During the November 19th edition of RAW, Ric Flair, the 16 times world champion, made a triumphant return to both pro-wrestling and the WWF in his home town of Charlotte, North Carolina. During the show Vince McMahon was about to strip Steve Austin of the WWF title for not showing up and award it to Kurt Angle when Ric Flair's music (the theme from '2001') began to play. Flair said that both Stephanie & Shane McMahon had sold their stocks to him and therefore he was now a business partner with Vince McMahon, just then Austin came out to attack Angle & McMahon, Flair presented Austin with the title and the pair proceeded to drink beer together. Also on the show Jerry 'The King' Lawler returned to the WWF having quit the company in February, he took over commentating duties from the 'fired' Alliance's Paul Heyman. William Regal literally kissed Vince McMahon's ass to keep his job, and on a sad note Mick Foley resigned as commissioner and parted company with the WWF. The next evening during the recording of Smackdown, the new co-owner of the WWF, Ric Flair, stated that at the next PPV 'Vengeance' the two world heavyweight championship's will be unified so that we have one great champion. So on December 9th, The Rock will defend the World's title (formerly the wCw title) against Jericho, and Austin will defend the WWF title against Angle, the winners of those two matches will then face each other to unify the championships!

On the October 8th recording of RAW Steve Austin regained the WWF title that he lost to Kurt Angle at Unforgiven for a joint record 6th time! (He holds the record with The Rock). Austin defeated Angle after Regal hit Angle with the WWF belt and thus joined the Alliance. The next night during the Smackdown recordings Linda McMahon fired Regal and appointed Mick Foley as WWF commissioner once again and one of his 1st acts was to make a WWF title triple-threat match between Austin, Angle & RVD at No Mercy on October 21st. Other matches now signed for No Mercy include, The Rock defending the WCW title against Chris Jericho as the two recently fell out during a tag team match against Shane McMahon & RVD when Y2J accidentally struck The Rock with a chair. Christian defending the IC belt against Edge in a ladder match. The Undertaker versus Booker T, Test versus Kane, and Torrie Wilson versus Stacy Keibler in a lingerie match! I'd also expect the following to be involved in the event, WCW tag champs The Hardyz, who beat Booker & Test for the straps on RAW due to outside interference from The Undertaker. WWF tag champs The Dudleyz and Big Show & Spike who have been feuding of late. European champ Hurricane Helms, who recently stole Spike's girlfriend Molly. US champ Rhyno, and Billy Kidman who returned from injury this week on Smackdown to defeat X-Pac for the WCW Cruiserweight title.

The card for Summerslam is shaping up nicely as we have four matches confirmed thus far. Austin will defend his WWF title against Kurt Angle, WCW Champion Booker T will take on The Rock, Jericho will take on Rhyno, and two newly crowned tag champs will do battle as DDP & Kanyon take on Undertaker & Kane. The two teams became champions this week on Smackdown when Page & Kanyon defeated The Acolytes for the WWF belts with help from Test, who as previously reported did indeed join the Alliance. 'Taker & Kane also became new champions when they beat Palumbo & O'Hare for their WCW titles. The poster for the WWF's September PPV 'Unforgiven' suggests that Austin's growing paranoia is set to continue as it features three faces of the Rattlesnake and the tag line "The greatest battles are fought from within", should be interesting

In other news, has anyone noticed how all the WWF & WCW titles have been frantically changing hands since the emergence of the WCW/ECW alliance, apart that is from Matt Hardy's European strap that he's held since April 24th, but hasn't recently defended? X-Pac recently took Kidman's WCW Cruiserweight title only to lose his other title, the WWF Light-Heavyweight belt, to Tajiri on this week's RAW. ECW's Lance Storm and Rob Van Dam have the WWF's Intercontinental & Hardcore titles respectively, and Kanyon has the WCW US belt, but what's happened to the WWF Women's title now that it looks as though Chyna won't be coming back? I think it's fair to say that since the 4 WCW title's have been added to the mix of the WWF's 7, that the crowd has become more than a little convoluted with the main casualties being the European and Women's title. One possible answer to this problem might be to unify the WWF's Intercontinental and European title's into the 'Euro-Continental' title sported by previous joint title-holders, Kurt Angle & D'Lo Brown. Then you could have the Hardcore & Women's titles as inter-promotional, which would mean each organisation would have 4 main titles and two shared, it will be interesting to see how the WWF handles this situation in the coming months.

