WWE Vengeance (July 2003)

From Denver, Colorado; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Tazz

Opening WWE United States Title Match: Eddie Guerrero v Chris Benoit: After unifying the US Title with the Intercontinental Title back at Survivor Series in 2001, they decided to revive it to give Smackdown a secondary title, and this is a tournament final to crown the first champion. Eddie stalls him to start, and grabs the frustrated Crippler in a hammerlock. Benoit escapes with a thunderous shoulderblock, and Eddie suddenly realizes that maybe he shouldn't fuck with this guy, and bails to revise his plan of attack. Back in, Guerrero hooks a wristlock, but Benoit counters into a full-nelson. Eddie counters back into a front-facelock, but Chris escapes, so Eddie takes him down with an equally thunderous shoulderblock. Good stuff so far. Benoit calls for a test-of-strength, and they go back and forth with it until Eddie sweeps him down into another wristlock. Guerrero snaps off a rana, but Chris reverses the cradle, and a pinfall reversal sequence ends in Eddie snapping off an armdrag to put Benoit on the floor. Back in, Eddie gets him in a side-headlock, and works to keep him down in it through a series of escape attempts. He goes for a tombstone, but Benoit counters into a shoulderbreaker, and immediately slaps on the Crossface, but Eddie's too close to the ropes. Benoit responds by kicking him out of the ring, then diving at him with a tope. Back in, Benoit rams his shoulder into the turnbuckle to keep after the part, then bodyslams him twice to setup a half-nelson. Eddie won't quit, so Chris chops him instead, but runs into an elbow on a corner charge, and Eddie hits a rana off the top for two. Eddie drops him with a nice side suplex for two, and slaps on an armbar. Eddie looks a little lost out there all of a sudden for whatever reason. He finds himself in a chopfest with Benoit, but gets reversed going into the ropes, and backdropped. Chris goes for the German suplexes, but Eddie blocks, so Benoit punishes him with a side superplex instead for two, then grabs the dazed Guerrero in the rolling Germans anyway! He gets off two alarms before Eddie tries countering, but Benoit is ready with the Crossface! Eddie gets into the ropes to break, so Chris delivers a backbreaker for two. Another one, but Eddie counters into a two-alarm rolling vertical suplex, then rolls a third alarm into a superplex! That was really fucking cool. Frogsplash looks to finish, but Benoit rolls out of the way, and brutally powerbombs him for two. Crossface, but Eddie's in the ropes yet again. Tired of it, Benoit doesn't want to let off, and the referee ends up going down while trying to break the hold up. Guerrero immediately takes advantage of the situation by grabbing the title belt, and he nails Chris with it to setup another Frogsplash for a dramatic two count. Cute bit follows, as Eddie grabs the belt again, whacks the still dazed referee with it, then leaves Benoit holding the bag so he'll get DQ'd - only for it to backfire because the referee is still down and can't make the call while unconscious! That's a cute way to buy some rest time, while still keeping the crowd engaged. As Eddie works to revive the official, Benoit recovers, and slaps on the Crossface! Eddie taps, but the referee is down, so Chris lets off to go revive him. Eddie sneaks up with the title belt, but Chris ducks into a release German suplex, and heads up to punctuate it with the flying headbutt - only for Guerrero to shove the referee into the flight path. Man, this referee is taking a beating here. With everyone down, Rhyno runs in to help his good, long time, close, personal friend Benoit, but of course ends up turning on him, and Eddie hits another Frogsplash to win the vacant title at 22:12. Great opener! A few awkward bits in the middle, but loaded with creative sequences from top to bottom, and top notch execution all around. Plus, that has to be the most entertaining, fully realized ref bump I've ever seen. *** ¾

Jamie Noble v Billy Gunn: If Noble wins, he gets to sleep with Torrie Wilson. Finally, a title that matters! He brings a case full of sex toys with him for the occasion, but Billy kicks it out of his hands, and hits a belly-to-back facebuster. Noble fires back with a dropkick that misses by a mile, but Billy is such a nice dude that he flies out to the floor off of it anyway. What a guy! Jamie follows with a plancha, then back in, goes after Billy's knee, as Nidia makes her way down. Gunn manages a cobra slam, and a neckbreaker for two. Fameasser, but Jamie blocks, so Billy shifts into a cutter instead, for two. He heads to the top rope, but Jamie crotches him, and DDTs him down for two - Nidia putting Gunn's foot on the ropes to break the count. Noble is understandably miffed, but runs into a slap from both ladies as he protests it. He still manages to dropkick Billy's knee on the way back in, and a rollup finishes at 5:00. Torrie's 'oh shit' reaction is pretty hilarious. Total TV match, but that's all it needed to be. *

