The Invasion The Invasion was a professional wrestling storyline in the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF , now known as WWE ) 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 acquisitions of WCW and ECW in March and April 2001 , respectively , and concluded with a " winner takes all " match between The Alliance and the WWF at the 2001 Survivor Series . The idea of a supercard featuring the two top promotions of the Monday Night Wars was considered to be a dream match scenario in the eyes of many fans , as it would allow the fans to see which promotion would be kayfabe superior . The angle began when Vince McMahon ' s son , Shane McMahon , announced on " Raw " and the final episode of " Nitro " that he ( kayfabe ) bought WCW from under his father ' s nose . This led to several run - in appearances of WCW wrestlers during " Raw " and " SmackDown ! " over the months after WrestleMania X - Seven . In June 2001 , the angle grew in intensity as the WWF storylines somewhat abated to make room for the central Invasion storyline . WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) merged to form The Alliance and challenged the WWF ' s control over the wrestling industry . An Inaugural Brawl took place at the WWF Invasion pay - per - view , where Stone Cold Steve Austin defected and joined the Alliance . Many inter - promotional matches occurred after the Invasion between The Alliance and the WWF , leading up to the climax of the angle at Survivor Series , when Team WWF ( The Rock , Chris Jericho , Big Show , The Undertaker , and Kane ) defeated Team Alliance ( Austin , Kurt Angle , Rob Van Dam , Booker T , and Shane McMahon ) in a Winner - Take - All match . History . Monday Night Wars . During the Monday Night Wars , the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) and World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) , the two top North American wrestling promotions , competed for ratings . Through developments such as the creation of the New World Order ( nWo ) and the Montreal Screwjob , fans continually compared the two promotions , and the Internet wrestling community was full of debate as to which of the two was superior . Among other factors , however , mismanagement within WCW ( such as allowing wrestlers themselves to book matches and various instances of corporate politics ) eventually led WCW to a downward spiral from which it never recovered . The Monday Night Wars came to an end on March 23 , 2001 , when the WWF bought WCW for what was considered to be a bargain price . The final night of the Monday Night Wars occurred on March 26 , 2001 : " Raw " primarily focused on the major storylines heading into WrestleMania X - Seven , while " Nitro " held their final episode with a " Night of Champions " . Vince McMahon opened up " Nitro " and announced a simulcast later that night to address the future of WCW . Throughout " Raw " , McMahon publicly named several WCW wrestlers who would not be retained . ( Though most would wrestle for the WWE in the ensuing years , he did legitimately fire Jeff Jarrett on TV due to animosity between the two dating back to when Jarrett blackmailed McMahon for payment when Jarrett was booked for a match at the 1999 No Mercy when his contract having expired the day before . ) After Sting defeated Ric Flair in WCW ' s final match , the simulcast began . McMahon talked about the buyout of WCW and toyed with the idea of making WCW into a huge media conglomerate , much like the WWF . He asked the crowd who he should keep under his belt by mentioning names of WCW wrestlers and asking for a reaction . Lex Luger received a negative reaction from fans , and Hulk Hogan , Buff Bagwell , Booker T , Scott Steiner , Sting , and Goldberg received positive reactions . Vince then proceeded to fire them all , however , to the cheers of the " RAW " crowd and the jeers of the " Nitro " crowd . McMahon then announced that he would sign the contract and make the purchase official at WrestleMania . Shane McMahon , however , appeared on " Nitro " and announced in kayfabe that he had signed the contract and purchased WCW out from under his father ' s nose , planting the seed for what was considered a lucrative future storyline opportunity . The Invasion did not begin immediately afterwards , as the WWF was preparing for WrestleMania X - Seven , the year ' s largest show , which was mere days away . The Invasion . The WWF had effectively doubled the size of its roster through its acquisition of WCW , and as a result , there was not enough screen time for everyone . The original plan was to find a time slot on TNN to continue running WCW as a separate entity . Polls were even put up on WWF . com and WCW . com to decide the name of the new show . These plans fell through when no TV station would touch WCW