2001 was an odd time to be a wrestling fan; WWE was the only major wrestling company still in business as both WCW and ECW had just become bankrupt and were purchased by Vince McMahon, so it was a strange time because there were few options for wrestling fans to watch on television. However, then something amazing happened – WWE began to start an Invasion storyline, where rival members of both WCW and ECW began to invade WWE events to take over the company. All wrestling fans were  salivating thinking about the opportunity to see wrestling “dream matches” including various stars like Hulk Hogan, Sting, Goldberg and Ric Flair against our favorite WWE superstars.

That is not what we received at all.

Instead, wrestling fans were treated to mainly B-List WCW wrestlers and very few ECW talents haphazardly “invading” matches before the entire storyline ended up being centered around the McMahon family, with the Alliance wrestlers eventually relegated to undercard positions before being let go all together. The storyline is known as one of the biggest missed opportunities in wrestling history, and will go down as a huge let-down in the eyes of wrestling fans. Now that we are over 15 years removed from this angle, the question remains of what happened to all of these wrestlers? While some have enjoyed success, there are also some that have experienced tragedy since the left “The Invasion”.

15 Rob Van Dam – Wrestling On Indies

Rob Van Dam was one of the few wrestlers from The Alliance that was from an outside company who was able to get over with the fans based on his personality and wrestling ability. Beginning from his first match at The Invasion event versus Jeff Hardy in a Hardcore Championship match, fans were instantly enamored with RVD. Since his first appearance with the company in 2001, his relationship with WWE has been a roller coaster – he has gone from being given a shot as WWE Champion, to being pushed down the card due to violations of the Wellness Policy, all the way to being brought in as a “Special Attraction” in 2014.

Since his final WWE appearance, Van Dam has been a mainstay on the independent wrestling circuit, wrestling all over the world as a high-profile performer in the US, Canada and the UK on a weekly basis.

Will he make another return to WWE? It remains to be seen, but he seems to be enjoying himself as a travelling performer.

14 Shawn Stasiak – Chiropractor 

Known as The Alliance’s resident buffoon, it was Shawn Stasiak’s role to be a bumbling fool on television during his time with WWE which quickly relegated him to jobber status – he may have been entertaining while running into walls and tripping over his boots while trying to impress “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, but it was not very successful in endearing himself to fans.

These days, Stasiak has removed himself completely from the wrestling business and runs a chiropractic clinic out of Texas.

Considering his physique while he was a wrestler and how that would presumably give him the ability to manipulate body parts, this is not a bad gig for a former wrestler. Too bad he did not call his practice “Planet Stasiak”, because surely it would have doubled his business levels.

13 Stacy Keibler – Married with Children

Oh Stacy Keibler, quite possibly one of the only reasons to watch WCW during its dying days, how I miss you on my television screen. Undoubtedly one of the most gorgeous women to ever appear on WWE programming, Stacy was most known for her incredibly long legs and her unparalleled physical appeal. While certainly not a gifted wrestler in terms of physical ability, it didn't stop her from becoming one of the most popular members of The Alliance.

Following The Invasion, Stacy was employed by WWE until 2006 when she decided to break off into mainstream media following her appearance on Dancing With The Stars. She was mildly successful after making several television and movie appearances, but instead opted for a quiet family life and currently resides with her husband and young daughter – she has not made a wrestling appearance since 2011.

12 Chuck Palumbo – Mechanic

Chuck Palumbo was rarely featured during the WCW Invasion angle, as he was mostly just a faceless filler in segments when the entire WCW roster was in the ring. After the angle, Palumbo was placed with Billy Gunn to form the team of Billy & Chuck, and eventually he was moved to the F.B.I after Nunzio's debut with the company. Palumbo never amounted to much in WWE and turned to his second love of motor vehicles after retiring from the business.

Palumbo runs a company called CP Kustoms, where he builds his own motorcycles and also repairs and/or customizes bikes and cars. 

Palumbo also had a heroic tale a few years ago, as he saved a woman who was in a car accident by lifting the car, then pulling the woman out of the car. He currently resides in El Cajon, California.

