WWE Vengeance 2011 Review

WWE Tag Team Championship
Air Boom Vs Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler

It turns out last month's match between these two teams mattered more than I thought. That's not to say there's a huge amount of heat in this feud, but it's been kept going and even announced in advance for tonight, as with many of this evenings matches. The athletic and talented Raw mid-card is a great choice to open the show. Air Boom are really starting to create good continuity as a team, while Ziggler and Swagger continue to be two of the best in-ring performers on the roster. It's really clear from this match - what makes Ziggler stand out from his peers is his salesmanship. While all the men in this are great athletes, Ziggler is the only one who truly understands the theatrics of pro-wrestling and this is wisdom that ought to earn him a main-event spot. The match had a great pace and built to a dramatic finish with lots of near-falls.

Rating: 4 Stars

United States Championship
Dolph Ziggler Vs Zack Ryder

I'm a pretty big fan of Zack Ryder's YouTube show, Z! True Long Island Story, but I've never seen him do anything in a WWE ring that entertaining. On his show he's quite charismatic and sincere, but in the ring he's pretty dull and I just can't see him as a future star. I wish they'd let him bring his Internet Championship out for matches, or give him some backstage skits to help him build his confidence. It's very different performing to a camera in your room and performing live in front of thousands of people. It doesn't help that Ziggler has just wrestled a match, making this whole thing seem really unfair ala a Money in the Bank cash-in. I couldn't bring myself to root for Ryder as a win here would be big for him, but also cheap. I'm glad he lost and hope he's given some time to properly develop on television and maybe put on a Survivor Series team next month. By then it might be a good time for a rematch with Ziggler at TLC, but for now he's not ready.

Rating: 2 Stars

Sheamus Vs Christian

Christian has been the Wrestler of the Year so far without a doubt. He's transitioned from an amazing in-ring feud with Randy Orton into a very good one with the 'Great White' Sheamus. This match is much like the one at Hell in a Cell, only with better counters and near-falls. Again, just put two good wrestlers in a match, give them enough time and you've got another good portion of your show. It's what made Hell in a Cell 2011 so good and it's working again here. I wish there was some stipulation on this though, it's almost too much like their last match and even has the same clean result. Sheamus is in a great place right now, and could have been elevated further by a memorable gimmick match here. Great match though.

Rating: 4 Stars

The Awesome Truth Vs Triple H and CM Punk

On paper, this match epitomises the state of Raw recently. It's predictable nonsense, and I've little interest in seeing it. The walkout storyline was completely fumbled as was the character of CM Punk, leading to his first match outside the main-event since Capitol Punishment - and to top it off he's completely overshadowed by Triple H. Thankfully the last few week has seen a nice relationship form between Punk and HHH, and in this match we see some great character which sort of makes me want to see them as a team more. Together they're sort of a neo-DX, with Punk managing to bring the edge to the tandem that in his later years HBK refused to. I'm not sure if I just missed it at Night of Champions, but Triple H looks a bit out of shape here which is unusual. It doesn't hurt his performance though, I suppose he's just getting old. Miz and Truth just don't captivate me at all, I find their offence boring and their attempts at getting heat tired and buffoonish. Sadly they're on top for most of this, until Kevin Nash turns up on cue to take Triple H down which distracts Punk and gets Miz the win. For a fourth straight PPV Punk takes a pin-fall, which is just bull and now we get to enjoy Kevin Nash again. Joy to the world.

Rating: 3 Stars

Randy Orton Vs Cody Rhodes

It's no secret how much I love Cody Rhodes since his transformation in January. I was worried that after his feud with Rey Mysterio he had dropped off the map, but just lately he's been getting lots of time on Raw and on PPV, so it seems someone backstage sees something in him at last. I was really hoping this would be an amazing match to push Rhodes' star even higher, but it wasn't even as good as their recent TV encounters. Their SmackDown match where Rhodes bled all over the ring was extremely memorable and would have been better here on PPV. For all it's build up, this match somehow lacked that drama. There were no stand-out visuals, I never was convinced anyone but Orton was going to win it, there was never a near-fall I jumped out of my seat for - I just didn't feel the urgency. In his series with Christian this year, Orton really made it look like he could be defeated on numerous occasions, but just didn't seem to push it in this one. I hope this feud continues so they can meet again with something more at stake. I'm a big fan of both guys but this is not the match they're capable of.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

