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Originally Posted by Gorgeous Dale Newstead
Very valid point, which I kind of alluded to at the end of my post. I think in all actuality, WCW dying and Vince buying it was wrestling as a whole jumping the shark because really, it killed the fun of it all and WWE didn't have to be all that good anymore. But I think the ultimate embodiment of that fact was Austin turning heel like any other wrestler, when in all actuality this guy was the biggest star in history, and one thing he should never had done until there was no other option, maybe years and years down the line, was side with Vince McMahon.
Think about it, it took Hulk Hogan (including his AWA days) from like 1983 or something to 1996 to turn heel, and he only turned heel when he really wasn't over as a face anymore. I know it was a different time and slower moving, but jeez have some integrity Vince! You won't turn John Cena heel, who gets booed out of the building (though I can see where he's coming from), but you'll turn Steve Austin heel only 4 years after he started his face run.
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I didn't like the decision but I understand why it was done.
Austin was winding down and they felt like they needed to do something different, something shocking. Part of the failure was bad luck. HHH had been built up as someone who could turn face. The Austin heel turn and alliance with HHH would have worked much better if HHH didn't tear his quad and turned face. After Hunter went down and Rock disappeared, they went the comedy route. I think the bigger mistake was making Angle a comedy character as well. I was always wonder how big Angle could have been as a legit American hero if he was a serious fighter instead of a guy who drank milk and looked goofy. Nobody could have predicted it, but 9/11 could have pushed a legit badass Kurt Angle over the top.
As for The Invasion, looking back I think WWE gets blasted unfairly for that booking. The WCW roster available to them was dogshit. In no way would it make sense for WWE to allow legit icons of the era to lose to guys like Booker T and DDP. Yeah they could have dumped money at the real stars, but doing so would have screwed up their own payroll. Oh Nash gets paid double and works half the dates, I want that too. Before you know you recreated WCW where the real stars don't go on the road. In the long run I honestly believe that would have crippled their business.
I know people like to put on their fantasy booking hats and pretend like things like money and morale are not important, but they are. So in my mind Vince made the right call long term. The other factor is people always say they should have let WCW come in and dominate WWE. But those people don't understand branding. WCW allowed their brand to be tarnished by the nWo. Nash talks a lot about how the booking at the time was to build more and more heat. Most so called experts say that's how WCW v WWE should have been booked. When you look at how little value the letters WCW had post nWo you will see Vince made the right long term call burying then.