411 Instant PPV Access: WWE Vengeance 2007

Hey kids, I’m Scott, and this is Instant Access: WWE Vengeance 2007. Instant Access is a new experiment here at 411 Wrestling that will feature immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus here is going to be on first thoughts and snap judgments instead of play-by-play with the goal of providing you with instant access to one writer’s thoughts on the show. Okay kids, enough with the explanations. Let’s get to the wrestling.

World Tag Team Championship Match
Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch (Champions) vs. The Hardys
Match Result: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch defeated The Hardys when Lance Cade gave Jeff Hardy a sit-out spinebuster.
Match Length: 8:52
Match Analysis: I am continually amazed by how well Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch are able to work with The Hardys. On the surface you might assume that there would be quite a deleterious clash of styles between these two teams, but this feud has proven that these four guys are able to compliment each others’ styles in a way that few of us could have expected. The synergy between these two teams made this match the perfect choice of an opener for the show. The fans always lose their mind for The Hardys, and featuring them in the first match of the evening was a great way to heat up the crowd. The match itself was solid if unspectacular, but I’ll take solid any day of the week. Sometime you just don’t need flashy spots and complex booking when you’ve got four guys who understand the fundamentals of how to properly build a wrestling match.
Match Rating: ***

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Chavo Guerrero (Champion) vs. Jimmy Wang Yang
Match Result: Chavo Guerrero defeated Jimmy Wang Yang with the Frog Splash.
Match Length: 9:16
Match Analysis: This was a perfectly fine cruiserweight match, but as far as I’m concerned the overall quality of the match was hurt by the fact that the outcome was never really in question. It’s not that Guerrero or Yang telegraphed the finish of the match or anything like that, but it was just hard for me to become engaged by a match when I never truly believed that Yang stood a realistic chance of winning the championship. However, all of that being said, this really was one of the better one-on-one cruiserweight matches we’ve seen in WWE in quite some time. Some have said that the WWE Cruiserweight style is an evolutionary relic compared to the TNA X-Division style, but I still think that guys like Chavo Guerrero, Jimmy Wang Yang, Gregory Helms, and Jamie Noble can put together better complete matches than anybody currently in the X-Division.
Match Rating: *** ¼

ECW World Heavyweight Championship Match
CM Punk vs. Johnny Nitro (replacing Chris Benoit)
Match Result: Johnny Nitro defeated CM Punk with a rope-assisted corkscrew neckbreaker.
Match Length: 8:13
Match Analysis: The obvious first topic that needs to be mentioned is Johnny Nitro replacing Chris Benoit at the last minute. The crowd was quick to chant, “We want Benoit! We want Benoit!” and it would be hard to fault them for it. However, Joey Styles and Taz (ECW spelling, baby!) told us that Benoit was forced to miss the match due to personal reasons, and I think we have to take them at their word. Chris Benoit is one of the most hard-working, dedicated, and professional workers in the industry, and I absolutely believe that he would only miss this match if he had no other choice. My thoughts are with Chris Benoit and his family. As for the match itself, I cannot believe that the crowd was chanting, “Boring! Boring! Boring!” The match was fast-paced and exciting, and I thought Nitro did a great job of rising to Punk’s level and putting on one of the best matches of his young career. I’m ALWAYS impressed by Punk, but in this match Nitro once again proved that he’s going to have an impressive career in this industry. However, in the end, I am still dumbfounded by the fact that Nitro won the match. As I said in this week’s Fact or Fiction, Chris Benoit should have been the next ECW World Heavyweight Champion. However, given the fact that Benoit was unavailable for this match, I don’t think that anyone would have complained when CM Punk won the title. CM Punk is quite possibly the brightest rising star in all of WWE, and in Benoit’s absence he is by far the best choice as the next ECW World Heavyweight Champion. No disrespect to Johnny Nitro, but booking him to beat CM Punk to become the ECW Champion was absolutely asinine. This is like the finish of TNA’s Slammiversary main event last week all over again. Samoa Joe got screwed last week, and CM Punk got screwed this week. Can you say ROH curse?
Match Rating: *** ½

Intercontinental Championship Match
Santino Marella (Champion) vs. Umaga
Match Result: Santino Marella defeated Umaga by disqualification.
Match Length: 2:37
Match Analysis: Well that sucked. Seriously, the most entertaining part of the match was the fact that crowd absolutely turned on Marella and began chanting for Umaga. “Umaga! Umaga! Umaga!” Umaga damn near blew the roof off the place when he returned to the ring after the match to give Marella the Samoan Spike, and even after that the crowd was chanting, “One more time! One more time! One more time!” Houston really did want to see Marella die. Unfortunately, that was just about the only redeeming factor in this match. I appreciate the WWE putting all of their titles on the line on the same night, but making one of the matches into a squash match somewhat cheapens that concept. WWE has no business putting a title on a guy if they don’t have confidence in his ability to put on at least a decent match on pay-per-view.
Match Rating: ½ *

