When WWE purchased WCW from Time-Warner, it marked the end of an era. It was a terrible time to be a fan of a company like WCW, an alternative to WWE, and it marked a short time where WWE was a true monopoly in the professional wrestling industry. However, it also marked an exciting time in wrestling when fans fantasy booked the WWE/WCW invasion angle that could have made more money for the wrestling business than any other angle in history.
However, thanks to several bad decisions and some big contracts for WCW's biggest stars, the WCW Invasion died a horrible death. Of course, WWE screwed up by starting the angle in Washington instead of waiting a week, and having it in WCW hotbed Atlanta. But what killed it before it even started was the lack of the biggest WCW stars at that time. Here are 10 wrestlers that were missing from the 2001 Invasion.
10 STING
The one name that could have launched the WCW Invasion angle into the stratosphere, if WWE had booked it right, was Sting. He was the one person in WCW at the time of its demise that had never stepped foot into a WWE ring. According to Sting in later years, he never signed with WWE and rode out his WCW contract because he believed WWE would bury WCW anyway.
Finally, Sting did sign with WWE, and he was right. When Sting battled Triple H at WrestleMania, it was DX vs. nWo, and WWE buried WCW one more time. There is little reason to believe that Sting being in the Invasion would have resulted in anything better — outside of a possible Undertaker match.
9 NATURE BOY RIC FLAIR
The Nature Boy Ric Flair signed with WWE after the Invasion angle of 2001 ended. He was signed to a lucrative WCW contract, and by the time he got out of that deal, the Invasion was over, and WWE had buried WCW once and for all.
As a result, Flair came in and worked an angle feuding with Vince McMahon, wrestling control of the company from the Chairman at one point. However, Flair was nowhere to be seen during the WCW Invasion, and that was a huge loss when it came to fans' perception of WCW at that time.
8 KEVIN NASH
By the time WWE purchased WCW, Scott Hall was gone for numerous personal reasons, but Kevin Nash was still a big part of WCW. However, Nash was under one of the biggest contracts that Time-Warner handed out to wrestlers, and he had no reason to leave the comfort of his own home.
See, if any of the WCW superstars wanted to join WWE, they have to accept a buy-out of their Time Warner contracts (like Diamond Dallas Page agreed to do), and Nash was paid too much to consider that option. Nash did finally make his way to WWE with Hall and Hulk Hogan as the nWo, but that was after the Invasion angle ended.
7 SCOTT STEINER
Scott Steiner was one of the last world champions in WCW history. In 2000, Steiner won his first WCW world title by beating Booker T and was one of the top main event stars in WCW through its final few months of existence. The writing was likely on the wall at the last Monday Nitro when Steiner lost his world title to Booker T.
That is because Booker T went to WWE as the WCW world champion, and Scott Steiner did not. While Booker T helped lead the WCW Invasion of 2001 on WWE television, Steiner chose to sit out and collect his Time Warner contract. Steiner finally came to WWE one year later when the Invasion was over.
6 GOLDBERG
If there is one name that would have sent the fans solidly onto the side of WCW in the Invasion angle (outside of Sting, of course), it is Bill Goldberg. While Diamond Dallas Page was WCW's greatest homegrown star, WWE booked him terribly and against character in the Invasion. They couldn't have screwed up Goldberg, though.
However, Goldberg sat out and collected his Time Warner contract rather than join WWE at the time. He did end up as one of the biggest superstars from WCW to make his name in WWE when he showed up years later and battled The Rock and then came back a decade later to beat Brock Lesnar.
5 LEX LUGER
When Vince McMahon interrupted the final Monday Nitro that WCW ever produced to announce that WWE purchased the company, he asked fans what they thought of different WCW stars coming to WWE. One of the names he mentioned was Lex Luger, and fans were apathetic.
That is no surprise since Lex Luger tried his hand with WWE years before and failed miserably. McMahon wanted Lex to be the next Hulk Hogan, and fans didn't react positively to his arrival. Luger left and returned to WCW, where he was a guest on the first-ever episode of Nitro. He never worked for WWE again.
4 JEFF JARRETT
When Vince McMahon was calling out names of WCW superstars when polling fans on who WWE should bring in, he came to Jeff Jarrett, and fans hated him. Not only that, but Vince threw some solid shade at Double-J when he admitted that he wouldn't bring him in at all and that Jarrett was fired.
Unlike other superstars who had a chance to join WWE or sit out, WWE refused to offer to acquire Jarrett's contract. He had previously left WWE on bad terms and held them up for money when he did. The good news for wrestling fans is that, by skipping the 2001 Invasion, he was there to start his own company in TNA Impact Wrestling, a true alternative to WWE at the time.
3 REY MYSTERIO
Rey Mysterio Jr. is one of the greatest cruiserweight wrestlers in WWE history. As a matter of fact, he won yet another title to add to his collection in 2019 when he beat AJ Styles for the United States Championship. He was also someone who lit the WWE on fire when he won the world title on more than one occasion.
However, he did not leave WCW for WWE when many of his contemporaries, like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, did. He stuck with WCW and was there when the company went under. He wrestled on the final Nitro and then chose not to take part in the Invasion in 2001, instead returning to Mexico and CMLL. He finally joined WWE one year later in 2002.
2 RICK STEINER
Much like Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner was a big part of WCW from the very early days of Monday Nitro to the final episodes of the show's run. He was a babyface and a heel and was solidly entrenched in the mid-card angles, often helping his brother when the need arose. However, also like his brother, Rick chose not to go to WWE for the 2001 Invasion.
While Scott Steiner did finally sign with WWE a year after the Invasion, Rick Steiner chose to remain away. He ended up moving over to Japan to work for NJPW and then had a small run in TNA Impact Wrestling before retiring from full-time competition in 2008.
1 KONNAN
Konnan was a massive star in Mexico before he joined WCW. However, before he decided to make WCW his home, Konnan tried his hand in WWE, where he worked as Max Moon — a character he created on his own. When he chose to leave WWE, they kept the character he created, and it left a bad taste in his mouth.
In WCW, Konnan was a multi-time champion and was part of several factions in the Dungeon of Doom, nWo, No Limit Soldiers, and the Filthy Animals. Konnan wrestled on the final WCW PPV and then returned to the independent scene rather than join the WCW Invasion in WWE.