WWE Vengeance 2002 Review
Vengeance
July 21, 2002
Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit vs The Dudleyz - Tables Match
Rejoice! Chris Benoit is back from his neck injury! This was just a short lived program to keep Guerrero occupied in the aftermath of Steve Austin walking out of the WWE. Benoit had made his return to the ring teaming with Guerrero in a normal tag match against Bubba and Spike on Raw. This match can be broken down into two halves. The first is oddly just a standard tag match with the referee enforcing tags (Why?) and Bubba Ray being worked over as the face-in-peril. Even though it goes against the nature of the gimmick match, this segment isn’t bad as both Eddie and Benoit bring the intensity. The second half is where the tables come into play. In a match where the Dudleyz are just dominated, they did have better teamwork in ensuring that they protected each other from being put through tables. Multiple times Bubba or Spike would either move a table out of the way of tackle each other to save them from going through a table. The first elimination saw Spike hitting a Dudley Dog from the apron through a table to Eddie. Benoit was then quick to press slam Spike from the ring to the outside, through a table to even the score. That unfortunately led into Bubba hitting a full nelson slam through a table to eliminate Benoit, to win the match. Although I liked the idea that despite The Radicalz being the better team, the Dudleyz were just better at the tables match rules, it still seems highly questionable to have Guerrero and Benoit lose here. Still, a fun opener. ***
Jamie Noble © w/Nidia vs Billy Kidman - WWE Cruiserweight Title
Although Noble had defeated Kidman on the go home edition of Smackdown prior to King of the Ring to earn a Cruiserweight Title shot, which he obviously won, since then Kidman had picked up a couple of tag team victories over Noble on Smackdown and singles victories over Tajiri and Chavo Guerrero on Smackdown and Velocity. This one had a surprisingly good story that kicked off on the outside when Noble used Nidia to very briefly distract Kidman, allowing Noble to hit a Divorce Court on the floor mat. Back inside, all of the focus was on Kidman’s arm/shoulder being further punished by Noble. Kidman’s selling is good and since it’s just his arm, he’s still able to hit all of his normal spots, just being forced to grab at his arm after each one. As good as that story is, it gets forgotten as they head into the finishing stretch with Kidman finally attempting a Shooting Star Press, but Noble moved out of the way. That allowed Noble to deliver a Tiger Driver for the victory. Had they just used the arm injury to play into the finish, you would have had a good little hidden gem. Instead, it’s just good with plenty of fun nearfalls and limb work that ultimately goes nowhere. Better than their Survivor Series 2002 match though. ***
Jeff Hardy © vs William Regal - WWE European Title
A week after Hardy’s legendary ladder match against the Undertaker, the WWE rewarded him by having him defeated Regal to win the WWE European Title. After the match, Regal was interviewed where he ended up breaking down into tears. Poor bloke. The following week, Hardy pinned Regal again in a six man elimination match. For what this was, it was fun, but admittedly, there’s not much to it. It didn’t even go five minutes and featured the completely random finish of Hardy countering a Regal front face lock by snapping Regal to the mat by his arm. While Regal sold it beautifully, Hardy just rolled Regal up for the surprise three count. There were some good moments with Hardy hitting a bunch of high flying spots while Regal got his knees up during the sole Swanton Bomb attempt. Considering that this would be it for the WWE European Title, as Hardy would lose an unification ladder match with IC Champion, RVD, tomorrow night on Raw, it only makes sense that the always obscure and random European Title would bid its PPV farewell in a random fashion. ** ½
Speaking of Hardy, his booking from this point on was very random. Despite having this major breakout moment at the start of July, the WWE quickly depushed him following this PPV. He’d fail in the ladder match tomorrow on Raw and his only other 2002 PPV would be Survivor Series. For the rest of the year, he’s just sorta...there. Kinda ironic too since this is about the point where Matt Hardy would finally break out as a singles star with his jump to Smackdown and morphing into Matt Hardy V1.
