I don't think anyone wanted to see Shane as the owner of WCW or Stephanie owning ECW. In addition, this just kept the already exhausted angle between Austin and McMahon lingering. On the final episode of Nitro, after Flair's shoot rant, he should have told McMahon off and that he was the one buying WCW (after running into the ropes and strutting of course).

-Hire the key talent. Vince got WCW at a bargain. He should have looked further down the road and saw there was a reason why the acquisition was so cheap. Most of the wrestlers he bought were not mainstay talent aside from Booker T and did not last in the company very long after the acquisition. The ECW purchase was better IMO, but still lacked the big names like Sabu and Sandman. Many of the big names in ECW and WCW worked in WWA after their companies folded and in the case of WCW, were still under contract.

-Keep ECW and WCW separate entities. The goal of the invasion angle should have been audience capture and to get the fans of both promotions on board with the product. Burying talent from WCW and ECW won't work. ECW really got lost in the mix with this angle. If you add Sabu and Sandman, then ECW has RVD, Rhyno, Tazz, Dudleys, Tommy Dreamer, and Lance Storm. These were some of the best talents in the business with Heyman as their leader. I really would have pushed the ECW talents, given ECW's gritty reputation their run-ins would make them especially heelish, but get a strong reaction from their fans.

Ultimately, the Invasion angle should have been the culmination of all the dream matches we wanted to see: Sting vs. Taker, Goldberg vs. Austin, Rock vs. Hogan, maybe Flair vs. Vince, etc. The angle could culminate at Survivor Series with all three factions squaring off in some way. I would have some kind of gauntlet match with team WWF: Angle, Austin, Rock, and Jericho going over team ECW: Sabu, Sandman, RVD, and Rhyno, and then team WCW: Sting, Goldberg, Booker T, and DDP. Team WWF wins and Austin brings beers to the ring to celebrate with Vince for the survival of his company. Just then Eric Bischoff appears at the entrance with a smirk and a microphone. He announces, that unfortunately, Survivor Series isn't over and team WWF has one more faction vying for control. The NWO music plays and Hogan, Steiner, Nash, and Hall come down from the entrance way and decimate the fatigued WWF wrestlers. McMahon is beat down as well and spray painted.

Shortly thereafter, the roster split occurs with the NWO and ECW mainstays being separated as the leading heels on their respective rosters.

 

[relentless1]

ECW shouldn't have even been involved tbh, they were distant third in the pecking order and it diluted the focus of WWF v WCW which is where the focus should have been.

Get rid of the McMahons, keep Vince around and pay what you have to and get Bischoff at least as the head of WCW.

If you really can't get the nWo, Flair, Goldberg, Steiner etc then defections THAT MAKE SENSE is the next viable option; Benoit, Jericho, Guerrero, Big Show, Malenko and Saturn would have really evened the scales for team WCW.

The angle should've lasted longer than Survivor Series then you get Flair and the nWo to bolster the WCW ranks.

And for god sake let the WCW guys win!! Had Vince made it an even win loss ratio and actually allowed the WCW guys to be a threat then you could've gotten Sting as well.

 

[Ubermensch]

ECW shouldn't have even been involved tbh, they were distant third in the pecking order and it diluted the focus of WWF v WCW which is where the focus should have been.

Get rid of the McMahons, keep Vince around and pay what you have to and get Bischoff at least as the head of WCW.

If you really can't get the nWo, Flair, Goldberg, Steiner etc then defections THAT MAKE SENSE is the next viable option; Benoit, Jericho, Guerrero, Big Show, Malenko and Saturn would have really evened the scales for team WCW.

The angle should've lasted longer than Survivor Series then you get Flair and the nWo to bolster the WCW ranks.

And for god sake let the WCW guys win!! Had Vince made it an even win loss ratio and actually allowed the WCW guys to be a threat then you could've gotten Sting as well.

