Memphis Days (Definitive Edition, Vol. 2) - Howlin' Wolf

In the short history of WWE's Vengeance pay-per-view big moments have happened. For example, at the very first Vengeance, Chris Jericho defeated both 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and, now Hollywood star, The Rock, in the same night to become the Undisputed champion. More recently popular '90s stable/faction, DX, made their comeback as the two man band of Triple H (HHH) and Shawn Michaels (HBK). As far as these monthly events go, Vengeance doesn't really bring excitement to the eyes of all the fans, however with an event to fill did the writers manage to do a good job of it?

Earlier in June 2005, the month of Vengeance, there was another WWE PPV. The cash really must have been flowing in for Vince McMahon. This was an event with a bit of a difference however, as it was the first time since ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) had gone out of business that an event had been put on with the ECW name. The diehard fans gathered in a small 'bingo hall' for what would be a One Night Stand, with crazy stunts in matches like burning tables and ECW favourites like The Sandman and Sabu. This event got such a great response that it even called for another One Night Stand in 2006, and of course the brand being returned as a third wheel to the WWE empire that already features RAW and SmackDown! brands.

RAW cannot be outdone though, and Vengeance is a RAW only PPV, so just a few weeks later WWE had to do something special to remind everyone that RAW is the number one brand on WWE, and WWE will not be outdone by 'Extremely Crappy Wrestling'. It just so happened that the main event of Vengeance would be a match reminiscent of ECW, a Hell in a Cell. This would be the twelth ever Hell in a Cell match, if you include the two HIAC matches that featured on RAW and went to a no contest in 1998.

This time it would be HHH vs. Batista 3, and it just so happened I did a review of the PPV that featured their second match just the other day (Backlash 05). After Batista won the World Championship from HHH at WrestleMania 21, HHH failed to defeat Batista a month later and the feud had led them to this - just like pretty much all feuds do lead to the big gimmick match ending. HIAC matches generally disappoint me personally because nothing can live up to Mick Foley being thrown off the top by the Undertaker (King Of The Ring 98), however this was one of the bloodiest HIAC's in recent memory - due to the fact that HHH and Batista apparently wanted to show that anything ECW could do, WWE could do better.

Whatever the outcome this would be the ending to the feud, but the event was not just sold on this match alone. With WWE having two brands ever so often they rearrange things by having drafts and trades, and there just so happened to be a draft happening in the weeks before and following Vengeance. John Cena had been drafted to RAW, leaving SmackDown! without a champion and meaning that Cena would have to defend his title for the very first time on a RAW PPV. This came in the form of a triple threat match, where Cena would not even have to be involved in the decision to lose the title, against Chris Jericho and Christian.

Cena generally doesn't get much respect from the crowd, however Jericho and Christian were very popular for their inring ability as well as how they have made a name for themselves. Sadly neither of them feature in the WWE any longer, as Jericho has left to pursue a music career and Christian can now be found in rival wresting company, TNA (Total Non-Stop Action).

The only other title action would be the Intercontinental title being defended by Carlito Caribbean Cool against Shelton Benjamin. Both of these are WWE's hottest properties they have to offer right now, Carlito reminding some of a young Rock, and Benjamin generally being an incredibly gifted athlete. I'm sure these two will meet for bigger prizes in the future in WWE, but on paper this makes for quite the lower card match.

A WWE sports-entertainment event wouldn't be complete without a womens match, and that had Victoria versus Christy Hemme. Christy was the result of the first ever 'Diva Search Competition' where women applied from around America to be the next 'diva' and the fans then voted. This competition didn't win WWE much popularity, but it set Christy into the spotlight and she even wrestled in a Womens Championship match at WrestleMania.. before being released/fired by WWE because they had nothing left to do with her.

'The Big Red Machine' Kane, who some old WWE fans may not recognise because he's now maskless, was in action wrestling Edge. This storyline goes FAAAR back, with Kane marrying Lita because Matt Hardy lost to Kane, then Lita being pregnant by Kane only to lose the baby, and then to Lita leaving Kane for Edge. Sounds like the stuff soap operas are made of, but what more do you expect. The match was never going to be pretty but it had a lot of build-up.

One match you would expect to be pretty however is the final match on the card, with Shawn Michaels versus Kurt Angle. These two had matches that received RAVE reviews and generally WWE must be kicking themselves for letting Angle go to TNA. This was the second match between the pair following the WrestleMania 21 match, and they also had a 30-minute 'rubber' match following this on the 'Homecoming' episode of RAW.

I really have to hand it to WWE on this one because they shocked everyone by actually putting on an event where every match didn't actually sound that bad, and they had some big draws such as Angle/HBK and having two massive titles on the line. The certificate for Vengeance is higher than previous PPV's I've rated, as it's an 18. That is probably due to the violence involved in Hell in a Cell. Don't let the amount of quality matches deceive you however, as it will still run for less than 3 hours. I usually say at the end of my reviews that if you are looking for an event to get you into WWE this isn't it, however for Vengeance 2005 I will say that you could choose a hell of a lot of worse shows to pick than this one - although it's almost 2 years out of date now.