WWE: Vengeance
June 25, 2006
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte Bobcats Arena

The current RAW champions are as follows:
WWE Champion: Rob Van Dam (6/11/2006)
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Shelton Benjamin (5/15/2006)
World Tag Team Champions: The Spirit Squad (4/3/2006)
WWE Women’s Champion: Mickie James (4/2/2006)

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

• Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton
  

Much like at One Night Stand, Orton is a little bit leery to hook it up with Angle to start. To be fair though, it is KURT FREAKING ANGLE. They do the “I’m going to German suplex you off the apron but not really because that might kill you” spot as Orton holds onto the top rope for dear life. Orton elbows Angle away, but takes a German suplex on the floor. Not quite as violent, but still pretty painful. In the ring, Angle dominates Orton on the mat with a half nelson. Orton gets to the ropes and thumbs Angle in the eye. He takes control with a standing dropkick and throws Angle to the floor for some guardrail action. You know it’s 2006 when Orton applies his overly aggressive chinlock. This goes on for a while until Orton decides to head to the top rope. Here comes Angle with the Pop-Up Superplex. He doesn’t get all of it though. Angle goes on a belly to belly suplex frenzy, but Orton cuts off the Angle Slam with the Inverted Backbreaker for two. RKO gets shoved off to the corner. Orton catches himself though and takes a moment to untie the turnbuckle pad. Angle recovers and begins some Rolling Germans. He delivers not three, four, five, six, or seven. He gives Orton a total of EIGHT GERMAN SUPLEXES IN A ROW. Orton rolls out to the floor to prevent being pinned. Back in, he avoids the Anklelock and retreats to the corner with the exposed turnbuckle. Here comes the ANGLE SLAM! DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Now time for the ANKLELOCK. Orton gets pulled away from the ropes and flings Angle off into the exposed turnbuckle. As Angle staggers, he turns around into an RKO! Cover, 1-2-3. (12:46) This would have made a fine TV match. Unless something changes and you just never know in this wacky world of wrestling, this would prove to be Kurt Angle’s final WWE PPV match. I mean, who would have thought Bret Hart would be in a WrestleMania match in 2010? But here we are. **½

Elsewhere, Mr. McMahon is busy talking to somebody on his dumb cellular telephone about how ready the Spirit Squad is to face D-Generation X when a wheelchair bound kid appears in his office wearing a DX t-shirt. Oh boy. He vents to the kid about all the recent DX shenanigans. He then redirects his anger on this kid and crashes the kid’s wheelchair somewhere off-camera. Vince calls this ride the “highway to HELL”. Another knock at the door and in comes Jonathan Coachman. He hands Vince a penis pump delivered by DX. Vince says that tonight the joke will be on DX. Coach switches gears and says he has a family member who thinks of Mr. McMahon as his hero and wants to meet him. He happens to be a young lad in a wheelchair. Coach says that if he has a minute to spare, he’ll let Vince know when he gets here. Vince gives Coach the go-ahead, but clearly feels a little embarrassed.

• Umaga (w/Armando Alejandro Estrada) vs. Eugene (w/Jim Duggan, Doink the Clown, and Kamala)
  

Estrada says he heard the special little boy Eugene has brought some backup with him tonight. He can get all the DC comics characters he wants, but it won’t matter against the Samoan Bulldozer UMAGA! Well, you can see who Eugene has brought with him to help out tonight. If Doink is not Matt Borne, then GTFO. The Charlotte crowd loves Hacksaw here. This goes like most other Umaga matches at the time. Umaga pounds his man, hits the buttalanche, and the ASIATIC SPIKE gets the three-count. (1:38) Umaga makes Duggan and Doink pay for showing up, but Estrada doesn’t want him messing with Kamala for some reason. This sets up a showdown between Umaga and Kamala (with the return of Kim Chee!) for the next night on RAW. It ends pretty much the same way as other Umaga matches do. ½*

Todd Grisham meets with Mick Foley backstage. He reads from Ric Flair’s novel as Foley puts it. He reads the part where Flair calls him a “glorified stuntman”. Foley says that tonight he will wipe the mat with him with wrestling moves. If Flair wants to write another chapter for his book, he should call it “How I Was Outwrestled by Mick Foley.” WOO!

Hey look, it’s future WWE Women’s champion Charlotte! What a difference ten years makes, huh? And is that Richie Steamboat behind her too?

