WWE Vengeance (June 2005)

Original Airdate: June 26, 2005

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jonathan Coachman, and Jerry Lawler

Opening WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Carlito v Shelton Benjamin: The crowd is pretty amped for this one. Shelton overpowers him through the initial lockup, and takes him down with a fireman's carry - sending Carlito scrambling for the ropes. Shelton grabs a headlock, but Carlito counters into a headscissors, so Benjamin escapes with a somersault cradle for two. Basic sequence, and no less effective for it. Carlito tries blitzing him with forearms, but runs into a clothesline, and Shelton drops him with a kneelift for two, then clotheslines him out of the ring. Carlito decides to take a walk, but Benjamin attacks him in the aisle, and drags him back - snap suplexing him on the way in for two. Flying clothesline gets two, so Carlito goes to the eyes, and a series of three bodyslams gets two. Onto a chinlock, but Benjamin escapes with a schoolboy for two, followed by a jumping backelbow. Samoan drop gets two, and a high elevation backdrop leads to a Russian legsweep across his knee for two. He snaps Carlito's throat across the top rope to setup a springboard bulldog for two, but Carlito blocks a German suplex, and exposes the top turnbuckle. Modified side suplex gets the champ two, but he runs into a spinkick, so he suckers Shelton into the exposed buckle, and hooks the tights to retain at 12:49. I really liked Shelton here, but Carlito was only effective when selling for him (his heat segment stuff dull and punchy-kicky), and luckily he did a lot of that here. **

Victoria v Christy Hemme: Hemme chases her around ringside before the bell, but gets stomped in the process. She manages to tackle Victoria down during a backdrop attempt, however, and she unloads with turnbuckle smashes in the corner - only for Victoria to drop her with a stungun. The hemline on Hemme's skirt is way too short. Which is something I never thought I'd hear myself saying, but sometimes you want to leave a little to the imagination, ladies. Victoria with a hangman's neckbreaker, and she chokes her down in the corner. Chinlock, but Hemme slugs free, so Victoria tries a 2^nd rope moonsault - missing. Christy comes back with some hairpull slams, and a DDT gets her two. Sunset flip, but Victoria drops to her knees, and holds the ropes for the pin at 5:06. Short enough to avoid negative stars, and they were trying hard, but still terrible. DUD

Edge v Kane: The look of utter terror on Edge's face during the entrances is a thing of beauty. He tries running, but Kane catches him in short order, and destroys him in the corner. Backdrop, as the camera crew makes their case for sainthood with some shots of Lita on the outside. Dear lord! I never remember being particularly attracted to her in the earlier part of the decade, but this hairstyle and eye makeup really works for her. Kane goes after her on the floor, but Edge saves, so Kane beats on him some more instead. Well, that's fair. Edge tries a spear, but gets tossed over the top for his efforts, and rammed into the rail. Tombstone on the outside, but Lita helps Edge escape, and Kane takes a trip into the post to setup a spear out there. Edge with a baseball slide right as Kane beats the count, and another spear in the corner follows, but Kane wins a slugfest. Tombstone, but Edge counters with the Edge-o-Matic, and adds a seated dropkick in response to the sit-up. Kane sits up again anyway, however, so Edge tries a 2^nd rope spear - missing. Kane with a snake-eyes and a clothesline for two, and a sidewalk slam sets up a flying clothesline - only for Edge to dropkick him out of the air. Spear, but Kane blocks with a big boot. Chokeslam, but Lita comes in with a chair, and offers to make out with him instead. Kane responds by choking her down, which seems like and trying to Pillmanize her neck with the chair, which seems like an over reaction, to say the least. Seriously dude, just politely decline if you're not into it. Luckily, Snitsky comes in with a big boot of his own to save her, and Edge gets a dramatic two count off of it. Edge grabs the Money in the Bank briefcase, but ends up whacking Snitsky with it instead, and Kane chokeslams him for the pin at 11:13. Kane can be decent when paired with the right opponent and with the right motivation, and this had both going for it. * ½

