World Wrestling Entertainment – Vengeance 2004 – 11th July 2004
So while the Smackdown brand was progressively being destroyed by murdering managers, Kenzo Suzuki matches and Undertaker squashing everyone, lets check in with how the Raw brand was getting on. It’s not saying a lot, but I am at least optimistic that this will be a better show than Great American Bash. Speaking of squashing everyone, Triple H main events yet again – this time to challenge Chris Benoit for the World Title. Is it simply a formality that HHH will retake the top prize on Raw; the prize that he has maintained an iron grip on for the vast majority of the time since the roster split? The longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of the modern era has a real test tonight too as Randy Orton defends against Edge, in the latter’s biggest match since returning from a serious neck injury a few months earlier. It’s a Raw ppv which means we do have to sit through another pointless Jonathan Coachman match – but the undercard isn’t too terrible with Batista/Jericho and Kane/Hardy both having some potential. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are in Hartford, CT.
SIDENOTE - Apparently Benoit/HHH is a ‘first time ever on pay-per-view’ match, which is an obvious lie. No Mercy 2000 is clearly no longer considered part of the WWE’s canon…
Jonathan Coachman/Garrison Cade vs Tajiri/Rhyno
If the prospect of Coach wrestling doesn’t fill you with dread already, JR uttering the fear-inducing phrase of ‘this match was set earlier tonight on Heat’ should put the final nail in the coffin. Coach and Tajiri have had a feud because the WWE was a terrible company at this point in time…and tonight JC has challenged the Buzzsaw to a tag match. Coach obviously picked his associate Garrison Cade, whilst Tajiri has reached out to a former ECW colleague for help.
Coach is happy to start with Tajiri but immediately tags out when he realises Rhyno is starting for the opposition. Doesn’t that bury Tajiri? Garrison slaps the Man Beast then leaves the ring before he can retaliate with a Gore. After a cheap shot from Coach, Cade sets to work isolating Tajiri; softening him up sufficiently for Coachman to legally enter the ring and lay in some punches. He breaks out some racism (seriously) and takes a kick to the top of the head. Tarantula applied, opening the window for a hot tag to Rhyno. He hits the belly to belly suplex on JC, who yelps in pain upon landing. Cade makes the save…and eats the handspring elbow from the Buzzsaw. GREEN MIST! This time Coach ducks it, meaning it blinds his partner instead! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE! Again Coachman dodged it, so it was Garrison who took that as well. Coach’s luck finally runs out as he walks into a knockout kick from Tajiri – who picks up the win at 07:29
Rating - * - This would actually have been perfectly decent for an episode of Raw. The crowd had fun watching it, the three active wrestlers carried the bulk of the workload and it all built to a mildly entertaining finish. The problem is that this is a pay-per-view and people have paid good money to watch this. With all the talent at the WWE’s disposal there should be no need to put such inane filler into a ppv.
In the Evolution locker room Ric Flair is upset at having to team with Eugene. He, Orton and Batista don’t understand Triple H’s plan. Hunter is currently manipulating Eugene for his own purposes, and he strolls into the corridor to find Chris Benoit telling Eugene exactly that...
Chris Jericho vs Batista
There isn’t a lengthy backstory here, although given Jericho’s past with the leader of Evolution (HHH) he should no motivation to dish out a beating to one of The Game’s cohorts. Batista cost Jericho an IC Title match with Randy Orton on Raw, with Y2J now looking to extract some retribution.
Jericho tries to stay out of Dave’s clutches but almost immediately gets grabbed and pummelled in the corner. He hits the springboard dropkick on the apron even though he is already looking worse for wear, and is soon getting battered into the guardrails by the Evolution member. Batista targets Jericho’s back and neck, keeping him on the mat where his superior size gives him considerable leverage. It takes him several minutes to break free of big Dave’s clutches, eventually doing so with a flurry of strikes to his sizeable leg. His offence is barely capable of taking Batista off his feet and soon the Animal is back in charge after catching him in a remorseless sidewalk slam. Repeated backbreakers do yet more damage and leave Y2J on the cusp of defeat. He tries again to attack Batista’s legs but hasn’t done anywhere near enough to leave him vulnerable to the Walls Of Jericho. SPINEBUSTER OF TOTAL DEATH gets 2 for Batista! Batista Bomb blocked…so Dave mounts his opponent and tries to bludgeon him to unconsciousness with countless punches. Somehow Jericho escapes to dive off the ropes with a bulldog – but that hurts him almost as much as it does his opponent. He tries a wild Lionsault anyway and is punished with two big knees right into his injured midsection. Batista hits another massive spinebuster then finishes it with the Batista Bomb at 12:11…although Earl Hebner missed Jericho getting a foot on the ropes.
