Smark Out Moment

WWE Vengeance 2011 PPV. Who will win?


Tag Team Championship: Air Boom (c) vs. Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler
It looks like Ziggler is wearing a variation of a singlet maybe to match up with Swagger. If that's the case, it will help their chances of winning the titles tonight. Good sign in the crowd that says Bros R Us, styled as Toys R Us. They're landing a lot of great moves in this match...perfect dropkicks and such. Bourne goes for Air Bourne but Swagger puts his feet up. Kofi hits his splash from the top rope and Ziggler kicks out, but this match has the audience captivated (and with good reason). He hits an SOS but Swagger breaks it up. Swagger goes to put the ankle lock on Kofi, but Bourne stops him. He then hits the Trouble in Paradise and then Bourne hits the Air Bourne, pinning Ziggler to win the match.

WINNERS: Air Boom via pinfall.
Great opening match.

Pretty much right after that bell rings, Zack Ryder comes out, ready for his match.

United States Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Big "let's go Ryder" chant going on while Ryder is pretty much in control. Ziggler tries to get a count out but Kofi and Evan toss him back in. The ref throws them out of the ringside area (but allows Swagger and Vickie to stay). Ryder misses the Broski Boot. A minute later, he's able to hit it. Swagger tries to interfere but Ryder kicks him off. Ziggler goes for the Zig Zag, but Ryder holds the ropes. Dolph then hits him with a superkick and retains the title.

WINNER: Dolph Ziggler via pinfall.
It's a shame that Ryder didn't win, and I hope they keep his push going, but at least the match was good and even. I still enjoyed it.

Backstage, CM Punk is talking to Ted DiBiase about tattoos. Triple H comes up to talk to Punk and clear the air. They agree that everything is cool and they want to give it to Miz and Truth.

Divas Championship: Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Eve Torres
They show that backstage, Natalya and Beth attack Kelly Kelly. It gets broken up by the Usos and the Bellas. Eve's got a remix of her theme which seems like something you'd hear in Footloose. Botched sunset flip at the beginning of the match. Eve ties Beth to the ropes with her own ring attire. How is this legal? Black Ref is trying to untie her. Gotta love Black Ref. Beth on the outside presses Eve onto the security barricade. There we go with another "come on!" yell. Ugh. I hate that so much. Lawler asks "can you imagine being married to Beth Phoenix?" and Booker just simply answers "Yes." Beth goes for the Glam Slam, but Eve reverses and sends Beth into the ropes, then rolls her up. Two-count. Eve misses her moonsault. Beth capitalizes with a Glam Slam and retains the title.

WINNER: Beth Phoenix via pinfall.
Not too bad for a divas match.

Backstage, Matt Striker interviews Big Show. Standard kind of "you beat me up, but I'm back" promo.

Christian vs. Sheamus
Power moves from Sheamus, lots of little attacks from Christian. Not a ton to talk about here. Christian misses a headbutt from the top rope. Attempt at a Killswitch, reversed into an attempt at the cross-bomb, reversed, followed by the kick Christian does when he flips himself on the ropes (is there an actual name for that?). Sheamus goes for a Brogue Kick and Christian hits a spear instead, but only gets a two-count. Christian goes for another spear, but gets a Brogue Kick for his efforts.

WINNER: Sheamus via pinfall.
Not a huge fan of the match. It wasn't awful, but it could have been better.

Backstage, Otunga (vest, bowtie, and coffee) is talking to Laurinaitis. Miz and Truth approach, Otunga leaves, and they put over Johnny Ace, saying he's doing a much better job. They ask why he reinstated them. He says they have charisma, are great athletes, and could be the greatest tag team of all time - but not really, he just likes how they suck up...they're good at it. "He said we suck up good" / "No, he said we suck up well." / "Well I do it better than you." / "No you most certainly don't." They say Triple H and CM Punk suck. They continue the banter. It's obvious they're having a shit ton of fun together.