because of its reputation for losing money . The WWF eventually carried out a brand extension , effectively reviving WCW under its own auspices and running two separate promotions , each with one of the WWF ' s two existing televised shows , " Raw " and " SmackDown ! " . As part of its plans , Lance Storm became the first WCW wrestler to appear on WWF programming , by making a run - in during a match on the May 28 episode of " Raw " . Hugh Morrus made his WWF debut on the June 4 , 2001 episode of " Raw " attacking Edge . At King of the Ring on June 24 , then - WCW wrestler Booker T interfered during the Triple Threat Main Event match for the WWF Championship and almost cost Stone Cold Steve Austin the title . Additionally , Austin suffered fractured bones in his hand from the side slam he took from Booker into an announce table . The next night , a confrontation occurred between WCW owner Shane McMahon and WWF owner Vince McMahon . While Vince was in the ring , Booker T came from behind to deliver a scissor kick to Vince . The WWF roster ran to the ring to the aid of Vince , but Booker T and Shane McMahon escaped through the crowd . This incident marked the official start of the Invasion storyline , to which " Raw " commentator Jim Ross announced , " The battle lines have been drawn ! " " The WWF eventually began to recognize WCW and tested the idea of a brand extension by giving WCW the final twenty minutes of " Raw " with Scott Hudson and Arn Anderson doing announcing duties in place of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman . During a match between Buff Bagwell and Booker T for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , WWF wrestlers Kurt Angle and WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin interfered in retaliation by beating Booker T up , with Bagwell joining Angle and Austin by attacking Booker T . This match did not go over well at all with the audience in attendance at the Tacomadome . One source cites that the match should have showcased the best of WCW but instead featured too many restholds and not enough action . The audience jeered at the wrestlers with chants of " This match sucks ! " and " Boring ! " A WWF source close to Vince McMahon said that Vince had " absolutely hated " the segment . Up until this point , the WCW contingent were being built up to being malcontent faces rising up against the heel Vince McMahon , because of Vince ' s bluster during the final " Nitro " broadcast and Shane ' s usurping of the WCW ownership . Originally , WCW talents were meant to attack strictly heel WWF wrestlers . The strongly negative reaction of the core WWF viewership to the WCW product and talent , however , coupled with the reality that a WCW wrestling program to appeal to WWF fans would not come to fruition , led to the entire WCW contingent to abruptly turn heel . One example was the heel gimmick of then WCW Alliance Member , Diamond Dallas Page , whose first appearance in the WWE was built up over several weeks in a storyline in which he was portrayed as an anonymous stalker sending invasive videotapes to the babyface , The Undertaker . Addition of ECW . On July 9 on " Raw " , Kane was scheduled to face Mike Awesome and Lance Storm in a handicap match . Chris Jericho came out and offered to be Kane ' s partner , thus turning it into a tag team match . Near the end of the match , Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho on Lance Storm . As the move was being applied , however , Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer ran through the audience and into the ring and started to beat on Kane and Jericho . In response , WWF wrestlers consisting of The Dudley Boyz , Tazz , Justin Credible , Rhyno , and Raven ( all former ECW wrestlers ) ran to the ring . After a brief stand - off , the WWF cavalry turned around and attacked Kane and Jericho . This prompted Paul Heyman to leave the announce table and enter the ring . After high - fiving the wrestlers , he announced that ECW has been brought into the Invasion . Heyman talked about how tired he was sitting beside Jim Ross and discussing WCW vs . WWF , stating that he felt that everyone had forgotten about ECW and announced , " This Invasion just got taken to the extreme . " Later during the night , Shane and Vince McMahon bumped into each other backstage . Shane told his father that ECW needed to be taken care of and pointed out that there were 10 ECW wrestlers under Heyman ' s belt . He suggested that he would take five of his WCW wrestlers and have them team up with five of Vince McMahon ' s WWF wrestler ' s later that night to take out ECW . Vince agreed but stubbornly insisted that WCW would eventually meet its demise when all was said and done . At the end of the night , the WCW wrestlers came into the ring , accompanied by Shane