WWE’s Vengeance just wrapped up a few hours back, figured I
would give some of my thoughts on the event.
Before I get into the matches, I gotta say… if the WWE *NEVER*
mentions twitter again, it’ll be too soon.
I could not care less what WWE buzz-phrase is currently “trending
worldwide”. Instead of worrying about
attracting followers and ridiculous made up hash-tags (like
#ridiculousmadeuphashtag) concentrate on putting out a regularly-delivering
top-quality product.
The show opened with a tag-title bout with Air-Boom
defending against… um, Zig-Swag? Decent
match, however, I don’t think I ever need to see Dolph and Kofi in the same
ring again. Air-Boom got the win. I was hoping Ziggler and Swagger would take
this one; they’ve been making everyone they’ve worked with look great. I don’t see any ceiling for either of them,
and I hope to see them both moving up closer to the top of the card.
The second match again featured Dolph Ziggler… this time he
was defending the United States title against Zack Ryder. I know we’re supposed to dig Ryder, I mean,
he’s the guy who made himself when WWE couldn’t be bothered. I just can’t get into the guy, I think his
appeal was that he *was* being held back.
Was worried for a bit that he’d beat Dolph and take the title… was very
pleased when he didn’t.
The Divas Title match was quite good. Eve and Beth worked well together, and for a
few seconds there I thought Eve was going to win. I’m glad Beth retained, it took her so long
to win it (featuring far too many clean losses to Kelly Kelly), if she dropped
it now, it would be tough to rebuild her as a credible threat.
I was shocked to see the HHH/Punk v Miz/Truth match this low
on the card. Considering how the World
Title match ended, it becomes a bit clearer.
This was a fun match that showcased all four competitors. Would have liked to see Miz and Truth look a
bit stronger here (especially if this is all building to a Survivor Series
elimination match), but for whatever reason, outside of Mark Henry, the WWE
seems incapable of booking strong heels.
Was happy to see Kevin Nash return, that jackknife however, looked a bit
rough.
Sheamus and Christian was a great match, which allowed
Christian far more offense than I feared he’d get. Really fun match, both men came out of it
looking great. Sheamus hit a wicked looking
Brogue Kick on a spearing Christian to win.
Again, a really fun match.
I became otherwise engaged during Cody Rhodes and Randy
Orton. Had to pick a match to miss to
handle some laundry… this was the one.
All I know is I heard Orton’s music twice, which was exactly what I
expected. Adding the Intercontinental
title to this match would have made it more exciting. Putting a secondary title on Orton could
really improve the belt’s prestige in a time when it really needs it.
Mark Henry is probably my favorite thing in Pro-Wrestling…
and he has been since his return to SmackDown!
Pitting him against the Big Show provided an awesome power-match. This was a great match, featuring an
incredible spot. The ring implosion hasn’t
been done in, what 8-9 years? This was a
lot of fun. I hope this leads to another
match in this feud.
Alberto Del Rio *barely* retained the WWE Title against John
Cena in a Last Man Standing Match. Over
the past few years, I’d begrudgingly become a John Cena fan… this match,
however… Cena was booked far too strong.
It took Alberto Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez, The Miz, R-Truth, the
backstage interview set, the Vengeance “V”, and a belt shot to keep Cena down
for a ten-count… and JUST a ten-count… if this was a “Stay Down for an 11 Count”
match, it would probably still be going on.
The bout featured a lot of neat spots, and I’m glad Del Rio retained…
just wish he could be booked a bit stronger.
Assuming The Miz and R-Truth running in on this match
further builds the big Survivor Series Elimination Tag match (which will
feature the in-ring return of The Rock), the attack should have left Cena
laying until the show went off the air.
Instead, he got back up and had to take a belt-shot to end the match. I’m sure Cena can cleanly lose a match, and
not lose any fans… all this does is cause the heels to look incredibly
ineffectual. Alberto Del Rio, looked
like he’d be the WWE’s next big heel going into 2011… now, he’s on his second
dirty WWE title reign, and can only get clean wins over John Morrison… who I
think *I* even have a clean win over.
Looking at it this way, Cena on his own is damn-near a Terminator-level
beast. It took four men and several
gimmicks to (barely) end this match. How
are we supposed to fear for John Cena and his team of 3-4 partners (including
The Rock) against a group of guys that have been booked like geeks over the
past several weeks when Cena can just about withstand them all on his own?
Vengeance 2011 was definitely a miss-able show, not terrible…
but not necessary. I’m probably coming
off sounding pretty bitter over the whole thing, and I apologize if that’s the
case… maybe I need a bit of a break from the product. It’s been a pretty grating few months of WWE programming;
I may just require a small respite. The
good news is the “three pay-per-views in a six-week span” is over. The upcoming build to Survivor Series should
be interesting and I’m looking forward to it.
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