The Miz & R-Truth vs. CM Punk & Triple H
Quite a bit of Truth dancing in this match. HHH puts a Figure Four on Miz and the crowd goes nuts with "woo"s. Punk helps HHH out by pulling on his arms (heel tactics while the ref is distracted, by the faces, haha). Basically this match is Trips and Punk dominating Truth and Miz. HHH gives Truth an electric chair which was a little dangerous. HHH and Truth fight on the outside while Punk hits his Macho Man elbow drop. Kevin Nash comes out and attacks Triple H. Truth and Miz double-team Punk and pick up the victory.

WINNERS: Miz and Truth via pinfall.
Too simple. I was hoping for better.

Post-match, Nash brings Triple H into the ring and continues the beat down. He gives him a Jackknife.

Backstage, Del Rio is complaining to Laurinaitis.

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes
The first particularly noteworthy thing to talk about is Cody missing a huge moonsault. Some generic moves back and forth, nothing you haven't seen in their other matches before. Cody hits the moonsault a little later. Cody starts doing the Orton pound, but Orton hits him with a dropkick and follows it with his off-the-ropes DDT. The bagger interferes, but gets taken out. Orton hits an RKO and wins.

WINNER: Randy Orton via pinfall.
Ok, but nothing special.

World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show
Mark Henry makes it look easy body slammin Big Show. Wow. Big Show struggles doing it to Mark Henry. Kind of a slow match. A lot of shoulder bumps and stuff, as expected. Big Show later on is able to body slam Mark Henry. He even follows it with a choke slam but Henry kicks out. Show goes for the WMD, but Henry kicks him and gives him the World's Strongest Slam. Big Show kicks out. Henry goes to climb the ropes and Show choke slams him off that. Henry kicks out, though! Damn, I'll admit, I figured that was the end of the match. Mark Henry gives Big Show a superplex and the ring breaks again, like with Brock Lesnar! 2 for 2 when it comes to superplexes on Big Show ruining the ring. And here come the stretchers, which definitely can't hold these two men. They bring out the flatbed. Out comes Teddy Long and Johnny Ace. Big Show just flat out said "ah SHIT". Henry falls off the apron and continues to push people off him and fall down. Johnny Ace gets on the mic and announces that regardless of the injuries and what has happened to the ring, he'll give everyone what he wants - what they want - what the fans want - a WWE title match.

WINNER: Draw.
Interesting finish of the match, which is really the only thing people will be talking about. The rest was acceptable. I did like the ending, though.

WWE Championship [Last Man Standing]: Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. John Cena
John Cena stands right next to a guy in the crowd with a "We Hate Cena" shirt on. Immediately with the "let's go Cena / Cena sucks". You know how these matches go...small moves for a while, then they basically do one big move and wait for a while when the ref counts. Del Rio jumps and stomps on the ring post which is on top of Cena - that's something different I don't ever remember seeing before. And of course, Cena follows it with an Attitude Adjustment. Cena tosses Del Rio off the ring into the security barricade (because of course, there aren't any ropes to block that). Cena picks up Rodriguez and crotches him on the ring post. They fight to the backstage area. Cena goes to knock over something (I don't know what it is, exactly, but it looks like a giant cabinet) onto Del Rio but Del Rio gets out of the way. Del Rio body slams Cena on top of it afterward. Del Rio starts tipping these lighting fixtures on top of Cena. Cena gets out at 7. Del Rio throws Cena through the posterboard V set up on the stage. Del Rio puts Cena halfway on a table and starts climbing the set. Cena gets up and throws Del Rio down, making him fall through the table. Del Rio gets up at 8. They fight back to the ringside area and around the tables. Goodbye SAT, soon. Del Rio misses an enziguri, wherein he kicks the ring post instead of Cena's head. Cena picks Del Rio up for an AA and climbs the steps, then throws Del Rio into the Spanish Announcer's table. Out come Miz and Truth to attack Cena. They hit their finishers on Cena and the ref stops paying attention to Del Rio (who was obviously out past the 10-count). Cena gets up. Del Rio hits Cena with the belt and then falls out of the ring. Del Rio gets back up at 9, but Cena gets up at 11, and thus, loses the match.

WINNER: Alberto Del Rio via...Cena not getting up in time, naturally.
Admittedly better than I was expecting, though I wish it was a TAD less "Super-Cena" than what we got.