WWE Vengeance 2011: 10 Things To Take Away from the Event

Well, chalk up Vengeance as possibly the worst pay-per-view of the year. 

In what had the potential to be one of the most unpredictable shows of the year, Vengeance proved once again how much of a lack of creativity the company has as of right now.

There was a lot of potential with the card, and most matches could have gone one way or another. And yet, here we stand with literally nothing changing. 

Five title matches later, all the champions remain the same, and nothing was done to make any of them feel any different than they did a week ago. 

Even though this PPV was incredibly lackluster, there were a few things to take away from the show.

Dolph Ziggler Not Being Pushed Just Yet

With two title matches in one night, Dolph Ziggler had the chance to up his ranking in the main event scene by being the latest Superstar to hold multiple titles at one time.

Then he and Swagger once again lost to AirBoom so that thought was foiled.

After the loss, the thought crossed my mind that maybe he will lose his US title next to Zack Ryder and break away from Vickie for a while and try his game with the big boys.

So much for that.  Ryder was going to win the match, much like their last bout for the title, but Swagger and Vickie cost Long Island Iced Z that opportunity for the second time. 

Ziggler is a pretty safe option for someone to hold the US Championship, which has become as meaningless as the European title use to be.  He's only defended it about three or four times since winning it back in June and has yet to lose it. 

Many people feel that Ziggler has been around the mid-card for far too long as is in need to be pushed to main event status in order to be taken seriously again.  That's not going to happen anytime soon.

While he will eventually reach his full potential, it's going to be a while until we see Ziggler duking it our with Cena and Punk for the big boy title.

Superstars Are Exhausted

It's a well-documented fact that superstars are on the road for most of the year with few off days.  Everyday they work.  Whether it is for their television product, random live shows all over the country or just making media appearances, these athletes work extremely hard year round.

With their latest Mexico tour coming to a close and moving back to the states, it was evident tonight in almost every match that every single person is recovering. 

Exhaustion is the silent killer for most people, and it was painfully obvious tonight that these guys need a break.

There wasn't that same spark in the performers tonight we're accustomed to seeing.  There was a lot of effort being lacked throughout the matches, and it showed in the final product. 

While they are entitled to being tired, it's not going to go away by itself.  WWE should look into giving these guys a few days off here and there throughout the year, especially after coming off an out-of-the-country tour. 

Being tired caused the matches tonight to be subpar.  Guys were out of rhythm, outcomes were too predictable because of it and a lot of moves were botched that were not use to seeing from top stars.

Too Many Botches

With exhaustion comes poor performances.  Part of the problem with poor performances in profession wrestling include botches. 

Tonight, we saw a handful of botched moves from the likes of Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ziggler and others.  Even without Sin Cara on the card, there were still botches galore in San Antonio. 

Whether it was just a different style that these men were trying out or just a lack of interest in their matches, the messed up moves were evident all night. 

When you have quality performers like Orton and Rhodes screwing up in their own matches, you know something is wrong. 

There was one botch in particular that could prove to be costly.

Nash's Return Could Prove Very Costly

Everybody knew that Kevin Nash was going to make his presence felt in one way or another tonight in the tag match with Awesome Truth and Triple H and CM Punk. 

Little did we know that his involvement would not only play a role in storytelling, it could play a huge role in Triple H's career.

Nash attacked Triple H on the outside of the ring while Punk and Miz were inside.  Miz and R Truth took the opportunity to put away Punk and pick up the victory.  Nash, however, wasn't done with his assault on the former boss once the match was over. 

He threw Hunter into the ring and delivered the Jackknife Power bomb.  On his landing, Triple H's left shoulder came down first with the first of his body weight being forced down with it. 

The power bomb didn't look right in normal speed, but after seeing instant replays in slow motion, it was clear as day that something could be seriously wrong with Triple H. 

It might have just been my screen, but it appeared as if Hunter's shoulder had already started to bruise and puff up, possibly from the result of a broken collarbone. 

Hopefully, Hunter is OK, and this is just part of the storyline.  If it's not, bringing Kevin Nash back to be part of the conspiracy angle could go down in history as one of the worst decisions in history. 

