In January 2001, there were three major wrestling companies in North America.

By December, there was only one and one world champion.

25 years ago, the wrestling world completely changed over the course of 12 months.

And actually, when you sort of look at it, actually really changed within the first three months of the year. Yeah, 12 weeks. Yeah of 12 months. And actually when you're sort of look at it,

it actually really changed within the first three months of the year.

Yeah, 12 weeks.

12 weeks and we're done.

12 weeks, really, really changed.

And then WWF absolutely dropped every single ball that they had in their hands

and then had a monopoly for the next 19 years.

It's not a monopoly.

There's other competitors like sleep.

But this is our journey through the invasion, how WWF bought WCW and ECW

then ran a series of shows of interpromotional battles to mark the 25th anniversary of one of the most lambasted storylines in all of professional wrestling.

Yeah, not a good time. But weirdly, a time I adored I was living through. I was 13 years old. So a lot of the flaws I see now with the

cold, hard, cynical eyes of adulthood and a quarter of a century later, at the time, I loved.

Yeah. No, no. Even the bad stuff. I was like, oh, yes, WCW. I didn't watch WCW. I didn't know that Sean Stasiak wasn't the biggest star in the world.

I mean, he's on this final episode of Nitro.

He beats Bam Bam Bigelow.

So I'm in a similar...

I'm 15 when this storyline is going on.

I'm relatively new to professional wrestling.

...