Vengeance 2002

Vengeance 2002

The main event sawThe Rock win theWWE Undisputed Championship in a Triple Threat match also involvingKurt Angle and the defending championThe Undertaker. The main matches on the undercard wereJohn Cena (in his first-ever PPV appearance) versusChris Jericho,Rob Van Dam versusBrock Lesnar for theWWE Intercontinental Championship andThe Un-Americans (Lance Storm andChristian) versusHollywood Hulk Hogan andEdge for theWWE Tag Team Championship.

Background[]

The mainfeud heading into Vengeance was betweenThe Rock,Kurt Angle andThe Undertaker fighting for theWWE Undisputed Championship. AtKing of the Ring 2002, Undertaker defeatedTriple H to retain the Undisputed Championship. During the match The Rock interfered hitting Undertaker with a Rock Bottom. Undertaker, angry because of The Rock's interference, askedMr. 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 editionSmackDown!, however, Undertaker wrestled Kurt Angle to a draw in a WWE Undisputed title match, when Undertaker won by pinfall and tapped out to Angle's submission hold. On the followingRaw McMahon announced that Angle would be added to the match. On the final edition ofSmackDown!, The Rock defeated Angle byDisqualification due to interference from The Undertaker.

Another storyline heading into Vengeance was Triple H determining whatbrand he would permanently join. He could either stay on SmackDown! with then-new General ManagerStephanie McMahon or move back toRaw with General ManagerEric Bischoff. Originally theNew 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, however, would still promise to bring Triple H back toRaw.

The biggest match on the undercard wasBrock Lesnar versusRob Van Dam for theWWE Intercontinental Championship. The previous month at King of the Ring, RVD defeatedChris Jericho in the first Semi-Final round while Lesnar defeatedTest in the second Semi-Final round. During the latter event, Lesnar defeated Rob Van Dam in the King of the Ring tournament to earn the right to face the WWE Undisputed Champion atSummerSlam. RVD had held the Intercontinental championship since the May 27 edition ofRaw when he defeatedEddie Guerrero (who he lost the title to atBacklash on April 21) in aladder match. On the June 24 edition ofRaw, I.C. Champion RVD interrupted Lesnar's KOTR coronation by attacking him from behind and knocking him down with theVan Daminator and theDiving superkick. Later that night, Lesnar challenged RVD for the Intercontinental title, which Lesnar lost byDisqualification when Lesnar's agent,Paul Heyman interfered. Afterward, Lesnar nailed Van Dam with two powerbombs including one through the announce table. On the July 8 edition ofRaw, Lesnar and Heyman issued a challenge to Van Dam at Vengeance for the I.C. title, which Van Dam accepted. Afterwords, Van Dam brawled with Lesnar and Heyman, ending with Van Dam nailing Heyman in the face with aVan Terminator along with the steel chair in hand. Later that night, during the 10 Man tag team match, RVD chasedShawn Michaels to the back while being distracted, allowing Lesnar to perform anF-5 on Van Dam onto the steel ramp. On the final edition ofRaw, Lesnar andUndisputed ChampionThe Undertaker defeated RVD andRic Flair in a tag match. Afterwords, Lesnar nailed Undertaker from behind and performed an F-5 on him.

John Cena had made his WWE debut a month before Vengeance on the June 27 episode ofSmackDown! and had entered a minor feud withKurt Angle andChris Jericho. Jericho andEdge were also feuding at that time. Their feud began on the June 6 episode ofSmackDown! when Edge and Jericho were scheduled to compete in the King of the Ring First-Round tournament. But Edge forfeited his match to Jericho due to a shoulder injury that he suffered the previous week onSmackDown! in aSteel Cage match after spearing Kurt Angle. Jericho then forced Edge to raise his hand in victory but Edge refused and tried to assault Jericho but Jericho retaliated by targeting Edge's shoulder including nailing his shoulder onto the steel ring steps with the steel chair. Edge and Jericho were booked to fight each other at Vengeance, untilHollywood Hulk Hogan and Edge defeatedBilly and Chuck for theWWE Tag Team Championship on the July 4 edition ofSmackDown!. Later that night, Jericho went one-on-one with Cena, which Jericho won after he pinned Cena, with his own feet on the ropes. The following week onSmackDown!, Cena teamed withThe Undertaker to take on Angle and Jericho in a tag match, which Cena and Undertaker won after Cena pinned Jericho.

Chris Jericho then asked Mr. McMahon to letThe Un-Americans (Lance Storm andChristian) to wrestle Hogan and Edge for the Tag Titles instead at Vengeance, to which McMahon agreed.

