Review of WWE: Vengeance 2007

Introduction

For many wrestling fans, the happenings at the WWE`s June 2007 pay-per-view event Vengeance: Night of Champions will be forever forgotten, due to the following day`s news that beloved wrestler Chris Benoit had killed his wife, his son, and himself, over the course of that weekend.

Benoit had been scheduled to wrestle CM Punk for the ECW Championship at Vengeance, but no-showed the event after having informed officials that he could not make the previous day`s non-televised event. By the time the Vengeance pay-per-view had begun, Benoit and his family were already dead.

None of this was known at the time, however, and the show went on, with Jonny Nitro replacing Benoit in the ECW Title picture. Elsewhere on the card, Edge defended the World Heavyweight Title against Batista, and John Cena defended the WWE Title against Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, King Booker, and Mick Foley in a five-man contest.

Vengeance 2007 took place on 24th June 2007, from the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. This event looks very much like other WWE pay-per-view broadcasts, and thus is a big production, with lots of pyrotechnics to set the scene. The ring, of course, is very well-lit, so there`s no chance of missing out on any of the action.

The transfer DVD is relatively unproblematic, with only mild compression artefacts noticeable during some wrestler entrances.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, and is also very good. The front speakers handle all the regular event sounds (music, in-ring action, commentary, crowd noise), and the surrounds provide some extra fullness to the music, crowd noise, and in-ring action. The question can be asked as to how much a 5.1 mix can improve a live sports-type event, but this is definitely an improvement over other previous 2.0 efforts.

One editing note from the live-event broadcast, is that all references to Chris Benoit have been removed from commentary. As much as I would prefer to have an un-edited event, it is likely best for all concerned if the subject is not broached for some time yet.

For international viewers, there are 2.0 mixes available in Italian, German, Spanish, and French. There are subtitles available in Dutch, Portuguese, and Greek.

Features

There are some very nice, short extras available here, in the form of interviews with past wrestlers, who attended the show to keep up the "Night of Champions" theme. Here, we get to listen to legends such as former WWF Tag Team Champions Mike Rotunda & Barry Windham and Rick Martel & Tony Garea, former NWA World Champions Harley Race & Ricky Steamboat, former Cruiserweight Dean Malenko, and former U.S champion Magnum T.A. The latter`s is a heart-warming story, as he`s recovered more than any doctor ever expected, from a horrendous car crash which had initially left him paralysed from the neck down.

These clips are short (a little over one minute each), but are very much worth listening in to.

Conclusion

With nine matches on the Vengeance card, all of the bouts here figured to be a little short, which was a little concerning from the outset. And indeed, the World Tag Team Title bout which saw Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch defend against Matt & Jeff Hardy lacked the additional time that they had been afforded in the past. As such, the bout had less time to build, and couldn`t match their previous efforts.

In the Cruiserweight Title match, Chavo Guerrero and, in particular, Jimmy Wang Yang showed how under-utilised they are, by having a good match, which was again somewhat constrained by time, and placement on the card. Although the match was put together at the last minute, Johnny Nitro and CM Punk`s contest was poor considering their individual talents.

The bout between Santino Marella and Umaga was a complete waste of (a short amount of) time, and the encounter between U.S Champion MVP and Ric Flair was little to write home about either. At 58 years of age, there are better ways in which to use the legendary Flair.

The worst was yet to come, however, as Deuce and Domino faced off against Sgt Slaughter and "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. To be fair, both Snuka and Slaughter looked in good shape for their ages - the problem being that they are 64 and 58 respectively. Deuce - who, although this was never mentioned, is Snuka`s son - and Domino do not have the ability to counteract these limitations, and thus this was abysmal.

In the semi-main event, the World Heavyweight Title was on the line, as Edge defended the belt against Batista. This was a good match, a little better than I had expected, but the finish of the match was shambolic, and almost negated the effort that the combatants had displayed up until that point.

After Candice Michelle and Melina contested a poor Women`s Title match, even by the standards of that division, it was really up to the main event to save the show. Thankfully John Cena, King Booker, Mick Foley, Randy Orton, and Bobby Lashley did all that could be expected of them, within their time constraints. This was an action-packed contest, which seemed to please the live audience.


Overall, if Vengeance 2007 was meant to show off the credentials of the WWE`s champions, and thus the best of the company, it was a miserable failure. Of all the bouts, only the main event and the Cruiserweight Title match were particularly entertaining, with the opening World Tag Team Title match and the World Heavyweight Title match particularly disappointing. Whomever okayed Deuce & Domino vs Sgt. Slaughter & Jimmy Snuka - realistically, Vince McMahon takes the blame - should never be allowed to communicate with the creative team again.

But, as aforementioned, one of the major problems here was that none of the bouts were given enough time to really tell an interesting story. There is a serious calculation problem when the main event is allocated just barely over ten minutes.