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| The WCW and ECW logos used during the Invasion storyline saw WCW use a all-new logo and ECW used a purple version of it's already existing logo |
THE ALLIANCE
Name(s): The Alliance, WCW x ECW Alliance, The Coalition, Team WCW, Team WCW/ECW, WECW
The Alliance, also known as Team WCW/ECW and The Coalition, was a villainous professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) and Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) that existed during the Invasion storyline from May 2001 until November 2001.
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 later brought in to help boost the presence of WCW after the original ECW closed it's doors in April 2001.
HISTORY:
The original plan for the Invasion storyline would have seen 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 program, RAW is WAR and rebrand it as it's own television show, while the WWF would retain control over SmackDown! as their own show. To test the waters for this, the final 20 minutes of the July 2nd, 2001 episode 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 World Championship (which he had won on the final episode of Monday Nitro). This continued later that week on SmackDown!, where Gregory Helms lost the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship to Billy Kidman and Booker defended the WCW Championship against Diamond Dallas Page.
The Booker T and Buff Bagwell match, however, was very poorly received by both the television viewers and the live crowd in the arena, sports journalist Michael Landsberg reported that may have called the bout "the worst match ever". The two other WCW matches also received negative fan reactions. The decision was then made to make WCW a heel group who was out to destroy the WWF. On the July 9th 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 the WWF as a heel, as part of a stalker angle with Undertaker and his then-wife Sara).
Later that night, during a tag team match pitting Chris Jericho and Kane against WCW's Lance Storm and Mike Awesome, former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) stars Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer interfered and attacked Jericho and Kane. Justin Credible, Raven, Tazz, Rhino and The Dudley Boys (Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) (all ECW alumni) came to the ring shortly thereafter and joined Van Dam and Dreamer in attacking Jericho and Kane and RAW is WAR color commentator Paul Heyman announced that together, he was forming an ECW team to take on the feuding WWF and WCW factions.
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 20-man brawl between Team WWF (Hardcore Holly, Big Show, APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw) 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 it's name on-air) were still being debated in bankruptcy court at the 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".
At the Invasion pay-per-view event, Team Alliance (Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Rhino and The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) defeated Team WWF (Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Kane and Chris Jericho) in a 10-man Tag Team Match billed as the "Inaugural Brawl". During the match, Austin turned on the WWF and joined The Alliance, helping them score the victory, after about a week of teasing a face turn.
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. 10 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 29th episode of RAW is WAR.
In late-October, both sides agreed to end things once and for all. A "Winner Takes All" classic Survivor Series elimination tag team match was then set for the Survivor Series 2001 pay-per-view event, with the losing company going out of business forever. In addition, two title unification matches were signed, as the WCW Tag Team Championship and the WWF World Tag Team Championship were to be unified in a match between The Dudley Boyz (WCW) and The Hardy Boyz (WWF), while Edge and Test would meet in a match to unify Edge's WCW United States Championship and Test's WWF Intercontinental Championship. Further, 20 WWF and Alliance members would square off in what was called the "Immunity Battle Royale", with the winner of the match keeping his job for one year regardless of whether his team won or not.
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 with 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 Royale 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 World Tag Team Championship, Stacy Keibler (the Dudleys manager), Rob Van Dam, who at the time was the WWF Hardcore Champion, Christian, who at the time was the WWF European Champion, Immunity Battle Royale winner Test and Alliance Commissioner William Regal who was forced to join the "Mr. McMahon Kiss My Ass Club" to keep his job in the WWF. Some of them would be hired back over the next couple of months, with the majority of them returning when the brand extension began in 2002. 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 following night on RAW is WAR, 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 in the show, he resumed his rivalry with Steve 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 WWF, along with McMahon. After bring "fired", Shane walked out on his own and congratulated his father for his victory, and spent most of the next 18 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 to the company and began appearing again shortly after the return of her then on-screen husband Triple H in January 2002, which led to a 3-month long feud that ended shortly after WrestleMania X8.
One of the most important changes following Survivor Series 2001 was the removal of the WCW branding from The Rock's WCW Championship, with the title being simply known as the World Championship. Co-Owners McMahon and Flair decided that since there was now two championships in the company, a tournament would be set up at Vengeance 2001 in December to crown an Undisputed WWF Champion. Current WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin was to take on Kurt Angle while World Champion The Rock was to take on Chris Jericho, with the winners 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 the WWF Championship. Jericho, thanks to a returning Booker T, defeated Austin to become the first Undisputed WWF Champion. Following the crowning of the inaugural WWF Undisputed Champion, mentions of WCW and The Alliance ceased on WWF programming.
