WWE legend Matt Hardy has explained why he was glad the WCW-ECW Alliance storyline ended in WWE and how the two brands should have followed the path that WWE and TNA are taking today.
Hardy, on a recent edition of "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" podcast, described why he was not a fan of WCW and ECW joining forces after the two companies were bought by WWE>
"I was glad to get back to kind of dropping the whole Invasion thing. I just ... I wasn't crazy about it. It felt so forced and manufactured because, you know, every week on WWE TV, it was a WCW-ECW Alliance match versus WWE, and I thought that got old pretty quick," said Hardy. "If they could have waited around and gotten a legitimate show, where it had been a WCW or a WCW/ECW Alliance show, and it seemed like two different brands working against one another, that would have been working or having a rivalry with one another that would have been something intriguing."
The TNA star contrasted the ECW-WCW Alliance vs. WWE rivalry to how WWE NXT and TNA have collaborated in recent months following their partnership deal, arguing how both have their dedicated shows, which makes it more legitimate to the viewing audience.
"I think the whole reason this NXT-TNA relationship works so well is because they both have legitimate, separate entities for shows. There's TNA Impact, and then you have the NXT show on every Tuesday. Whenever an NXT talent comes over and maybe does an angle or a story in TNA, or a TNA talent goes over and does a story in NXT, it feels so much more legitimate. It feels so much more real. It feels so much more unpredictable."
The Invasion angle happened in 2001 after WWE CEO Vince McMahon bought out both WCW and ECW, with the two brands forming The Alliance to feud against WWE. The angle eventually ended in Survivor Series, with Team WWE coming out victorious.