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As expected, The Rock did indeed return on the July 30th edition of RAW, but the burning question was, would he return to the WWF or join the WCW/ECW alliance? In a stand-off with Vince and Shane McMahon, Shane reminded The Rock how Vince had betrayed him in the past, and Vince told him to trust the people because his future was with the WWF. Vince then told Rocky to give the people what they want, so he gave Vince the 'Rock-Bottom!' Then just as it seemed he had joined the alliance and was shaking Shane's hand, he gave him a 'Rock-Bottom' as well and the 'People's Elbow!' stating "finally The Rock has come back to the WWF" showing his allegiance to the WWF. Also on RAW, Booker T defeated Kurt Angle for his 5th WCW World Heavyweight title with help from 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, and X-Pac defeated Kidman to capture the WCW Cruiserweight title to go with his WWF Light-Heavyweight title.

On the July 24th recording of Smackdown, Kurt Angle shocked the wrestling world when he pinned Booker T for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship making him one of only a handful of men, including Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, to have held both the WCW and WWF World Titles. Ric Flair was the first man to have held both belts when he captured the WWF title in 1992 having already been the WCW Champion. Hulk Hogan was next in 1994, winning the WCW title having defected there as a former WWF champion. Randy Savage matched his accomplishment in '95, as did Kevin Nash (Diesel) in '98. In '99 Paul Wight (The Giant/Big Show) became the 2nd ex-WCW champ to win the WWF belt and Bret Hart and 'Sycho' Sid (Vicious) were the next former WWF champ's to win the WCW title in '99 and 2000 respectively. This puts Angle among a very elite group of wrestlers and leaves Booker T with no belts as he had 'awarded' his US title to Chris Kanyon earlier that evening. It also sets up some potential main-event matches for Summerslam, as Booker T will be eager to regain his title from Angle, and The Rock, due back this coming Monday on RAW from Philadelphia, could be taking on Steve Austin.

As stated on the July 23rd edition of RAW, The Rock has been reinstated into the WWF so we should be able to expect him back very soon, possibly as soon as next weeks RAW! During his absence The Rock has filmed 'The Scorpion King' (due to hit cinemas during spring 2002) and his wife has given birth to their first child. We can expect The Rock to have a substantial role at this year's Summerslam on August 19th as he is pictured on the poster for the event (below) with the word's 'finally' in the background.

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Steve Austin once again lived up to his motto of D.T.A (Don't trust anyone) when he turned on his WWF team mates to give team WCW/ECW the victory at the Invasion PPV. The next night on the July 23rd RAW, Austin was revealed as the new leader of the WCW/ECW alliance. He said that he had turned on the WWF because Vince had been phoning The Rock behind his back and therefore he had decided to join a team that would appreciate him unlike the WWF fans and Vince McMahon. With Austin now in the WCW/ECW camp the alliance hold's 3 WWF titles as Rob Van Dam captured the Hardcore title from Jeff Hardy at Invasion and Lance Storm captured the Intercontinental title from Albert on RAW with help from Mike Awesome & Hugh Morrus. Later that night Vince said it was time to do something that he should have done a long time ago and that was reinstate The Rock so that he could once again prove that he was the most electrifying man in all of sports entertainment!

This week on the July 2nd edition of RAW, a WCW title match was the main event! Booker T defended the WCW title against Buff Bagwell. Shane McMahon introduced the match, Nick Patrick was the referee, Stacy Keibler was guest ring announcer, and the announcers were none other than Scott Hudson and the WCW legend 'Double A' Arn Andersen! Before the match however Commissioner Regal told Shane he had to leave, to which Shane replied that was fine as the promotion was not about him but the superstars of WCW. It's interesting to note that both Booker & Buff had their original WCW entrance music, unlike DDP who has new entrance music, although this is probably because his character was changed to a heel so that he could feud with the Undertaker. The WCW title match ended in a DQ as Steve Austin & Kurt Angle attacked Booker T, with Bagwell joining in on the assault. The trio took Booker to the back where they threw him out of the building, but just when Buff thought he had made some new friends, he too was thrown out. Also on RAW Torrie Wilson was thought to be seducing Vince McMahon, however this too was a set up as Linda McMahon soon caught Vince with his pants down. This is thought to set up a divorce on July 23rd (conveniently the night after 'Invasion'), which could lead to Linda getting half of what Vince owns and giving RAW to WCW!

