The most lasting impact of the Invasion was the elevation of some of the best midcard acts in the WWF, most notably Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. Technically, both men had already become a world champion prior to the start of the storyline(although Jericho was only champ for about an hour and his reign is not officially recognized), but they both took major steps towards becoming two of the biggest stars in the business from SummerSlam to Survivor Series. Now we arrive at Vengeance, where both men, alongside the two established top names in "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock, compete in a one night mini-tournament to unify the WWF and WCW titles. This is a huge chance to make either Jericho or Angle the true face of the company, with both Austin and Rock nearing the end of their full-time runs. While history has shown us that that never really happened, it's nice to believe this could be the truly historic night the company was promising. Who will be the first to consecutively hold two of the most prestigious championships the wrestling business has ever seen? Let's find out.
- Vengeance 2001, the first of eight WWE pay-per-views to bear that name, comes to from the San Diego Sports(now Pechanga) Arena, no prizes for guessing the location. This slot in the calendar was initially supposed to go to Armageddon, which had closed out 1999 and 2000, but the company thought the name would be in poor taste after the 9/11 attacks. First of all, this is the first and had to be the last time that Vince McMahon, of all people, put thought into what would and wouldn't be considered poor taste. Second of all, I thought that was somewhat ironic to read, as given everything that's happened this year in real life, I put some serious consideration into the same topic when I was still working on my Universe Mode. Would people be okay with seeing the phrase "Armageddon 2020" or "Judgment Day 2020"? You gotta think about optics, man.
- Our opening contest is a late addition to the card, as the team of Scotty Too Hotty and Albert take on European Champion Christian and the unfireable Test. Considering this is the literal definition of filler, it's not bad, as Christian, Test and Albert all have decent in-ring chemistry with each other and Scotty is super over. Christian draws mega heat for attempting the Worm early on, before Scotty gets a big pop for performing the move on Test. Christian tries to hit Scotty with an Unprettier, but Albert plants the champ with the Baldo Bomb for the win. The crowd was really into this and all six minutes were stuffed with action, so this was a strong start to the show.
- His brother may not have been defending his title but Edge is certainly a fighting champion, putting the Intercontinental Championship on the line against William Regal. I thought these two guy's styles meshed well and this was definitely the best pure wrestling match on the undercard. Edge crashes and burns attempting to hit Regal with a Spear on the outside, smashing his neck and shoulder into the ring steps. Regal hits three straight double underhook powerbombs, but Edge keeps kicking out, proving himself as a valiant babyface. Regal snatches the brass knuckles, now intent on winning by any means necessary, but Edge is quicker to strike, nailing a Spear to retain.
- Tension between Matt and Jeff Hardy has begun to rise lately after Jeff foolishly went for a big dive in their cage match with the Dudleys at Survivor Series, costing them the win. Lita has also been dragged into the conflict after attempting to break up an argument backstage, resulting in a singles match here with Lita as the guest referee. I'm sure both of these men could have had a great match together, but this just didn't click for me. It's really slow, and the crowd just doesn't care, perhaps because they didn't want to see these two fight or maybe because they were more interested in ogling Lita. I did enjoy Matt's work after Jeff injures his leg, he looks absolutely vicious, but the match just drags on after that points, twelve minutes was probably too much time. Matt attempts a top rope Twist of Fate but Jeff shoves him onto the mat, hitting a Swanton Bomb for the win. During the pinfall, Matt manages to get his leg to the bottom rope but Jeff hooks it before Lita notices, which I thought was a clever finish. Of course, this storyline with Matt, Jeff and Lita wouldn't actually go anywhere, making all of this seem pointless in hindsight.
- Up next, the Dudley Boyz, accompanied by Stacy Keibler, defend their WWF tag team titles against the powerhouse duo of Kane and the Big Show. Not to upset all of these massive men, but this match effing stank. The crowd only wakes up for Show pulling down Keibler's skirt and spanking her, but are completely listless for the other seven minutes of the match, which is mostly just big dudes slamming into each other. Bubba drops Show on an exposed turnbuckle for the cheap win.