On the July 8 edition ofRaw,Jeff Hardy had defeatedWilliam Regal to win theWWE European Championship. Regal, upset after his loss, used his rematch clause at Vengeance. On the July 15 edition ofRaw,WWE European Champion Jeff Hardy teamed withBubba Ray dudley andSpike dudley to take on William Regal,Chris Benoit andEddie Guerrero in a Six man tag teamElimination match. Benoit last eliminated Hardy by forcing Hardy to submit to theCrippler Crossface following a Brass Knuckles shot by Regal (who had already been eliminated).

Booker T had been feuding with thenWo at the time of their demise after being literally kicked out of it on the June 10 edition ofRaw. The following week onRaw, Booker T competed in the King of the Ring Quarter-Final round againstBrock Lesnar which Lesnar won following the interference from the nWo. On the July 15 edition ofRaw Booker T defeated former nWo memberThe Big Show bydisqualification 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.

On the June 6 episode ofSmackDown!,Jamie Noble debuted by attackingThe Hurricane and was joined byNidia. On the June 20 edition ofSmackDown!, Noble defeatedBilly Kidman after he nailed him with theDDT off the top rope. Afterwords, The Hurricane got his mask back (that Noble and Nidia had taken from him the previous week) after nailing Noble with thechokeslam. Then atKing of the Ring, he defeated The Hurricane for theCruiserweight Championship. The following three weeks onSmackDown!, Kidman and The Hurricane defeated Noble andTajiri in two tag team matches. Billy Kidman then challenged Jamie Noble to a Cruiserweight Championship match at Vengeance.

Event[]

Before the event went live on pay-per-view,Goldust defeatedSteven Richards in a standard wrestling match taped forSunday Night Heat.The show began withJim Ross andJerry Lawler untilTazz andMichael Cole said they deserved to call WWE Vengeance just as much as Ross and Lawler should. Ross agreed and let Tazz and Cole call the first half of the show.

Aftermath[]

After winning theWWE Undisputed Championship,The Rock then entered a feud with the number one contenderBrock Lesnar for the upcoming PPVSummerSlam. Lesnar went on to win the match and become the youngest WWE Champion in history. It was also the last match for The Rock as an active WWE superstar and his last reign as WWE Champion, prior to being a full-time actor in Hollywood.

Triple H andShawn Michaels came out the night after Vengeance and what appeared to be a reunion forD-Generation X was instead Triple H nailing a Pedigree on Michaels. This caused Michaels to retaliate and challenge Triple H to a street fight at SummerSlam, marking his first official match sinceWrestleMania XIV. Michaels won the match, and Triple H attacked him after the match.

A night after Vengeance,Eric Bischoff decided to merge theWWE Intercontinental Championship and theWWE European Championship into one, puttingRob Van Dam andJeff Hardy against each other in a ladder match. RVD won the match, and the European Championship was retired. A week later, Van Dam lost the Intercontinental Championship toChris Benoit, who would then jump to SmackDown!. Van Dam used his rematch clause for Summerslam and brought the Intercontinental title back to Raw.

After losing toJohn Cena,Chris Jericho had to faceEdge in a steel cage match on the July 25 episode ofSmackDown!. Edge won the match, and Jericho, along withThe Un-Americans, moved to the Raw brand. Jericho went on to feud withRic Flair.Lance Storm andChristian began to feud withBooker T andGoldust, whileTest had a one-month feud withThe Undertaker. After his cage match win over Chris Jericho, Edge began a two-month long feud withEddie Guerrero.

After losing the triple threat match to The Rock,Kurt Angle was pinned byRey Mysterio in a six-man tag team match on the August 8 episode ofSmackDown!. As a result, on the following episode ofSmackDown, he challenged Mysterio to a match at SummerSlam to which Mysterio agreed.

Results[]

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

(c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.

• Sunday Night Heat:Goldust defeatedSteven Richards (3:49)
• Bubba &Spike Dudley defeatedChris Benoit &Eddie Guerrero in an Elimination Tables match (15:01)
• Jamie Noble (w/Nidia) (c) defeatedBilly Kidman to retain theWWE Cruiserweight Championship (7:34)
• Jeff Hardy (c) defeatedWilliam Regal to retain theWWE European Championship (4:16)
• John Cena defeatedChris Jericho (6:14)
• Rob Van Dam (c) defeatedBrock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) by DQ to retain theWWE Intercontinental Championship (9:39)
• Booker T defeatedThe Big Show (5:50)
• Un-Americans (Christian &Lance Storm) (w/Test) defeatedHulk Hogan &Edge (c) to win theWWE Tag Team Championship (9:48)
• The Rock defeatedKurt Angle &The Undertaker (c) in a Triple Threat match to win theWWE Championship (19:47)

Other on-screen talent[]

See also[]

• List of WWE pay-per-view events
• WWE Event History
• Vengeance

DVD release[]

• Vengeance 2002 on DVD

External links[]

• Vengeance 2002 at CAGEMATCH.net
• Vengeance 2002 at Online World of Wrestling