Rating - *** - The finish did nothing for me. I’m not sure Jericho needed the protection of a shady finish, but I am positive Batista could use the rub of a clean win over an athlete of Jericho’s stature. Thankfully the match before that was pretty solid. The improvement in Batista’s work, even when compared to the decent match he had with Shawn Michaels at the tail end of 2003, was noticeable. He looked far more comfortable controlling a heat segment and executed his offensive manoeuvres with enough presence and physical personality that he kept the crowd into the match every step of the way. It helps that Jericho takes a hell of a beating of course. He is a real veteran at this point and, like HBK in 2003, the ideal guy to carry an improving Batista to a decent undercard match.
Triple H, Randy Orton and Ric Flair celebrate Batista’s win in the Evolution locker room, before Eugene stomps in upset at what Chris Benoit had to say. HHH’s disingenuous claims Benoit is a liar draw plenty of laughs. A begrudging Ric Flair is forced to hand over one of his robes to cheer Eugene up. I’m sad I missed this Evolution/Eugene angle since these skits seem as entertaining as anything they did with that character.
La Resistance vs Ric Flair/Eugene – World Tag Title Match
As we’ve seen, Evolution have manipulated Eugene into believing they are his friends. They have made him an ‘honorary member’ of the group and now give him the honour of getting to team with the Nature Boy in pursuit of the World Tag Titles. Of course, it’s all a game to give HHH leverage over World Champion Chris Benoit, but simple-minded Eugene doesn’t know that. He would love nothing more than to defeat Conway and Grenier tonight and wear tag team gold with one of his idols.
Ric Flair trying to coach Eugene on how to walk the aisle correctly has me in stitches. Flair’s interactions with the Eugene character are simply fantastic. Unsurprisingly he starts on the apron to allow Bischoff’s nephew to start…and even he can’t help but laugh at Eugene’s mimicking of his classic mannerisms. Conway starts in the ring for his team but is basically an irrelevance to the Eugene show. He gives Grenier a Flair-esque shinbreaker/rolling knee drop combo for 2…followed by an even more Flair-esque thumb to the eyes. FLAIR FLOP! Conway blocks the Figure 4 only to come face-to-face with the actual Nature Boy for the first time. The veteran effortlessly beats up both Tag Champions at once, with only the superior numbers of La Res preventing him from winning the belts there and then. The champs isolate Flair, although Robert’s chest is actually bleeding as a result of Naitch’s signature chops. Their heat segment is, by a distance, the most boring part of the match. It is incredibly simplistic, with the only real point of interest being Sylvain mounting a sneak attack to Eugene on the floor. Au Revoir gets 2 before Eugene saves…wrapping Grenier’s legs around the ringpost to emulate another signature Flair move. In fact, Eugene is so pumped up he accidentally shoves the referee over…and gets rather harshly disqualified at 12:29
Rating - * - The gimmick is horribly insensitive, but it has to be said that the Eugene/Flair interactions really saved this match. The opening minutes with Eugene parodying Flair, who was standing on the apron corpsing profusely, were a riot. Flair himself put in another spirited performance too. It’s a shame they had such a terrible finish booked, and such generic, cookie-cutter heels to work with. Again, this would have been fine for an episode of Raw – but on a pay-per-view one should feel entitled to expect a little bit more for the money.
Eugene vents some frustration by giving Grenier a Stone Cold Stunner then laying out Conway with a Rock Bottom/People’s Elbow combo. In truth Flair doesn’t look too devastated at not being a Tag Champion with him…
Kane vs Matt Hardy – No DQ Match
Not that this feud was in particularly good taste, but it was nice to see WWE successfully revisit the more demented side of Kane’s character that we hadn’t seen since the previous year. Of course, a lot of the ‘Lita slept with Kane, who’s baby is it’ drama becomes quite comedic in hindsight given the Lita/Edge revelations that were to come, but at the time this storyline did have a certain ‘how the hell can a team of professionals not come up with anything better than this??’ charm to it. Kane took a shine to Lita and terrorised Matt Hardy until she agreed to sleep with him. Not knowing the extent of Lita’s deal to appease the Big Red Machine, Hardy proposed and expressed his delight at his girlfriend being pregnant…but was the shellshocked to realise it could be Kane’s. Despite being smaller than the monster, we know how crazy and extreme Hardy can get. How far will he go to get revenge and protect the honour of his long-time girlfriend?