McMahon . The WWF wrestlers then came into the ring and , before ECW entered , the WCW and WWF wrestlers started to brawl . The WWF wrestlers cleared the ring but then were stormed by the ECW wrestlers and taken out . After this , WCW ' s men came into the ring and high - fived the ECW men . Paul Heyman and Shane McMahon then hugged and started to dismantle the WWF wrestlers . Vince McMahon , stunned , came out and asked what was going on . Shane McMahon responded that he was responsible for all the events that just transpired and announced that ECW and WCW merged to form The Alliance . He then announced that the new owner of ECW was Stephanie McMahon . Stone Cold ' s leave and return . Stone Cold , who had turned heel at WrestleMania and formed an alliance with McMahon when he helped Stone Cold win the WWF Championship , took a change in character during this time . Instead of being a beer - drinking redneck , he was more emotional and tried to cheer - up Vince McMahon , who was clearly stressed from the threat of The Alliance , by doing something generous like giving Vince a cowboy hat as a present . During a July 12 " SmackDown ! " , Stone Cold played " Kumbaya " and " We Are the Champions " for McMahon , to which Vince was unresponsive . Later that night , Vince McMahon came out and asked Stone Cold to come to the ring , announcing him as the man that would lead Team WWF into the pay - per - view and into victory . Upon entering , Vince McMahon told Stone Cold that he had changed quite a bit since WrestleMania , and when the WWF goes up against The Alliance at the upcoming pay - per - view , he did not need a Stone Cold that gave him hugs and gifts and baked him cookies . He needed the " old " Stone Cold who was a " beer - swilling , foul - mouthed SOB " and the " old " Stone Cold that " didn ' t take crap from anyone . " He asked Stone Cold to knock him down , even yelling to the crowd , " If you want Stone Cold to beat the living hell out of Vince McMahon , give me a hell yeah ! " to which the crowd responded enthusiastically . Stone Cold , however , shook his head and proceeded to leave the ring , turning his back on Vince McMahon . Later that night when Diamond Dallas Page and Shane McMahon went up against the Undertaker and Kurt Angle , many members of the Alliance interfered . Kane and Jericho came to help their team , but the Alliance ' s numbers were too many , and without Stone Cold to back up his teammates , Team WWF was overwhelmed . On the July 16 edition of " Raw " , Stone Cold was shown drinking and playing pool at a bar downtown . During the night , Vince McMahon held a WWF meeting backstage . Undertaker and the APA gave a motivational speech on how they should not tolerate the Alliance any longer . After they were finished , Brooklyn Brawler wheeled Freddie Blassie into the room so he could address the wrestlers and pump them up for the night . As the WWF wrestlers united , Stone Cold could be seen watching the events on the television at the bar . He proceeded to slam his cue stick on the pool table and left . Later that night , DDP and Rhyno faced Kane and the Undertaker . During the match , there was interference from the Alliance . In response , The Hardy Boyz , the APA , Jericho , and Kurt Angle came to help their WWF allies , but more Alliance members came in and overwhelmed the WWF wrestlers . Backstage , many WWF and Alliance wrestlers were fighting each other , and the WWF seemed to be on the losing end of things . A truck was seen driving up to the arena , however , and Stone Cold came out with his cue stick and proceeded to beat down any WCW and ECW wrestlers in his path . He then came to the ring , trash - talking on the way down , and beat down the Alliance wrestlers , giving Stunners to most of the men in the ring . The WWF wrestlers had cleaned house and were standing tall . The WWF seemed to be in good shape for the upcoming pay - per - view with Stone Cold ' s return . WWF InVasion . At InVasion , the Inaugural Brawl took place between Team WCW / ECW and Team WWF . Team WWF consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin , Kurt Angle , Chris Jericho , Kane , and the Undertaker , who all squared off against the team of DDP , Booker T , Rhyno , and the Dudley Boys . Near the end of the match , all of the wrestlers were outside of the ring except Booker T and Angle . Kurt Angle applied the ankle lock on Booker T , who tapped out , but no referee was there to witness it . Stone Cold then dragged a referee into the ring , but in a swerve , kicked Kurt Angle in the stomach , hit him with a Stunner , and placed Booker T on top of Kurt Angle and told the referee to count . Team WCW / ECW won the match due to Stone Cold ' s betrayal of the WWF . The next night , Austin claimed he joined the Alliance because they