WWE Vengeance (July 2004)

From Hartford, Connecticut; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Opening Match: Garrison Cade and Jonathan Coachman v Tajiri and Rhyno: Coach starts with Rhyno, but then immediately wises up and tags out to Cade without ever making contact. They trade wristlocks for a bit, as I notice that the upper decks of this arena are heavily darkened, and the place looks scaled. Rhyno goes for the Goar early, but Cade bails to the floor to avoid getting hit, so Rhyno tags out. Tajiri dropkicks him and hooks a magistral cradle for two, but runs into a cheap shot from Coach, and Cade side suplexes him to take control. Coach and Cade cut the ring in half on Tajiri, but Coach runs into the Tarantula in the corner, and Tajiri makes the tag. Rhyno is a hoyse of fyre to ignite a four-way brawl, and we get a hilarious bit where Tajiri sprays mist at Cade - turning his blonde hair completely green with one spray. Buzzsaw Kick then finishes Coachman at 7:32. Just the usual formula tag opener. Nothing more, nothing less. *

Chris Jericho v Batista: Jericho uses his speed advantage to try and evade Batista, but gets caught in the corner, and pummeled. Batista misses a charge and goes flying out, so Chris capitalizes with a springboard dropkick, but a baseball slide misses, and Batista brings him in with a neckbreaker for two. Headvise, but Chris escapes, so Batista shifts into a full-nelson instead - keeping the pressure on the neck. Jericho escapes again, but this time manages to dropkick Batista's knee before getting clobbered. Batista tries a side superplex, but Chris elbows him off, and hits a flying backelbow for two - only to walk into a sidewalk slam for two. Backbreaker gets two, and another one sets up a backbreaker submission, but Jericho manages to kick his way out. Batista just keeps coming, but Chris manages to block a slam, and forearm the big boy down. Walls, but Batista shoves him off, and delivers a spinebuster for two. Batista Bomb is countered into a schoolboy for two, and Chris puts him down with a 2^nd rope bulldog, and adds an enzuigiri for two. Slugfest ends in another spinebuster from Batista, and the Batista Bomb finishes things at 12:13. Batista had a fun Terminator vibe going on here. *

World Tag Team Title Match: La Resistance v Ric Flair and Eugene: Eugene is playing the Mizdow role to Flair's Miz here, and just like today, it's getting over big with the fans. He starts with Robert Conway, and does his best Flair impression as he taunts him - annoying Ric to no end. Conway passes to Sylvain Grenier, but Eugene gives him his own personal tour of Ric Flair's greatest hits - kneebreaker, shindrop, chops. Grenier manages to backdrop him, and Eugene begs off ala Flair - including the cheap shot. Heh. He can't make the tag, however, and Conway comes back in to work him over, but trading chops with a guy who thinks he's Ric Flair proves to be a mistake. Tag to the real Nature Boy, and he gives Conway the real deal. Figure Four, but Grenier breaks it up, and the champs cut the ring in half on Flair. Eugene's repeated declarations of 'you're supposed to tag!' are just wonderful here - Dinsmore is absolutely brilliant in this role. Au Revoir for Flair, so Eugene runs in to make the save, but gets overzealous - hitting the referee in the process, and getting himself disqualified at 12:30. This wasn't a great wrestling match, but it was absolutely entertaining, and there's nothing wrong with that. *

No Disqualification Match: Kane v Matt Hardy: Brawl on the floor to start, with Hardy ramming him into the post, then whacking him with a television monitor. Twist of Fate on the announce table, but Kane shoves him into the rail to block, and knocks him into the crowd for a quick brawl. Into the ring for the first time, and Kane chokes him in the corner, then sidewalk slams him for two. Back out for a brawl onto the ramp, the back in for a Kane flying clothesline. Back out again, and Kane big boots him, then rolls him right back in again. These guys look lost, and the match is totally falling apart. Matt manages to snap his throat across the top rope to put Kane on the floor again, and this time smacks him with the ring bell. Hardy with a flying legdrop on the way back in, but Kane backdrops him to block the Twist of Fate again. Tombstone, but Hardy counters into the Twist for two. Kane responds with with a chokeslam, and grabs the ring steps, but Lita runs out to protest, and Hardy knocks the steps into his face with a chair for the pin at 10:36. This didn't work at all, as it was completely aimless. ¼*

