Vengeance (2002)

Infobox Wrestling event
name=Vengeance (2002)


tagline=Quick & Merciless
theme="Downfall" (Trust Company)
promotion=World Wrestling Entertainment
brand=RAW
SmackDown!
date=July 21 2002
venue=Joe Louis Arena
city=Detroit, Michigan
attendance=12,000
lastevent=King of the Ring (2002)
nextevent=SummerSlam (2002)
event=Vengeance
lastevent2=Vengeance (2001)
nextevent2=Vengeance (2003)

Vengeance (2002) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on July 21 2002 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. It was the second annual Vengeance produced by WWE. Professional wrestling is a type of sports entertainment in which theatrical events are combined with a competitive sport. The buildup to the matches and the scenarios that took place before, during, and after the event, were planned by WWE's script writers. The event starred wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands: storyline expansions of the promotion where employees are assigned to wrestling brands under the WWE banner.

The main event saw The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) win the WWE Undisputed Championship in a Triple Threat match also involving Kurt Angle and The Undertaker (Mark Callaway). The main matches on the undercard were John Cena versus Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine), Rob Van Dam (Robert Szatkowski) versus Brock Lesnar for the WWE Intercontinental Championship and The Un-Americans (Lance Storm and Christian (Jason Reso)) versus Hollywood Hogan (Terry Bollea) and Edge (Adam Copeland) for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

Background

The main feud heading into Vengeance was between The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), Kurt Angle and The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) fighting for the Undisputed Championship. At King of the Ring (2002) Undertaker defeated Triple H (Paul Levesque) to retain the Undisputed Championship.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/messages1/1997.shtml|title=King of the ring 2002 results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] During the match The Rock interfered hitting Undertaker with a Rock Bottom. Undertaker, fuming because of The Rock's interference, asked Mr McMahon for a match with The Rock. Vince booked the match for Vengeance and told Undertaker that it was for the Undisputed Championship. On the July 4 edition "SmackDown!", however, Undertaker wrestled Kurt Angle to a draw when Undertaker won by pinfall and tapped out to Angle's submission hold.cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021017235301/smackdown.wwe.com/results/070402/res5.html|title=Angle vs Undertaker part 2 Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-16] On the following "Raw" McMahon announced that Angle would be added to the match.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/81.shtml|title=RAW 8th July Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13]

Another storyline heading into Vengeance was Triple H determining what brand he would permanently join. He could either stay on SmackDown! with then-new General Manager Stephanie McMahon or move back to "Raw" with General Manager Eric Bischoff. Originally the New World Order (nWo) was planning to threaten Triple H to join the nWo on his return to Raw, but due to backstage circumstances, the nWo was written off television a week before Vengeance. Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom), however, would still promise to bring Triple H back to "Raw".cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive2001/jul21_baines-sun.html|title=Mat monguls on same team now Information|publisher=SLAM Sports|accessdate=2008-08-16]

The biggest match on the undercard was Brock Lesnar versus Rob Van Dam (Robert Szatkowski) for the Intercontinental championship. The previous month at King of the Ring Lesnar defeated RVD to become King of the Ring 2002 and get a WWE Undisputed championship shot at SummerSlam.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/messages1/1997.shtml|title=King of the ring 2002 results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] RVD had held the Intercontinental championship since the May 27 edition of "Raw" when he defeated Eddie Guerrero in a ladder match.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/75.shtml|title=RAW 27th Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/intercontinental/322712|title=RVD 2nd I.C. reign| Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-13]

John Cena had made his WWE debut a month before Vengeance on the June 27 edition of "SmackDown!" and had entered a minor feud with Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine). Jericho and Edge (Adam Copeland) were also feuding at that time and were booked to fight each other at Vengeance, until Hollywood Hogan (Terry Bollea) and Edge defeated Billy and Chuck for the World Tag Team Championship on the July 4 edition of "SmackDown!"cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/30445413211222|title=Edge and Hogan tag title reign| Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-13] cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021017141312/smackdown.wwe.com/results/070402/res3.html|title=Tag title match at Vengeance| Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-16]

On the July 8 edition of "Raw",Jeff Hardy had defeated William Regal (Darren Matthews) to win the European Championship. Regal, upset after his loss, used his rematch clause at Vengeance.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/euro/358594|title=Jeff Hardy European Title reign| Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-13] .cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/75.shtml|title=RAW 8th July Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] Booker T (Booker Huffman) had been feuding with the nWo at the time of their demise after being literally kicked out of it on the 10th June edition of "Raw".cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/77.shtml|title=RAW 10th June Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] On the July 15 edition of "Raw" Booker T defeated former nWo member The Big Show (Paul Wight) by disqualification after Big Show hit Booker with a chair. After the match Big Show asked Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff if he could fight Booker in a No Disqualification match at Vengeance, which Bischoff granted.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/82.shtml|title=RAW 15th July Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] Finally Jamie Noble (James Gibson) had debuted a month before Vengeance and (at King of the Ring) defeated The Hurricane (Gregory Helms) for the Cruiserweight Championship.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/messages1/1997.shtml|title=King of the ring 2002 results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] Billy Kidman (Peter Gruner) then challenged Jamie Noble to a Cruiserweight Championship match at Vengeance.

