wrestling / Video Reviews
Random Network Reviews: Vengeance 2004
Loading...Vengeance 2004
July 11th, 2004 | Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut | Attendance: 7,000
This is a Pay-Per-View that I have actually never seen before. We weren’t ordering many shows in 2004 and I’ve just never gone back and seen this event outside of one match. These are always fun to go through. The poster features Randy Orton, who was coming off of a star making performance against Mick Foley and about a month away from becoming the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history. It was the fourth Vengeance in history and is a Raw exclusive event.
A video package opens things, focusing on Chris Benoit’s rise to the top of Raw and Triple H saying that it only happened because he allowed it to while he dealt with Shawn Michaels. Commentary consists of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.
Garrison Cade and Jonathan Coachman vs. Rhyno and Tajiri
So I guess this show decided to forgo the “hot opener” idea. Coach made this challenge on Heat and Tajiri had to find a partner. Obviously, Garrison Cade does the heavy lifting at the start, but slaps Rhyno and just gets beat down. Tajiri comes in and eventually they work a heat on him. Coach is pretty great in his heel role. He gets too cocky and ends up in the tarantula. He uses the handspring back elbow to take out both guys and spits the green mist in Cade’s eyes. Coach avoids a Gore and it takes out Cade. Coach’s “phew” reaction is great since he turns around into a kick that finishes things.
Winners: Rhyno and Tajiri in 7:30
Despite not being my ideal opener, they did relatively fine work here. Tajiri and Rhyno obviously know what they’re doing in there and Jonathan Coachman was always pretty great at this character. More fun than I expected, but nothing great. **
Evolution is backstage and they aren’t happy with Triple H being friends with Eugene. Triple H goes to explain his reasoning but can’t find Eugene. Hilariously, all of Evolution pawns off watching him on the other members. Trips goes to find him, and sees him talking to Chris Benoit, who tries to tell him that Evolution is using him.
Batista vs. Chris Jericho
Honestly, I love Chris Jericho but a lot of his stuff from this era is a blur. Batista was about to be on his way to a monster push, working with veterans like Jericho. His knowhow shows quickly, weathering Batista’s power and sending him outside. Inside, Batista uses a full nelson. Was Chris Masters upset at this? Wait, had he debuted yet? Jericho tries to go after the leg but just gets hammered down. He continues to try and rally but Batista stops him at every turn with his strength. Jericho finally seems to start the rally only to run into one of the highest impact spinebusters I’ve ever seen. Arn Anderson would be proud. The Batista Bomb is reversed into a roll up for two, which just angers the Animal more. He hits it this time and gets the three, though Jericho’s foot is on the bottom rope. Earl Hebner though, is a terrible referee and misses it.
Winner: Batista in 12:19
Fine storytelling here of the monster heel and the resilient babyface. It’s a tried and true story that always works, which it did again here. Big win for Batista and my only real issues are that I think Chris Jericho should have gotten in a bit more offense and the crowd could have been more into it. They were more excited for the opener unfortunately. ***
Back to Evolution as Triple H puts Eugene’s worries from earlier to rest and gives him a Ric Flair like robe. Both Eugene and Ric Flair’s reactions to this are stellar.
World Tag Team Championship
La Resistance (c) vs. Eugene and Ric Flair
Nick Dinsmore absolutely gave the Eugene character his all. He delivers some “Woos” and struts for fun and the reaction from Ric Flair is gold. As he chops down Rob Conway, Flair is straight up like “that’s my stuff kid.” When Eugene does the Flair flop, Ric nearly comes in to beat him up for it. His Figure Four fails and Naitch tags in. The crowd absolutely LOVES Flair. They eat up every single thing he does. He locks in the Figure Four but it gets broken up. La Resistance begins to work the heat on Flair. I’m surprised Eugene is set for the hot tag. He doesn’t get it, instead going nuts and attacking the champions. In his fury, he lays out the referee causing the DQ.
Winners via disqualification: La Resistance in 12:30
Absolute pure entertainment here. As a match it wasn’t anything special, but the efforts of Eugene and Ric Flair from a comedic standpoint were great. The heat they worked on Flair towards the end lasted too long though. Had they cut this down by a few minutes, it would have scored higher. **½
No Disqualification Match
Kane vs. Matt Hardy
To stop Kane from killing Matt Hardy, Lita slept with the Big Red Machine and was now possibly pregnant by him. Matt still gets introduced as Version 1, but I get no Matt Facts so I call shenanigans. The fight starts on the outside as these two can’t wait to fight. They continue to brawl outside for a bit, but once it gets inside, it slows a bit. Kane hits a flying clothesline as he is completely in the driver’s seat. Matt finally gets in some offense when Kane gets tied up in the ropes but it doesn’t last long. He does counter a Tombstone into a Twist of Fate for two. When Kane tries to use the steel steps, Lita bounces, quite literally, out to prevent this. She gets him to stop but he goes back to try after moving her. Matt hits the stairs into Kane with a steel chair to win.