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Randy Orton v Edge: Looks like the steps tore a hole in the mat during the finish of the last match, because we've got an indy level tape job covering it up now. The initial lockup goes to a stalemate, but Orton manages to snag a standing side-headlock out of the second, but Edge reverses, then shoulderblocks him down. They trade wristlocks next, with Edge again winning the ensuing criss cross with a shoulderblock. Another big criss cross (Rumble '90 style) ends in Edge working a mat-based side-headlock, as it's clear they've been given a lot of time, and are in no rush here - taking their time to build the match. Edge with a series of shoulderblocks to put Randy on the outside, and he decides to walk, but Edge drags him back - which proves to be a mistake, as Randy suckers him, and tosses him over the top. Orton vertical suplexes him back in for two, and unleashes a barrage of forearms on the ropes. Snapmare sets up a headvise, but Edge slugs free, and starts throwing clotheslines - putting Orton over the top. Randy responds by grabbing the title belt, but Edge baseball slides it into him before he can use it, then dives at him with a clothesline off of the apron. Mindful of the count, Edge rolls him in with a missile dropkick for two, but the Spear misses, and Randy hits an inverted headlock backbreaker for two. Back to the headvise, and a legdrop across the neck is worth two. Standing dropkick for two, and the champion slaps on a chinlock. This is an A-grade chinlock, though, as Orton does everything in his power to make it look like he's trying to break his neck with the hold, and not just taking a breather. That's what separates the men from the boys. Edge escapes and hits a bodypress for two, followed by a rollup for two, but he runs into a lariat. Orton tries keeping control with a 2^nd rope axehandle, but Edge dropkicks him out of the air, and executes a neckbreaker - both men left looking up at the lights. Edge wins the resulting slugfest with a Russian legsweep for two, and a slingshot sets up the Edge-o-Matic for two. To the top, so Orton tries bringing him down with a superplex, but Edge blocks, and hits a flying bodypress - only for Orton to roll through for two. Crowd totally bought that as the finish. Schoolboy gets two, and a dropkick is worth two, but the challenger manages the Impaler for two. He tries a ten-punch, so Orton stunguns him onto the exposed top turnbuckle, but only gets two. RKO, but Edge counters into the Spear - only for Orton to leapfrog out of the way. RKO, but Edge counters into a backslide for two, then reverses Randy into the exposed buckle, and finally hits the Spear to win the title at 26:37. Orton had a good run that restored a lot of prestige to the title, and this was a fitting end to the reign - dropping the belt in a good, long match that makes it seem like a big deal, as opposed to a baton to be passed among the midcarders. ** ½

#1 Contender's Match: Victoria v Molly Holly: Molly takes her down, and goes after the wrist, but Victoria reverses a wristlock, and monkeyflips her. Standing moonsault, but Holly counters with a schoolgirl for two, so Victoria tosses her around with armdrags, and hits a 2^nd rope moonsault press for two. Molly bails, but Victoria is on her with a plancha - only to get tripped into the steps before she can finish. Victoria beats the count back in, so Molly stomps a mud hole in the corner, and adds a handspring elbow for two. Overhead wristlock applied, but Victoria starts to escape, so Molly shifts into a fujiwara armbar. She wrenches it on, but Victoria nears the ropes, so Molly drags her back to center ring, and reapplies. Victoria escapes, so Holly snaps the bad arm across the top rope, but misses a series of elbowdrops, and gets somersault cradled for two. Backslide gets Victoria two, and a powerslam is worth two - Victoria selling the arm all along the way. Widow's Peak, but the arm gives out, so she regroups with a superkick instead for the pin at 6:23. The Bellas wish they could work a match a quarter as good as this. * ¼

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Match: Chris Benoit v Triple H: The initial lockup goes to a stalemate, but Chris manages to hook the wrist out of the second one, so Hunter literally bitchslaps him to block. Who is he, Randy Savage? Reversal sequence ends in another stalemate, so HHH takes advantage of his size, and shoulderblocks him down. Chris responds by going for the Crippler Crossface, but Hunter hits the deck, and bails. Benoit is right on him with some chops on the floor, but runs into a high knee as they re-enter, and HHH snap suplexes him twice in a row. Crisp backelbow gets two (the speed of the delivery, and Benoit's selling of it were incredible), and Hunter adds a backbreaker. Trading chops with the champion proves to be a bad idea, however, and Chris delivers a snap suplex of his own, then looks to add the rolling Germans, but HHH blocks the second alarm, so Benoit gives him a slingshot instead. Flying headbutt looks to finish early, but HHH rolls out of the way, and whips him hard into the turnbuckles a couple of times. A release forward-hanging vertical suplex gets two, so HHH punishes him by doing it again, but it still only gets two. Bow-and-arrow, but Chris escapes, so HHH launches him over the top rope to the floor. Hunter follows to whip the champion into the rail out there, then brings him in for another high impact cross corner whip for two. Abdominal stretch, so Chris reverses, but HHH uses his size advantage to quickly hiptoss free, and grabs a sleeper. Benoit reverses, so HHH tries a side suplex to escape, but Chris counters into the sharpshooter. HHH blocks, and goes for the Pedigree, but Benoit counters back to the sharpshooter, and gets it on this time. HHH gets the ropes, so Benoit hooks the rolling German suplex - getting all three alarms this time. Flying headbutt, but HHH rolls to the floor to deter Benoit from trying, so Chris hops down and hits him with a tope instead - nearly landing in the front row in the process. In for the Crossface, but HHH counters into a DDT, and takes advantage of the downed referee by calling for Eugene. Poor Eugene makes his way down as Chris gets Hunter in the Crossface, but he has to let off when Eugene tries to interfere. Chris decks him, but feels badly about it - allowing Hunter to blow him low, and execute the Pedigree. Still no referee, however, so Eugene revives him, and Hunter gets a dramatic two count. HHH signals for Eugene to get a chair, but Eugene has a change of heart, so HHH shows his true colors by shoving him - and not remotely feeling badly about it. Evolution run in, but Benoit holds them off with the chair, as Eugene pleads with him to stop. Eugene gets the chair away from him, and the ensuing tug-of-war ends when Benoit (realizing he can't overpower Eugene's Monica-like strength) simply lets go, and it hits Hunter full on - Chris schoolboying him to retain at 29:04. Not quite the all-time classic they were trying for, but it worked, and the Eugene stuff made for some good drama. ** ¾

BUExperience: Not a blow away, but a totally solid card from top to bottom (with one exception) makes for an easy watch.

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