Chris Jericho vs John Cena
Cena’s first PPV match. Cena showed up on the last Smackown of June, failing in his debut match against Kurt Angle, but still making an impression. On the 4th of July edition of Smackdown, Cena would suffer his second loss in the WWE, this time to Jericho. After the match, Jericho, being a dick, opted to attack Cena for the hell of it. That then led into two straight Smackdown matches with Cena beating Jericho, but the first was a tag match and the second, a singles match, was only by DQ. Can Cena finally properly beat Jericho in a singles match? I believe this is the match where Jericho was just supposed to beat Cena, but Jericho thought it would be best for the newbie to win instead. The entire story is just built around Cena getting in a lot of nearfalls to tease the idea that he may actually win a singles match. There’s a great spot where Cena attempts a splash in the corner, but Jericho jumps to the middle rope and then delivers a middle rope drop kick. The finish saw an ultra cocky Jericho attempt to lock in the Walls of Jericho, but Cena countered into a small package for the surprise pinfall. This would be Cena’s last PPV singles victory until Wrestlemania 20. Fine match, even if it doesn’t feel too important. I do agree with Jericho that Cena finally getting a victory made sense. ** ¼
Rob Van Dam © vs Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman - WWE IC Title
Even back in 2002, the booking of this match made little sense to me. Sure, it’s a rematch of the KOTR finals, but Brock’s KOTR victory meant he was to challenge for the Undisputed Title at Summerslam. So obviously he’s not winning the IC Title here, but at the same time, it wouldn’t make sense to have RVD beat Lesnar. It’s been years since I’ve seen their KOTR battle, but I feel as if this was the superior match due to the fact that I have recollections of that one being really uneventful except for Heyman distracting RVD to allow Lesnar to win. Here, they actually have a really fun match going. Lesnar dominates for a bit, but unlike in most Lesnar matches up to this point, it doesn’t last. RVD uses his unique moveset to get the best of the Next Big Thing, even knocking him to the mat. You were actually buying into the idea that Lesnar may be defeated by RVD. After Lesnar picked Van Dam up for the F5, RVD countered it into a DDT to then head on up to the top rope to nail the Five Star Frog Splash. Sadly, that’s where the fun match is somewhat ruined as Heyman pulls the referee out of the match and that’s seemingly a good enough excuse for the referee to call for the bell, awarding RVD the match by DQ. Lame. As I said at the top of this match review, this rematch shouldn’t have even happened here. Neither guy should have lost and WWE officials seemed to have enough common sense to agree with me, requiring this non-finish to happen instead. Looking back, Brock/RVD II would have been an ideal match to do at Unforgiven 2002 where it’s just Brock’s Undisputed Title on the line, preferably with Brock not becoming Smackdown exclusive until the following month. Still, this is the most fun I’ve had watching a Brock match thus far in his run. ** ¾
After the match, RVD looks to get a bit of revenge and to deliver a Van Terminator to Lesnar, but Heyman jumps up to the apron to hold onto RVD’s leg, allowing Lesnar to recover. RVD suffers a F5 on a steel chair to leave Brock standing tall.