• 2/3 Falls: Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley
  

FIRST FALL: Here we have two men who are ten years passed their prime trying to have a straight wrestling match. In a chant you have never heard before, Charlotte feels that “Foley sucks”. Hammerlocks and wristlocks to start. When Flair has the advantage, Foley sucker punches him and reverts to his usual offense with punches in the corner and a running knee. DOUBLE-ARM DDT! Foley pulls a Flair Socko. WOO! When he comes at Flair for the Mandible Claw, Flair grabs a handful of Foley testicles. He releases at the count of four and starts chopping away. Flair goes up top and comes down on Foley with a double sledge, but wrenches his knee. It’s understandable since his knee isn’t used to his body coming off the top rope except from a slam. Foley chopblocks the knee and goes for a spinning toe hold, but Flair counters with an inside cradle for the three-count at 4:10. An ironic finish there to say the least.

SECOND FALL: Foley again sticks to what he knows and takes Flair to the floor. Nevertheless, his plan backfires as Flair whips him into the steps. Foley baits him out into the crowd and backdrops him back over the barricade. Foley brings a trashcan into the ring and goes to whack Flair, but gets tripped up for the FIGURE-FOUR. Foley can’t do anything about it and uses the trashcan to get himself DQ’ed as he loses in two straight falls. (7:00 total) Foley gets crazier and crazier as he brings a barbed wire baseball bat into the mix. Of course, Flair will blade from ear to ear. They show shots of some very concerned North Carolinians for their hero. Some well-booked psychology, but these two clearly need to be in the ring with someone in their primes to work out a good match at this point. *½

Maria speaks with Carlito backstage. She expands on the “cool” paradox. Carlito just looks confused. Nothing would be cooler than Carlito becoming the IC champion. That is until Torrie Wilson in a bikini walks up. She needs somebody to rub baby oil all over her body for a photo shoot. He thinks she wants him to HOLD HER PUPPIES, but all she really wants is for Carlito to hold her puppies. They show Maria rubbing baby oil on Torrie while Carlito provides commentary. Carlito is so distracted that he misses his cue to go to the ring.

PLEASE BRING CARLITO BACK TO WWE.

• WWE Intercontinental Championship: Shelton Benjamin (c) vs. Carlito vs. Johnny Nitro (w/Melina)
  

Carlito dumps out Nitro so he and Shelton can trade nearfalls. You can see the mat is stained with Flair’s blood which is disgusting and awesome at the same time. Nitro springboards back inside over Carlito. Benjamin goes to kick Nitro, but Nitro ducks and Carlito gets wiped out. As Shelton and Nitro are on the floor, Carlito wants to fly. When he sees Melina pull Nitro out of the way, Carlito lands on the apron. He kicks Shelton, but gets tripped up by Nitro and thrown into the post. Shelton and Nitro start brawling until Carlito recovers and delivers a double jump somersault plancha. The crowd is really digging Carlito tonight. He brings Nitro back inside, but Nitro comes back with a tilt-a-whirl Russian legsweep. What is this, TNA? Carlito fires back on Nitro with a standing hurracanrana only to be caught off a charge by Shelton and launched into the air. When Shelton can’t get the Exploder Suplex on Nitro, he settles by tossing him over the top to the floor. Benjamin takes over on Carlito until Nitro breaks up a pin attempt. Nitro tries a hurracanrana in the corner, but Shelton counters with a snake eyes. Moving forward, we see Nitro monkey flip Benjamin onto his feet only for Carlito to nail Shelton with a standing dropkick. That leads to a tree of woe spot as Nitro takes Shelton and Carlito down to the mat with a SPYDER GERMAN SUPLEX. The crowd absolutely loves it and I do too. Nitro can’t get the pin though. Carlito comes back with a springboard double back elbow on his opponents. Nitro gets thrown out leaving Carlito to hit the BACKCRACKER on Shelton! He covers the IC champ, but Nitro pulls Carlito out and hops on Benjamin to get the pinfall. (12:05) Ladies and gents, we have a *new* WWE IC champion. This was Carlito’s night, but that just puts more heat on Nitro as the new heel IC champ. Fun match! ***¼

Backstage, Vince pumps up (that might be a bad choice of words) the Spirit Squad telling them that DX is a disease and they are the cure. After they leave, Vince considers using the penis pump. Well, it turns to be a prank. When he comes out of the bathroom, his face is covered in green mist. WAS THE GREAT MUTA INSIDE THAT BOX?

