Some of the WCW wrestlers' absences were out of the WWF's control. Many of WCW's top wrestlers had contracts with AOL Time Warner, WCW's parent company, and were willing to sit at home rather than wrestle for less money; Booker T, the reigning WCW Champion at the time of WWF's purchase, was a notable exception, agreeing to a buyout of the remainder of his contract with AOL Time Warner in order to wrestle for the WWF immediately. McMahon had the option of taking on any contract he wanted with his purchase, but chose to let AOL Time Warner continue to pay out what were considered bad deals. Ric Flair (who would appear on the "Raw" following Survivor Series) and Rey Mysterio were not signed until the end of the Invasion because they were tied to their contracts, and therefore their absence was out of the WWF's control. In addition, Scott Steiner was recovering from an injury. Others, such as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Goldberg, were not signed until well after the storyline finished. As for WCW's other top superstars, Sting was still under contract to AOL Time Warner, and did not join the now-WWE until late 2014, while Lex Luger and Randy Savage would never reappear in the company on TV (in May 2011, Luger rejoined WWE in a backstage role related to the company's Wellness Program, while Savage died of a sudden heart attack later the same month). Bret Hart, who made his name in the WWF but was last seen wrestling for WCW, was retired from wrestling due to his concussion he suffered in a match with Goldberg at Starrcade 1999 and estranged from Vince McMahon after the 1997 Montreal Screwjob; he would eventually return to WWE in 2010, having been inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006. Jeff Jarrett, despite his contract being dealt with WCW rather than AOL Time Warner, was another missing name as he was legitimately and publicly fired during the "Raw"/"Nitro" finale simulcast owing to disputes between Jarrett and McMahon that was not settled until 2018. Fans were confused by McMahon's decisions seeing as the WWF would make more than enough to cover all these wrestlers contracts in 2001. Because of this, the WWF's opponent allegedly lacked the strong identity of WCW.