Hardy comes out swinging with everything he has, taking himself off his feet bashing Kane’s face with a TV monitor. Twist Of Fate through the Spanish announce table is blocked…and Kane retorts with a press slam into the guardrails. The size of the task facing Matt is soon apparent as he is dwarfed in the corner by Kane, who throttles and clubs at him like a maniac. A sign in the crowd reads ‘Kane + Lita = Ugly Baby’. That is of more interest than the match itself which simply features Kane beating the Sensei of Mattitude all over ringside. It is brutally and tediously one-sided. I think the idea is to get some sympathetic heat on Matt but it turns out quite boring to sit through. Even when he arms himself with a chair Hardy can’t lay a blow on the Big Red Machine. In the end it’s actual a bumbling Kane taking too long to get in the ring and getting himself caught in the ropes which gives Matt a chance – which he takes by whacking him with the bell. The Twist Of Fate registers a two count before being dusted off for an emphatic chokeslam. Kane brings the steps into play, prompting the pregnant Lita to run in and beg for Hardy’s life. She talks Kane out of using them…until Hardy is able to blast them back into his face with a steel chair. Hardy gets an unlikely win at 10:34
Rating - * - I understand that this wasn’t the end of the feud, but I really feel like both men are capable of much better than this. When motivated, and with the right opponent, Kane is capable of dynamic little brawls – and Hardy has plenty in the tank when it comes to plunder-filled tricks and signature bumps to pop a crowd. We saw none of that and instead got a plodding, overly long and unnecessarily one-sided snoozefest, which ultimately settled nothing and made both guys look crap. Matt is left looking like he isn’t in Kane’s league, needing both his girlfriend and a lucky shot with a chair to get a win…whilst Kane looks foolish for not being able to win a match he utterly dominated. The angle may have been juvenile and inspired by a soap opera – but as workers I felt like these two should have done more to deliver the goods.
Regardless of the win, when Matt gets backstage he tells Lita she needs to stay away from the ring for her own safety…and to stay away from him.
Randy Orton vs Edge – WWE Intercontinental Title Match
Orton has been the most dominant IC Champion of modern times. Since winning the belt he has gone from unproven rookie nestled safely under HHH and Flair’s wing in Evolution, to the Legend Killer. He has made his name at the expense of numerous legends of the sport and cemented his legacy with the stunning defence of this very belt against Cactus Jack in an unforgettable Hardcore Match at Backlash. Having turned away all comers, questions were asked as to who could possibly stop him. Enter Edge, who admitted to watching with envy from the injured list as Evolution formed then dominated Raw. He now steps up as the man looking to end Randy’s reign. He wants to regain the Intercontinental Championship and prove beyond doubt that he is as good now as he was before his career-threatening neck injury.
Orton is marginally more popular than Edge, which should give you an idea of how Edge was floundering until the Lita scandal came out. In fact Edge gets some pretty serious heat for bossing the tentative opening exchanges. He looks to be the better of the two on the mat and the quicker of the two across the canvas too…and after five minutes of constant struggle Randy eventually admits defeat and leaves the ring to regroup. Whether he was actually trying to quit the match or simply trying to take the challenger out of his element, the strategy works and gives Orton the chance to hurl Edge violently over the top rope. Knowing how suspect Edge’s neck is, every single bump like that becomes extremely dangerous – and Orton knows it. He is all over the neck and is totally dominant as the clock ticks past ten minutes. The challenger’s arms hang limp by his side (an awesome way to sell the neck), so he uses his feet to mount a comeback – hitting a baseball slide which knocks the champ all the way back into the announce table. Missile dropkick lands next, scoring a 2-count with the fans jeering loudly and roaring their support for Orton. Spear COUNTERED WITH THE HEAD PUNT! HEADLOCK NECKBREAKER! Edge collapses to the floor semi-conscious with his neck screaming in pain. There is no respite though as the Legend Killer slithers after him with a well-placed kick right to the back of the neck. It’s taken fifteen minutes but we finally get to Orton’s staple hold – the lengthy chinlock. On this occasion it makes perfect sense though, and he really dials up the intensity to crank up the punishment on Edge’s neck – almost rolling it into Anaconda Vice position at one point. Eventually it transitions to more of a sleeper hold leaving Edge on the brink of defeat. He escapes and tries a few frantic pinning combinations…before getting shut down again with a clubbing clothesline which plants him on the neck again. Going for the finishing touch Orton