Shawn Michaels v Kurt Angle: Kurt's got the crazy eyes going full force at the bell, and he controls Shawn on the mat in the early going, but HBK stays near enough to the ropes to avoid getting trapped in a submission. Shawn speeds things up, and manages to win a criss cross with an armdrag into an armbar, but Angle reverses. Shawn looks so fucking tiny at this stage in his career, that Angle looks like 1988 Hulk Hogan while wrestling him. And, I mean, Shawn was never one of the bigger guys in the business to begin with, but at least in the 90s he looked like a pro-wrestler. Kurt starts aggressively going to for the Anklelock, but Shawn tenaciously fights him off, and keeps hold of the ropes. Shawn with a 2^nd rope sunset flip, but Kurt counters to the Anklelock, so Shawn scrambles, and they spill to the floor. Kurt tries the Olympic Slam out there, but Shawn blocks, so Angle punishes him with a German suplex onto the announce table instead. That's just mean. Inside, that gets two, and a neckbreaker is worth a series of two counts. Shawn tries bailing, but Kurt bootchokes him in the corner instead, then levels him with a European uppercut. Shawn's bleeding hardway from the eye here. Slugfest goes Kurt's way, and he drops Shawn hard with a powerbomb into the turnbuckles for two. That looked brutal - significantly more so than the one that legit injured Sting at Night of Champions this year. Angle with a snap suplex for two, and he grounds Michaels with a chinlock. Shawn fights out, so Angle plants him with a release German suplex for two, but an Olympic Slam is countered with an armdrag. Angle levels him with a lariat for two before he can follow-up, but Shawn manages to block an overhead superplex. He tries a 2^nd rope axehandle, but Kurt catches him in a release overhead suplex for two, then grabs a sleeper. This match really makes me wish we got Shawn versus Scott Steiner when they were both part of the WWF in 1994. Shawn uses a side suplex to escape, and a staggered slugfest goes his way. Shawn throws a diving double-ax and an inverted atomic drop at him as he mounts a comeback, and a bodyslam sets up a flying elbowdrop. Superkick, but Angle throws a lariat to counter, and hooks the leg for two. Olympic Slam, but Shawn counters with a tornado DDT for two. Vertical suplex, but Kurt counters into a rolling German suplex - Shawn blocking the second alarm, but getting hooked into the Olympic Slam instead, for two! Anklelock, but Shawn counters with an inside cradle for two. German suplex, but Angle counters to the Anklelock - successfully getting it on this time. Shawn manages to escape, but takes the referee out in the process, and Kurt backdrops him over the top off a charge. Kurt drags him back in, so Shawn throws a desperation Superkick - countered by Angle into the Anklelock. Michaels scrambles, but Angle holds the leg firm through multiple escape attempts, until Shawn manages to fake him out by making Angle think he's going for the ropes, and instead sending Kurt into the corner to break. Angle keeps coming, but Michaels throws a Superkick for a dramatic two count. Kurt's up first, and crawls his way up to the top rope to pounce on a battered Michaels, but Shawn is playing possum - countering the dive with another Superkick, this time for the pin at 26:11. Not quite as good as their WrestleMania bout, but another long and strong match, that started off a bit slow, but got really good once it got moving. *** ½

