WWE The Lost (Alliance) Era

Before the Ruthless Aggression Era, before 'Get The "F" Out', after the Attitude Era, there was an era in the WWE that was clearly unnamed. It was 2001, and the WWE had finally claim victory of the Monday Night Wars as it had defeated World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for the final time as Vince McMahon had brought out the entire company and hammered the final nail in the coffin of WCW. They have also quietly defeated ECW as well. But it wasn't as big as the defeat of WCW. With that said, the WWE had no more competition. So what was next for the WWE? During this transition era, a lot of things have gone down. From the once face of the WWE's Attitude Era Stone Cold Steve Austin turning his back on the fans to join his one time arch nemesis, Vince McMahon, to Shane and Stephanie McMahon joining forces with former ECW head honcho, Paul Heyman to create The Alliance, to the emergence of an Olympic hero and the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla. This era has no name, until now for I will name it: The Lost (Alliance) Era. These are the players that played a major factor in this short lived (but great to watch) era.

Stone Cold was once the savior of the WWE. He went from winning the Royal Rumble for a record breaking third time, to headlining Wrestlemania once again to face The Rock. Only to do the unthinkable. He went in and not only turned his back on the fans, but made an alliance, most thought would be the last thing that would happen in Vincent Kennedy McMahon. To further his heel status, he would then become the leader of the newly formed WCW/ECW Alliance along with Vince’s children, Shane and Stephanie. As well as Paul Heyman. He would go on to feud for his WWF Title against many of the beloved WWF superstars. This may have been Stone Cold at his most sadistic (and yet sometimes funny), but it was also memorable by having to give birth to the new catchphrase of ‘What?!’

Once Vince announced live on television on both Monday Night Raw and WCW Monday Nitro at the same time, he was blindsided by his only son for Shane would come on to Nitro and announce that he was the new owner of WCW. With that said, everyone thought that Shane was going to bring WCW into a new light and so he did, but with a different agenda. That was to take over WWE from within. Along with the new owner of ECW Stephanie and Paul Heyman, they banded together to form ‘The Alliance’ and with that, some of the titles that came with them like the WCW Cruiserweight, Tag Team, U.S. and Heavyweight titles. They would go on to give WWE a run for their money and a big headache for Vince. But in the end, they would go down, thanks in part of one of their own, Kurt Angle.

Before the whole Alliance angle had started, there was an alliance that rivaled that and they were just as bad and as ruthless and they came in the form of two men. The Two Man Power Trip consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin and ‘The Game’ Triple H. Lead by Vince, the two would go on to with the WWE Heavyweight Title, the Intercontinental Title and the Tag Team Titles all at once. They were considered unstoppable and would defeat anyone in their paths until an unexpected injury that forced Triple H to be sidelined for almost an entire year. Thus ending the Two Man Power Trip. But during their brief reign, they were nothing to be messed with.

When Kurt Angle first came to the WWE, he was considered to being somewhat annoying. Though his wrestling skills said otherwise, Kurt would rub a lot of wrestlers and fans the wrong way. That was until Stone Cold turned his back on the fans. While The Rock was out shooting movies, the fans needed a leader that could stand up to Stone Cold and the Alliance and that man was Kurt Angle. It took some time for the fans to warm up to the new Angle, but he came through when the time was right and gave Stone Cold a run for his money with some of best matches and skits they have ever put together. When those two were in the ring, they were not to be missed.

As if having to deal with The Undertaker wasn’t bad enough. Dealing with both the Undertaker and Kane on the same page was a whole lot of trouble. During his ‘Deadman Inc.’ persona, he and Kane formed a tag team called The Brothers of Destruction and they have wrecked havoc in the WWE against the Alliance. Whether it was a singles match or winning the WWE and WCW tag titles, these two brothers were just a handful to deal with.

After being defeated at the hands of Stone Cold Steve Austin twice, The Rock had decided to take some time off and went on to Hollywood to become one of the hottest action movies stars of modern time. While he was gone, Stone Cold and the Alliance was running shop in the WWE as around this time Kurt Angle had turn his back in the fans as well and joined the Alliance. This looked like the perfect time for ‘The Great One’ to make his return to the ring. So upon his return, he immediately showed his love for the WWE as he turned down the Alliance offer of joining them and went on to help the WWE defeat them and gain control of the federation once again. He’s also picked up the WCW Heavyweight title along the way as well.

Chris Jericho was always loved by the fans and always fought for the good all while having fun. During this time, he also put his hat in the bid for the fight against the Alliance. Everything seemed great up until The Rock’s return. For some reason, that didn’t sit Jericho right and those two would soon start a feud from within, almost causing a full friction within Team WWE. They would put their difference aside to help The Undertaker, Kane and The Big Show defeat the Alliance at Survivor Series 2001. But that feud wouldn’t end for not only on one night did Chris Jericho defeat The Rock for the WCW title, but he would go on to defeat Stone Cold for the WWF title in a single night to become the first ever undisputed champion. He may have lost some of his fans in the process of it, but he had elevated himself to becoming one of The Best in the World.

The year before, Edge and Christian were on top of the tag team ladder (literally) by competing in some of the best TLC matches ever along with The Hardy Boys and The Dudley Boyz. The King of the Ring happened and all seemed to change. Edge went on to become the 2001 King of the Ring as Christian looked on with jealously. He would go and turn his back on his long time tag team partner and would soon join the Alliance. This was the beginning of what would become the true emergence of Edge in singles competition. Edge would join the fight and would pick up the WCW United States title in the process. This was only the beginning of Edge for he would soon have a brighter future ahead of him.