World Heavyweight Championship
Mark Henry Vs Big Show

When it comes to a match between big guys, the last thing you want to see is stalling. Big Show and Henry walk slow enough as it is, we don't need to see the tempo hurt any more with non-fighting shenanigans. Furthermore, Henry has been portrayed as a classic monster this year – he's not afraid of anyone. The way he ducks Show early on is what the WWE seems to do EVERY TIME a heel character starts to look genuinely strong and it enrages me. Why can they only write for one heel character? ARGH! Anyway, we finally get some action and things are looking up, but then Henry starts to work on Show with a rest-hold that lasts for ages. I ought to commend the production crew in this one – some good direction and editing takes a pause in the action where Show and Henry catch their breath on either side of the ring and turns it into a really dramatic moment of tension. Later they've got the perfect shot of Big Show clenching his fist before he turns into a World's Strongest Slam. You don't always notice the film making part of the WWE, but it's what separates them from promotions like TNA.

The finish is taken straight out of a classic Brock Lesnar Vs Big Show match on SmackDown in 2003, where Henry hits Show with a superplex and the ring explodes. I'm not sure how I feel about it – it's awesome, but I've seen it done exactly the same way, even with one of the same guys. The crowd go freakin' bananas though, so the atmosphere gets a huge bump. This only lasts until a stretcher is rolled out for Show, and the whole arena boos as they understand it's all over. There's so much energy in the audience now, but it's wasted on a long section of getting Show onto a trolley. The crowd chant for Daniel Bryan, but they shouldn't be so silly. Henry earns some more praise as he's taken away, throwing the EMTs off and playing his role like a true champ. Very hard to rate, a truly mixed bag. I'll remember it though, so I suppose that should count.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

WWE Championship
Alberto Del Rio Vs John Cena

I'd like to mention how awful the commentary has been tonight. No JR again, lots of Booker T and now a complete disregard for continuity as Booker comments that the ring has never imploded before. Thankfully he's corrected somewhat – King recalls something to do with Brock Lesnar and a 50 man battle royal but can't elaborate. Cole is correct however in stating that this is the first match to begin in an imploded ring. It says something about this feud that it needs a totally unrelated change in ring geography to make it at all interesting. Of course while it looks cool, it's not functional and leaves Del Rio and Cena with fewer options to start things off at a good tempo. Things don't really kick off until Del Rio uses the collapsed ring post as a weapon in a nice spot in the corner. They have a decent PG brawl that leads them backstage, then back out through numerous near-fall spots. They return to ringside where Cena wins it, but the ref doesn't count due to a run-in by Awesome Truth. Through their attack Del Rio gets up, hits Cena with the belt and walks out champion. Del Rio looks better than he did the last time he faced Cena, but still can't beat him clean. I'd have liked the run-in to have made more sense, but at least it wasn't the huge cluster of people as usual. The state of the ring made for a unique setting and some interesting offence after a bit of a false start and pulls the whole thing up a peg. Del Rio can certainly hang with Cena and took the biggest bump, but his character is still bland and there are no feuds on the horizon for him that excite me. At least we can move on from this feud.

Rating: 4 Stars

WWE Vengeance 2011 Final Score: 3.5 Stars

A dull evening where nothing was too bad but nor did anything reach it's potential. The production values and in-ring talent save the show from awful commentary and some mediocre booking. The main-events either had dusty or non-finishes, and fail to show evidence of any long-term plan for the Raw power struggle. Much like The Nexus last year, this storyline is being booked on the fly and really holding back what the talented performers can do. Next month we'll see the return of The Rock in Madison Square Garden, so we should be guaranteed at least one classic moment. We're nearly on The Road to WrestleMania now, so Raw better get it's storytelling and long-term goals in shape or things could get much worse between now and then.