WWE Title Triple Threat Match: John Cena v Chris Jericho v Christian: First fall wins it. Jericho looks to want to kiss both guys to start, though I may just be misreading his intensity. Either way, Cena isn't into it, so the former tag partners stomp him down. They quickly start bickering (for some inane reason... like all of these matches, I get why they end up fighting, but shouldn't they neutralize the common enemy first before doing so?), and Jericho puts Christian down with a clothesline. He starts dropping elbows, so Tyson Tomko beats him up, as Cena hiptosses Christian. Hey, it's their own fault for being idiots and fighting after less than a minute of cooperation. Tomko drops Cena as well, but the referee has had ENOUGH, and ejects him. Cena flapjacks Christian and goes for the FU, but his challenger holds the top rope to block, so John drops him to the floor instead. Well, that's one way to skin a cat. Unfortunately for him, Jericho nails him with a flying backelbow immediately after, and adds a vertical suplex before unloading with chops in the corner. Bulldog sets up the Lionsault, but Cena dodges, so Chris elbows him down instead, then baseball slides him out of the ring. To the floor, Chris tries suplexing Cena through the announce table, but gets countered with a DDT onto the title belt. Unfortunately for John-boy, Christian is right there to knock him into the steps, and back in, it gets two. Chinlock, but Cena starts throwing clotheslines, and hits a jumping shoulderblock. Modified side suplex sets up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Jericho breaks it up, and whips Cena into the steps. Inside, Jericho tries for the Walls on Christian, but gets cradled for two. Christian goes up, so Jericho tries a superplex, but Cena slides back up - powerbombing Jericho off the top as he superplexes Christian. That earns Cena a two count on each of them, and he starts throwing clotheslines like Lex Luger on a 'roid rage. Double-Five Knuckle Shuffle, and he sunset flips Jericho for two - saved by Christian with a schoolboy for two. Jericho hits a neat double-somersault cradle for two, and they work a triple knockout spot. Chris gets the best of it, and goes up, but Cena knocks him down to the floor, and schoolboys Christian for two. With Chris out of the way, John tries the FU on Christian, but gets countered into an inverted DDT for two. He distracts the referee long enough to allow Tomko to run back in with a lariat on Cena, but it's still only enough for two. Jericho's back with a Walls for Cena, but Christian schoolboys him out of the hold for two. Jericho tries a bulldog, but gets countered to the Unprettier, but Chris shoves him off - right into an FU from Cena to retain at 15:18. This was basically fifteen minutes of Cena getting beat up, yet still somehow never looking vulnerable. **

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Hell in a Cell Match: Batista v Triple H: Batista's white-with-black-trim gear versus HHH's black-with-white-trim gear makes for a nice bit of contrast. Batista goes right after him, and they spill to the outside in short order - Batista tossing him into the cell a bunch. He gets reversed into the post, however, and HHH snaps his throat across the top rope, then delivers a high knee to send Batista flying from the apron into the cell wall. Hunter retrieves a chain, and starts lashing and choking Batista with it. Batista fights him off and uses the chain himself - drawing blood from the challenger. HHH manages a spinebuster, then retrieves a barbwire wrapped chair from underneath the ring. Come on now! What logical reason would there be for the ring crew to leave a barbwire wrapped chair underneath the ring? Be serious! He goes to work with it, and it's legit wire, as Batista starts bleeding from the back. Batista gets his turn with the chair, and takes Hunter out to the floor for a trip into the cage. Back in, Batista misses a charge in the corner, but manages to backdrop his way out of a Pedigree onto the wire covered chair, and deliver a front-powerslam onto it for two. He goes for the chain, but HHH DDTs him onto the wire-chair, and they go back to the floor for Hunter to grate Batista's now bloody face against the mesh. Inside, Batista tries for the Batista Bomb, but Hunter backdrops him, and goes back underneath the ring to retrieve his trusty sledgehammer. A blow with that gets two, but another shot is blocked with a low blow. Batista tries to use the hammer, but runs into a chain assisted punch for two. HHH sticks with it by trying a 2^nd rope fistdrop with the chain, but Batista uses the hammer to block (triggering a great bit of selling from Hunter), and he beats on his challenger with the steps. Bomb, but HHH blows him low to block, and delivers the Pedigree for two. Pedigree onto the steps looks to finish, but Batista counters with a spinebuster onto them, and the Bomb finishes at 26:55. I love a good brawl as much as the next guy, but this wasn't really my cup of tea. It was intense, sure, but basically just punch-kick stuff with various weapons throw into the mix. That said, I know this match has its fans, and while I don't think of it as a bad match by any means, I'm certainly not one of them. Not to mention that it went on for about ten minutes too long. * ½

BUExperience: Not a bad show, but the only match really worth seeking out is a lesser version of its predecessor.

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