T.R. just said exactly what I said months before the Invasion happened - that the WCW side had to be babyface in order for the WCW audience to tune in, keep watching, and get converted to the WWF style. They had to set the situations so that WWF fans would cheer with the WCW fans with the WCW guys against the WWF wrestlers the WWF fans loved to hate (did I get that right?).
That even could have worked with the sub-show strategy, if they hadn't openly renamed the July PPV and silently planned for the first intra-fed card at Summerslam (where it would have made more sense to happen from a monetary standpoint). Run with some WCW mini-shows for a month, then have it all go to pot one night in the manner everyone envisioned, and voila. And it's possible the WWF fans would have accepted WCW mini-shows for a while... if given a good product.
Buff Bagwell plunged in the knife, and then Vince and the family turned it a couple of times before pulling it out with the heart.
CRZ NOTABLE QUOTABLE OF THE MONTH: KANE: Triple H...tonight, I will burn the flesh from your body! MICHAEL COLE: OH MY GOD. KANE THREATENING TRIPLE H, SAYING HE'S GONNA BURN THE FLESH FROM HIS BODY! CRZ: Umm, I heard it the FIRST time! -- WWF Smackdown, 9/9/99
Just to go back to a combination of what people here have said, and synthesize:
wCw were intended to be the faces. How bout we have Shane try and come in to a wwF event with some of his boyz, maybe to "introduce them to the wwF boyz" or some other such thing. They get thrown out. Oooohhh, booo, they just want to put on a good show and entertain us all. But Evil Vince won't allow it. Have wCw invade the satelite(Icantspelliknow) truck and run feeds of Booker kicking Benoit's ass in the best of seven series during a Benoit match, as a way to say, "Hey, if they let me in, I'd whoop your ass!" Then, Vince finally relents and says something like "You can have your shot, choose your wrestler wisely, cos if he loses, you don't get another shot." Then Vince sends someone along the lines of Crash Holly out there, just to show he thinks nothing of the wCw guys, then have someone like DDP or Booker get to showcase their offense and completely dismantle him. They have to "earn" their shots the following show, with Vince putting better talent out there each week until you can culminate with the Survivor Series match for, say, control of a whole program. THat's a nice slow build, sets up the roster split, and allows for the wCw guys to get over, but not wholly unrealistically and without in any way shape or form burying the wwF guys. And, when the going got tougher and tougher, then they can bring in the Ecw guys, who work with their former friends already under contract to let them in and generally create havoc with BOTH feds. Then you can have the time honored mole situation and...oh, damn, I'm fantasy booking again.
"I'm bi a lot of things, but lingual's not one of them."
Entrants (since we know Miz is 1) 2: Ezekial Jackson 3: Wade Barrett 30: Randy Orton Longest Time in Rumble: Miz Shortest Time in Rumble: Drew McIntyre Most Eliminations: Sheamus (7) Surprise entrants: