WWE Vengeance

WWE Vengeance is an American professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that is produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 2001, when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It initially replaced Armageddon for the promotion's December PPV due to sensitivity issues following the September 11 attacks. However, Armageddon would return the following year, with Vengeance moving up to July as a replacement for Fully Loaded. Following the promotion being renamed to WWE and the implementation of the brand extension in early 2002, the event was made exclusive to the SmackDown brand in 2003, and then Raw from 2004 to 2006 before WWE discontinued brand-exclusive pay-per-views.

WWE Vengeance
Logo used for NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day in 2021, which incorporates the circular V logo that was used from 2003–2007
Other name(s)Vengeance: Night of Champions (2007)
NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day (2021)
Promotion(s)WWE
Brand(s)Raw (2002, 2004–2007)
SmackDown (2002–2003, 2007)
ECW (2007)
NXT (2021)
First event2001

In 2007, Vengeance was held as Vengeance: Night of Champions, with all of WWE's championships at the time being contested. Night of Champions would replace Vengeance as a standalone chronology the following year, but Vengeance has made one-off returns in 2011 as an October PPV and in February 2021 as an NXT TakeOver event called Vengeance Day, which was the first Vengeance to air on the WWE Network in addition to traditional PPV.

History

Vengeance was first held on December 9, 2001, replacing Armageddon as the then-World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) December pay-per-view (PPV);[1] WWF staff felt that the "Armageddon" title was too sensitive following the September 11 attacks.[2] However, Armageddon would return the following year, with Vengeance moving up to July as a replacement for Fully Loaded (which had been replaced in 2001 by Invasion, the first PPV to incorporate the Invasion angle).[3] The 2002 edition of Vengeance was the first to be promoted under the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) name, after the WWF was renamed to WWE earlier that same year.[4]

Following the brand extension in early 2002, where the promotion divided its roster into two separate brands where wrestlers exclusively performed,[5] Vengeance became exclusive to SmackDown! in 2003,[6] and then Raw from 2004 through 2006.[7][8][9] WWE then discontinued brand-exclusive pay-per-views following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007;[10] the 2007 edition was branded as Vengeance: Night of Champions, with all nine of WWE's championships at the time being contested, which included ECW, a brand that had been established the previous year.[11] Night of Champions would become its own chronology in 2008, replacing Vengeance in its July slot on WWE's PPV lineup.[12]

In April 2011, WWE ceased using its full name with the "WWE" abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism,[13] while in August, the brand extension ended. That October, Vengeance made a one-off return, replacing Bragging Rights.[14] Vengeance was again discontinued after 2011. In January 2021, over four years after the brand split was reinstated, WWE's NXT brand announced that it would revive Vengeance as an NXT TakeOver show on February 14 titled NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day; its title also alluded to the event's Valentine's Day scheduling. This would also be the first Vengeance to air on WWE's online streaming service, the WWE Network (which launched in February 2014), in addition to traditional PPV. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held in a bio-secure bubble called the Capitol Wrestling Center, hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.[15]

Events
Raw-branded event SmackDown-branded event NXT-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Vengeance (2001) December 9, 2001 San Diego, California San Diego Sports Arena Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWF) vs. Chris Jericho (World) in a championship unification match to unify the WWF Championship and World Championship as the Undisputed WWF Championship [16][1]
2 Vengeance (2002) July 21, 2002 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena The Undertaker (c) vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle in a triple threat match for the WWE Undisputed Championship [3][17][18]
3 Vengeance (2003) July 27, 2003 Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Big Show in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship [19][6][20]
4 Vengeance (2004) July 11, 2004 Hartford, Connecticut Hartford Civic Center Chris Benoit (c) vs. Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship [21][7][22]
5 Vengeance (2005) June 26, 2005 Paradise, Nevada Thomas & Mack Center Batista (c) vs. Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship [23][8][24]
6 Vengeance (2006) June 25, 2006 Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Bobcats Arena D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) vs. The Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey) in a 2-on-5 Handicap tag team match [25][9]
7 Vengeance: Night of Champions June 24, 2007 Houston, Texas Toyota Center John Cena (c) vs. Mick Foley vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Randy Orton vs. King Booker in a Five Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship [26][11][27]
8 Vengeance (2011) October 23, 2011 San Antonio, Texas AT&T Center Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. John Cena in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship [14]
9 NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day February 14, 2021 Orlando, Florida Capitol Wrestling Center at WWE Performance Center Finn Bálor (c) vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT Championship [15]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

References
  1. "Vengeance (2001) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  2. Martínez, Sebestián (December 11, 2020). "Jim Ross reveals why WWE did not celebrate the 2001 edition of Armageddon". Solo Wrestling. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  3. "Vengeance (2002) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  4. "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". WWE. 2002-05-06. Archived from the original on 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  5. "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands" (Press release). WWE. March 27, 2002. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  6. "Vengeance (2003) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  7. "Vengeance (2004) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  8. "Vengeance (2005) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  9. Zeigler, Zack (June 24, 2006). "Charlotte Bobcats Arena". WWE. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  10. "WWE Pay-Per-Views To Follow WrestleMania Formula". WWE. 2007-03-14. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  11. "Vengeance: Night of Champions (2007) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  12. "Vengeance: Night of Champions Official website". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  13. Sacco, Justine; Weitz, Michael (April 7, 2011). "The New WWE" (Press release). Connecticut: WWE. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  14. "WWE Presents Vengeance". WWE. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  15. WWE.com Staff (January 6, 2021). "NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day set to take place Sunday, Feb. 14". WWE. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  16. Morinaro, John (2001-12-10). "Jericho new WWF World Champion". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  17. "Vengeance (2002) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  18. "Vengeance 2002 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  19. Clevett, Jason (2003-07-28). "Angle takes Vengeance on Lesnar". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  20. "Vengeance 2003 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  21. Sokol, Chris (2004-07-12). "Canadians have Edge at Vengeance". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  22. "Vengeance 2004 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2010-09-08. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  23. Sokol, Chris (2005-06-27). "Batista retains with a Vengeance". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  24. "Vengeance 2005 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  25. Plummer, Dale (2006-06-21). "DX returns with a Vengeance". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  26. Powell, John (2007-06-24). "Vengeance banal and badly booked". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  27. "WWE Champion John Cena def. King Booker, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley & Mick Foley (Challenge Match)". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
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