climbs the ropes looking for his flying crossbody…only to be countered in mid-air with a desperation dropkick from the challenger. Edgecution blocked, so Edge drops him with a neckbreaker instead even though that probably hurts him more than Randy. Orton’s trademark dropkick is dodged into the Edge-O-Matic for 2! Both growing fatigued they trade weary blows on the ropes until Edge gives the champ a nasty chest-first spill over the top rope. Flair’s influence comes to the fore as Orton comes back with an eye rake, then he exposes the top turnbuckle. It means the ref has to tend to that and doesn’t see Edge have the match won with a snug small package. EDGECUTION! GETS 2! Edge holds his head in utter despair. Orton gives him a snake-eyes on the exposed turnbuckles…and pins him using the ropes. EDGE KICKS OUT! RKO…BLOCKED! SPEAR LEAPFROGGED! EDGE GOES NECK-FIRST INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! RKO…COUNTERED TO A BACKSLIDE…ORTON KICKS OUT! SPEAR NAILED! EDGE WINS! Orton’s reign is finally over, and we have a new champion at 26:36
Rating - **** - At the time I remember seeing some hype for this as a potential MOTYC, and more recently (with the launch of the WWE Network opening the match up to a whole new generation of writers) I’ve seen it get some really harsh ratings. In my opinion the truth is somewhere in the middle. It was a little sluggish at points, and the limitations of both men as workers at this stage in their careers were exposed over a near 30-minute run-time...but for the most part this was extremely good. Orton’s work on Edge’s neck was enthralling and given that this is a guy who we know has legitimate neck problems, the whole bout became exceptionally dramatic. There were some definite lulls and the near four-minute chinlock spot threatened to derail all their good work but they rebounded well with an action-packed final act – which had the crowd biting on numerous hot false finishes. Orton was already over enough without the IC Title so the time was right to move the belt on, but his reign deserved a really good match to sign off with – and he absolutely got it. WWE Network subscribers – dig out Vengeance 2004 to check this out.
Molly Holly vs Victoria
This is a #1 contendership for the Women’s Title. These two women don’t have an enviable spot sandwiched between the two main events, and they were both well past their peak in terms of heat and popularity with the WWE fanbase. Molly is still wearing a wig, because calling her a fat virgin got stale. Victoria is still tall, strong and kind of weird. That’s about as much flesh on the bones as her time in the WWE ever really got.
Even JR can’t resist pointing out that it’s ridiculous that Molly is STILL wearing a wig. ‘You’d think by now some of her would have grown back’ – JR. Victoria doesn’t get to hit her needless twerking standing moonsault but is at least in the ring with someone who can bump properly for her and make her offence look credible. She hits a quebrada instead, driving Holly out of the ring. A pescado follows (although her execution is significantly worse on that)…before Molly gives her a drop toehold into the steps. That appears to have injured Vic’s arm and Molly is far too good a wrestler to pass up an opportunity like that. Even her handspring ass attack spot is aimed at the shoulder which is a nice little touch. Fujiwara armbar applied but she finds that Victoria’s height makes it a little easier for her to find a rope. She punishes that with a hammerlock-enforced hotshot over the top rope, leaving the injured arm hanging useless by her opponent’s side. The arm gives way before she can hit the Widow’s Peak. SUPERKICK INSTEAD! Victoria wins at 06:22
Rating - ** - It’s easy to write these popcorn slot women’s matches off, but this was actually one of the more enjoyable bouts on the entire card tonight. Molly was a far better worker than anyone else on the roster, and her sound fundamentals helped to draw a solid match out of the capable but inconsistent Victoria. Victoria’s sell on the shoulder was outstanding, and I thought the finish was superb.
Chris Benoit vs Triple H – World Heavyweight Title Match
I don’t want to say that the ‘Cerebral Assassin’ has lost his edge, but how is relying on a wrestler with learning difficulties a sound plan to help you win back the World Title? And that’s before you even consider the non-kayfabe question of why the hell did Eugene need to be wrapped up in this storyline in the first place. Although Benoit has been champion since WrestleMania, he’s not been the ‘top guy’ at any point…and the focus of Raw has remained Triple H at all times. These two had natural chemistry, and a natural reason to feud with Benoit wanting to prove that he is the undisputed top dog on Raw no matter what HHH believed. To me, it seemed like these guys had a perfect WRESTLING angle all set up for them that would draw. I don’t think this needed the addition of Eugene at all. The Eugene/Evolution stuff provided some fun and laughs on the undercard – but looks wholly out of place at main event level.
