Kurt Angle On Whether WCW Brand Would’ve Worked In WWE, Backstage Reaction To Steve Austin’s Heel Turn At Invasion 2001

On a recent edition of The Kurt Angle Show, Kurt Angle discussed whether a WCW brand would’ve worked in WWE, the invasion storyline in 2001, and much more. You can read his comments below. 

Kurt Angle on whether he thinks a WCW brand could’ve worked in WWE: “I don’t know. The fans are so smart that they know WWE purchased WCW. When there’s a ratings war and there are two companies with two different owners, the fans get excited. They want to see and compare the companies. But when one company buys up every other company, the excitement is gone. It’s no longer the real WCW or the real ECW. It’s WWE’s version of WCW, or WWE’s version of ECW. I think that’s the reason why it didn’t work either time.”

On Vince ending the invasion storyline too early: “I think WWE could’ve went a little further with the invasion. I think if they would’ve continued on, they would have made a lot more money because it was very intriguing to the fans. There’s no doubt about that. They wanted to see WCW vs. WWE. I am surprised Vince ended it abruptly and that he didn’t continue on with it. But I know we have pay-per-views like SummerSlam that were more of its own theme than what we would call it – SummerSlam Invasion? We have the four top pay-per-views per year, and I don’t think Vince wanted to tap into those with the invasion angle.”

On the 10-man tag team main event at Invasion 2001 and Steve Austin’s heel turn: “I remember that it was crazy. Austin being injured, them not mentioning it on TV, trying to get Undertaker out of the arena to protect him – there were so many bells and whistles in this match that it could get quite confusing. I thought the match was put together very well and everybody performed at their very best. It was as good as it could’ve been…..but that’s one thing I did wanna say, and that’s the finish did suck. Not having the proper finish and having Austin turn heel – it was a little scary. I think Vince took a chance, and I’m not sure he hit a grand slam on this one. I think he whiffed pretty hard. This was an opportunity to have a great finish and structured finish and something that would be memorable forever, and it wasn’t. The finish was crappy.”

On the backstage reaction to the match: “That was more of the environment. Did we really do the right thing? It just came off as…..it wasn’t an exciting finish. Turning Austin heel again was just ridiculous. I just felt like there was an opportunity to have a great finish and very memorable one, but it just didn’t happen that night. I think a lot of the talent was a little confused by it.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit The Kurt Angle Show with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.