Booker T vs The Big Show - No DQ/Count-Out Match
Man, I’ve completely forgotten that this was a match. After Kevin Nash’s torn quad from walking caused Mr. McMahon to kill off the nWo, the Booker T/Goldust vs nWo feud morphed into just Booker T vs The Big Show. On the go home edition of Raw (Best known for the night Eric Bischoff debuted), Booker won a match against The Big Show when Show was DQ’d from using a chair. The most impressive thing about this entire match was just the reaction from the crowd. This Detroit audience was really into Booker T to the point where it seemed crazy that he wasn’t receiving a title match post-Summerslam at either Unforgiven or No Mercy. There’s no much hardcore action though. Booker attempted to use a chair, but Show punched the chair out of Booker’s hands. There was one great hardcore spot as Booker runs from one commentator’s table and deliver an Axe Kick to a bent over Show, crashing through a second commentator’s table. The crowd ate that spot up. Back in the ring, Booker would hit one Houston Hangover and win the match. Maybe the match isn’t important, but there were some fun spots, the crowd got really behind Booker, and had the feel of an Attitude Era main event. Good stuff. ***
Put on a lovely shade of lipstick and drop down to your knees because it’s time to suck off Triple H. With McMahon in full control of the WWE again after beating Ric Flair for his Raw ownership and introducing general managers for both Raw and Smackdown, every wrestler had the right to jump to the other brand. So rather than add another match to the PPV, a large in-ring segment is dedicated to spotlighting the greatness of Triple H with Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon both offering their reasoning for why Hunter should sign with him. The commentators are hilariously putting Triple H over as the biggest star ever. Stephanie brings up how Bischoff once didn’t think Hunter had any charisma and she knows what all Hunter can do. Bischoff obviously brings up Hunter’s divorce from Stephanie and that he can get Hunter into big movies and even a shoe deal~! Hunter is ready to go with the devil that he does know, Stephanie, until Shawn Michaels shows up. HBK makes his own pitch of offering friendship and fun if Hunter comes to Raw. Triple H agrees and Hunter is officially a member of the Raw roster. THIS IS SUCH A BIG DEAL TO RAW~! I mean guys...guys...guys...you do realize Triple H is the biggest star ever? Thank the gods above that Triple H will be on Raw tomorrow. Also, be sure to wear your black armband for the death of Smackdown. Those poor bastards.
Backstage, Smackdown’s Rikishi is heartbroken over Triple H’s decesion to jump to Raw. Gosh darn it! Triple H was a locker room leader to these kids! That’s it, it’s going to be pure anarchy over on Smackdown now. Rookies like John Cena and Randy Orton won’t have anyone to teach them how to tie their shoes or how to shave. FUCK. What is Smackdown to do now?!
Elsewhere, Booker T and Goldust are cool with Triple H wanting to come to Raw. You’re damn right you’re happy that Hunter is coming. Think of all of the knowledge and guidance he’s going to be offering you two! Aren’t you two lucky little boogers? Put on your party hats because the biggest star in the history of the world is coming to Raw tomorrow night!!!
Okay, so I’m slightly over exaggerating, but be prepared for plenty of eye rolling as you see just how little over exaggerating it actually is.
Hulk Hogan and Edge © vs Christian and Lance Storm - WWE Tag Titles
Since there wasn’t a tag titles match at King of the Ring, let’s do a bit of a history lesson to get us caught up. At Judgment Day, Rikishi shocked everyone by winning the tag titles from Billy and Chuck when Rico was his disloyal partner. After one unsuccessful title shot, Billy and Chucky managed to regain the titles on the first Smackdown of June in an elimination match. As Rikishi was then shifted to a program against the trio of Christian, Storm, and Test, Billy and Chuck would proceed to not do anything with this reign for a month before losing the titles to Hogan and Edge on July 4th. From there, Hogan and Edge actively joined in helping Rikishi in his new feud, with the go home edition of Smackdown featuring Hogan, Edge, and Rikishi defeating Test, Storm, and Christian. This was fun. It featured both Edge and Hogan being involved in a bit of a face-in-peril sequences. Hogan was used sparingly, which was best for everything. Let him just be involved for the reactions. Things get more interesting after Storm avoids an Edge spear, causing him to accidentally hit the referee instead. That allowed Test to jump the steel railing, attack Hogan and then lay Edge out with a big boot. Once the referee recovered, Storm covered Edge, but Edge managed to kick out. As Test walks back down the entrance ramp to interfere, Rikishi runs out to prevent it. Everything is looking great for the champions to retain the titles when suddenly Chris Jericho shows up and blasts Edge in the face with a tag title, allowing his almost, but not quite teammates to win the match to become NEW WWE Tag Champions. Call me crazy, but I liked this. It’s such a massive upgrade from the pure shit we saw at Backlash and Judgment Day with Billy and Chuck leading the tag division against teams like Al Snow/Maven and Rikishi/Rico. ***