Event

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Goldust (Dustin Runnels) defeated Stevie Richards (Michael Manna) in a standard wrestling match taped for Sunday Night HEAT. The show began with Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler until Tazz (Peter Senerchia) and Michael Cole (Michael Coulthard) say they deserve to call WWE Vengeance just as much as Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler should. Jim Ross agrees and lets Tazz and Michael Cole call the first half of the show.

Preliminary matches

After "Sunday Night Heat", the event began with a tag team elimination tables match between the teams of Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and Spike Dudley (Matt Hyson) and Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Eddie Guerrero was eliminated first after a Dudley Dog from Spike onto a table. Spike was then eliminated by Chris Benoit after Benoit tossed Spike to the outside table. Bubba and Spike won after Benoit was eliminated by a Bubba Bomb onto a table.

The following was a standard wrestling match between Jamie Noble (James Gibson) (with Nidia vs Billy Kidman (Peter Gruner) for the Cruiserweight Championship. Kidman dominated the early goings until Noble pushed Nidia into Kidman and performed a DDT onto the steel floor. Noble took control with suplex and focused on Kidman's left arm until Kidman countered a powerbomb into a facecrusher. Kidman continued to dominate Noble until Kidman missed a Shooting Star press and Jamie Noble took advantage. After Noble executed a tigerbomb Noble covered Kidman for the win to retain the Cruiserweight Championship.

The third match was contested under standard wrestling rules between Jeff Hardy vs William Regal (Darren Matthews) for the European Championship. Hardy had the advantage in the early goings until he went for a Swanton Bomb but Regal put his knees up. Regal then dominated Hardy with suplexes and hard strikes until Hardy caught him off guard with a roll up for the win to retain the European Championship.

Next was a standard wrestling match between Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine) and John Cena. Before this match got started Jericho ran at Cena with a chair but missed and Cena grabbed the chair and hit Jericho with it. Cena then threw Jericho in the ring and the referee started the match. This match saw both superstars get the advantage over each other. Near the conclusion of the match Jericho started to dominate. Jericho performed a lionsault and tried to lock in The Walls of Jericho but Cena reversed it into a school boy and won.

Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler join the announcers' table and Tazz and Michael Cole leave.

Main event matches

The next match was the featured preliminary match from the "RAW" brand: a standard wrestling match between Rob Van Dam (Robert Szatkowski) (Champion) and Brock Lesnar for the Intercontinental championship. It was a pretty balanced match with no superstar getting a clear advantage until RVD started to dominate with some high flying moves and performed a Five Star Frog Splash and went for the pin. Seeing that his client was in danger Paul Heyman grabbed referee Charles Robinson to the outside and Robinson immediately disqualified Lesnar, thus RVD won and retained his championship.

The sixth match was a No Disqualification match between Booker T (Booker Huffman) and The Big Show (Paul Wight). Booker T dominated the match after Big Show missed Booker T and ran straight into the steel post. A notable spot in the match happened when Booker T did a scissors kick to Big Show who was on the Spanish announcers' table. The match ended when Booker T executed a Houston Hangover off the top rope onto Big Show and covered him for the win.

After the sixth match there was a segment with Triple H (Paul Levesque) deciding which brand he wanted to be on. Before Triple H could get a word out "RAW" General Manager Eric Bischoff came out and said Triple H should go to "RAW" so he could have a chance in Hollywood. "SmackDown!" General Manager Stephanie McMahon came out and told Bischoff to "Shut up". She then said Triple H should come to "SmackDown!" and nothing personal would come between them. Triple said he had come to a decision. He then started to say but was interrupted as Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) came down to the ring. Michaels then said that they could reform DX if he joined "RAW". Triple H said that he would go to "RAW", and then left with Shawn Michaels. Bischoff then started to gloat and Stephanie McMahon slapped him.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/messages1/2190.shtml|title=HHH Brand Information|publisher=Wrestleview|accessdate=2008-08-14]