- Turning The Undertaker heel in the aftermath of Survivor Series seemed extremely questionable at the time, as he was still one of the most over guys on a roster that slowly cooling off. Having him immediately jump into a feud with Rob Van Dam was also strange, as the two didn't really have much history and the pairing looked extremely awkward on paper. That being said, their match for the Hardcore title might have been the best match in the title's lineage, which admittedly isn't saying much but this was really entertaining. Both men quickly brawl to the outside, where RVD thrills the crowd by taking every chance in the book. He backflips off the barricade and at one point scales up the side of the seating to hit a gorgeous diving crossbody onto the "American Badass". Van Dam escapes a Last Ride on the stage by grabbing part of the set, which was really cool, before dropkicking Undertaker in the face while he was holding a chair. But the champion falters at the final hurdle, failing to connect with the Van Daminator on multiple occasions, falling prey to a chokeslam off the stage through some conveniently placed tables. Undertaker pins RVD in the rubble to claim his first Hardcore title in one of his best matches since his return at Judgment Day 2000.
- Trish Stratus gets her reign as WWF Women's Champion off to a good start in our next match, picking up a win over Jacqueline. Both women try their best to put together a really smooth technical exchange, botching quite a few times but still providing a better match than most I've seen out of the division at this time. Trish wins with a backslide.
- It's time for the first of three world title matches, as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Kurt Angle reignite their rivalry over the WWF Championship. Somehow, Austin is now a face again, despite being an evil bastard for most of the year, not apologizing for any of his actions, while Angle is the heel even though he just saved the company last month. This results in a strange atmosphere but fortunately these are two of the best to ever do it, so they find a way to put together a quality match. Both men work a measured pace, taking the other apart with some stiff limb work. Full credit to Austin, who was completely burned out and desperately needed a break for his ailing body, but still went out and took some serious punishment. Hell, Austin even hits Angle with a whole bunch of German suplexes, which had to have absolutely killed his neck. Angle attempts to hit a Stunner but Austin counters into one of his own to retain, earning himself a brief respite before the main event.
- Match two out of three in the tournament pits Chris Jericho against The Rock, with Rocky's WCW title on the line, just referred to as the "World Championship" here. This match isn't quite to the level of their No Mercy classic, as both don't really bring the same level of intensity of athleticism to this one as they had on that night. It does really pick up when Jericho attempts a Rock Bottom through the announce table but Rock counters into a DDT right through the table, which looked terrific. They repeat a spot from No Mercy, as Jericho tries to perform the People's Elbow but Rock trips him up and locks in the Sharpshooter, adding onto the chain when Y2J counters that into a Sharpshooter of his own. Vince McMahon gets involved, seeking revenge for a segment on SmackDown when Rock forced Vince to take a Stinkface from Rikishi. Vince distracts Rock for long enough to allow Jericho to hit a low blow and the Rock Bottom, claiming the Big Gold Belt for a second time. This had it's moments for sure, but I personally preferred Austin-Angle a little bit more.
- Main event time, as WWF Champion Steve Austin and WCW Champion Chris Jericho duke it out to unify both belts. Austin is out immediately following the last match, as apparently being a fan favorite doesn't mean you have to give your opponent a fair amount of time to recuperate. Both men are quickly laid out when their opponents interfere, Angle going after Austin and Rock leveling it up by attacking Jericho. By this point, neither of these guys has a whole lot to offer, so it's time to go fully into the sports entertainment shenanigans. Jericho accidentally hits referee Earl Hebner with a flying forearm smash, leading Vince to run down with crooked official Nick Patrick as a substitute. But Vince is stopped by his new business partner, Ric Flair, who has returned to the WWF, buying Shane and Stephanie's stocks in the company as part of a consortium. Ric pulls Patrick out of the ring and decks him, leading to a brawl between Flair and McMahon. Austin gets some shots in on Vince, their feud will never die, before applying the Walls of Jericho on Y2J, because finisher stealing is all the main event scene has got apparently. Our final run-in of the night sees Booker T snatch the WWF title, blasting Austin in the head with it, which would lead to their awesome grocery store brawl. Jericho crawls over and makes the cover, beating the two biggest stars in the industry by incredibly fluky manners, but at least the right guy went over. We have our first Undisputed Champion.
7/10
Look, I can get why many fans may not like Vengeance as a show. It definitely drags near the end and really lacks a classic match to put it over the top. That being said, the first two of the three world title matches have something to offer, and while the main event only really existed just to say it happened, at least it gave Jericho an incredible moment and ammunition to use in promos for the rest of his career. Everything up until the mini-tournament has pretty hit or miss, but ended up as a net positive thanks to the fun chaos that was Undertaker versus RVD. That was actually the match I could probably recommend the most from this one, it was so much better than it had any right to be.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: Royal Rumble 2002, which features a very underrated Rumble, another match in the series between Chris Jericho and The Rock and a Street Fight between Ric Flair and Mr. McMahon. See you soon.
- Henry
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