The Undertaker © vs The Rock vs Kurt Angle - WWE Undisputed Title
This was originally set to be a singles match between Taker and Rock with Taker looking to punish Rock for interfering in his title defense against Triple H at King of the Ring. Then on the July 4th edition of Smackdown, in Taker’s last scheduled title defense before the PPV, his match with Kurt Angle ended in a draw as Angle was pinned at the same time that he forced Taker to tap out to a Triangle Choke. Thanks to that controversial finish, Angle got himself thrown into this match. Perhaps it’s because the Undisputed Title had been such shit in 2002, but the legacy of this match is just that it’s really fun. Before there’s even any action, the fun value kicks off with Rock and Taker so focused on their smack talking that poor Angle is left being ignored. Angle, like a small child, keeps trying to get their attention until Taker and Rock have a moment of unity by both decking Angle. In what could have easily been the finishing stretching, there’s an entertaining sequence fairly early on as everyone steals each others moves. It starts with Rock hitting Taker with a choke slam (Holy shit…) and locks in the Ankle Lock on Angle until Angle escapes and delivers a Rock Bottom on Rocky. It’s not over until Taker busts out an Angle Slam on Angle. This entire sequence means absolutely nothing since it’s so early, but it’s awesome! Throughout all of the match, it seems as if finishers could come out at any point. There’s plenty of kick outs and break ups to keep the match going though. What I feel is the true accomplishment of the match though is the re-establishment of Kurt Angle being a serious main eventer. Thus far in 2002, he had been depushed a bit and made to do a fair bit of comedy. No longer is he the guy wearing a wig to hide his bald head, but he’s a guy busted open, but still blasts Taker in the head with a chair and delivers an Angle Slam, both resulting in nearfalls for Angle. Even in the end with Angle delivering an Angle Slam to Taker, but suffering a Rock Bottom by The Rock to allow Rock to pin Angle to become the NEW WWE Undisputed Champion, I can’t say Angle looks bad in defeat Again, up to this point, 2002 PPV World Title matches had been so consistently bad, easily one of the worst years since PPV had started, that this match stands out even more for not having stupid booking (Rock/Jericho Rumble) or just being a terrible match (Every other World Title match?). Rock and Taker had never had much chemistry together and had the match remained just Rock vs Taker, as it was originally announced to be, I imagined it would have been just as bad as their No Way Out 2002 match. Instead, we had the MOTN and one of the better triple threat title matches in WWE history. ****
Overall
Although reviewers tend to be pretty hard on this show, I quite enjoyed it. When you compare it to other brand extension era PPVs thus far (Backlash, Judgment Day, and King of the Ring), I find it corrects a lot of the weaknesses on those shows. Right away, the World Title match is actually great. Hands better than any of those previous three PPV main events. The WWE Tag Titles were defended (Already a plus over King of the Ring) and both teams are big enough stars to warrant being on PPV, with one team being two of the top acts on Smackdown. Compare that to Backlash and Judgment Day where it was Billy and Chucky defending the titles against Maven/Al Snow and Rikishi/Rico. Quite an upgrade, no? Considering I’ve never been high on the RVD/Guerrero matches, RVD/Brock II is the best RVD match since his shockingly good match against Goldust at No Way Out. Yes, the Triple H segment is certainly cringeworthy and pretty hilarious that the WWE are trying to act as if Hunter is on the same level as an Austin or a Rock, but I’d rather endure a so bad it’s good segment than having to endure another match “Classic” like Hunter was having on PPV around this time period. Although nothing special match quality wise, Vengeance 2002 also features the PPV debut of John Cena (Who knows, the kid might have a little success in the company!) and the PPV return of Chris Benoit. In the case of Benoit, his return meant PPVs were now going to be guaranteed to have at least one great match on each show. The Hardy/Regal and Booker T/Show matches weren’t bad either. Vengeance 2002 is hardly a bad show, it’s filled with fun matches (And a nauseating segment with Triple H) that just ultimately doesn’t mean too much due to so many changing in the next few weeks. An ideal show to watch on the WWE Network.
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Originally Posted by Postman Dave
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