MEMBERS OF THE ALLIANCE:
| Member | Alignment | Joined | Left | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arn Anderson | WCW | WCW Color Commentator | ||
| Billy Kidman | WCW | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Billy Silverman | WCW | Referee | ||
| Booker T | WCW | June 24, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | First Leader |
| Brian Adams | WCW | September 4, 2001 | September 30, 2001 | |
| Brian Hebner | WCW | Referee | ||
| Bryan Clark | WCW | September 4, 2001 | September 30, 2001 | |
| Bubba Ray Dudley | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Buff Bagwell | WCW | July 1, 2001 | July 9, 2001 | |
| Charles Robinson | WCW | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | Referee |
| Chavo Guerrero | WCW | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Chris Kanyon | WCW | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Christian | WCW | October 15, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Chuck Palumbo | WCW | June 28, 2001 | October 25, 2001 | |
| Dave Taylor | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| D-Von Dudley | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Debra | WCW | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Diamond Dallas Page | WCW | June 18, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Elix Skipper | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Evan Karagias | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Gregory Helms/Hurricane Helms/The Hurricane | WCW | July 5, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Hugh Morrus | WCW | June 4, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Ivory | WCW | August 6, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Jamie Knoble | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Jason Jett/E. Z. Money | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Jazz | ECW | November 18, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Jimmy Yang | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Johnny Stamboli | WCW | July 12, 2001 | Member of Team WCW in HWA | |
| Justin Credible | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Kaz Hayashi | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Kid Romeo | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Kurt Angle | WCW | October 29, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Kwee Wee | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Lance Storm | ECW | May 28, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Lash LeRoux | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Mark Jindrak | WCW | July 2001 | Member of Team WCW in HWA | |
| Mighty Molly | WCW | October 1, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Mike Awesome | ECW | June 25, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Mike Sanders | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Nick Patrick | WCW | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | Referee |
| Paul Heyman | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | Raw Is War Color Commentator |
| Raven | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Reno | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Rhyno | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Rob Van Dam | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Scott Hudson | WCW | WCW Play-by-Play Commentator | ||
| Sean O'Haire | WCW | June 28, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Shane McMahon | WCW | May 28, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | WCW Owner |
| Shannon Moore | WCW | Member of Team WCW in HWA | ||
| Shawn Stasiak | WCW | July 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Stacy Keibler | WCW | June 14, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Stephanie McMahon | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | ECW Owner |
| Steven Richards | WCW | September 4, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | WCW | July 22, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | Second Leader |
| Tazz | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 8, 2001 | SmackDown! Color Commentator |
| Terri | ECW | August 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Test | WCW | August 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Tommy Dreamer | ECW | July 9, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | |
| Torrie Wilson | WCW | June 28, 2001 | August 30, 2001 | |
| William Regal | WCW | October 8, 2001 | November 18, 2001 | Alliance Commissioner |
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| DDP and Kanyon | Diamond Dallas Page Chris Kanyon | 2001 | Tag Team |
| KroniK | Brian Adams Bryan Clark | 2001 | Tag Team |
| O'Haire and Palumbo | Chuck Palumbo Sean O'Haire | 2001 | Tag Team |
| The Dudley Boyz | Bubba Ray Dudley D-Von Dudley | 2001 | Tag Team |
- Heartland Wrestling Association:
- HWA Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) - Jamie Knoble
- HWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - E.Z. Money
- HWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore
- World Wrestling Federation:
- WCW World Championship (2 times) - Booker T
- WCW World Cruiserweight Championship (3 times) - Gregory Helms (1) and Billy Kidman (2)
- WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (4 times) - Booker T (1), Chris Kanyon (1), Rhyno (1) and Kurt Angle (1)
- WCW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire (1), Booker T and Test (1) and The Dudley Boyz (1)
- WWF Championship (2 times) - Stone Cold Steve Austin
- WWF European Championship (2 times) - The Hurricane (1) and Christian (1)
- WWF Hardcore Championship (4 times) - Mike Awesome (1) and Rob Van Dam (3)
- WWF Intercontinental Championship (3 times) - Lance Storm (1), Christian (1) and Test (1)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (4 times) - The Dudley Boyz (2), Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon (1) and Booker T and Test (1))
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