WRESTLEMANIA X-8: WWF VS. WCW THE FINAL CONFLICT
Had the WCW Invasion been able to utilize the proper talents, this is what I would have had it build to.
And no, I wouldn't have had Shane McMahon buy the company. I wouldn't have had them merge with ECW (I probably would have saved the ECW stuff for after the WCW Invasion, lime immediately after). And I certainly would never have had Austin turn heel to lead the WCW Faction. If anybody from WWF was going to join the WCW group, it would have been someone like Big Show who was a World Champ over there or Chris Jericho whose character really came to live over in WCW.
I will also try to stay as realistic as possible as talents like Chris Benoit, Scott Steiner, & a couple of others were unavailable due to injuries and guys like Savage & Bret were already long retired by this point.
Matches are also in reverse order from Main Event to Opening Bout.
WWF CHAMPION VS. WCW CHAMPION: AN UNDISPUTED CHAMPION TO BE CROWNED
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WWF) Vs. Goldberg (WCW)
- Obviously this would have been a huge match. The two poster boys for the two major companies while they were both red hot in 1998. Who didn't want to see this match? Not saying it would have been a mat classic, but it would have had a big match feel for sure. Also, without the ill advised Austin heel turn (and hopefully without the creation of the What chants), Austin's character would have still been red hot and going into one of his most anticipated showdowns.
Austin wins in 15min
Music Act Break
TEAM WWF VS. TEAM WCW: 5 VS. 5 TAG TEAM MATCH
Team WWF (Captain Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Kane, Christian, & a Mystery Partner) w/Vince McMahon
Vs. Team WCW (Captain Diamond Dallas Page, The Giant, Mike Awesome, Lance Storm, & Raven) w/Eric Bischoff
- The winning faction here secures full ownership of the complete Wrestling Federation, either Vince McMahon or Eric Bischoff. I have most of the big stars off elsewhere on this card, so this is a chance to showcase the midcard guys like Awesome, Storm, & Christian, who probably normally wouldn't have much to do. I have DDP as captain because, well, he is a big WCW icon. I would have The Big Show defect to WCW and become The Giant once again, and because of that, other former WCW stars within the WWF are under suspicion and a lot of it is placed on Jericho prior to this match taking place. Raven also defects from WWF to WCW where he had greater success. And who is the mystery partner for Team WWF? Well I know he debuted with the company in 2001 as part of the ECW faction, but since I am not doing that in my version, the debut never takes place. The obvious answer is none other than ROB-VAN-DAM! Have him debut at Wrestlemania and make a HUGE impact in the match to showcase what he brings to the company on a grand stage.
Team WWF wins in 15min
WWF VS. WCW BIKINI CONTEST
Trish Stratus, Terri Runnels, Stacy Keibler, & Torrie Wilson
- SMUT! TITS! ASSES!!! That's all we got here! Just use this to kill time and buffer the main events.
ICON VS. ICON
The Rock Vs. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan
- Don't change a thing about this. This is the one thing from this Wrestlemania that was perfect. I would have utilized the nWo in the Invasion storyline, possibly as a secret weapon of WCW's or an independent faction altogether, but the end game of Hogan Vs. Rock would have been the same.
Rock wins in 16min
THE DEADMAN VS. THE ENIGMA
The Undertaker Vs. Sting
w/Ric Flair as Guest Enforcer
- THIS would have been the PERFECT time to do Sting Vs. Taker. Taker was going into his 10th Mania here, and Sting would have been an outstanding opponent for him. The Flair stuff was good, but Flair was over the hill by that point. So much so that him beating Taker would have been viewed as an idiotic move. I would have much rather seen this encounter, especially because Undertaker was doing The American Bad Ass schtick at the time. Who better to draw The Dead Man out of Undertaker than the mysterious Crow Sting? I can just picture Undertaker having a match on Raw one week in mid 2001 and Sting just shows up in the crowd and in full Crow gear just to stay silent and point his bat at Taker. The segments for this feud would be worth it in of itself (still would be quite honestly). And no, I don't have Flair wrestling on htis card because quite honestly, he looked ancient even by this point. He wasn't incapable in the ring, but it was still weird to watch. So a guy with a ton of history with Sting, I'd have him as the law and order of this match just to add some flavor to it.