• WWE Championship: Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Edge (w/Lita)
  

It’s never a good sign for the WWE champion when the title isn’t included on the last match on the card. Before the match, Edge compares the WWE title being in ECW to the Stanley Cup being in North Carolina. Wait a minute. We have an NHL team? Edge wants to have another live sex celebration with Lita after he wins back the WWE title. Rob Van Dam has also been awarded the ECW world title thus making him a double champion if you will. Edge mocks RVD’s style to start and nearly gets pinned for it. He rolls away from Rolling Thunder and heads to the floor to regroup. RVD dropkicks him through the ropes and delivers a moonsault press off the barricade. Lita helps Edge run interference so he can sunset flip powerbomb Van Dam off the apron to the floor. SPLAT. Back inside, Edge starts working the back. He pulls back on RVD’s arms and places his knee into RVD’s back, but RVD finds a way to kick Edge in the face to get him to stop. After Van Dam backdrops Edge to the apron, he crossbody blocks Edge to the floor for a nasty bump. RVD misses the spinning heel kick onto the barricade though. To make matters worse for Van Dam’s back, Edge powerbombs him onto the barricade. Cover, 1-2-NO! Edge works a backbreaker until Van Dam knees him away, but then Edge stops a slugfest with a big boot. Edge blocks a tornado DDT, but takes a springboard back kick instead. Van Dam tries Rolling Thunder again, but Edge shoots up and powerslam him down for two. Van Dam stops a corner charge from Edge and delivers a flying kick from the top rope. Time for the Five Star Frog Splash, but Edge rolls away. RVD decides to get fancy and hits Edge with Rolling Thunder starting from the top rope on the third try. Split-legged moonsault gets two. The ref eats a spinning heel kick from Van Dam. Now Edge can cheat! Lita tosses him the WWE title, but he becomes so enamored with the shininess of the golden title that he gets nailed with a VAN DAMINATOR. Edge now has a cut above his left eye. Van Dam heads up top, but Lita crotches his dreams. Edge brings RVD down with a nasty spike DDT. The ref awakes from his coma and counts a slow nearfall. Edge looks for the SPEAR while Lita holds up a chair in the corner behind Van Dam. As Edge charges, Van Dam moves and Edge eats the chair knocking Lita down as well. With Edge knocked silly, Van Dam hits the FIVE-STAR FROG SPLASH for the win. (17:55) Probably not the pop he wanted, but it’s the pop he got. Outside of the excruciating highspots like the two outside-the-ring powerbombs, I found myself getting a little bored at times. And it’s not like there was anything intrinsically wrong with the match, I just wasn’t completely digging it for whatever reason. ***

The ECW locker room are celebrating the WWE title staying in ECW when Paul Heyman appears. In the interest of fairness, Mr. McMahon has decided that there will not just be ECW lumberjacks in the Cena/Sabu match tonight, but an equal number of lumberjacks from RAW as well.

• Kane vs. Imposter Kane
  

This is your “bowling shoe ugly” match of the evening. Lawler – “Well, this has been the weirdest situation ever.” The Imposter Kane looks like 1998 Kane. Lots of choking. Lots of slams. I’m going to fast forward through this one. Let’s go to the finish. The real Kane comes off the top for his signature clothesline only for the Imposter Kane to goozle him in mid-air for the CHOKESLAM. He pins Kane just like Kane would have in 1998 with his arms stretched out. (7:08) Yes, the FAKE Kane won this match. Better than I thought it would be, but that’s still not saying very much. ½*

