Editing Rob Van Dam (section)

==== The Invasion (2001) ====
{{Main|The Invasion (professional wrestling)|l1=The Invasion|The Alliance (professional wrestling)|l2=The Alliance}}

Several months after the closure of ECW, Van Dam was signed to a short-term contract by the [[World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF). Along with fellow ECW alumnus Tommy Dreamer, Van Dam returned to WWF television on the July 9, 2001, episode of ''Raw is War'' in [[Atlanta, Georgia]] as a [[Heel (wrestling)|heel]], and attacking WWF wrestlers [[Glenn Jacobs|Kane]] and [[Chris Jericho]].<ref name="alliance">{{cite web|url=http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/bios/vandam.html#alliance|title=Rob Van Dam's Character In Alliance Storyline|publisher=Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster}}</ref><ref name="Raw - July 9, 2001">{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/010709.html|title=Raw results - July 9, 2001|date=July 9, 2001|publisher=Online World Of Wrestling}}</ref> Later that night, five wrestlers from WWF and five wrestlers from WCW took on ten ECW wrestlers, including Van Dam. The match never took place as instead the WCW wrestlers aligned themselves with the ECW wrestlers.<ref name="alliance"/><ref name="Raw - July 9, 2001"/>

Despite being presented as a heel, Van Dam was popular with the WWF fans, who were aware of his reputation in ECW. After defeating [[Jeff Hardy]] for the [[WWF Hardcore Championship]] at [[WWF Invasion]] on July 22,<ref name="alliance"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/miscppvs2000s.html|title=WWF Invasion results|publisher=Pro Wrestling History}}</ref><ref name="hardcore">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/hard/|title=History Of The WWE Hardcore Championship|access-date=December 31, 2007|publisher=WWE}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/nomercy/history/2001/mainevent/|title=No Mercy 2001 main event|publisher=WWE|access-date=February 9, 2009|archive-date=February 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202083213/http://www.wwe.com/shows/nomercy/history/2001/mainevent/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Van Dam lost the Hardcore Championship to Hardy on the August 13 episode of ''Raw is War'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/010813.html|title=Raw results - August 13, 2001|date=August 13, 2001|publisher=Online World Of Wrestling}}</ref> but regained it at [[SummerSlam (2001)|SummerSlam]] on August 19 in a ladder match. During this time Van Dam had defeated wrestlers such as Kane, [[The Undertaker]], [[Kurt Angle]], Chris Jericho, [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]] and even Alliance leader [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] in singles and tag team matches.<ref name="hardcore"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/2001/results/|title=SummerSlam 2001 official results|publisher=WWE|access-date=February 9, 2009|archive-date=March 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305202318/http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/2001/results/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Van Dam became one of the most popular members of [[The Alliance (professional wrestling)|the Alliance]] who faced The Rock for the [[WCW World Heavyweight Championship|WCW Championship]] on multiple occasions, and even challenged Alliance leader Stone Cold Steve Austin for the [[WWE World Championship|WWF Championship]] including a [[Professional wrestling match types#Basic non-elimination matches|triple threat match]] at [[No Mercy (2001)|No Mercy]] on October 21 also involving [[Kurt Angle]], but did not win. At [[Survivor Series (2001)|Survivor Series]] on November 18, Van Dam and four other Alliance members faced five WWF wrestlers in a ''Winner Take All'' match. Team WWF won, and the members of the Alliance were fired; however, as he held the [[WWE Hardcore Championship|Hardcore Championship]], Van Dam was able to retain his job.<ref name="alliance"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/survivorseries/history/2001/results/ |title=Survivor Series 2001 official results |publisher=WWE |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103130418/http://www.wwe.com/shows/survivorseries/history/2001/results/ |archive-date=November 3, 2007 }}</ref>