Undertaker wins to go 10-0 in 18min
Music Act Break
D-GENERATION X VS. THE OUTSIDERS: STREETFIGHT
Triple H & Shawn Michaels Vs. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
- Yeah, I am going to use Shawn Michaels here. It is a bit of a stretch BUT he did come back later that year and I am sure they would have used him had the Invasion angle gone all the way to Wrestlemania. It would have been a natural thing to do to sort of do a battle of the Kliq and bringing back both Shawn Michaels & Triple H (from his quad injury) and putting them together at Wrestlemania would have been HUGE for this angle. Also, given the history of these four men and the two factions, it is just a natural fit.
DX wins in 13min
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP
Lita Vs. Jazz
- Well WCW didn't really have any girls outside of the hot non wrestling blondes like Torrie Wilson & Stacy Keibler. So this is all I got here. As for Trish, honestly, she wasn't quite the polished talent she would eventually turn into yet. She was getting there, but there was still room for improvement.
Jazz wins in 6min
TAG TEAM TURMOIL MATCH FOR UNIFIED WWF/WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Hardy Boyz Vs. The Dudley Boyz Vs. The APA Vs. Harlem Heat Vs. Kronik Vs. The Natural Born Thrillers
- I probably would have burned through all the big tag team pairings by this point. Quite honestly, I know they had a terrible match with Taker & Kane at a PPV in Fall 01, but I really liked Kronik and I probably would have given them another chance. At their best, they could have done some cool stuff with the APA, who they are similar to, or the Hardys who they can throw around. And yes, I would have been tempted to bring in Booker T as part of Harlem Heat. To me, I'd rather have him showcased as part of what he was best known for rather than being brought in as the guy that was champion when the company died a horrible death. Plus, they and The Outsiders & The Steiners (who I can't use) were the only major tag teams WCW had in the 90s that had significant runs, so I would have gone that route. And you got these six teams going at it for the gold. What is wrong with that?
Since I have WWF almost sweeping this show, lets give the win here to Harlem Heat in 30min
INTERCONTINENTAL & UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP: UNIFICATION MATCH
Edge (IC) Vs. Mr. Perfect (US)
- I don't understand how the WWF can get Curt Hennig back on the roster and then do nothing with him. He was still in great shape, could still go, and I would have loved to see him work with someone like Edge who quite honestly deserved a bigger match than a feud over a shampoo commercial.
Edge wins in 12min
CRUISERWEIGHT BATTLE ROYAL FOR UNIFIED LHW/CW CHAMPIONSHIPS
Rey Mysterio Jr. Vs. Psichosis Vs. Juventud Guerrera Vs. Chavo Guerrero Vs. Syxx-Pac Vs. Justin Credible Vs. Stevie Richards Vs. Scotty Too Hotty Vs. Billy Kidman Vs. The Hurricane
- Obviously the WCW Faction would pretty much dominate this match as there wasn't that much to work with on the WWF side of things, but just let the high flyer types go crazy in there. This would be the opener.
Mysterio wins in 13min
PRESHOW SUNDAY NIGHT HEAT MATCH: EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Williams Regal -c- Vs. Kanyon
- I always liked Kanyon and I feel bad that his life & career turned out the way it did. This card is way loaded as it is, so not much room for the Euro title on the main card, BUT it would make a nice preshow match, no? Let them just have a solid match with Kanyon winning the Euro title to shift the momentum to WCW prior to the show.
Kanyon wins in 7min
Now part of what was unavoidable here is that the WWF does pretty much sweep all the big matches, pretty much out of necessity. I have this as the end of the WCW Invasion (with the ECW Invasion starting up being the major angle the next night on Raw, led by Paul Heyman & his new crown jewel Brock Lesnar) so because it is the end, WWF has to go over big here.