• Extreme Lumberjack Match: John Cena vs. Sabu
  

Once again they use Cena to get over the ECW brand with the WWE fans. The lumberjacks are Balls, Stevie, Sandman, Roadkill, Dreamer, Credible, Snow and Guido while the RAW lumberjacks are basically all the regular Heat guys. You’ve got Val, Snitsky, Viscera, Striker, Cade, Murdoch, Conway and Haas. They play around with the lumberjack gimmick to start. The RAW guys put Sabu back in the ring all nice and easy while Cena gets the crap kicked out of him by the ECW guys and Sandman takes a cane to his cranium. Back inside, Sabu lands the Triple Jump Moonsault for 1-2-NO! CAMEL CLUTCH is applied. Cena fights up, but Sabu kicks him in the balls. Sabu tries another triple jump move and lands on Cena’s chest in a nasty spot. ARABIAN FACEBUSTER to Cena! Cover, 1-2-NO! Air Sabu misses signaling the Cena comeback. When he sets up for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, the lumberjacks start fighting. Cena tries to help his fellow RAW wrestlers, but turns around and eats a chair from Sabu. Al Snow holds up Cena while Sabu throws the chair back in his face. With Cena knocked out, they drag him over onto a table. Viscera saves the day and Cena stops Sabu with Sandman’s cane. He throws a chair in Sabu’s face and gives him the FU from inside the ring and drops him – barely hitting the table with his tailbone! Snitsky and Viscera put Sabu back in the ring for the STFU. The RAW guys hold the ECW guys at bay while Sabu taps out. (6:47) The RAW guys stand tall in the ring while the ECW crew head up the ramp to fight another day. So basically Cena and a bunch of scrubs from RAW just manhandled the majority of the ECW brand in a very short amount of time is what you’re telling me. *

In the back, Rob Van Dam approaches John Cena. He gives Cena credit for not just showing up at One Night Stand but also for walking into the ECW locker room. He grants Cena a WWE title rematch tomorrow night on RAW if he wants it. Cena never turns down an opportunity. He tells Van Dam to pack all he’s got because he’s in for a fight.

• Handicap Match: D-Generation X vs. The Spirit Squad
  

DX in 2006. It’s like they watched the first half hour of “Old School” and one of them said, “Hey, what do you think? We could pull this off, right?” Scissors beats paper which means HBK starts this match. HBK handles Mitch with no problem. Shawn even gets trapped in a corner with four other dudes trying to get at him and they all fail. DX cleans house and Johnny gets his nose busted to bits. Johnny turns into Ralph Macchio for laughs and Triple H punches him in the nose. Let’s move on. Eventually, Triple H gets thrown into the steps by four of the five Spirit Squad boys. There’s a very short-lived heat segment on HHH. Tag to HBK, he’s got punches and atomic drops for anybody who comes at him. Mikey gets the Flying Elbow and Shawn tunes up the band. As the match breaks down and Triple H has his hands full, Johnny catches Shawn with a roundhouse kick. Nicky (or Dolph Ziggler) gets some time with his wrestling hero. When Shawn gets yanked out to the floor, Kenny blasts Shawn with a chairshot. Mikey uses the trampoline to bulldog Shawn. That allows Johnny to score a nearfall. There’s a couple double-team moves delivered to Shawn, but a third one fails in the corner as Nicky takes a bump to the floor. Johnny and Mikey cut off the hot tag, but Shawn plants them with a double DDT. Hot tag to HHH, he hits the High Knee and the AA Spinebuster. Nicky breaks up the PEDIGREE to Kenny. The Spirit Squad hold HBK in place for a flip off the trampoline by one of the boys. They miss wiping out four members of the SS. This error leaves Kenny all alone with DX. Nicky tries to help out, but eats SWEET CHIN MUSIC while Kenny receives the PEDIGREE. Both HBK and HHH cover their fallen foes for the academic three-count. (17:51) The rest of the SS take DX’s finishes after the bell as the Spirit Squad are squashed flatter than pita bread. Sorry, I had Greek for lunch. And as if that’s not enough, Shawn inducts Mitch into Triple H’s “Fart Taco” club. Boy, this show is really ending on a high note! Once DX has their fun, Vince McMahon comes out on the ramp with a confident look on his face telling them he will see them tomorrow night. Well, yeah. Same to you, Vince. **

Final Thoughts: The first half of the show wasn’t all that bad, but it goes downhill after the WWE title match for me. If you’re the type of fan who was amazed by Imposter Kane, who didn’t notice the bad booking of the ECW revival, or laugh at DX and their hijinks – then you probably aren’t reading from my site anyways. I’ve read that some people at the time had high expectations for the Flair vs. Foley match. WHY? Name one match where two guys who are a decade away from their prime had a really solid match. Name ONE. I would love to know why people were expecting something more than what we got here. I didn’t hate this show as much as I did the first time around so I’ll go with a thumbs in the middle for Vengeance 2006.