The seventh match was a Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship between champions Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea and Edge (Adam Copeland) and The Un-Americans (Lance Storm and Christian (Jason Reso). Edge and Hogan dominated the match early and looked like they were going to retain until Test (Andrew Martin) big booted Edge. Edge seemed to recover but then Chris Jericho interfered and hit Edge with one of the tag team title belts allowing Lance Storm to cover Edge and win the tag team championship.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/30445413211312|title=Christian and Storm's first reignInformation|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-12]

The Main Event was a Triple Threat wrestling match involving three wrestlers for the Undisputed Championship, where Undertaker (Mark Calaway)] defended his championship against The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and Kurt Angle. A notable spot in this match had all three competitors copy each other's finishing moves as The Rock put Kurt Angle in the Ankle lock, Kurt Angle then performed a Rock Bottom on The Rock. Undertaker then gave Kurt Angle an Angle Slam. The Rock won the match after a Rock Bottom on Kurt Angle and became the new Undisputed Champion. This would start The Rock's 7th and final record breaking reign.cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive2001/jul28_baines-sun.html|title=Rock back where he belongs Information|publisher=SLAM SPORTS|accessdate=2008-08-16] cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/304454141122|title=Rock's 7th Reign Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-12]

Aftermath

After winning the WWE Undisputed Championship, The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) then entered a feud with the number one contender Brock Lesnar for the upcoming PPV SummerSlam. Brock Lesnar would go on to win the match and become the youngest WWE Champion in history.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/3044541401112|title=Brock's first reignInformation|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-14] It would also be the last match for The Rock until early 2003 and The Rock's last reign as WWE Champion.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/2002/mainevent/|title=SummerSlam 2002 Main Event Result Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-14]

Triple H ((Paul Levesque) and Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) came out the night after Vengeance and what appeared to be a reunion for D-Generation X was instead Triple H nailing a Pedigree on Michaels.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/83.shtml|title=RAW 22nd July Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] This caused Michaels to retaliate and challenge Triple H to a street fight at Summerslam, marking his first official match since Wrestlemania XIV. Shawn Michaels would go on to win in a miraculous upset, though Triple H would still send him out of the arena on a stretcher.

A night after Vengeance, Eric Bischoff decided to merge the WWE Intercontinental Championship and the WWE European Championship into one, putting Rob Van Dam (Robert Szatkowski) and Jeff Hardy against each other in a ladder match. RVD would win the match, and the European Championship was retired.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/83.shtml|title=RAW 22nd July Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-13] A week later, Van Dam lost the Intercontinental Championship to Chris Benoit, who would then jump to SmackDown!.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/results/raw/84.shtml|title=RAW 29th July Results Information|publisher=Wrestleview.com|accessdate=2008-08-14] Van Dam used his rematch clause for Summerslam and brought the Intercontinental title back to RAW.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/intercontinental/322720|title=RVD 3rd IC. Title Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-13] cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/2002/results/|title=SummerSlam 2002 Results Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-14]

After losing to John Cena, Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine) had to face Edge (Adam Copeland) in a steel cage match on the July 25th edition of SmackDown!.cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021007045735/smackdown.wwe.com/results/072502/res5.html|title=July 25th edition of Smackdown results Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-16] Edge would go on to win the match, and Jericho, along with The Un-Americans, would jump to RAW.cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021007045735/smackdown.wwe.com/results/072502/res5.html|title=July 29th edition of RAW results Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-16] cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20020803054347/raw.wwe.com/results/072902/res2.html|title=RAW Is Jericho Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-16] Jericho went on to feud with Ric Flair (Fleir). Lance Storm and Christian (Jason Resso) began to feud with Booker T (Booker Huffman) and Goldust (Dustin Runnels), while Test (Andrew Martin) had a one-month feud with The Undertaker (Mark Callaway). After his cage match win over Chris Jericho, Edge began a two-month long feud with Eddie Guerrero.

After losing the triple threat match to The Rock, Kurt Angle would soon be pinned by Rey Mysterio (Oscar Gutierrez) in a six man tag team match on the 8th of August edition of "SmackDown!"cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021216214439/smackdown.wwe.com/results/080802/res2.html|title=August 8th edition of Smackdown results Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-16] And would challenge Mysterio to a match at Summerslam which Mysterio would accept.cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021015004437/smackdown.wwe.com/results/081502/results.html|title=August 15th edition of Smackdown results Information|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-08-16]

Results

References

External Links

* [http://www.wwe.com/shows/vengeance/history/vengeance2002/ Official Vengeance 2002 website]