It was almost like Vince couldn't manage a story line without good guys and bad guys so he made WCW heels. WCW started out as underemployed faces which work IMO, but Vince quickly relegated them to heels when ECW joined up. Vince did need the mainstay talent from WCW, but it would have been difficult getting guys like Sting and Goldberg over as heels. Sting's best years had certainly passed at this point, but he still had some mileage on him. While I would have loved to see Sting come into the WWE shortly after WCW's fall, having The Rock ask the Stinger "who in the blue hell are you?" would have just made me puke.

You're dead on the nail with letting the WCW guys win. Much of the failure of this angle was Vince's ego in that he did not want WCW made talent beating his. They were all made to look vastly inferior, and ultimately even Vince has to look back and see that he buried the talent that he bought.

I would have kept Hogan and the nWo guys (whoever they may have hypothetically been) for a brief time until after the initial invasion. Maybe add Xpac back in the mix since he wasn't doing anything that mattered at the time. Jarrett would have been a good addition with Hogan, Nash, Hall, and Steiner, but it wouldn't ever happen.


I see your point that the ECW guys were third tier, but they certainly would have had that natural chip on their shoulder. ECW wrestlers; especially at this time, came with a cult following. They had their fair share of guys that were glorified stunt doubles, but I think the list I mentioned were some of the most talented at the time. If you bring those ECW wrestlers who know nothing but no-dq wrestling to the WWE, then you have natural heat IMO.

 

[TDFG]

Looking back at it now the Invasion did have plenty of life left in it, I wouldn't have add WCW & ECW merge for a start.

I think there must have been about 10 guys who's contracts where purchased that were sent to development or just never used, Kronik lasted about a month & Buff was gone after about 3 days.

WCW should have started out as a faction, Booker T & DDP as the main guys with Lance Storm, Kidman, Mike Awesome etc. just wanting a fair shot, eventually Flair would appear the night after Survivor Series, the NWO arrived around three months later, the addition of these four guys would have helped WCW look stronger against the WWE roster & that's really when The Invasion should have started.

 

[Chris1-16]

There was simply no logical way to book it properly tbh with you, Goldberg and Hogan were way too big of stars to be cannon fodder to WWE guys. The fact is the reason it flopped was because the people brought in simply weren't big enough stars in the fans eyes, WWE had to turn some of their own stars to add star power on that side.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Plus the WCW guys I would have treated them as a much bigger deal especially DDP rather than having him be a mid carder I would have treated him just like a main event level guy much like how Booker was in the actual Invasion

DDP vs The Rock People's Champion vs People's Champion or even a DDP/Austin program or if Goldberg were a part of the Invasion he could have had programs with Austin, Taker, Angle, etc.

But with Hogan him crossing paths with Rock would have been inevitable but Hogan/Austin we were robbed of or even a nWo Hogan feuding with Triple H would have been perfect

Or Taker & Kane reuniting as The Brothers of Destruction to take on The Outsiders that being Hall and Nash but Taker dropping the ABA gimmick and going back to his Dead Man gimmick would have made much more sense

 

[King Patrick Star]

I must have rebooked the “WWF / The Federation vs. The Alliance / WCW – ECW Invasion” angle 11 different times, with 11 different versions, since July 2001. Here goes my 12th attempt. This time, instead of an angle, I’m going to change the format and basically remove the “angle”.

First, since Vince McMahon was already heavily committed with the ECW acquisition, and the purchase of WCW, I would have gone all in and bought out every contract. If you’re going to do something, don’t do it half @$$ed. I would have even tried to sign those not under contract at the time.

Second, I would have kept WCW and ECW as separate brands and separate shows. Each show is 2 hours. I would have started this schedule the day after WrestleMania X7. The shows and Championship Titles would be as follows.