appreciated him . He cited Vince ' s hugging of Angle and calling The Rock on the phone as signs that Vince did not appreciate Austin and accused McMahon of grooming Angle to be the next WWF Champion . The WWF gains momentum . Vince McMahon , on the July 26 edition of " SmackDown ! " , extended an invitation to The Rock , who had not been seen since the " Raw " following WrestleMania X - Seven , to the Alliance . Also that night , Kurt Angle challenged Booker T to a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match , which Booker T accepted . The WWF gained momentum when Angle made Booker T submit with an ankle lock , taking the WCW Championship away from the Alliance . Angle ' s title run proved to be short - lived , as Booker T won it back on the July 30 episode of " RAW " . On that same " Raw " at the First Union Center in Philadelphia , The Rock returned for the first time since his kayfabe suspension on the April 2 edition of " Raw " ( In reality , he was given the " suspension " to film " The Mummy Returns " ) . Shane , Stephanie , and Vince McMahon were in the ring that night , and each tried to convince The Rock to join their respective side . Shane McMahon took the liberty of reminding The Rock of how Vince screwed him out of the WWF Championship earlier that year at WrestleMania and also in a steel cage match the day after WrestleMania . Vince McMahon replied that Shane was somewhat accurate in his accusations but ceded that it was wrong for him to back Stone Cold , as he was a rattlesnake that he should have known would eventually bite him . He promised to The Rock that he had no intention of screwing him if he returned to the WWF but also ceded that he could not promise that he never would ; if it was good for business , he said , then he just might do it . He told The Rock that he was at least being honest with him and pleaded for The Rock to trust himself , stating that his future was with the fans and the WWF . The Rock , however , gave Vince a Rock Bottom after some bickering between Shane and Vince , and proceeded to stare down Shane before cheekily smiling and shaking Shane ' s hand , faking a defection to the Alliance and a heel turn but he then proceeded to Rock Bottom him as well and give him a People ' s Elbow . He picked up the microphone and emphatically asserted , " Finally , the Rock has come back . . . to the WWF . " The Rock had chosen a side , and that side was the World Wrestling Federation . His return led to a WCW Title match between The Rock and Booker T at SummerSlam 2001 , which The Rock won , marking the second time the WCW Championship belt changed sides to the WWF . At that same pay - per - view , Austin retained his WWF Championship against Angle after Angle won by disqualification . The following " Raw " and " SmackDown ! " showings featured primarily interpromotional matches between the two companies . Austin stole Kurt Angle ' s medals during one of the shows , and on the August 30 edition of " SmackDown ! " , tied them to a cinder block and threw them in a river . The following " Raw " , Debra and Stephanie bought a new truck for Stone Cold , but Angle came up from behind and nailed Austin in the back of the head with a pipe . He put a cinder block and rope in the truck , put Austin in it , and drove away on the truck . He blindfolded Stone Cold and threatened to throw him into a river if he did not get a title shot . Austin , fearful for his life , " broke down in tears " and agreed to give Angle a title shot at the upcoming pay - per - view , Unforgiven . Angle said , however , that Austin was " still going into the water " , but instead simply embarrassed Austin by throwing him into a kiddie pool . The WWF gained even more momentum at Unforgiven , as The Rock retained the WCW Championship in a handicap match against Booker T and Shane McMahon , and Kurt Angle made Austin submit to the ankle lock , winning the WWF Championship from Stone Cold , putting both belts into the hands of the WWF . Almost every other championship had changed hands during this period of time , being exchanged between WWF Superstars and Alliance members . For example , The Undertaker and Kane beat Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon in a Steel Cage Match at Summerslam to become co - holders of both the WWF and WCW Tag Team Titles . Also , X - Pac beat Billy Kidman to become double champion of WWF Light Heavyweight Champion as well as WCW Cruiserweight Champion . Jericho and The Rock Feud / The Alliance mounts a comeback . There were several interpromotional matches after Unforgiven . Furthermore , a crucial plot point formed when , on the October 8 airing of " Raw " , Jericho and The Rock teamed up against Shane McMahon and Rob Van Dam . During the match , Jericho mistakenly struck The Rock with a steel chair , costing