2001 in WWE was dominated by the poorly booked Invasion storyline, and there were moments in that year that failed to make complete sense.
Arguably the greatest WrestleMania in history, WrestleMania X-Seven occurred in 2001 which was the ultimate highlight of the year. It was also a transitional period with The Rock dipping his toe into the Hollywood scene by filming The Scorpion King.
WCW and ECW ceased to exist with WWE picking up a lot of deadwood that was left from those entities. Moreover, the McMahons continued to dominate TV time but Triple H was the marquee name whose presence was sorely missed after he tore his quadriceps in May. There was huge potential for this to be one of the strongest years in WWE history but it completely missed the mark.
10 Drew Carey Entering The Royal Rumble
The 2001 Royal Rumble match was remembered for Kane's utter sheer dominance by eliminating 11 wrestlers in this contest. The Big Red Machine held the record for the most eliminations for 13 years until Roman Reigns broke it. Nonetheless, comedian Drew Carey appeared backstage and he was declared an entrant in the Rumble.
McMahon broke the news to Lo-Down who were debating to see who would take their rightful place in the Rumble. Carey's appearance was unnecessary and it was a kick in the teeth to people who could have entered the match as Carey eliminated himself once Kane entered the fray.
9 Lita Not Winning The Women's Championship From Chyna
Chyna was an integral figure of DX's success in the early part of the Attitude Era as Triple H and Shawn Michaels' bodyguard. Nonetheless, by the time 2001 rolled around, Chyna transitioned into the women's division. The Ninth of the World captured the Women's Championship from Ivory on the Grandest Stage of Them All at WrestleMania X-Seven.
Lita was Chyna's sternest challenger and she gave Chyna the best match of her career in an outstanding Women's Championship match at Judgment Day. Lita was narrowly close to winning the title but Chyna overpowered Lita in her final match in WWE. The Women's Championship was dormant for six months with Chyna departing the company in November. It would have been logical for Lita to win the title which would have given the women a title to feud over during the Invasion storyline.
8 Booker T Vs. Buff Bagwell Main Eventing Raw
Arguably the biggest star to represent WCW during the lackluster Invasion storyline was Booker T. However, Booker was involved in one of the worst main events in Raw history on July 2nd. Booker defended his WCW Championship against Buff Bagwell.
Arn Anderson and Scott Hudson replaced Jim Ross and Paul Heyman at the commentary booth in a forgettable match. Fans did not react to this match positively and it spelled the end of Bagwell's brief career in WWE. This easily could have been avoided by putting this match earlier on in the show instead of at the end.
7 Not Recruiting Top Stars From WCW
The Invasion storyline was watered down and easily could have been one of the greatest angles in WWE history if it was done correctly. Many of WCW's top talents such as the nWo's Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan were amongst the few who decided to see out the remaining portion of their huge Time Warner contracts.
Endless dream matches could have played out with the likes of Goldberg and Sting feuding with The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Undertaker. The Invasion could have been saved with WCW's finest posing a formidable threat to WWE's best.
6 Pointless Title Changes
With WCW's championships now implemented in WWE programming, there were a plethora of championship matches weekly. It got to the point where it was hard to keep track of who the champions were and how long their reigns were.
Titles were devalued and on some occasions, they were just a prop in a feud. Mercifully, Survivor Series 2001 saw the WWE and WCW Tag Team Championships unified and the Intercontinental Championship merged with the United States Championship.
5 Stephanie McMahon Revealed As ECW Owner
"July 9, 2001, a date that will live in Sports Entertainment Infamy" JR screamed on commentary when Shane McMahon unveiled his sister Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley as the new owner of ECW.
It made little sense for Stephanie to usurp Paul Heyman as the leader of ECW who would have done a better job as Stephanie considering his history with ECW. Nonetheless, the Billion Dollar Princess needed to be featured in a prominent role since her husband Triple H was recovering from his torn quadriceps.
4 Not Putting Rob Van Dam In The Undisputed WWE Championship Tournament
No one received bigger pops than Rob Van Dam in 2001. Van Dam was the most exciting prospect to come out of the Invasion storyline, and he had a magnificent rivalry with Jeff Hardy over the Hardcore Championship in the summer.
Nevertheless, despite being a heel, RVD's acrobatics wowed the fans. Furthermore, after the conclusion of Survivor Series 2001, Van Dam should have been a leading candidate in the Undisputed WWE Championship tournament at Vengeance. There is no denying that Chris Jericho deserved to win the tournament but no one would have begrudged seeing RVD win the title.
3 Stone Cold Steve Austin Turning Heel
Stone Cold Steve Austin was the most polarizing figure in the Attitude Era who was the undisputed face of the company. However, things took a shocking turn when he sided with his sworn enemy, the evil genius Mr. McMahon. The two brutalized The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania X-Seven which saw Austin reclaim the gold in his home state of Texas.
Austin to this day regrets turning heel as it halted his momentum. The Texas Rattlesnake turned his back on WWE by siding with The Alliance at Invasion. This easily could have been avoided had McMahon tempted WCW's biggest stars to terminate their Time Warner contracts early on.
2 The End Of DDP At SummerSlam
Diamond Dallas Page was revealed to be the stalker of The Undertaker's wife Sara. That should have been a monumental moment in DDP's career but it proved to be the death knell. DDP captured the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside US Champion Chris Kanyon and they headed into a high-profile steel cage match with WCW Tag Team Champions The Undertaker and Kane at SummerSlam.
Undertaker and Kane allowed Kanyon to escape, toying with Page like he was the last piece of meat for lions to battle over. Mediocrity set in for DDP straight after this loss but it was an illogical move as DDP could have kickstarted his WWE career by picking up a memorable victory over Undertaker to unify the tag titles with Kanyon.
1 Winner Takes All
The payoff for the Invasion storyline all came to a head at Survivor Series 2001 with a huge Winner Takes All Survivor Series elimination match. Team WWE spearheaded by The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, and Chris Jericho collided with Team Alliance's Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shane McMahon, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Kurt Angle.
Huge implications for the losing side, who would cease to exist. Ultimately, Team WWE won the clearly obvious match but it was pointless. The losing entity was due to no longer appear on WWE with the majority of talent almost instantly reappearing on TV.