22-Man APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl: The idea here is that the APA has a saloon setup hear the entrance way, and a bunch of guys brawl in it. So, we've got:  Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Matt Hardy, Shannon Moore, Johnny Stamboli, Chuck Palumbo, Nunzio, The Conquistadors, Matt Cappotelli, John Hennigan, Spanky, Funaki, Kanyon, Sean O'Haire, Orlando Jordon, Brooklyn Brawler, the Easter Bunny (wearing the same damn costume as the guy with Adam Rose... I hope they washed it), Doink, Brother Love, and the Acolytes, of course. Bradshaw's switched to the short blonde hair here, which looks weird while he's still doing the APA thing. So, basically, it's just a weak, weapon filled brawl, until it comes down to Brother Love and the APA, and you can guess what happens from there at 4:35. This was a complete waste of time. DUD

WWE Tag Team Title Match: The World's Greatest Tag Team v Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman: Shelton Benjamin starts with Rey, and dominates his challenger on the mat, so Rey dropkicks the knee, and headscissors him down. Tag to Billy, and Kidman hits a sliding dropkick for two, then executes his own headscissors. That's enough to piss Benjamin off, and he snaps Billy's head back, and tags out - Charlie Haas quickly schoolboying Billy for two. Criss cross goes Kidman's way with a diving forearm for two, and he tags Rey in to guillotine legdrop Haas for two. Rey tries a bulldog, but Charlie counters with an inverted sitout facebuster, and a pair of corner whips setup a powerslam for two. Tag to Shelton, and Benjamin nearly puts Rey into the rafters with a flapjack for two. No one takes that spot like Rey Mysterio. Benjamin grounds him with a chinlock, but ends up missing a charge, and Rey ranas him into a seated dropkick to allow the tag back to Billy. Kidman comes in with dropkicks for both champions, and the BK Bomb gets two on Haas. He gets caught in a double-team, however, so Rey runs in to save, and we have a four-way brawl. Everyone dog piles on the outside, and the champs manage to double up on Billy long enough to take control. They cut the ring in half, until Shelton makes the rookie mistake of trying to powerbomb Kidman, and takes a sitout facebuster. Well, to be fair, he basically was a rookie. Tag to Rey, and Mysterio is a jungle gym of fire! 619 sets up the West Coast Pop on Haas, but Benjamin saves, and Kidman's in for a four-way brawl. The challengers manage their alleyoop rana on Haas for a close two, but Benjamin cuts them off before they can continue the onslaught. Rey tries a rana on Haas, but Shelton comes off the top to flying clothesline him off of Charlie's shoulders as he does, and that's enough to retain at 15:01. Good stuff here, with the more experienced Kidman/Mysterio bringing the heat with the wild spots (though there was quite a bit of sloppiness from Rey), and the champs holding up their end with some classic tag team psychology. I liked the ending, too, with Rey basically setting himself up for the finish. *** ¼

No Countout Match: Stephanie McMahon v Sable: Stephanie attacks her in the aisle before the bell, and gives her a pretty extreme wedgie on the way in. Sable keeps running, so Stephanie chases her into the crowd, and drags her back. Sable manages to baseball slide her on the way into the ring, and unloads a few kicks in the corner. More kicks at center ring, and Sable taunts her with a grind, but gets schoolgirled for two, so she starts unloading slaps by the bucketful. Charge into the corner misses, however, and hairwhips her for two. They spill out to the floor for a bit of weak brawling, then back in, Stephanie hits a slap of her own for two. I love how slaps and hair tosses are being sold like powerbombs here. Stephanie with a somersault necksnap, and a few weak stomps (right to the butthole!), but Sable's top gets torn, and as the referee takes his own shirt off to cover her up, A-Train runs in and bodyblocks Stephanie for Sable to pin at 6:32. Nothing special, but it's not like anyone was expecting it to be anything other than what it was, and they kept it short. DUD

The Undertaker v John Cena: Undertaker powers him into the corner to start, but John won't back down, and scuffles with him. They spill out to the floor, where Cena takes the weakest shot into a rail I've ever seen, but then makes up for it right away by taking a nice front-first whip into it. Undertaker adds a ram into the post for good measure, and a guillotine legdrop on the apron follows. Back in, 'Taker works a wristlock, but John gets into the ropes, so Undertaker tosses him right back out to show him who's boss. Back in, Undertaker hits the ropewalk forearm and a chokeslam for two, but John manages to counter the Last Ride into a DDT. He chokes him down, but Undertaker quickly no-sells it, and corner clotheslines him. Second try misses, however, and 'Taker hits an exposed buckle with his ribs. Cena takes immediate advantage by knocking him out of the ring with a diving shoulderblock, then knocks him into the rail with a running kneelift. Back in, Cena works the ribs with a series of punts, and tries the FU, but Undertaker counters with a big boot and a legdrop for two. He pounds John into the corner for some choking, so John sneaks off a shot to the ribs with a chain, and hits the FU, but it only gets two. John goes berserk with some mounted punches, but stupidly tries a ten-punch, and takes the Last Ride at 16:06. Didn't really do anything for me beyond the novelty of seeing Cena basically get squashed by Undertaker. *

