10/23 Kester's WWE Vengeance PPV Results and Review: Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena in a Last Man Standing Match, Mark Henry vs. the Big Show, Triple H and CM Punk vs. The Miz and R-Truth, and more

By Ryan Kester

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WWE Vengeance
Aired live on pay-per-view
San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center

The show opened with a video package covering the stories for the three matches at the top of the card.

1. Air Boom defeated Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships in 13:23. Kingston and Ziggler started the contest. Kingston hit a monkey flip on Dolph who flew through the air like he'd been launched off a catapult. Bourne tagged into the match, as did Swagger.

Air Boom started working some quick tags to gain the advantage and keep Swagger off of his feet. Swagger eventually caught Kofi off of a springboard attempt and slammed him hard to the mat. Swagger tagged in Ziggler and the heels took control of the match. Swagger locked in a rest hold.

Kofi fought out and tagged in Bourne, who got the better of Swagger. Bourne hit a flurry of offense and went for AirBourne, but Swagger got his knees up. Ziggler tagged in and locked a rest hold on Bourne. Swagger tagged in and hit the Swagger Bomb on Bourne. Bourne almost got to Kingston, but Swagger attacked Kofi on the outside to prevent him from tagging Bourne out of the match. The heels went back to working quick tags to keep Bourne under control.

Eventually, Bourne got the hot tag to Kofi, who took out Swagger and Ziggler quickly. Kingston hit a huge high cross body on Ziggler for a great near fall. He followed up with the Boom Drop and set up for Trouble in paradise. He missed, but Kofi managed to hit the S.O.S. on Ziggler.

Moments later, Kingston hit Ziggler with Trouble in Paradise and Bourne followed up with AirBourne on Ziggler for the pin.

Ryan's Rant: Standard WWE tag match with plenty of great action. It ended exactly as I thought it would, so I expect the next match to see Ziggler lose his United States championship.

Air Boom and Swagger remained at ringside for the following match.

2. Dolph Ziggler defeated Zack Ryder to retain the United States Championship in 6:19. Ryder took the fight to Ziggler early, and Ziggler attempted to escape. Air Boom returned Ziggler to the ring, and they were ejected from ringside for their efforts.

Ryder returned to his offense and hit a flapjack on Ziggler for a near fall. Ryder missed a cross body and Ziggler took control. Ryder attempted a comeback at one point and missed with the Broski boot. Ziggler followed up with a fameasser for a near fall.

Ryder battled back and hit the Broski boot. Swagger attacked Ryder as Vickie distracted the referee and Ziggler caught Ryder with a superkick for the win.

Backstage, Triple H talked to CM Punk and the two seemed to be on the same page.

Ryan's Rant: I really thought we'd see the beginning of a Dolph babyface turn with a sympathetic loss, but WWE elected to continue Swagger and Ziggler for a time. I'm not entirely sure why as there's no obvious story for them to pursue after this PPV.

3. Beth Phoenix beat Eve for the Divas Championship in 7:02. Beth pounce don Eve to start the match, and Eve went for a surprise roll-up. It did not work, however, and Beth went right back to dominating the match. Eve caught Beth with an enziguri and then tied Beth to the ring ropes with her own belt.

Beth made it to ringside and when Eve followed, Beth caught her and military pressed her before dropping her on the steel barricade. Back in the ring, Beth locked in a rest hold. Eve attempted to fight back, only to eat a gutbuster form Beth.

Eve battled back and caught Beth in what appeared to be an octopus stretch. Beth made the ropes. Beth went for the Glam Slam, and Eve tried to reverse it into a roll-up. Beth kicked out, however, and Eve went for a moonsault. Beth rolled out of the way and followed with the Glam Slam for the in.

Ryan's Rant: Good action with these two, and I'm more ok with seeing Eve get that much offense in than I was seeing Kelly Kelly do the same in the previous PPVs.

Backstage, Matt Striker interviewed the Big Show, who vowed to avenge the attack from Mark Henry at Money in the Bank.

4. Sheamus defeated Christian in 10:46. Sheamus dominated early, and worked through most of his move set on Christian.

Eventually, Christian caught Sheamus with a couple of neckbreakers and took the fight to the bigger man. Christian quickly locked in a rest hold, but Sheamus promptly fought out of it. Christian went for and missed a flying headbutt.