them the match . The Rock confronted Jericho backstage after the match , leading to a brawl between the two . The two of them began a feud , although they often tagged together , had similar gimmicks of hurling comedic insults at Stephanie McMahon , and at one point won the WWF Tag Team Championship . Also that night , Stone Cold and Kurt Angle faced off for the WWF Championship , and then - WWF Commissioner William Regal , who sat at ringside to ensure a fair match would take place , hit Kurt Angle with the championship , thereby backstabbing the WWF and costing Angle the title . On the following " SmackDown ! " , Linda McMahon promptly fired Regal from his position as WWF Commissioner , and named Mick Foley as his replacement . Regal was then declared the Commissioner of the Alliance by Shane and Stephanie . The feud between Jericho and The Rock built up to a match at No Mercy on October 21 , where Jericho beat the Rock to win the WCW Championship ( Jericho ' s first world title ) , and Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Angle and Rob Van Dam to retain his WWF Championship . On the October 29 edition of " Raw " , Shane McMahon told his father , Vince McMahon , that a member of the WWF would jump ship to the Alliance that night . Later that same night , Kurt Angle backstabbed the WWF by hitting Jericho , The Rock , Undertaker , and Kane with steel chairs . On the November 1 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Angle , who originally led the WWF wrestlers , explained that he represented what is great about America — he was a winner , and his defection came from his decision to fight along the winning side . That side included Stone Cold , a man Angle claimed knew how to win . The end of the Invasion . On the November 5 airing of " Raw " , Vince McMahon countered Kurt Angle ' s defection by stating that a member of Team Alliance would defect during a match at the upcoming Survivor Series . Stone Cold came out to confront Vince about it , and Vince stated that Stone Cold would be the one to defect . Because of this announcement , many Alliance members began to distrust Austin , who vehemently denied the charges and called Vince a liar . Stone Cold went on to interrogate members of Team Alliance , questioning Booker T and sitting Rob Van Dam down in a room with a light shining on him . That same night The Rock won the WCW World Title from Chris Jericho , but Jericho assaulted The Rock in the ring following the match . All of this led to a " Winner Take All " match at Survivor Series 2001 , which pitted Team WWF ( The Rock , Chris Jericho , The Undertaker , Kane , and The Big Show ) against Team Alliance ( Stone Cold , Kurt Angle , Booker T , Rob Van Dam , and Shane McMahon ) . The final three men in the match were The Rock and Jericho vs . Austin . Jericho was eliminated and , to continue the feud between the two men , attacked The Rock , even though Jericho ' s future was on the line if The Rock lost . The Rock and Austin continued to battle it out , and the referee was knocked down in the match . Austin stunned the Rock and pinned him , but there was no referee to count it . Austin approached the downed referee to try to revive him . As this was occurring , Angle ran to the ring , picked up the WWF championship belt , and nailed Austin with it , revealing himself to be the defector to which McMahon was referring the entire time . The Rock followed this with a Rock Bottom and a pin on Austin , to which the referee woke up and counted the three count . Team WWF prevailed , thus ending the storyline . It was also on this night that several titles were unified ; Edge defeated Test to unify the WCW United States Championship and the Intercontinental Championship , while The Dudley Boyz beat The Hardy Boyz in a Steel Cage match to unify the WCW Tag Team Titles with the WWF Tag Team Titles . The final ECW member , Jazz , made her debut during a Six Pack Challenge for the vacant Women ' s Championship , which was won by Trish Stratus . Aftermath . WCW . After The Alliance was disbanded , the WWF was faced with a title crisis ; that is , they had so many championships ( due to them acquiring all of WCW ' s championships ) , each individual title became devalued . To combat this , the WWF began to unify many championships . First , the WCW World Heavyweight Championship ( simply renamed the World Championship ) was unified with the WWF Championship to form the WWF Undisputed Championship . At Survivor Series 2001 , two championships were merged with two other championships : Edge , the WCW United States Champion at the time , defeated Test to become the WWF Intercontinental Champion , while the US Title was retired . Meanwhile , The Dudley Boyz defeated The Hardy Boyz to win the WWF Tag Team Championships while retiring the WCW