Winner: Matt Hardy in 10:34
An unfortunately dull no disqualification match. They only used the stipulation for a few things and the rest was slow and dull. It’s like they were told they had to go ten minutes and just killed time until Lita was able to run out. ¾*
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Randy Orton (c) vs. Edge
Tough start for babyface Edge here as the fans chant “let’s go Orton”. They go into a nice little exchange that leads to the crisscross spot where they run the ropes. I’ve never liked it as it’s just dumb. Edge has the slight upper hand during all of this. Orton turns the tide by goading Edge into chasing him outside. Lawler decides to say that Edge is jealous of Orton’s ability to get girls and JR slightly rips him a new one for this. He takes over for a while and even when Edge starts to rally, the crowd is firmly behind the champion. Edge scores on a missile dropkick for two. He sets for the spear but Orton blocks it with a huge kick and then that beautiful modified backbreaker of his. As he hits an elbow on the apron, he also oddly beats on the apron. It’s pretty out of character for him. To his credit as a heel, Orton shouts that he doesn’t need the fans. Too many heels play to the crowd nowadays. He wears down Edge on the mat for an extended period of time. It earns a “boring” chant. Edge fights out and rallies and interestingly enough, Orton’s dull rest hold has kind of turned the crowd. They exchange blows and go up top. Edge blocks a superplex and drops Orton awkwardly. He follows with a cross body that Orton rolls through for two. Orton pulls a page out of Ric Flair’s book and thumbs Edge in the eye. After a series of false finishes, Edge hits the implant DDT for a close near fall. Orton’s near falls by this point have all come with a handful of tights of his feet on the ropes. It really sells his desperation. Edge blocks an RKO by sending Orton into the corner. He comes in for the Spear but Orton leap frogs it! Edge then counters the RKO with a backslide for two. Edge whips Orton into an exposed buckle that Orton revealed earlier and hits the spear to win the gold.
Winner and New WWE Intercontinental Champion: Edge in 26:36
When was the last time an Intercontinental Title match got 25+ minutes? Also, this has to be the last time an IC Title match involves two guys who would win their first titles within the next year. Overall, I enjoyed the match but I do think that it went a bit long. If you tell these guys that they have just about 20 minutes to work with, I think this ends up better. Still, that finishing sequence was pretty great which is what most people remember. ***¾
Number One Contender’s Match
Molly Holly vs. Victoria
This is a rematch from WrestleMania XX where Victoria defeated Molly Holly and shaved her head. Molly is sporting a ridiculous wig, complete with a chinstrap. The back and forth to start here is fun, with Victoria busting out some athleticism. Her booty shake/moonsault combo is stopped with a Molly rollup. They move outside and Molly sends Victoria into the steel steps. Back inside, Molly hits a handspring elbow. I feel like both of these girls are rather underrated. Victoria hits some stiff looking and sounding shots but Molly just throws her shoulder first into the ropes. She’s focused on it since the steps spot. It works since Victoria tries the Widow’s Peak but can’t hit it. Instead, she just kicks the hell out of Molly for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Victoria in 6:20
They tried here but were hampered by a really quiet crowd. However, I did like the shoulder work and the fact that it played into the finish, forcing Victoria to try something different. Kudos there. **
World Heavyweight Championship
Chris Benoit (c) vs. Triple H
Jim Ross sets stage by saying Chris Benoit is the best technical wrestler in the world, but Triple H would be 1A. They go through a series of chain grappling to start things off. They go back and forth until Benoit gets tired of that and is like “GERMAN SUPLEX”. Triple H stops it from being a series of them, but is sent outside. Benoit follows and throws him into the steel steps but loses the upper hand when he misses the diving headbutt back inside. Seeing that knowing what would happen always makes me cringe now. Probably because he was trained in the Hart dungeon, Benoit takes the corner bump with his sternum twice in a row. Triple H now begins to try and pick apart Benoit, with JR calling him the “Cerebral Assassin.” He throws him into the guardrail a few times on the outside. Triple H has always tried to be old school and does so again by applying an abdominal stretch. Points taken away from him for not using the ropes for leverage like a good heel. Benoit turns it around before going to chops. He then counters the Pedigree into the Sharpshooter, which he made Triple H tap to on Raw recently. Triple H reaches the ropes but takes a triple trip to suplex city before it was cool to say. A suicide dive from Benoit, which is just awkward to think about. After Mike Chioda takes a bump, Triple H takes out Benoit and calls out Eugene. Benoit pulls him into the Crippler Crossface and yells for Eugene to get the referee. Triple H taps but Eugene tries coming in the ring instead, so Benoit knocks him off the apron. Triple H nails a low blow and the Pedigree but there’s still not official. Eugene gets a chair for Triple H but has a change of heart and stops him from using it. Triple H nails him and Benoit ends up with the chair. Batista and Flair run out only for Benoit to lay them out. Eugene wants Benoit to not use the chair, allowing HHH to low blow him. Eugene debates on hitting Benoit but doesn’t, leading to a tug of war with the champ. It leads to the chair hitting Hunter and Eugene throwing a fit. Benoit rolls up Hunter to retain.
Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: Chris Benoit in 29:03
I would consider this match a disappointment. Triple H and Chris Benoit had good chemistry and usually always delivered. This was headed there but the final act was atrocious. Too much overbooking with the Eugene stuff. When you have two guys like Benoit and HHH, just let them go at it without any of the other nonsense. ***