During the July 3rd tapings of Heat, Palumbo & O'Haire defended the WCW tag titles against Shawn Stasiak & Chris Kanyon, on Smackdown Billy Kidman defeated 'Hollywood' Helms (formerly Shane Helms) to win the WCW cruiserweight title, and in the main event Booker T defended the WCW title once again, this time against DDP (albeit with interference from the Undertaker). At the end of Smackdown all hell broke loose as a group of WCW stars attacked 'Taker, DDP attacked Shane McMahon & Booker and the WCW stars helped Page! Some of the WWF wrestlers from the back then attacked the WCW stars leading to Bagwell getting power-bombed!

All this of course is leading up to 'Invasion' where the main event is thought to be a 10 man tag between WWF & WCW superstars and WCW's Mike Awesome (a former ECW champion) should defend the WWF Hardcore title against the WWF's Rhyno (also a former ECW champion, inter-promotional or what?)

As was previously thought, WCW did indeed make their presence felt at King of the Ring. Edge won the tournament after WCW owner Shane McMahon had speared Kurt Angle allowing Edge to gain the victory, later that evening Shane and Kurt engaged in a brutal Street Fight, which Angle emerged from victoriously. DDP was forced to retreat after a vicious brawl with the Undertaker, and WCW Champion Booker T. attacked WWF Champion Steve Austin during the WWF title match slamming him through the Spanish announce table! Although Austin still managed to emerge victorious.

The next night on the June 25th edition of RAW from Madison Square Garden, WCW star Mike Awesome attacked Rhyno after he had beaten Test for the Hardcore title. Awesome then forced the referee to count the pin, therefore making him the new Hardcore Champ and the 1st WCW wrestler to hold a WWF title! Later that evening DDP attacked The Undertaker & his wife once again, even tearing out some of Sara's hair! Shane McMahon & Booker T. also appeared later that night at WWF New York to call out Austin & Angle. But whilst the WWF duo went to meet their challenge, the WCW duo went to the arena to attack WWF owner Vince McMahon before being chased off by the WWF wrestlers from the locker room.

WCW made their presence felt yet again at the Smackdown recordings on June 26th. Firstly WWF CEO Linda McMahon suggested that the WWF start doing inter-promotional matches starting next week and change the July PPV name from Fully Loaded to Invasion, to which Vince McMahon agreed. DDP once again made his presence felt by hitting Kane with the Diamond Cutter during an Intercontinental title defence which allowed Albert to gain the title (X-Factor's 2nd title win this week as X-Pac defeated Jeff Hardy for the Light Heavyweight title on RAW). WCW Tag Team Champions Sean O'Haire & Chuck Palumbo also made an appearance doing a run-in during the Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz match, however they were soon subdued by the entire WWF locker room, the APA even put both WCW competitors through a table! Torrie Wilson appeared to tell Vince McMahon that she was interested in signing with the WWF and finally, Booker T. made another appearance to attack Steve Austin. This time Booker hit the WWF champ with the WCW title belt after Stone Cold had an altercation with Tazz and was challenged to a title match for attacking Michael Cole. Once again the WWF locker room emptied to chase off the WCW star. So the WCW invasion has really heated up and I believe we can expect it to be one hot summer as the battle has just begun!

Some WCW superstars are reported to be at King of the Ring on June 24th, and those may possibly include Buff Bagwell and Booker T (both recently thought to be signed by WWFE) apart from the already announced Diamond Dallas Page. Some insiders say that there will be some sort of interference during the Shane McMahon/Kurt Angle street fight which will also push the angle for the next pay-per-view, Invasion on July 22nd, where a rumoured multi-man tag team match between WWF and WCW stars should be the main-event. With Invasion only a month away, the WCW presence should be felt on WWF programming leading up to the event.

In other news, signs are pointing towards World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. (WWFE) having signed former ECW superstar Rob Van Dam to compete in the new WCW. Rob's role in the new WCW is thought to be very significant and may result in a surprise appearance on WWF television similarly to what DDP did on RAW. It could be as soon as this week on TV or at King of the Ring. Rob apparently received a contract earlier this month, but the WWF are thought to have been telling the new wrestlers not to announce their signings so that they can be surprises. Expect to see Rob Van Dam on WWF Television in the 'WCW Invasion' angle very soon.

