Brand(s) Raw Attendance 7,000 | Date July 11, 2004 Venue Hartford Civic Center | |
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Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment Sponsor(s) 1-800-Call ATT for Collect Calls | ||
Vengeance (2004) was the fourth annual Vengeance professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by American promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by AT&T and took place on July 11, 2004, from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut and featured talent from the Raw brand.
Contents
The main event was Chris Benoit versus Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Benoit won by pinning Triple H with a roll-up. The predominant match on the card was Randy Orton versus Edge for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, which Edge won by pinfall after executing a Spear. The primary matches on the undercard included Matt Hardy versus Kane in a No Disqualification match, which Hardy won after he hit Kane with a steel chair to get the pin, and Batista versus Chris Jericho, which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb.
The event grossed US$370,000 with 7,000 ticket sales and had a 0.43 buyrate. Following the event, Benoit began a feud with Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. The two would have a match at SummerSlam, where Orton would win the World Heavyweight Championship, and become the youngest World's Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. Edge went on to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Batista and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam. Kane and Matt Hardy continued their feud at SummerSlam in a "Till Death Do Us Part" match, where the winner would get to marry Lita. Kane was the victor, and as a result, Lita had to marry Kane.
Background
In January at the Royal Rumble, Chris Benoit won the Royal Rumble match to face and defeat then-champion Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat Match by forcing Triple H to submit to the Crippler Crossface. At Backlash, Benoit successfully defended the title in another Triple Threat match against the same two men, after he forced Michaels to submit to the Sharpshooter. After Backlash, Benoit had a small feud with Kane, while Michaels and Triple H would end their feud at Bad Blood. After Bad Blood, Triple H would demand another title shot. General Manager Eric Bischoff would then schedule him to fight against Benoit at Vengeance for the title, but Bischoff asked for Triple H to defeat his nephew, Eugene. Triple H tried to befriend Eugene, who was a fan of him. On the June 21, 2004 episode of Raw, Triple H tried to hit Eugene with a chair, per Bischoff's orders, only for Chris Benoit to run in for the save. Benoit, however, accidentally hit Eugene with the chair, making Triple H hit him with a Pedigree. The next week, Triple H offered Eugene to be an honorary member of Evolution, making William Regal confront Triple H. Later on, Triple H defeated Regal by disqualification as Eugene was the referee, making Eugene attack Regal. The next week, Benoit teamed up with Edge and fought against Ric Flair, Eugene and Triple H. Triple H won after Eugene hit Benoit with a chair.
After Edge returned from his injury, he vowed to take Evolution out. He started it by facing them, together with Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, in a six-man elimination match on June 14. The next week, Edge speared Randy Orton, but then lost to him in a tag team match later on. The next week, Edge and Chris Jericho defeated Batista and Randy Orton in a tag team match. On the July 5, 2004 episode of Raw, Edge confronted and attacked Evolution.
On the May 17, 2004 episode of Raw, Kane attacked Matt Hardy, and Lita promised him something for him to stop. On the June 21, 2004 episode of Raw, as Matt Hardy proposed to Lita, Kane revealed that Lita was pregnant with his child, and not with Matt's child, as she slept with Kane in order to protect Matt. The next week, Matt Hardy attacked Kane. Hardy was banned from ringside for the main event, which featured Kane against World Champion Chris Benoit. Kane lost, and then Lita attacked Kane in order to make him chokeslam her and losing the child. Kane, however, refused to do so. The next week, Hardy attacked Kane again, and then was booked in a No Disqualifications Match against him that Sunday.
Another one of the main matches on the undercard was between Chris Jericho and Batista. The feud started on the edition of June 14, 2004 of Raw where Jericho eliminated Batista from a six men tag team eliminations match. The next week, during a tag team match, Batista knocked Jericho out. The week after that, Jericho pinned Batista in a tag match. The week before the event, Batista cost Jericho a match for the IC title against Orton.
Event
Before the pay-per-view went on live. Tyson Tomko defeated Val Venis in a match on Sunday Night Heat, by pinfall after performing a Kick to the face.
Preliminary matches
The first match saw Tajiri and Rhyno face Garrison Cade and Jonathan Coachman. Rhyno performed a Gore on Cade and Tajiri performed a Roundhouse Kick on Coachman for the win.
The second match saw Batista face Chris Jericho. Batista gained the advantage early on, and put Jericho in a choke hold. Jericho countered the move into the Walls of Jericho. Batista won the match after a Batista Bomb.
The next match was Eugene and Ric Flair facing La Résistance (Róbert Conway and Sylvain Grenier) for the World Tag Team Championship. The match started with Eugene using Flair's signature taunts to anger La Résistance, but La Résistance gained the advantage. Eugene was disqualified after he pushed the referee, meaning La Resistance retained the title. After the match ended, Eugene attacked both members of La Résistance.
The next match was a No Disqualification match between Matt Hardy and Kane. The match started on the outside with Kane getting the upper hand but Hardy hit him with a television monitor. Hardy attempted a Twist of Fate through a broadcast table but Kane countered by pushing Hardy into the security wall. Kane retrieved the steel steps but Lita distracted him, allowing Hardy to hit Kane with a steel chair to win the match.
Next was a match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship between Randy Orton and Edge. The match started off with Edge getting the advantage. Orton attempted an RKO but Edge countered by pushing Orton into the ropes and attempted a Spear but Orton avoided the move. Orton attempted an RKO but Edge countered into a backslide pin and executed a spear to win the title.
The sixth match was between Victoria and Molly Holly to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Women's Championship. Victoria executed a Superkick to win the match.
Main event
The main event was between Chris Benoit and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, Benoit inadvertently knocked down the referee. Triple H executed the Pedigree but the referee was incapacitated. Triple H then called out Eugene, and told him to get a steel chair. Benoit attacked Triple H and knocked Eugene off the ring apron. Triple H then hit Benoit with a low blow and retrieved the chair. Triple H tried to hit Benoit with the chair but Eugene stopped him, causing Triple H to attack him. Eugene fought with Benoit over the chair and Eugene inadvertently hit Triple H with chair. Benoit pinned Triple H with a roll-up to retain the title.
Aftermath
The next night on Raw, Eugene apologized to Evolution (Batista, Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Triple H), and Triple H told Eugene to go see Eric Bischoff. Bischoff booked a match between Chris Benoit and Eugene later that night for the World Heavyweight Championship. At the end of the match, Evolution then come out and attacked Eugene and Benoit. William Regal attempted to help Eugene, but was stopped by Evolution. The feud between Triple H and Eugene lasted until SummerSlam, where they had a match, which Triple H won by pinfall.
On the July 26 episode of Raw, 20 men competed in an over the top rope Battle Royal to determine the number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. Randy Orton won the match by last eliminating Chris Jericho. At SummerSlam, Orton faced Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Orton won by pinfall after performing an RKO. On the August 16 episode of Raw, Orton defeated Chris Benoit in a rematch to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Batista, Ric Flair, and Triple H, threw Orton a mock celebration, only to turn on him. Flair and Batista attacked Orton as Triple H told him that he was nothing without Evolution. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Triple H told Orton to give him the title or pay the price. Orton refused, spat in Triple H's face and hit him with the title belt. General Manager Eric Bischoff scheduled a match between Orton and Triple H for the title at Unforgiven. At Unforgiven, Orton lost the title when he was pinned by Triple H.