WWE VENGEANCE 2006

Randy Orton beat Kurt Angle with the RKO
The match was rather similar to their ECW match, only without the atmosphere of the ECW crowd to liven things up. Heck, the crowd was even dead silent at some points despite there actually being Orton supporters in the crowd. The highlight was definitely Angle hitting 8 consecutive rolling German suplexes on Orton. The finish was well done with Orton escaping the ankle-lock and ramming Angle’s face into the exposed steel turnbuckle and hitting the RKO for the win.
This feud could actually go for longer from the look of things, since they obviously need a rubber match to break the tie.
Match Rating: **

Umaga beat Eugene with the Samoan Spike.
OK, I’ll admit it, I marked out when Kamala came out to be in Eugene’s corner with Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Doink the Clown!
Eugene still got squashed, but the ending was rather interesting that Armando would pull out Umaga after taking out Eugene, Hacksaw and Doink, but not let him face off with the original savage, Kamala. Guess there’s something to look forward to on RAW tomorrow even if it will be another squash.
Match Rating: DUD

2/3 Falls Match: Ric Flair beat Mick Foley 2 falls to 0.
Massive crowd heat for this one, and Foley has more or less cemented his heel turn with the brutal beat down he gave Flair after the match after losing 2 galls straight, first when Flair countered a figure-four attempt by Foley into a rather ugly roll-up for the win, and the losing the 2nd fall by disqualification when he hit Flair in the head with a garbage can when Flair had the figure-four locked on. This obviously a build up to a rematch at Summer Slam under hardcore rules or something, and hopefully they get more time on that one since this one was too short.
Match Rating: **

Intercontinental Title – Triple Threat Match: Johnny Nitro beat Carlito and Shelton Benjamin pinning Benjamin after Carlito hit the Back Cracker to win the title.
This is the darkhorse that stole the show! Somebody tell me why the heck that accident prone borefest known as Randy Orton can’t improve his game like Carlito has in the past few months?!? When Carlito first came to WWE, I called him boring, but now he’s stepped up his game BIG TIME, whereas Orton is still stuck with the same moves he’s been doing since he got here. Carlito is a perfect example of how a wrestler grows in ability.
With that said, all 3 busted their butts in this one and pulled off some fantastic 3-way offense (the corner spider-german-superplex spot), even if some of the spots were rather “worked” (monkey flip into a dropkick spot). But at least they didn’t work the match the way most triple threats are done in WWE with one guy sitting out while two guys go at it, only to trade dance partners every few minutes.
The only thing I would have to complain about in this one was the weak finish. There’s no way Carlito’s Back-Cracker should be a fisnisher, especially with Benjamin not kicking after being down as long as he was before Nitro finally made the pin to win the title. As Carlito would say, “That’s NOT Cool.”
Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Championship: Rob Van Dam beat Edge with the Five Star Frog Splash to retain the title.
EH? Kane VS Kane, DX VS the Cheerleaders and a lumberjack match is more important than the world title?!? I guess that motivated them to break out a one hell of a match here! This was an awesome back and forth contest, and really, the best Van Dam has looked in a while, even compared to his One Night Stand match with John Cena! Some really SICK bumps by both men, and ton of edge-of-your-seat nearfalls, and good finish with the right man coming out on top as RVD hits the Five Star Frogsplash after Edge misses a spear and hits a chair being held by Lita to take the win.
On a personal note, anyone else notice how RVD could still get up and go after taking a powerbomb on the friggin’ guardrail, yet Benjamin stayed down for so long after taking the Back Cracker, which is a whole lot weaker of a move in the previous match?!?
Match Rating: ****

Kane beat Kane with a chokeslam.
I honestly don’t believe this match deserved the boring chants it received, and feel it was more out of disgust at the angle rather than the work of the match. They actually had a pretty good big man match, and one wicked spot where Kane (real) gave Kane (fake) an Exploder suplex like slam off the top rope. Once again, this is like the third match tonight to have a rather weak looking finish as Kane (fake) caught Kane (real) coming off the top rope with a chokeslam for the win. I would have preferred if he followed up with the Tombstone, like the old masked Kane would do back in the day for the win.
Match Rating: **

Extreme Lumberjack Match: John Cena beat Sabu with the STFU
A short but fun brawl, and a majority of the fans still hate Cena. Sabu was working on all cylinders again hitting Cena from every angle he could fly from, and took one hell of a bump when Cena FU’d him out of the ring through a table and only his lower back caught the table! This one definitely deserved more time for it to mean more.
Match Rating: **

5-on-2 Handicap Match: DX beat the Spirit Squad via pinfall when both HHH & HBK hit their finishers and made a double pin.
So the WWE Title match gets bumped up to the middle of the card in place of an extended comedy-squash match? Make no mistake about it, that’s all it really was as despite a sick bump here and there. There wasn’t even much of a pay off at the end other than Mr. McMahon coming out and telling DX he’ll see them on RAW tomorrow, meaning whatever it is these guys are doing is still more important than the top title of the brand.
Match Rating: **

Overall: Two really good matches and a whole lot of OK throughout this one. The big complaint for the most part was the weak looking finishes and short match times. Not a must see show by any means, but still just a big OK.