Last night on the June 18th edition of the WWF's Monday Night RAW programme the most monumental occurrence in the wrestling world took place since Scott Hall appeared on the WCW's live broadcast of NITRO in 1996. As a top WCW superstar was revealed as The Undertaker's wife's stalker, and that man was Diamond Dallas Page!!!

The former 3 time WCW World Heavyweight Champion gave his reason as needing to make it personal to have an impact. He said you have to go after the top dog in the business and if The Undertaker has threatened to make people that messed with his family 'famous' then he's begging him to make him famous as DDP has made The Undertaker's wife Sara famous. DDP said he would use The Undertaker to get on top of the business and issued a challenge for the King of the Ring. I think that it is fair to say that DDP will start his career in the new WCW as a heel.

In other King of the Ring news, for the first time since 1998, only the Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament (a total of 3 matches) will take place at the PPV on July 24th, as opposed to having the Quarterfinals at the PPV as well (a total of 7 matches). The final four participants were decided on the June 18th edition of RAW and they are, last year's finalist Kurt Angle, tag-team partners Edge & Christian, and Rhyno.

Also at KOTR, Steve Austin will defend the WWF Championship in a Triple-Threat Match against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. An encounter made all the more interesting as Austin recently submitted, to the best of my knowledge, for the 1st time ever! Admittedly this was to a combination of the Crippler Cross-face and The Walls of Jericho (also on the June 18th edition of RAW), but as most fans will remember part of the phenomenal success of Stone Cold's character was attributed to the fact that he had never submitted and NEVER quit! (Austin 3:16's career really shot through the stratosphere after Wrestlemania XIII in 1997 after he had refused to submit to Bret Hart's Sharpshooter and supposedly passed out from the pain).

In other matches, Shane McMahon, the owner of WCW, will take on Kurt Angle in 'potentially' his third match of the evening in a Greenwich Street Fight, and as stated DDP will take on The Undertaker.

Personally I predict Angle to be screwed out of his KOTR match by Shane and the Final to be between Edge & Christian! I also predict a classic between DDP and Undertaker, to see more talent from WCW, and Austin to retain his Title!

Booker T has now 'reportedly' signed his release from the old WCW having reached an agreement with Time Warner, the previous owners of WCW, who were offering 50 cents to the dollar on guaranteed contracts. This means that Booker will have lost a guaranteed amount in the region of $750, 000, but it also means that he is now free to sign with the new WCW and hopefully we can expect this to happen within the next few weeks. Other WCW Superstars who have guaranteed contracts with Time Warner include, Goldberg, Sting, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Big Poppa Pump, and Diamond Dallas Page, all of which are unlikely to sign releases as they would stand to lose millions! Apart that is from Page who is rumoured to be considering a move to the new WCW and possibly Big Poppa Pump, both of which have spoken with the WWF. Other stars that are rumoured to be considering working for the WWF�s new WCW include Buff Bagwell and Rob Van Dam.

On the May 28th edition of RAW, Lance Storm became the 1st WCW Superstar in history to make an appearance on a WWF programme. During a match in front of a sold-out Calgary crowd, hometown boy Storm ran in and super-kicked Perry Saturn to rapturous applause, before running off through the crowd. After the incident Storm was seen celebrating with WCW chairman Shane McMahon. As we approach the WWF's July Pay-Per-View I expect we'll see more incidents such as this as the name of the PPV has been changed from 'Fully Loaded' to 'Invasion'!

On the last WCW Monday Nitro on March 26th, Shane McMahon made both a startling appearance and announcement. On the 'Night Of Champions' when Booker T. won his fourth WCW World Heavyweight Championship to add to his WCW U.S. Championship, Shane stated that not only was this not the end of WCW but just the beginning as he had bought the company! In what has been called the biggest night in wrestling history, both RAW and NITRO were broadcast at the same time in a unique 'simulcast'. Shane, live from Panama City, told his shocked father, WWF owner Vince McMahon live in Cleveland Ohio, that just like WCW had kicked his ass in the past, they will do it again! Now with the possibility of a WCW vs. WWF feud, the coming months should be very interesting.