Vengeance 2006

Vengeance 2006

The card featured eight televised matches, including two main events which resulted inRob Van Dam defeatingEdge to retain theWWE Championship andD-Generation X (DX) (Triple H andShawn Michaels) defeatingSpirit Squad (Kenny,Johnny,Mitch,Nicky, andMikey) in a 5-on-2Handicap match. One bout was featured on the undercard. In whichJohn Cena defeatedSabu in anExtremelumberjack match, which featuredsuperstars from the Raw andECW brands at ringside.

Vengeance grossed over $400,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 6,800 and received 320,000 pay-per-view buys, which helped WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $21.6 million compared to the previous year. When the event was released on DVD, it reached the number one position onBillboard's DVD Sales Chart. The professional wrestling section of the Canadian Online Explorer website rated the entire event a 6.5 out 10 stars, higher than the2005 event rating of 6 out 10.

Background[]

The event featured eightprofessional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as eithervillains orfan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers belonged to theRaw brand – astoryline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other two beingSmackDown! andECW.

The mainrivalry heading into Vengeance was between WWE Champion and ECW World Heavyweight ChampionRob Van Dam who defending the WWE Championship againstEdge in a singles match. The buildup to the match began on the television premiere ofECW on Sci Fi, in which Van Dam was awarded theECW World Heavyweight Championship by Paul Heyman, thus making Van Dam a double champion, by holding both the ECW and WWE Championships. Van Dam's celebration was then interrupted by Edge and his girlfriendLita. Edge, who was number one contender for the title, informed Van Dam that they both had a lot in common, referring to them being bothMoney in the Bank winners and successfully becoming WWE Champions. Edge concluded with giving Van Dam some kind words, in which afterwards he performed aSpear on Van Dam. On the June 19 episode ofRaw, in retaliation Van Dam attacked Edge, moments after winning a match againstRic Flair. On June 20 episode ofECW, Rob Van Dam andKurt Angle defeated Edge andRandy Orton in a tag team match when Van Dam pinned Edge afterFive Star Frog Splash.

Another predominant rivalry scripted into Vengeance was betweenD-Generation X (DX)Triple H andShawn Michaels versus theSpirit Squad (Kenny,Johnny,Mitch,Nicky, andMikey) in a Five on TwoHandicap match consisting of one team of wrestlers facing off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as five against two. The buildup to the match began afterBacklash, Raw's previous pay-per-view event, where The McMahons (Vince andShane) defeated Michaels and "God" in a tag team match, with help from the Spirit Squad in ano disqualification match, a match where neither wrestler can bedisqualified, allowing forweapons and outside interference. Throughout the weeks onRaw, Michaels got revenge on both Vince McMahon and the Spirit Squad, until the May 22 episode ofRaw, where the Spirit Squad werescripted to injure Michaels' left knee. Then, by orders of McMahon, Triple H was to "break Michaels' skull", with asledgehammer. Triple H failed to do what McMahon ordered and instead attacked the Spirit Squad, thus turning into a fan favorite. Two weeks later, McMahon booked Triple H in agauntlet match, consisting of two wrestlers beginning the match, and replacing whenever one is eliminated, with the last person standing being named the winner, against the Spirit Squad. In the match, Kenny grabbed a steel chair and inserted the chair on Triple H's left knee, similar to what the group did to Michaels. Mitch, who was the only member not participating in the match, was thrown out from the backstage curtain by Michaels. Following this, he joined Triple H in the ring as they began to beat down the four members of the group. This saw Michaels and Triple H reform D-Generation X since their teased reunion in 2002. That same night, McMahon scheduled the Spirit Squad and D-Generation X in a 5-on-2 handicap tag team match. On the June 19 episode ofRaw, DX marked their return, when the duo humiliated the Spirit Squad as DX dumped green slime onto the group and embarrassed the team afterwards, by beating them.

One of the featured matches was betweenJohn Cena versusSabu in anExtreme Rules lumberjack match, a standard match with the exception that the ring is surrounded by a group of wrestlers not directly involved in it and competed underhardcore rules. On the television debut ofECW on Sci Fi on June 13, a brawl broke out between Rob Van Dam and Edge. Edge, who stormed through the ECW crowd, was attacked by Cena, who cost Cena theWWE Championship atECW's One Night Stand, and written into the storyline, sought revenge against Edge. Following the attack, Cena went to ringside where he knockedECW RepresentativePaul Heyman unconscious, after Heyman awarded the pinfall win to Van Dam at One Night Stand. Following the attack, Heyman announced that all ECW superstars would be atRaw the following week. The following week onRaw, Heyman appeared alongside ECW superstar,Balls Mahoney, who was booked to face Cena in a singles match. The match was won by Cena after he made Mahoneysubmit. After the match, Cena was attacked by ECW superstar Sabu, who in the premiere ofECW on Sci Fi won a 10-man ExtremeBattle Royal, a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner, where the winner would face Cena at Vengeance in a singles match. Sabu assaulted Cena in which he performed aleg drop on Cena, diving onto him and putting Cena through the Raw announcers' table. The following night on an episode ofECW on Sci Fi, Cena showed up in the ECW locker room, where he challenged Sabu to an Extreme Rules lumberjack match, for which Sabu accepted.

Results[]

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

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

• Dark Match:Val Venis defeatedRob Conway.
• Randy Orton defeatedKurt Angle (12:45)
• Umaga (w/Armando Alejandro Estrada) defeatedEugene (w/Jim Duggan,Doink the Clown, andKamala) (1:37)
• Ric Flair defeatedMick Foley in aTwo out of three falls match [2:0] (7:09)

• Flair pinned Foley (4:15)
• Foley was DQ'ed (7:09)

• Johnny Nitro (w/Melina) defeatedShelton Benjamin (c) andCarlito in a Triple Threat match for theWWE Intercontinental Championship (12:09)
• Rob Van Dam (c) defeatedEdge (w/Lita) to retain theWWE Championship (17:55)
• "Impostor Kane" defeatedKane (7:07)
• John Cena defeatedSabu by submission in an Extreme Rules Lumberjack match (6:46)

• Lumberjacks:Viscera,Trevor Murdoch,Lance Cade,Rob Conway,Gene Snitsky,Matt Striker,Charlie Haas,Val Venis,Tommy Dreamer,Balls Mahoney,Stevie Richards,Little Guido,Roadkill,Danny Doring,Justin Credible,Al Snow andThe Sandman.

• D-Generation X (Triple H andShawn Michaels) defeated theSpirit Squad (Kenny,Johnny,Mitch,Nicky, andMikey) in a 5-on-2Handicap match (17:48)

Other on-screen talent[]

See also[]

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

DVD release[]

• Vengeance 2006 on DVD

External links[]

• Vengeance 2006 Official Website
• Vengeance 2006 at CAGEMATCH.net
• Vengeance 2006 at Online World of Wrestling