Vengeance 2005 Thoughts
Vengeance 2005 was the 5th Vengeance PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on June 26, 2005 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show was held exclusively under the Raw Brand. Attendence was 9,850 with a pretty good buyrate of 420,000. This was the 4th highest of 2005. You can tell by 3/6 of the match card. This PPV despite being a Raw exclusive featured some talent of their last Raw appearances as this was during the draft Lottery which did not end till post this PPV.
Main event would come to the conclusion of Batista vs. Triple H feud in a Hell in a Cell. This was the rise of Batista as a top star and the feud against his mentor told a story. Cena was drafted to Raw weeks earlier got in a feud with Chris Jericho & Christian for WWE Championship. I remember Jericho turning heel around this time of jealousy of Christian getting title shot which I look back as he didn't really need a heel turn. They made it for him after attacking Cena after a brawl. Last Angle vs. HBK would go in a rematch after Angle returned to Raw during draft. This was pretty much the most anticipated match due to their WrestleMania All Time Great.
The Good - The main event was solid and it was one of the most brutal hell in a cell matches ever. It wasn't a top 5 best but it still delivered. The crowd loved it and Triple H did a good job putting Batista over at the end of this feud (Yep I Know). Only issue was it could have ended about 5 minutes earlier. Angle vs. Shawn Michaels was also tremendous. Not as great as the WrestleMania clash but it was awesome. Michaels as usual did great selling. The Triple Threat for the WWE Championship was fun too. All guys worked well and Cena looked great for his first PPV match on the Raw brand. As we know, this was Cena rise to the top. He also cut an amazing and funny promo.
The Meh - The Intercontinental Championship match was good for an opening. It did get sloppy at times though and the finish was cheap. Edge vs. Kane was alright. Match felt like an old match from 99 under Russo of soo many things happening. Many question Kane winning as the wrong man but still the crowd loved the victory as Edge & Lita at this timing were not well-liked by audiences for a real-life.....you know what. Last, while I loved the last 3 matches, I will say they all were pretty obvious on who would win. HBK just needed a W to make things even, Batista was clearly going to Smackdown with the belt, and Cena wasn't going to give the title up like that to people Vince wasn't favoring at random.
The Bad - The only bad match of this show was Victoria vs. Christy Hemme. Christy Hemme wasn't good in the ring and the storyline was a mess as Victoria turning heel wasn't making sense. We also had a segment that wasn't really relevent. Just a filter. Viscera and Lillian Garcia love story. Not really something to talk about.
Overall - A solid show especially for a B-level brand exclusive PPV. The show was hot and it might be one of, if not, the best Brand Exclusive PPV ever. The only thing that stopped it from being a near perfect was the obvious winners seen from a mile. Still fun show.
Score - 8 out of 10: Really Really Good
0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :
1. Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 3/5
2. Victoria vs. Christy Hemme - 1/5
3. Kane vs. Edge - 2.5/5
4. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - 4.5/5
5. Chris Jericho vs. Christian vs. John Cena: WWE Championship - 4/5
6. Batista vs. Triple H: World Heavyweight Championship (Hell in a Cell) - 4.5/5
Best Match - Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels. Batista/HHH is really close
Worst Match - Victoria vs. Christy Hemme
Most Memorable Moment - Batista's victory. Told a long story.
Top 5 Performers
1. Shawn Michaels - Outstanding Performance
2. Kurt Angle - Outstanding Performance
3. Batista - Great Performance
4. Triple H - Great Performance
5. John Cena - Looked ready for the A show.
Vengeance 2005 was the 5th Vengeance PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on June 26, 2005 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show was held exclusively under the Raw Brand. Attendence was 9,850 with a pretty good buyrate of 420,000. This was the 4th highest of 2005. You can tell by 3/6 of the match card. This PPV despite being a Raw exclusive featured some talent of their last Raw appearances as this was during the draft Lottery which did not end till post this PPV.
Main event would come to the conclusion of Batista vs. Triple H feud in a Hell in a Cell. This was the rise of Batista as a top star and the feud against his mentor told a story. Cena was drafted to Raw weeks earlier got in a feud with Chris Jericho & Christian for WWE Championship. I remember Jericho turning heel around this time of jealousy of Christian getting title shot which I look back as he didn't really need a heel turn. They made it for him after attacking Cena after a brawl. Last Angle vs. HBK would go in a rematch after Angle returned to Raw during draft. This was pretty much the most anticipated match due to their WrestleMania All Time Great.
The Good - The main event was solid and it was one of the most brutal hell in a cell matches ever. It wasn't a top 5 best but it still delivered. The crowd loved it and Triple H did a good job putting Batista over at the end of this feud (Yep I Know). Only issue was it could have ended about 5 minutes earlier. Angle vs. Shawn Michaels was also tremendous. Not as great as the WrestleMania clash but it was awesome. Michaels as usual did great selling. The Triple Threat for the WWE Championship was fun too. All guys worked well and Cena looked great for his first PPV match on the Raw brand. As we know, this was Cena rise to the top. He also cut an amazing and funny promo.
The Meh - The Intercontinental Championship match was good for an opening. It did get sloppy at times though and the finish was cheap. Edge vs. Kane was alright. Match felt like an old match from 99 under Russo of soo many things happening. Many question Kane winning as the wrong man but still the crowd loved the victory as Edge & Lita at this timing were not well-liked by audiences for a real-life.....you know what. Last, while I loved the last 3 matches, I will say they all were pretty obvious on who would win. HBK just needed a W to make things even, Batista was clearly going to Smackdown with the belt, and Cena wasn't going to give the title up like that to people Vince wasn't favoring at random.
The Bad - The only bad match of this show was Victoria vs. Christy Hemme. Christy Hemme wasn't good in the ring and the storyline was a mess as Victoria turning heel wasn't making sense. We also had a segment that wasn't really relevent. Just a filter. Viscera and Lillian Garcia love story. Not really something to talk about.
Overall - A solid show especially for a B-level brand exclusive PPV. The show was hot and it might be one of, if not, the best Brand Exclusive PPV ever. The only thing that stopped it from being a near perfect was the obvious winners seen from a mile. Still fun show.
Score - 8 out of 10: Really Really Good
0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :
1. Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 3/5
2. Victoria vs. Christy Hemme - 1/5
3. Kane vs. Edge - 2.5/5
4. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - 4.5/5
5. Chris Jericho vs. Christian vs. John Cena: WWE Championship - 4/5
6. Batista vs. Triple H: World Heavyweight Championship (Hell in a Cell) - 4.5/5
Best Match - Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels. Batista/HHH is really close
Worst Match - Victoria vs. Christy Hemme
Most Memorable Moment - Batista's victory. Told a long story.
Top 5 Performers
1. Shawn Michaels - Outstanding Performance
2. Kurt Angle - Outstanding Performance
3. Batista - Great Performance
4. Triple H - Great Performance
5. John Cena - Looked ready for the A show.