United States Championship Match
MVP (Champion) vs. “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Match Result: MVP defeated Ric Flair with the Play of the Day.
Match Length: 8:41
Match Analysis: This match wasn’t overly flashy or remarkably memorable, but it was just about all that we could have asked for under the circumstances. That’s not to say that I don’t think either MVP or Flair couldn’t steal the show if they really wanted, but that wasn’t the goal here. The goal here was to put on a solid, entertaining mid-card match, and that’s exactly what they accomplished. Flair played his part perfectly and made MVP look like the star of the future. Flair has never had a problem helping to lay a solid foundation for the future of the industry, and tonight he proved it once again.
Match Rating: ** ½

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Deuce & Domino (Champions) vs. Sgt. Slaughter & Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka
Match Result: Deuce & Domino defeated Sgt. Slaughter & Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka when Snuka went for the Superfly Splash and Deuce rolled through for the pin.
Match Length: 6:31
Match Analysis: HOLY CRAP! Snuka vs. Snuka! Snuka vs. Snuka! It’s a shame that Michael Cole and JBL couldn’t talk about the fact that Snuka is Deuce’s father, but nonetheless it was a pleasure to watch the joy that both father and son took in being in the ring with one other. The match was booked nearly perfectly with Deuce and Snuka kept apart until the finish in order build tension. We saw Domino against Snuka, and then Domino against Slaughter, and then Deuce against Slaughter, but the big pay-off was when Deuce and Snuka finally stepped into the ring and tore into each other. Sure, the work rate was somewhat lacking, but that’s incidental to the real story here. This match was about creating a special moment in sports entertainment history, and that much was definitely accomplished. The ONLY way this match could have been better is if Sgt. Slaughter had been replaced by The Iron Sheik, but I’m not sure one ring would have been physically capable of containing that much awesomeness.
Match Rating: **

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge (Champion) vs. Batista
Match Result: Edge defeats Batista by count-out.
Match Length: 16:55
Match Analysis: It took me a while to really get into the groove of this match, but after the first ten minutes or so these guys had me completely hooked. There was a great series of near falls a minute or two after that, and I was amazed by how hot the crowd at that point. Say what you will about Batista, but the crowds go bananas for this guy. Edge and Batista were well on their way to putting together a great match, and then we entered the booking equivalent of the Twilight Zone. Edge purposely got himself disqualified in order to retain the title, but Teddy Long restarted the match in the interest of fairness. Batista then went on to give Edge a Batista Bomb on the outside and roll Edge back into the ring, but he was unable to climb back into the ring himself before the referee completed his ten count. Edge was unconscious but back in the ring, so it was Edge that won the match by count-out. In the words of the great Ron Simmons, “DAMN!” Way to take a potentially great match and more or less flush it down the crapper. This may be how they eventually work around Batista’s “last chance” clause, but right now it just seems like a waste of an otherwise promising match.
Match Rating: *** ½

WWE Women’s Championship Match
Melina (Champion) vs. Candice Michelle
Match Result: Candice Michelle defeated Melina with a spinning wheel kick.
Match Length: 4:30
Match Analysis: This was the shortest match on the card (not counting that abomination of an Intercontinental Championship “match”), but Melina and Candice were still able to put together a decent Divas match. Sure, it was still a long way from the kind of matches that Trish Stratus was able to have with Lita, Victoria, and Mickie James, but it’s about as good as you can expect from today’s Women’s Division. I’m still not sure how I feel about Candice winning the title. She seems to have a passion for the business and is actually improving in the ring almost every week, so I’m willing to give her a shot and see how far she can go as champion.
Match Rating: **

WWE Championship Match
John Cena (Champion) vs. Randy Orton vs. Bobby Lashley vs. King Booker vs. Mick Foley
Match Result: John Cena defeated Mick Foley with an FU to win the match.
Match Length: 10:10
Match Analysis: This was actually the most disappointing match of the night for me. Sure, the Intercontinental Championship “match” was a disaster, but it never really stood much of a chance to be anything more than that. On the other hand, this match could have been as good if not better than the similar match that John Cena had with Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton back at Backlash. Unfortunately, this match was far too short to develop into anything meaningful and felt like an almost random series of virtually unconnected spots. This was a waste of Foley’s first match in almost a year and a rather unproductive way for Lashley and Booker to start their new careers on Raw. I suppose the point was to once again make John Cena look unstoppable, but at this point I honestly believe he could have dragged Snitsky to a better match and accomplished the same thing.
Match Rating: ** ¾

Final Thoughts
Match of the Night: CM Punk vs. Johnny Nitro ( *** ½ )
Punk / Nitro and Edge / Batista were the two stand-out matches of the night, but I’ve got to give the edge to Punk / Nitro based on the wacky booking of the Edge / Batista match. This match helped to establish ECW’s image as the home of the next generation of Superstars in the WWE, and more matches like this could begin to repair the damage the Mr. McMahon did to the legitimacy of the ECW Championship.
Wrestler of the Night: Johnny Nitro
Nitro was a last-minute fill-in for Chris Benoit, but he rose to the occasion admirably. The fact that I’m selecting him as my Wrestler of the Night actually has less to do with him winning the ECW Championship and more to do with his ability to stay with CM Punk and look like a star throughout the match. I still think Nitro is the wrong choice as ECW Champion, but that doesn’t mean I was any less impressed by his performance in the ring. Over the course of the past year Nitro has had some great matches with both Jeff Hardy and CM Punk, and we may be looking at WWE’s next breakout star.