Vengeance 2011 Review
October 24, 2011
By Ricky Dozan
I went into this PPV with very low expectations since WWE did a horrific job of promoting it. The company is pushing Survivor Series pretty heavilly this year, so many fans did not bother to purchase this PPV as Survivor Series is next month, and it is the focal point.
Air Boom vs Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger - Tag Team Championship
Like they have been doing the past two PPVs, Air Boom put on an exciting match. These guys are perfect at opening a PPV. They don't steal the show, but they excite you enough to keep your hopes up that the rest of the event is going to be entertaining. Once Air Boom hit that hot tag, the match gets going. Lots of back and forth action until Air Boom wins cleanly.
6/10
Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder - United States Championship
Nothing much to say about this one. Ziggler was most likely tired from the last match, so this was kept short. They teased Ryder winning a few times, but Ziggler puts the Woo Woo Kid away with a superkick. Zack Ryder should've gotten the win though as he can make a far better use of the U.S. title.
5/10
Beth Phoenix vs Eve - Diva's Championship
The diva's matches on the last few PPVs have been decent, and this was no exception. While it still doesn't make me fully care about the division, this match was enjoyable and I'm happy that Beth can hold on to the title for a bit longer.
5.5/10
Christian vs Sheamus
Much like their match at Hell in a Cell, Christian and Sheamus have a good match but at the end of the day, it's still a filler match that WWE threw on the card to eat up time. Sheamus wins via Brogue Kick. I think WWE are feeding Sheamus PPV wins until they decide it's time for him to get a shot against Henry's title.
6/10
Triple H & CM Punk vs The Miz & R-Truth
Kevin Nash made a surprise appearance and took out Triple H when the ref wasn't looking. With The Game out of the picture, The Awesome Truth hit their double team finisher and picked up the win. Nash then delivers a powerbomb to Triple H, post match. This was quite uneventful, which was disappointing as I was expecting a big overbooked ending that would make you think it was booked by Vince Russo himself. The match itself wasn't terrible, I was just expecting so much more going on within the match.
5.5/10
Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton
I'm not a fan of either guy and with Cody's title not even being on the line, this wasn't at all interesting to me. I will give credit where credit is due though and say the ending was cool. Cody manages to steal a win of Randy when one of his baggers distracts the Viper. I'm not a fan of Rhodes, but it's cool to see WWE pushing new stars, and it's evident that he will eventually become a main event performer for the company.
7.5/10
Mark Henry vs Big Show - World Heavyweight Championship
This match ends in a draw after the ring collapses after a huge superplex as neither man can continue. This match look terrible on paper and I wasn't looking forward in the slightest, but I was plesantly greeted with a great big man match with many near-falls and the superplex ending was a cool nod at the good ol' days. Easily Mark Henry's best match.
7/10
Alberto Del Rio vs John Cena - WWE Championship - Last Man Standing
The match taken place in a wrecked ring was a nice touch and they manage to work around having no ropes. They fought all over the place in this one. In the ring, on the stage, backstage. Gosh, it was fun. It only really got interesting when they went backstage though, and I didn't see Alberto having a chance in hell beating Cena until when Miz/Truth came out. They hit their finishers on Cena, while Del Rio was down after he took an AA through the announce table, which helped Del Rio in winning. It was awesome to see Cena take a loss, but it would be much better if Cena could lose in a clean manner as it would help give Del Rio more credibility.
6.5/10
A pretty average PPV, but that doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. I enjoyed it because there was no bad matches on the card and the Henry/Show ending was awesome. Then again, this PPV is most likely going to be forgotten in a few months as it wasn't at all memorable. A hesitant thumbs up.