11 Hugh Morrus – Marked with Controversy

Following the Invasion, some former WCW talent were able to craft a decent career for themselves under the WWE banner, and many did not peg Hugh Morrus to be one of those people. Following an inconsequential wrestling career in WWE where he did not accomplish much of note in the ring, Morrus was given the opportunity to coach and train new talent at the WWE Performance Center in 2013 where he was made head trainer. Things started to go off the track in 2015 when multiple allegations of misconduct and abuse were reported from current and previous NXT trainees, stating that Morrus verbally and physically abused talents during training.

The backlash against Morrus got to the point where the #FireDeMott began to trend on Twitter, and despite denying the allegations, Morrus resigned from WWE in order to distance himself from the controversy. Since then, Morrus has not been in contact with WWE. He suffered a terrible tragedy when his 20-year-old daughter was struck by a drunk driver in 2015. He has since become an outspoken advocate against impaired driving.

10 Booker T – Failed Commentator

One of WCW’s prized wrestlers, Booker T has enjoyed an excellent career with WWE following The Invasion, which includes a World Heavyweight Championship run and a place in the WWE Hall of Fame. Following his entry into the Hall of Fame, Booker T began a career as a commentator for WWE on RAW, which is where his career started to take a down-turn.

Not every wrestler has the ability to be a color-commentator, and unfortunately Booker T is one of the wrestlers who should have avoided taking a seat at the table.

His time in the commentator booth was met with jeers from wrestling fans as he would consistently spout out non-sensical comments throughout matches, to the point that he became a running joke. In 2017, Booker T was removed from the RAW commentary team and replaced with Corey Graves, making him voice his displeasure on social media.

9 Lance Storm – Storm Wrestling Academy

If I can be serious for a minute, Lance Storm is one of the few former Invasion members that is still contributing in a very positive way to the wrestling industry. Since 2005, the Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary (dramatic pause) Alberta, Canada has been molding and crafting new professional wrestlers with Storm himself leading the training. With WWE and NXT wrestlers such as Tyler Breeze, Peyton Royce and Oney Lorcan as former Storm Academy graduates, it shows that Storm’s methodic approach to professional wrestling has turned out some great wrestlers. I'm of the mind that Storm never really got a fair shake in WWE, and could really have dominated the mid-card division with his technical wrestling prowess, but I'm glad to know that he is contributing in such a positive way to the wrestlers of tomorrow.

8 Gregory Helms – Podcasting

Stand back, there is a Hurricane coming through your podcast! Well, it appears that is the how Gregory “Hurricane” Helms has been involved in the world of wrestling lately, as his appearances on the Jericho Podcast Network has been the only big way that he is contributing to professional wrestling.

Despite having a surprise appearance in the 2018 Royal Rumble as The Hurricane, it appears that it was only a one-time appearance as he was not offered a contract following the appearance.

Following his final full-time appearance with WWE in 2010, Helms puttered around the independent wrestling scene before making an appearance in TNA’s Total Nonstop Deletion event in 2016. While he was once a hot commodity for the Cruiserweight divisions in WCW and WWE, it seems that the wrestling world has passed Helms by.

7 Diamond Dallas Page – DDP Yoga

Following a very disappointing run in WWE from 2001 to 2002 (including a cringe-inducing run as a stalker following around The Undertaker’s ex-wife), Page did not wrestle full-time for much longer but has instead contributed very positively to the wrestling world through his DDP Yoga training. So many wrestlers that were considered to be knocking on death’s door as a result of their lifestyle choices have Page to thank.

He's turned many lives around with his lifestyle program mixture of rehab, yoga and wellness regime.

Success stories of the DDP Yoga program such as Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Scott Hall have so much to thank Page for, and other current wrestlers like Kane and Chris Jericho swear by his yoga program while on the road to keep themselves limber and in ring shape.

6 Raven – Podcasting

Hmm, I am starting to notice a trend here from former wrestlers who could not seem to get a job back with WWE following The Invasion – Raven also started his own Podcast in 2017 known as The Raven Effect where he discusses professional wrestling and various popular culture in Raven’s signature style. Raven has not made an appearance for WWE since 2003, and has spent most of his time either in TNA where he has spent a total of six years wrestling for them in various capacities, as well as the independent circuit where he is still in fairly high demand across the United States.