World Tag Team Championship s . Another WCW championship , the WCW Cruiserweight Championship , was rebranded as a WWF title and replaced the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship as the WWF Cruiserweight Championship . Additionally , the WCW United States Championship was revived in 2003 as a " SmackDown ! " - exclusive title , thus becoming the WWE United States Championship . The Undisputed Championship was originally represented with both the original WWF and WCW title belts , as the champion would carry both belts around , until being replaced with a single belt . At the beginning of the WWE Brand Extension , the champion would appear on both " Raw " and " SmackDown ! " until then champion Brock Lesnar took the title to " SmackDown ! " . Eric Bischoff introduced the World Heavyweight Championship represented by the former WCW Championship belt and awarded it to Triple H . The Undisputed Championship would be renamed the WWE Championship , as having two world titles contradicted the term " undisputed . " It should be noted that not all of WCW ' s titles were used on WWF television . The WCW Hardcore Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship were never mentioned nor shown on WWF television , nor was the WCW World Television Championship , which had been quietly retired just a year before WCW went out of business . Although Tazz briefly appeared on WWF television with the ECW Championship in 2000 ( while under contract with the WWF ) after reigning ECW Champion Mike Awesome unexpectedly signed with WCW , none of ECW ' s titles were shown on WWF television during the Invasion angle due to ECW ' s assets being held up in bankruptcy court ; the WWE purchased ECW ' s assets in 2003 and later reintroduced the ECW Championship as part of ECW ' s revival as a WWE brand . After further consolidating of titles that included a brief retirement of the WWE Intercontinental Championship in 2002 and the permanent retirement of the World Tag Team Championship & the WWE Women ' s Championship in 2010 , the WWE currently has six titles : two world champions ( WWE Championship , World Heavyweight ) , two mid - card champions ( Intercontinental , United States ) , a tag team champion ( WWE Tag Team Championship ) , and a women ' s champion ( WWE Divas Championship ) . Only the WWE United States Championship has an undisputed lineage with a WCW title , although the World Heavyweight Championship is considered at least a spiritual successor to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with both having been represented by the Big Gold Belt . ECW . Although the WCW brand effectively died once and for all following the end of this storyline , ECW was temporarily revived by WWE in 2005 for the purposes of a special reunion show , ECW One Night Stand , held on June 12 , 2005 . The build - up to this one - shot event featured former ECW talent putting over the virtues of the brand versus the WWE product and appearances by several former ECW wrestlers not under contract to WWE . In 2006 , it was announced that WWE would be reviving ECW as its third brand ( to complement " Raw " and " SmackDown ! " ) . The second One Night Stand , held on June 11 , 2006 , led to the official debut of the new ECW the following Tuesday . WWE Champion Rob Van Dam was awarded the ECW World Heavyweight Championship for his victory over John Cena , thus officially reviving the title for the ECW brand . Fallout after Survivor Series . Alliance member Test won a battle royal at Survivor Series that featured both Alliance and WWF wrestlers battling for the right to be immune from termination for a year . Over the next several weeks Test began using that immunity to his advantage , attacking and bullying other wrestlers for no reason . Whenever he would be called on it , he would bring up his immunity from being fired . Shortly after Survivor Series , however , this was eventually forgotten . The immunity was also extended to any Alliance member who held a championship at the conclusion of Survivor Series . The Dudley Boyz , who held the tag team championships ; Rob Van Dam , who was the Hardcore Champion , and Christian , who was European Champion also saw that extended to them . Of these wrestlers , everyone except RVD ( who was already cheered by fans despite being in the Alliance ) remained a heel after the Alliance . Also receiving immunity was Stacy Kiebler the manager of the Dudleys , and Tazz who was a commentator on " SmackDown ! " . On the " Raw " the night after Survivor Series , WWF Commissioner Mick Foley resigned . Vince McMahon celebrated his ( assumed ) complete and sole ownership of the WWF and his final victory over the Alliance . He then fired the Alliance ' s Paul Heyman from his broadcasting position and replaced him with a returning Jerry Lawler . He later had his daughter escorted from the building by security , and made Alliance commissioner William Regal become the inaugural member of the infamous " Kiss My Ass Club " in order to retain his job . McMahon also announced that he would strip Alliance leader Stone Cold Steve Austin of his WWF Championship and award it to Kurt Angle , who had portrayed himself as the hero of Survivor Series the entire night and bragged about his actions to other face wrestlers . In doing so , McMahon completed a slow heel turn he had begun at the beginning of the night . Before McMahon could announce his new champion , Ric Flair ( who was making his return to the WWF after leaving in January 1993 ) announced that he " bet on a winner " at Survivor Series . When pressed , Flair revealed to McMahon that he was not in fact the sole owner of the WWF as he had originally thought . When Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon had bought WCW and ECW earlier in the year they had sold their shares in the WWF to " a consortium " , and that Flair was the man who had bought them , making him half - owner of the WWF . Immediately after making the declaration Austin made his return and attacked Angle for costing him the win at Survivor Series and McMahon for attempting to strip him of his title , ending the heel run he had begun at WrestleMania . He turned face by aligning himself with Flair and reclaiming his belt . Reception . The Invasion angle was a large storyline that spanned for almost half of 2001 and brought about financial success for the WWF , such as the InVasion pay - per - view being one of the highest non - major event buyrates in the history of pay - per - views . The Invasion storyline has come under criticism by wrestling fans and wrestling media , Other media refer to the storyline as " one of the most poorly handled , ego - filled story lines in wrestling history . " The weakness of the Alliance . Throughout the storyline , many interpromotional matches had WWF wrestlers winning over WCW / ECW wrestlers , usually cleanly . In contrast , most of the Alliance ' s wins were controversial due to interference or disqualification . For example , it took Tazz assisting Raven at InVasion to beat William Regal . The Rock , however , won cleanly at SummerSlam , despite Shane McMahon ' s assistance to Booker T . A few other critics also noticed the over emphasis on Stone Cold Steve Austin . Critics believed that Austin was the only credible superstar on the Alliance . One particular example of this was during the Inaugural Brawl at the InVasion pay - per - view . Besides Austin ' s turn in the match that was needed to secure a WCW / ECW win over the WWF , SLAM ! Wrestling alleged that the Alliance wrestled poorly in comparison to the WWF wrestlers : " " Portrayed as disorganized and inferior grapplers , the ECW - WCW Team had more than its fair share of mistimed moves which hurt their own team members while the " WWF squad " of course wrestled like a well - oiled machines . The weakening of the ECW - WCW dubbed superstars didn ' t stop there either . The WWF faction battered their enemy tag partners off the ring apron over and over again making them appear weak and more times than not , the ECW - WCW grapplers gained an advantage only by double - teaming or employing underhanded tactics . The message sent was loud and clear . The best of ECW - WCW is not good enough to hang with the WWF . " " It has been speculated that the reason for this was because Vince McMahon did not want the WWF to look weak while fighting the Alliance , as he worked very hard to put down his competition , especially WCW . Smash Wrestling alleges that WWF wrestlers needed to defect to make the Alliance appear to be a credible threat . Overemphasis on the McMahons . The Invasion storyline was presented with a backdrop of a McMahon feud . In the storyline , the WWF was owned by Vince McMahon , WCW was owned by Shane McMahon , and ECW was owned by Stephanie McMahon . Although the feud did not center completely around the McMahons , the family feud storyline had been done many times before . In addition to this , the Stone Cold versus Vince McMahon feud was to start again when Vince McMahon hit Austin in the back of the head with a chair at No Mercy . As stated by a SLAM ! Wrestling synopsis of No Mercy : " For fans who didn ' t catch it the fifth , tenth or twentieth time they ' ve run the angle , " Stone Cold " Steve Austin and Vince McMahon are about to feud once again . . . First up was Vincent McMahon labeling Austin with a steel chair as he was waiting to put a dazed RVD away . . . Three minutes later , it was Shane McMahon ' s turn to hurl Kurt Angle out of the ring and into a steel ring post . Vince tackled Shane over the announce table and the two began pummeling one another . Back in the ring , Austin laid a " Stone Cold " Stunner on to retain the belt as a disgruntled Vince scowled . Gee , how many times have we seen that scenario play itself out before ? Austin wins . Vince fumes . Fans snore . Whatever . " The storyline also allegedly centered too much on the McMahons , who were getting more airtime than the wrestlers . It has been argued that the Invasion angle may have been more successful if Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff were perceived as controlling ECW and WCW , respectively , instead of Stephanie and Shane McMahon . Lack of big - name WCW talent / Overemphasis on WWF defectors . Many fans had dreamed of a day where they could pit WWF and WCW wrestlers against each other , but the storyline ' s final match ended with four WWF wrestlers brawling it out . On TSN ' s " Off the Record " , Booker T was asked by host Michael Landsberg why the Invasion — which he stated should have been one of the biggest money angles in wrestling history — was in his words a failure on pay - per - view . Booker responded : " " That wasn ' t the true WCW . I mean , we didn ' t have guys like Goldberg . We didn ' t have Sting . We didn ' t have Kevin Nash . We didn ' t have all the major players in the WCW to face the WWF superstars . " " Some of the WCW wrestlers ' absences were out of the WWF ' s control . Many of WCW ' s top wrestlers had contracts with AOL Time Warner , WCW ' s parent company , and were willing to sit at home rather than wrestle for less money ; Booker T , the reigning WCW Champion at the time of WWF ' s purchase , was a notable exception , agreeing to a buyout of the remainder of his contract with AOL Time Warner in order to wrestle for the WWF immediately . McMahon had the option of taking on any contract he wanted with his purchase , but chose to let AOL Time Warner continue to pay out what were considered bad deals . Ric Flair and Rey Mysterio were not signed until the end of the Invasion because they were tied to their contracts , and therefore their absence was out of the WWF ' s control . In addition , Scott Steiner was recovering from an injury . Others , such as Hulk Hogan , Kevin Nash , Scott Hall , and Goldberg , were not signed until well after the storyline finished . As for WCW ' s other top superstars , Sting has for many years had avoided joining the WWF and was still under contract AOL Time Warner , while Lex Luger and Macho Man Randy Savage would never reappear in the company on TV ( in May 2011 , Luger rejoined WWE in a backstage role related to the company ' s Wellness Program , while Savage died from a sudden heart attack shortly after Luger rejoined WWE ) . Fans were confused by McMahon ' s decisions seeing as the WWF would make more than enough to cover all these wrestlers contracts in 2001 . Because of this , the WWF ' s opponent allegedly lacked the strong identity of WCW . In correlation with WCW , ECW was also missing most of their key superstars such as The Sandman , Sabu , Balls Mahoney , Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke ( all of whom would later join WWE ' s relaunched ECW ) . Other wrestlers such as Shane Douglas , Masato Tanaka , Terry Funk , New Jack , 2 Cold Scorpio and Mikey Whipwreck would also be missing from the storyline . To bolster the ranks of WCW ( in lieu of big WCW names ) , some WWF wrestlers ( such as Stone Cold ) defected and joined the Alliance and were pushed as the leaders of the Alliance . Austin , who had worked in WCW and ECW but had found his greatest success in the WWF and was seen primarily as a WWF wrestler , was pushed as the leader of the Alliance and a more important player during the Invasion than the bona fide WCW or ECW members of the Alliance . Several top WCW and ECW talents who were top superstars in their previous companies , such as Diamond Dallas Page , Booker T . , Rob Van Dam , The Dudley Boyz , Justin Credible , Raven and Tazz , were put down into low - mid card matches , while lesser - ranked WWF wrestlers who defected to the Alliance , such as Test , were given a greater push . Sting would cite this as the reason he would never sign with the WWF despite being offered a contract after seeing other former WCW employees having to " start from the bottom of the ladder again . " In the final Survivor Series main event between the WWF and the Alliance , the Alliance was represented by three WWF wrestlers . Two of three wrestlers , Shane McMahon and Kurt Angle had never wrestled a match for WCW or ECW prior to the Invasion . Only two bona fide WCW or ECW wrestlers , Booker T and Rob Van Dam , were in the match . McMahon , Booker T and Rob Van Dam were the first wrestlers eliminated on the Alliance ' s team , resulting in the last survivors representing the ostensible WCW / ECW entity being two WWF wrestlers .