I think in the long run I don't have too much of a problem with WCW and ECW eventually forming the Alliance. This is ultimately the climax of Vince McMahon's 20-year arc of destroying all competition, and in the end it should be the WWF triumphant over one final force. But to tease the idea of a 3-way battle and not even humor us with ANY follow-through really was a letdown.
Working from the framework of "Must start at Invasion, must end at Survivor Series," I think maybe it could go like this:
1.) Invasion should have been purely WWF vs. WCW, with WCW gaining a slight upper hand
2.) Then introduce ECW as a chaotic third element to make Summerslam a 3-way struggle.
3.) ECW afterward sides with the WWF against WCW (I mean really, both companies hated WCW more than each other anyway) as Vince brokers a deal with ECW to wipe out their natural enemy and then work on co-existing, maybe even promising them a timeslot.
3.) WWF + ECW Alliance turns the tide at Unforgiven.
4.) Sensing defeat, in the ensuing month WCW starts to woo ECW under the pretense that Vince's history proves that there will be no peace after this war, and at No Mercy ECW turns on the WWF, forms The Alliance with WCW, and again turns the tide.
5.) Survivor Series pretty much goes as it did.
Still TONS of holes to fill but just doing some light fantasy booking to make the angle more dynamic and meaningful. I mean, really, the entire "ECW" faction of the Invasion was really meaningless after that first night aside from padding out the WCW side with some more WWF guys and giving an excuse to throw RVD into the mix (which admittedly was a pretty big part of the angle).
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Thank you, Eddie Guerrero.
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