Without Triple H fighting at Survivor Series, if the injury is severe enough to keep him out that long, the 5-on-5 tag team match takes a huge hit.  Not only does it make his team weaker, it means that he needs to find a valuable replacement for himself which could lead to another poorly-booked match. 

Same Ol Orton Has Returned

After losing cleanly on consecutive PPV's to Mark Henry and dropping his World Heavyweight Championship to boot, Randy Orton has returned to his ways of not putting over talent.

While this could very easily just be the beginning of something bigger, Orton's victory over Rhodes, even after Rhode's bagger's attempt to cost Orton the match, brings Rhodes' ride to stardom to a sudden halt. 

This is one of the matches that was most affected by exhaustion and botches making it less than a quality performance from the two.  Orton looked off all night and didn't sell a lot of the moves that Rhodes is known for taking opponents out with. 

Sure, there is no logical reason for Orton to lose on three straight shows, but wouldn't it be nice if he would've dropped just this one so Rhodes can make the jump to legitimate threat to main event status?

We will just have to wait and see where this really goes, but right now, Orton is back to his old trick.  This time, minus the championship.

Copycat of the Night: Ring Collapse

Mark Henry vs. Big Show for the World Heavyweight title sounds good on paper.  In reality, it gave me a good excuse to catch up  on sleep with a 10 minute nap. 

There was nothing special about this contest.  In fact, it was much worse than their match at Money in the Bank which is hard to say. 

There was nothing that should have surprised anybody in this match.  Henry once again proved that he is indeed a very strong man. Which brings to question, what exactly was Michael Cole trying to say when he said   "I just can't believe Henry got Big Show up for that slam."

Really, Cole?  You can't believe that the World's Strongest Man could lift up Big Show and slam him to the mat?  It's not like we saw him do the same thing a number of times, including putting him through an announce table with the World's Strongest Slam or anything. 

Oh, wait...we did see that.  My bad. Actually, not my bad.  Cole's bad.

The match was a total snooze until the ring collapsed when Henry suplexed Big Show from the top rope. 

Copycat job alert! This same thing happened a number of years ago when Brock Lesnar did the same thing Henry did, suplexing Big Show from the top rope, causing the ring to collapse. In actually, Lesnar's suplex caused more damage to the ring than Henry's did. 

Having the ring collapse sounds cool, and it makes sense when you have these two giant athletes going at it, but it was a good idea poorly executed.

The ring didn't collapse in the way it should have.  It should have been completely demolished with no ring posts able to stand after the impact. 

The match ended in a no-contest, so this feud can only go further.  I think I'll pass on their next contest.

Cena's New Shirt: Rise above Hate

It's that time of year again.  No, I'm not talking about fall, football season and the changing weather.  I'm talking about it being time for John Cena to start sporting a different t-shirt, hat and armband combination.

On his way to the ring for his Last Man Standing contest with Alberto Del Rio, Cena came out sporting a new black shirt that reads "Rise Above Hate" and camouflage shorts.

What? No more joshorts?  Who is this guy, and what have they done with John Cena?

The timing couldn't be more perfect for Cena to start rocking new gear as it is growing ever so close to the holiday shopping season.  This is another stunt to try to make Cena's merchandise sales No. 1 again and what better way to do that than having all the Little Jimmies asking for the new John Cena t-shirt?

"Rise Above Hate" is an extremely symbolic phrase for Cena to have on his new shirt.  Not only is it calling out all of the people who hate Cena (I refuse to call them "haterz" because "haterz" is the stupidest word to ever be invented), but he is also making a statement to The Rock, who is set to return to action for Survivor Series.

It can also be seen as part of the anti-bullying campaign the WWE is promoting so heavily because, let's face it, everybody who hates Cena is basically a bully to him.  They're just not nice at all. 

Camouflage shorts was a bit of a shock to me.  I barely recognized the guy in the deflated ring with John Cena's music blaring in the background.

Anybody else smelling a Cena heel turn? Me either.