Sheamus hit a springboard shoulder block, but Christian caught him with a reverse DDT. Christian hit a pendulum kick in the corner, but jumped right into the Irish Curse. Sheamus went for the Brogue kick, but Christian caught him with a spear for a great near fall.

Christian went for a second spear, but Sheamus hit the Brogue kick for the win.

Ryan's Rant: These two put on a good show, but the resiliency thing they have been doing with Sheamus recently is wearing thin for this viewer. I'm tired of seeing him kick out at one, and I think he was a lot more interesting when he actually sold for his opponent rather than dominate so completely from bell to bell.

Backstage, R-Truth and the Miz were sucking up to John Laurinaitis, and then they got I an argument over who kisses butt better.

A long video package aired; covering the Triple H saga and the feud he's had with Punk, Truth, and the Miz.

5. Miz and R-Truth defeated Triple H and CM Punk in 15:21. Punk started the match opposite the Miz. Miz avoided Punk in the early going, who pounced on Miz with a series of kicks. HHH tagged into the match and the Miz ran scared to Truth.

HHH absolutely demolished Truth. Punk and HH worked a series of quick tags while they worked their offense over on the heels. HHH locked in the figure-four leglock on the Miz, and Punk pulled on his arms to increase the leverage. The Miz eventually got out, Punk tagged in, and then the heels got the better of Punk. Truth began working over Punk while HHH waited in his corner.

Eventually, Punk got the hot tag to HHH, who quickly knocked both heels to the floor. They managed to get the better of him, however, and Truth and Miz worked quick tags to wear down the big man. Truth locked in a rest hold on HHH. HHH almost got the tag, only to be stopped by the Reality Check from the Miz.

HHH finally got the hot tag to Punk late in the match, and the fresh man ran through his opposition. Punk went to the top rope for his elbow drop but Truth distracted him. HHH attacked Truth and Punk went back to and hit the elbow drop on the Miz.

Kevin Nash showed up to attack HHH while Punk got hit with Little Jimmy's Finale to give Truth and Miz the win.

Kevin Nash continued the assault on HHH and hit the Jackknife powerbomb.

Ryan's Rant: Punk took the pin, but at least the distraction of Nash helped to hde that fact. This was a good tag, but I knew it wouldn't end until we saw some interference, and Nash's return lost some impact because of that.

Backstage, Laurinaitis was talking to Alberto Del Rio, who was complaining about his upcoming match.

6. Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes in a non-title match in 12:21. Rhodes avoided Orton momentarily, but Orton quickly began his assault.

Rhodes managed to gain some ground after a headbutt and a knee drop. Rhodes followed up with a rest hold. Then Rhodes, in an attempt to give Chris Jericho something to complain about, locked in a Boston Crab.

Orton rolled out and started to gain some momentum, but was quickly stopped by an Alabama Slam from Rhodes. Rhodes went for an uncharacteristic moonsault and got some major air. Orton rolled out of the way, though, and hit a powerslam. Rhodes went to the top again, only to eat a dropkick on his way down.

Orton went for a gutwrench neckbreaker, but Rhodes slipped out and hit his Beautiful Disaster for a near fall. Orton followed up with his inverted backbreaker. Orton again went for his gutwrench neckbreaker and this time was successful.

Rhodes headbutted Orton, who had put him on the top rope, and he hit the moonsault he missed earlier. One of Cody's bag men jumped on the apron, Rhodes hit CrossRhodes, and Orton kicked out.

Rhodes hit the viper pose and set up for the RKO. Orton hit him with a dropkick and followed up with the hanging DDT. Orton went for an RKO of his own hit it for the 1-2-3.

Ryan's Rant: This was a decent match, but Orton did not need the win here at all. What's worse, Rhodes looks minor league when he couldn't get the win off of a distraction and hitting his finisher. I enjoyed the action, but the finish killed it for me.

7. Mark Henry and Big Show fought to an apparent no-contest for the World Heavyweight Championship in 13:52. Big Show absolutely manhandled henry in the early stages of the match. Henry attempted to leave with his belt, but Show followed him. Henry then turned into a beats and slammed the Big Show. Henry then proceeded to start working over the same leg of Show's that he broke a few months back.