Vince McMahon v Zach Gowen: For those who don't remember Gowen, he's a legit amputee, who's built like that Roddy Piper impersonator in 1994, but with a much more sympathetic babyface. He immediately removes his prosthetic leg and throws it at McMahon to start, officially making him the one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. Vince easily powers him into the corner out of the initial lockup, but Gowen keeps coming for another lockup. Vince overpowers him again, then takes him down with a waistlock - taunting him. Zach tries countering a bodyslam with a rollup, but Vince shrugs him off, and clotheslines him down, then abuses him in the corner. Zach agitates him with some elbows, and manages to backdrop McMahon over the top as he charges, then plants a baseball slide on him. He follows with a crazy springboard moonsault, then hits a springboard legdrop for two on the way back in. Vince sweeps him into a leglock, and keeps pounding the leg. He wraps it around the post a couple of times, then slaps on a half-crab, but Zach makes the ropes. He tries kicking Vince away from the mat, and manages a dropkick, then crotches McMahon on the post while wrapping his knee around it a few times. Zach botches a flying bulldog on the way back in, and hits a 2^nd rope dropkick to setup a flying moonsault for two. Embarrassed, McMahon grabs a chair to finish him, but the referee intervenes, and Zach dropkicks it into his face, then smacks him with it - busting McMahon open, in a flawless bladejob. Zach tries a flying somersault senton to finish, but Vince dodges, and gets the pin at 14:22. This was certainly different, and visually interesting in a novelty match kind of way, but not for fifteen minutes. ½*

Main Event: WWE Title Triple Threat Match: Brock Lesnar v Kurt Angle v Big Show: Angle and Lesnar try doubling up on Big Show right away, but he double-clotheslines them down, and hits a quick Chokeslam on Lesnar for two. Kurt rushes in, but Show easily blocks a German suplex, and pounds him with a headbutt. He goes for the Final Cut, so Kurt counters into the Anklelock, but Show shrugs him off, and hits a legdrop for two. Final Cut on Brock gets two, so Kurt comes in with a couple of trashcan lids, and he and Lesnar pinball Show with them to put him down. Tandem suplex is reversed by Show, and he tries to Chokeslam them both simultaneously, but gets reversed. However, that's wear the alliance ends, as they immediately start arguing over who should get the pin (first fall wins, remember), and Brock F5s him. One for Big Show as well, but Angle manages to pull the referee out at two. Brock kicks the shit out of him on the floor in response, but runs into a superplex from Show on the way back in - countered by Lesnar with an impressive running powerbomb out of the corner for two. Wild! Kurt comes in with a chair to put Brock down, and he hooks the still downed Big Show's leg for his own two count. He knocks Show out of the ring with the chair, and puts him through the Spanish announce table with an Olympic Slam! With Show down, Kurt and Brock literally crawl to meet each other at center ring, and a slugfest goes Brock's way with the F5, but Kurt holds the top rope to block, so Lesnar dumps him. He follows to whip Angle into the steps, but gets reversed, and inside, Kurt hits a two-alarm German suplex - impressively tossing Brock into a backflip on the release. That only gets two, so Kurt tries for the Olympic Slam, but Brock counters into a spinebuster for two. Brock locks chinlock with a bodyscissors to try and get the submission, and Kurt is passed out, but Show breaks it up before the third arm drop. Double Chokeslam gets a two count on each guy, so Show tries to give Brock seconds, but takes a low blow. That allows Kurt to put Lesnar in the Anklelock, but Show is back to save - Kurt letting off just in time to Olympic Slam the big guy. Another one for Brock, and we have a new champion at 17:38. Very good match, well booked to play to their strengths, and allowing them to share the workload. ** ½

BUExperience: Well, if nothing else, it certainly did a good job of illustrating the night-and-day differences between the brands. It was almost like the Monday Night Wars, with RAW playing the WCW part (loaded with big name guys relying on their name value instead of wrestling ability), and Smackdown like the WWF of its Attitude heyday – right down to the McMahons and boobs at every turn.  

Not that this didn’t have its share of crap too (APA brawl, I’m looking at you), but the good more than outweighed the bad.

**