Vengeance (2011)

Vengeance (2011)
Promotional poster featuring Mark Henry
Tagline(s)	Vengeance Is Mine
Theme song(s)	"Make Some Noise (Put 'Em Up)" by The Crystal Method ft. Yelawolf
Information
Promotion	WWE
Date	October 23, 2011
Attendance	8,000[1]
Venue	AT&T Center
City	San Antonio, Texas
Pay-per-view chronology
Hell in a Cell (2011) Vengeance (2011) Survivor Series (2011)
Vengeance chronology
Vengeance: Night of Champions Vengeance (2011) Final

Vengeance (2011) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE that took place on October 23, 2011 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.^[2] It is the twelfth event under the Vengeance/Night of Champions chronology and the first event under the Vengeance name since the 2007 edition. Eight matches took place at the event. The pay-per-view garnered 121,000 buys, down from 137,000 buys the previous year's event, Bragging Rights, received.^[3]

Background

The main rivalry from Raw involved WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio against former champion John Cena for the WWE Championship. At Hell in a Cell earlier in the month, John Cena lost his title to Alberto Del Rio after John Cena was locked out of the steel cell while Alberto Del Rio pinned CM Punk. A week later, recently instated Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis booked John Cena's rematch against Alberto Del Rio for Vengeance. On the October 17 episode of Raw, John Cena won a tag team match with Jim Ross to defeat Alberto Del Rio and Michael Cole and as per the pre-match stipulation, he chose the match at Vengeance to be a Last Man Standing Match.

Another rivalry from Raw was between CM Punk and Triple H and The Miz and R Truth. At Night of Champions 2011 during the main event which was between the COO Triple H and Punk, Miz and Truth interfered and attacked both competitors. the following night on Raw Triple H fired Miz and Truth. At Hell in a Cell after the main event concluded which involved Punk Alberto Del Rio and John Cena for the WWE Championship in Hell in a Cell Miz and Truth came out from under the ring and attacked everyone in the cell (with it still closed) including superstars, referees, and cameramen. The entire WWE roster came out to find a way into the cell. Eventually, they found pliers and got into the cell and Triple H attacked Miz and Truth. On the October 8th edition of Raw, Triple H was relieved from his duties of running Monday Night RAW (though still COO) and Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis was named Interim General Manager Of Raw and later that night made this match.

The main rivalry from SmackDown involved World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry against Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship. At Money in the Bank, Mark Henry injured The Big Show via a steel chair when Mark crushed the chair on Big Show's fibula keeping him out of action for roughly four months. Afterwards, Henry defeated Randy Orton at Night of Champions to claim the first World Heavyweight Championship in his career, and defeated Orton once more at Hell in a Cell to retain his title. The Smackdown after Hell in a Cell, Big Show returned and began to attack Mark Henry demanding a title match for Henry's title. As Big Show was about to crush Mark's leg with a steel chair, General Manager Theodore Long said that if Big Show did not crush Henry's leg, he would get his title match. Big Show decided to give Henry a chair shot to the back, fearing that if he crushed Mark's leg, he would not get his World Heavyweight Championship match.

A second rivalry from SmackDown involved Randy Orton and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Earlier in the month at Hell in a Cell, Randy Orton lost his World Heavyweight Championship rematch in a Hell in a Cell match against Mark Henry, while Cody Rhodes brought back the classic Intercontinental Championship title belt and then successfully defended it in an impromptu match against John Morrison. Rhodes would cost Randy Orton another World Heavyweight Championship match on the October 7 edition of Smackdown. On the October 14 edition of Smackdown, Randy Orton would get vengeance against Rhodes when he picked up a pinfall victory over Rhodes. On the October 17 edition of Raw, Cody Rhodes picked up a pinfall victory over Orton after interference from Mark Henry. It was then announced that Randy Orton would face Rhodes at Vengeance in a non-title match.

The only rivalry on the Divas card was between Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix over the Divas Championship. On the October 17 edition of Raw, Torres was announced as the number one contender for the Divas Championship. The following edition of Smackdown! Torres interrupted Phoenix talking about the match, pushed her over and showed her 'ranty panties'. The same night of their match Kelly Kelly was being interviewed (because she is Eve's best friend) on a WWE.com exclusive but was attacked by Phoenix and Natalya but Torres saved her. Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis announced that Kelly and Natalya were banned from ringside.

Event

The first match of the night was Air Boom putting the WWE Tag Team championships on the line against Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger. Both teams went back and forth but, the match came to an end when Evan Bourne pinned Dolph Ziggler after an "Airbourne", thus successfully defending the titles.

Then Dolph Ziggler had to put his United States championship on the line against Zack Ryder. Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston were at ringside in the corner of Zack Ryder. Bourne and Kingston interfered by throwing Dolph Ziggler back in the ring when he went to the outside. Because of this, they were ejected from ringside. At the end, Ziggler pinned Ryder after a superkick.

The next match saw Eve challenging Beth Phoenix for the Divas championship.Phoenix tried a Glamslam but Eve countered it. Both Eve & Beth found themselves on the top rope. Phoenix then gave Eve the Glamslam and then pinned her for the victory.

Next, was a Hell in a Cell PPV rematch, Christian challenged Sheamus. When Christian tried to hit Sheamus with a spear, Sheamus countered it and hit Christian with a Brouqe kick and pinned him.

Next was a tag team match between The Miz & R Truth and Triple H & CM Punk. At Night of Champions, Triple H fought CM Punk. During the match, both Miz & Truth attacked both Triple H & Punk which led to a tag match at Vengeance. Triple H & Punk controlled the match until Kevin Nash attacked Triple H. Miz & Truth then double teamed Punk and Miz pinned Punk after a "Little Jimmy's finale".

Then Randy Orton fought Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Rhodes tried to hit Orton with an RKO but, Orton hit Rhodes with his own RKO and pinned him for the win.

The next match pitted The Big Show against Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship. Both Big Show and Henry turned the tables on each other but, when Henry hit the Big Show with a superplex, the ring collapsed, two rows of ropes fell, and one ring post jutted out. The referee ruled the match a No Contest. The medics brought the stretcher out but no man could fit on that. They brought some sort of flatbed truck to the ring, and put Big Show on it. They drove away, but not before the general managers appeared: John Laurinaitis and Theodore Long. Then Mark Henry was assisted out of the AT&T Center and when he was gone, Laurinaitis said the main event would happen, even with the smashed ring.

The main event was John Cena challenging Alberto Del Rio for the WWE championship. The match was a Last Man Standing match. John Cena debuted his new "Rise Above Hate" attire. Cena and Del Rio turned the tide on each other throughout the match. When Del Rio climbed the big V, Cena caught him and threw him through a table. The match went back and forth. When it looked like Cena was going to win, The Miz and R Truth attacked Cena, but Cena still answered the ten count. When Cena got to his feet, Del Rio hit Cena with the WWE championship belt. Cena couldn't answer the ten count, and Del Rio retained the WWE Championship.

Results

References

External links

• Vengeance 2011 WWE Live Tour site
• Vengeance 2011 on WWE.com