Awesome Truth Proved To Be More Irritating Than Cool

I'll be the first to admit, I love The Miz.  I love almost everything about him.  He's a great talent that needs to be properly utilized. 

When he teamed up with R-Truth, it gave me hope that something huge was coming for him.

Now, I just wish somebody would lock them in their locker rooms when they aren't competing now. 

Attacks are cool and all, but the rate they are doing, it's just a little ridiculous.  There hasn't been a main event in the last two months that they haven't stuck their noses in on, and it's getting annoying. 

Yes, I know that this is all just to build up Survivor Series and should end soon, but I'm afraid that Survivor Series is only going to make them as a team more irritating than usual.

Say they lose the match like they are predicted to. What happens after that? They could go on their marry way and admit defeat but that's not going to happen.  More than likely, they will continue to beat up any and every one who they feel has wronged them in some way.

Say they win the match.  What happens after that?  That will only help build up the duo and make them more of a force than they are now.  They would probably still continue to beat up on people because they feel they earned that right. 

See, nothing would change no matter what the outcome in November. 

If this were to lead Miz back to the WWE title hunt, I'd be all for it.  Except the angle they are putting him on right now doesn't lead that way.  It only leads him and Truth for more fighting the system. 

Alberto Del Rio: Legitimate Champion, Kind of

I've written off Del Rio as being the prime example of a cowardly champion.  One who can never fight his own fight or can ever accomplish anything on his own.

Sunday night, I was proven wrongto some extent that is. 

Del Rio did some things I never expected out of him.  He put his body on the line by climbing the stage and falling through a table he had himself set up.  He showed an aggressive side that I've been asking for him to show for months now and almost accomplished the impossible and defeated Cena cleanly in his own game. 

Of course, I couldn't have been proven wrong completely.

With Cena as his opponent, you had to know that he wouldn't have won the match without a little help from some friends along the way. 

Del Rio was down for about 30 seconds after being Attitude Adjusted through the announce table and was about to lose his WWE championship before Awesome Truth came in and gave him a little help. 

Cena did recover from that beating, but Del Rio was waiting for him a delivered the decisive blow with the title belt when he arose. 

After seeing the match, it gives me a little hope that Del Rio can be taken seriously now.  Unfortunately, history states I'll be proven right once again in one way or another.

John Laurinatis Was Really the Best Choice for Raw Gw?

John Lauriniatis proved again Sunday night once why he is one of the worst non-wrestling personalities in WWE history. 

For a guy who talks to people for a living, he certainly has a lot of trouble completing coherent sentences.

"I'm going to give you guys what I want...or I mean I'm going to give you guys what you want to see."

This guy is a complete joke.  He has no business running my little brother's youth basketball league let alone a worldwide phenomenon show in Raw. 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds it idiotic that whoever is running Raw at the time basically runs the entire television product.  Teddy Long is only brought around to give us his "Holla," statement for the week. Also, why was it Teddy who made the US Championship match between Ryder and Ziggler?  Aren't both of them RAW superstars?

Anyway, Lauriniatis is incompetent and has no business running Raw.  He's suppose to be giving the superstars a safer work environment? Then, why is it that since he's taken over, more and more attacks and happened?  How is it a safe working environment to have two of your top draws wrestling in a decimated ring?

Another beef I have with Johnny is that he never gets off his freaking cell phone.  Is he really so important he can't wait until later to text people that probably don't give a crap about him.

John better be relieved of his duties sooner rather than later because if I have to listen to " My name is John Lauriniatis, and I'm the executive vice president of talent relations and the interim general manager of Raw," one more time I'm going to blow a gasket. 

In Conclusion

To sum it all up for you, Vengeance was horrible.  There was nothing special about it whatsoever.

My two-year old niece, whom can barely pick her colors apart right now, could've predicted the winners of the card tonight. 

Survivor Series better be an awesome show, otherwise this lifelong WWE fan will have lost all hope. 

Also, don't forget to check out the latest John Cena, WWE Films Gem "The Reunion."  From what I've heard, it's pretty awful.

Thanks for reading.