Like many of the wrestlers on this list, WWE missed the mark with what could be accomplished with Raven as a performer but he appears to be happy in his role living on the outskirts of mainstream wrestling.

5 Torrie Wilson – Fitness Guru

The Women’s Royal Rumble in 2018 did so many things for Women’s Wrestling, but one of the main things that it accomplished was to help me realize just how much I still love Torrie Wilson! One of only two women from WCW to take part in The Invasion, Torrie was one of the move popular Divas in WWE throughout her career. Not to be confused for her wrestling ability as Torrie mainly competed in gimmick matches featuring swimsuits, she was still a very beloved woman in WWE who ended up remaining with WWE until 2008 when she would retire from the wrestling business altogether, only making part-time appearances with the company. These days Torrie has created her own brand of fitness and athletic coaching, where despite being in her early-40s she is still looking amazing due to her dedication to fitness.

4 Buff Bagwell – Still Wrestling

Now is when things start to get a little bit sad – there are numerous wrestlers that were involved in The Invasion storyline who have hung up their boots due to their ages catching up with them, unless your name is Marcus “Buff” Bagwell. Despite being known for his limited wrestling abilities, (which essentially got him fired from WWE after only one appearance on Monday Night RAW), Bagwell is still trolling around the independent wrestling circuit in an attempt to continue to profit off of his time in mainstream professional wrestling.

Not only this, but he has made several attempts to “go viral” over the past several years in the ring, such as his attempt at using high-risk maneuvers – take a look here at him hitting a Canadian Destroyer piledriver on Ethan Page during a show for Absolute Intense Wrestling. Sorry Buff, but we are still not big fans of “The Stuff”.

Bagwell has said though, that he will finally hang em up once his "retirement tour" ends in May.

3 Nick Patrick – Removed Completely from Wrestling

Welcome to The Invasion, where even the referees had gimmicks. Remember Nick Patrick? The evil wrestling referee from The Alliance who cheated during matches to help his former WCW wrestlers win, and who even had a match versus WWE referee Earl Hebner at The Invasion event?

Well, it seems that despite him being one of the most recognizable bad-guys during The Invasion, Nick Patrick has completely removed himself from the world of wrestling following his WWE release in 2008.

He made some small appearances for local promotions in his hometown of Georgia, but has decided to stay out of the limelight and pursue other interests. You have to admit though – didn’t you absolutely hate him during The Invasion?

2 Justin Credible – Recently Retired (multiple times)

This list reads like a who’s-who of wrestlers that WWE did not accomplish much with following The Invasion. Despite being a former ECW World Champion and booked strongly while under Paul Heyman’s booking, Credible was relegated to WWE’s Hardcore division for the majority of his tenure, and only appeared for one match during WWE’s reboot of the ECW brand despite being a recognizable name for the brand. Following his release from WWE, Credible puttered around the independent wrestling scene for the rest of his career, before doing what many great wrestlers before him had done – retiring, and then dramatically returning back to the ring before retiring once again.

His latest stint was in 2017 where returned to ECPW for an ECW-style tag team match featuring The Sandman and New Jack before disappearing again. Hey, if it worked for Terry Funk, why not Justin Credible?

1 Bryan Clark – Suing WWE

While we wish that every wrestler who has ever appeared for WWE could have a happy ending, it is unfortunately not the case. When the team of KroniK appeared in WWE during The Invasion, it was only a one-time appearance for Brian Adams and Bryan Clark during Unforgiven 2001, and unfortunately their appearance was very poorly received and they exited the company as quickly as they had returned. During their appearances with the company during this time, both men were found to have suffered head injuries, which contributed to their careers ending shortly afterwards.

Following retirement, Clark would go on to be a part of a class-action lawsuit against WWE for the injuries that he received while working for them, which is still under litigation.

On an even sadder note, Adams would pass away as a result of an accidental overdose in 2007.