Monday – Raw
General Manager – Shane McMahon
WWF World Champion
WWF Women’s Champion
WWF World Tag Team Champions

Tuesday – Nitro
General Manager – Eric Bischoff
WCW World Champion
WCW Women’s Champion (reinstated to counter the WWF Women’s Championship Title)
WCW World Tag Team Champions

Wednesday – ECW
General Manager – Paul Heyman
ECW World Champion
Hardcore Champion (Unification match between WWF Hardcore Champion, Kane vs. WCW Hardcore Champion, Haku / Meng, and then designated to ECW, because it just fits best on this brand / show)
ECW World Tag Team Champions

Thursday – Smackdown
General Manager – Stephanie McMahon
Intercontinental Champion
European Champion
Light Heavyweight Champion

Friday – Thunder
General Manager – Vince Russo
United States Champion
Television Champion (Unification match between WCW Television Champion, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and ECW Television Champion, Rhyno. Hacksaw wins and the Television Championship is then designated to WCW)
Cruiserweight Champion

Saturday – Saturday Night’s Clash of the Main Event Champions on TNN
Saturday will only feature the best of the best, in inter-brand non-Title Champion vs. Champion matches.

Sunday – Pay Per Views are on the first Sunday of every month, only featuring Championship Title matches. This would make every PPV a “Night Of Champions”. Now I realize I have 15 active Championship Title Belts, so I’d have it so that each show has only 2 Championship Titles on the line at every PPV.

During the week after WrestleMania X8, starting on the following Monday, I would initiate the inaugural Draft. Each show gets 2 picks from each of the other shows, 8 picks each total. That might have sounded a little confusing, so here’s a better layout, using 2002 as an example.

Round 1, 4 picks each
March 18, 2002 – Raw picks 1 from Nitro, 1 from ECW, 1 from Smackdown and 1 from Thunder
March 19, 2002 – Nitro picks 1 from Raw, 1 from ECW, 1 from Smackdown and 1 from Thunder
March 20, 2002 – ECW picks 1 from Raw, 1 from Nitro, 1 from Smackdown and 1 from Thunder
March 21, 2002 – Smackdown picks 1 from Raw, 1 from Nitro, 1 from ECW and 1 from Thunder
March 22, 2002 – Thunder picks 1 from Raw, 1 from Nitro, 1 from ECW and 1 from Smackdown

Round 2, 4 picks each
March 25, 2002 – Raw picks 1 from Nitro, 1 from ECW, 1 from Smackdown and 1 from Thunder
March 26, 2002 – Nitro picks 1 from Raw, 1 from ECW, 1 from Smackdown and 1 from Thunder
March 27, 2002 – ECW picks 1 from Raw, 1 from Nitro, 1 from Smackdown and 1 from Thunder
March 28, 2002 – Smackdown picks 1 from Raw, 1 from Nitro, 1 from ECW and 1 from Thunder
March 29, 2002 – Thunder picks 1 from Raw, 1 from Nitro, 1 from ECW and 1 from Smackdown

Champions are not eligible for the Draft. Once a SuperStar is picked, they are then not eligible to be redrafted, like Cena was in 2011. Trades throughout the year are acceptable, but they have to be “approved” by the 3 other GMs that are not involved in the trade, as a checks and balances sort of thing.

I think doing things this way gives it more of a “sports” feel to it. It also might have lasted longer, and could still be running today. I know 6 days a week of Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment is a lot, but there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, in my opinion. I’ll add more to this later, if something pops in my head.

 

[Ubermensch]

We also need to point out that Vince couldn't find a network for any company called 'WCW' since it was notorious for hemorrhaging money and bad ratings in its final years.

There is only so much the bulk of wrestling viewers have in watching wrestling. The problem comes when you have several different shows that are more or less the same. There was a market for three different wrestling promotions in the late 90s because they all offered something different. When Raw, Smackdown, and ECW are all generally the same type story lines, and production, then you're capturing the same audience. Making WCW a B-show with the same production as WWE, would have ultimately flopped as well.

ECW was really the biggest chance Vince had to do something special, by bringing that kind of wrestling to syndication, but ultimately he blew it by making it too much like Raw and Smackdown.