The opening exchanges are extremely cautious. Benoit seems aware of the strength and size advantage of his opponent, whilst Helmsley is keen to stay out of the clutches of the superior technical wrestler. HHH flees to escape an early Crossface then uses his muscle to assert his authority – clobbering the champion to the canvas with a jumping knee. His offence targets Benoit’s back and neck which, as with Edge earlier, makes perfect sense on a man with a surgically repaired neck. The Crippler fights back with a German suplex – but we get an immediate indication of the extent of his injuries as he fails to string together a flurry of them. He settles for knocking Hunter out of the ring then smashing his shoulder into the steel steps. Flying Wolverine misses though, further injuring the neck and midsection. Even childish Jerry Lawler is able to point out Benoit’s bad neck snapping backwards as his head ricochets off the mat there. The Game comes at him with repeated whips sternum-first into the turnbuckles, looking to set him up for the Pedigree. He even modifies his offence to dial up the punishment – opting to hit a gourdbuster to crush the chest rather than his usual vertical suplex. To the floor next where Benoit is tossed ribs-first into the guardrails and left contorted on the floor, bleeding from the mouth. With the Wolverine’s core completely wrecked HHH then piles back onto the neck, pushing all his weight down on top of it with a sleeper hold. Somehow Benoit escapes…but is so weak he has no ability to fight back and gets swatted away trying a desperation Sharpshooter. Pedigree blocked INTO THE SHARPSHOOTER! The champ can’t arch his back to apply maximum pressure, but this move is inflicting plenty of damage to Helmsley’s permanently bad wheels anyway. At the twenty minute mark both men start to look worse for wear. ROLLING GERMANS! But no bridge at the end, and in fact Benoit slumps to the ground alongside his opponent coughing and grabbing his chest. He thinks about another ill-advised Flying Wolverine…and as Hunter tries to roll away he hits the ropes for an ELBOW SUICIDA INTO THE GUARDRAILS INSTEAD! This has been a hell of a fight and fans actively groan in despair as HHH inadvertently wipes out referee Mike Chioda. With no official, the Game summons Eugene to the ring – and he toddles down the aisle looking conflicted about whether to help his ‘best friend’ Triple H or not. CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! When this happened on Raw Eugene broke the hold with a chair…but this time Benoit is ordering him to get the referee. HHH taps, but since Eugene didn’t get the referee there’s nobody to call it. BENOIT PUNCHES EUGENE! Bischoff’s nephew starts sobbing on the floor as Helmsley low blows the Benoit into the PEDIGREE! Now Eugene rouses the official…and Benoit kicks out anyway! HHH takes a chair from Eugene…who snatches it back from him. Hunter knocks him of the apron as punishment! Ric Flair and Batista run in and both get brained by Benoit and the chair! HHH tries to crack him in the ribs with the chair, only for Benoit to hit him in the balls – leaving them both on the ground! Eugene is left standing in the ring trying to decide who to hit with a chair…and as Benoit tries to snatch it off him Eugene accidentally socks Triple H! Benoit wins with a schoolboy pin at 29:04
Rating - **** - What frustrates me about this Benoit title run is that the guy was wrestling out of his skin. He dragged one of the best performances of Kane’s career out of the Big Red Machine at Bad Blood, and for the majority of this one he almost had Triple H recreating his awesome form of 2000/2001 too. Unfortunately HHH’s raging ego meant that even here, in a match where Benoit was going over him, the Wolverine was nothing but a secondary attraction. Focusing on the positives, for twenty five minutes this was absolutely awesome (and that’s largely why I went to 4* on my rating). It was intense, physical, psychological and completely flawless. The stuff with Eugene at the end was appalling and only there to provide some silly tomfoolery to prevent Benoit going over HHH cleanly. The systemic undermining of Benoit’s reign even extends to these finishes too – this is the second ppv in a row where he’s needed a roll-up victory because he ‘isn’t good enough’ to beat a ‘bigger star’ with one of his signature moves. Great match, terrible finish…No Mercy 2000 was better.
Tape Rating - ** - The negative aspect of almost every single brand exclusive pay-per-view is the crippling amount of filler you have to sit through…and there is plenty of that at Vengeance 2004 as well. But the positive side is that you almost always get at least one decent match that gets plenty of time to deliver. Although this show has a weak undercard, almost an entire hour of the show is dedicated to two extremely strong wrestling matches (Orton/Edge and Benoit/HHH). Guys like Orton and Batista are developing at a far quicker pace because these brand-exclusive ppv’s gives them serious ring time in high profile matches against quality opposition. Does this show deliver value for money at the price WWE were charging for it – probably not. But in a WWE Network era with the entire ppv back-catalogue available at the click of a mouse, and the ability to skip through all the sh*t, you could do worse than spend an 90 minutes checking out the decent stuff this event has to offer. Plus I found this far less of a bother to sit through than Great American Bash.
Top 3 Matches
3) Batista vs Chris Jericho (***)
2) Chris Benoit vs Triple H (****)
1) Randy Orton vs Edge (****)