Show attempted a slam of his own, but his leg gave out on him mid-lift. Both big men went for a clothesline, and took each other out. Show managed to string together some offense, and he managed to hit a body slam. Show hit the chokeslam, but Henry kicked out.

Moments later, Henry hit the World's Strongest Slam, but Show kicked out. Henry went to the top rope, and Show hit a chokeslam from the top. Henry again kicked out, and the crowd took a collective gasp. Show then tried to go to the top ropes, and Henry caught him and hit a superplex. The ring fell apart, just like when Brock Lesnar hit Show with the superplex back in the day.

Medical personnel hit the ring and stopped the match, and Show was wheeled out of the ring. Mark henry defiantly refused help and walked away from the ring. Laurinaitis announced that the show will continue and the Last Man Standing match will still happen.

Ryan's Rant: The time off for Show did not bring back the novelty of the last encounter between these two. Seeing Mark Henry attempt to quit annoyed the heck out of me. Still, Henry came back with some dominant offense, so hopefully this is the last we see of Henry looking weak for a long time. I enjoyed seeing the ring collapse as it's a cool spot, but the post-match shenanigans felt like absolute filler.

8. Alberto Del Rio defeated John Cena in a Last man Standing Match for the WWE Championship in 27:42. Ricardo attacked Cena, and Del Rio capitalized and pounced on Cena. Lawler actually mentioned Lesnar, but they said the spot happened when there were fifty people in the ring.

John Cena started making a comeback, and worked Del Rio over with some strikes. The first count started after Del Rio hit a series of suplexes on Cena. Cena made the count and immediately hit a clothesline. Cena ran through the five moves of doom, but Del Rio hit a German suplex. Cena responded with a gutwrench suplex for a count of four. Del Rio then hit a tilt-o-whirl backbreaker.

Del Rio placed Cena under the fallen steel post and hit a double stomp on the post, driving it into Cena's chest. Cena made the eight count and hit an Attitude Adjustment. Del Rio locked in a rear naked choke on Cena and held on for dear life. Del Rio waited until Cena was completely out, and superman made it back by seven. Cena then launched Del Rio into the steel barricade.

Del Rio stood at eight. Ricardo got crocked by the steel ring post to be taken out of the action. Cena grabbed the steel steps and wen to hit Del Rio, but Del Rio took out his legs with a kick and smashed Cena with the lower steel steps. Cena made it back at eight. The two men fought to the locker rooms and Cena messed up a concession table with Del Rio's body. Jerk. Cena missed Del Rio with a large rolling crate, and Del Rio promptly slammed Cena on said crate for seven. Del Rio buried Cena under light fixtures from the interview area. Cena was up at eight. The men battled back in the arena and Ricardo jumped on Cena. Del Rio then put Cena through the giant V on the set.

Del Rio tried to set Cena up on a table and dive off of another set piece, but Cena grabbed Del Rio and threw him through the table. Del Rio made it up at eight. The men battled all the way to the timekeeper's both. Del Rio tried to hit Cena with a running enziguri, missed, and kicked the only upright steel ring post.

Cena walked up the steel steps and slammed Del Rio through the Spanish announce table. Miz and R-Truth ran out and pounced on Cena. The referee forgot he was supposed to be making a count. Miz hit Cena with the Lie Detector on Cena. Del Rio stood, but so did Cena. Del Rio clocked Cena with the WWE title.

Cena could not stand, and Del Rio won the match.

The show went off the air with Cena looking dejected and Del Rio holding his belt like it was a little baby.

Ryan's Rant: Standard Last Man Standing fair, and it nearly bored me to tears. I guess Miz and Truth ran out to set up a Survivor Series tag match, but I honestly can't care. Their interference was unnecessary in this match and made a boring encounter just dumb.

This show started strong, but the final hour just didn't produce anything worthwhile. WWE is in one hell of a rut, and a lot of that has to deal with seeing Cena in the final match on the show. It's just so overdone, so stale, and so incredibly unentertaining. I'll have more to say in my Rundown of the show tomorrow.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.