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Review of Guest Booker...Jim Cornette And The Invasion Angle

Posted: Sep 3rd 2009 By: CMBurnham

March 2001 was the end of an era when World Championship Wrestling, the former Crockett Mid-Atlantic territory of the previous decades, was sold by AOL/Time Warner to its chief rival World Wrestling Federation. This was what wrestling fans including me had been waiting for, the chance to see the stars of WCW finally face off with WWF stars in the ultimate WrestleMania. The "Monday Night War" wasn't going to end, WWF would keep Nitro on the air and wage war with WCW, right? Anyone who has watched wrestling since 2001 and read the books and seen other DVD's (a review on one will be written soon) knows what really happened. How WWF refused to buy out the top WCW talent contracts from AOL/TW for their face value, how it caved into pressure from its TV network to bury Nitro/Thunder and how internal pressure from his wrestlers and writers made Vince McMahon destroy WCW by that year's Survivor Series PPV. Now thanks to the Guest Booker series from KayfabeCommentaries.com we get to find out what would have happened if the Invasion angle was handled correctly. The Guest Booker is the man who was running the WWF developmental program in 2001 Jim Cornette.

After giving host Sean Oliver background on his place in wrestling in 2001 and how he got his start in wrestling, Cornette spends two discs booking the Invasion storyline in his vision from the last WCW Nitro in Panama City, FL. Cornette goes forward with the reality that WWF bought out all of the WCW guaranteed contracts (I mean everyone from Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair to Goldberg and Eric Bischoff) and all were willing to do what they were asked by WWF and Cornette/McMahon. Plus the WWF was able to keep WCW Nitro/Thunder on the air and book house shows. I feel Cornette is perfect for this spot since he was in the company in several capacities (is that a word) and saw how bad things went from the moment Mike Awesome, DDP and Booker T showed up on WWE TV. He has the business knowledge having worked under great minds like Dusty Rhodes, Jerry Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, Bill Watts and well Vince McMahon. He has some interesting ideas, some great match ideas, some a bit far fetched, but its his Guest Booker show so I will oblige him and not bury them here. In between breaths (which are few and far between) Cornette gives his thoughts on Vince McMahon and his family, Vince Russo, Johnny Laurinitis and the rosters of WWF, WCW and ECW. Bottom line: this is the best Guest Booker DVD to date and that's hard to say with the likes of Gary Hart, Jerry Jarrett, JJ Dillion and Raven also in the series. Next up on the website for release is YouShoot with New Jack and Timeline: History of the WWE 1983. Checkout www.kayfabecommentaries.com

Tags: WCW, WWF, Jim Cornette, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Jerry Lawler, Bill Watts, ECW, Gary Hart,