WWE // 2011 // 175 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge Franck Tabouring (Retired) // December 4th, 2011
"Time to settle the score!"
WWE's biggest stars are ready to seek retribution at WWE: Vengeance 2011, and here's the complete lineup of the pay-per-view event:
* Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler vs. Air Boom in a WWE Tag Team
Championship Match
Two belts are up for grabs in the first matchup, and
Air Boom's Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne jump straight into action, offering
fans a series of spectacular high-risk maneuvers and awesome tag team
combinations. Ziggler and Swagger do their part to keep this title match
fast-paced and diverse, but Air Boom is clearly the dominating force throughout.
Still, both teams turn in fine performances inside the ring, and WWE:
Vengeance 2011 is off to a solid start.
* Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler in a United States Championship Match
Immediately following the tag team match, Ziggler goes up against Zack Ryder, a
young WWE athlete who's good at jumping around but falls a little short when it
comes to delivering strong kicks and blows. Although both contestants build up
some momentum throughout this short battle, their display of wrestling action
falls a little flat. I wouldn't call this a disastrous title match, but the WWE
should've probably removed this one from the card. Nothing special to see
here...
* Beth Phoenix vs. Eve in a Divas Championship Match
While this is
certainly not the worst Divas contest I've seen this year, Beth Phoenix and Eve
spend way too much time engaging in long submission holds that dramatically
slows down the pace of the matchup. Alas, their decision to play it safe and
limit the use of big dives and other high-risk moves doesn't exactly help
either, and a solid finish really can't save this mediocre display. Time to move
on.
* Christian vs. Sheamus
Christian's got what it takes to put on a
highly entertaining show inside the ring, and his matchup against Sheamus
further proves he's perfectly capable of competing at the top level in the WWE.
While this is by no means a memorable match, Christian and Sheamus deliver a set
of clean wrestling maneuvers, going back and forth between building momentum and
taking a step back. The action we get to enjoy here does get a little monotonous
after a while. On a more positive note, the efforts Christian and Sheamus bring
to the table make this fight much more tolerable than the previous two
battles.
* The Miz & R-Truth vs. Triple H & CM Punk
Triple H and CM
Punk team up to punish The Miz and R-Truth, and the resulting matchup doesn't
disappoint. Triple H is obviously the biggest star in the ring this time, and
watching him deliver his trademark suplexes, spears, and blows is always
entertaining. R-Truth and The Miz get their fair share of the battle as well,
while HHH and Punk stumble across a few occasions to engage in hardcore double
team action. All in all, this one counts among the better matches of the
event.
* Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes
A new rivalry reaches its peak, as Orton
and Rhodes take it to the ring in this standard match. As expected, Orton
dominates most of the fight and changes up his attacks by moving between blows,
slaps, and kicks and powerful maneuvers, but Rhodes gets his chance to strike
back as well. The momentum of the match drops a little after the first five
minutes, but overall, Rhodes and Orton keep things interesting enough.
* Mark Henry vs. Big Show in a World Heavyweight Championship Match
One of the two main events on this PPV pitches two of WWE's biggest and heaviest
stars against each other. Despite their weight and size though, the Big Show and
Mark Henry try to impress their fans by going for a few high-risk maneuvers, one
of which even brings down the entire ring. Other than that though, this title
match is characterized mostly by strong blows and submission holds.
* Alberto del Rio vs. John Cena in a Last Standing Match for the WWE
Championship
Although I'm not a huge fan of the Last Man Standing match
rules, Del Rio and Cena keep the action moving swiftly enough even though their
battle runs a little too long. That said, the two athletes attempt to keep
audiences on their feet by taking the action outside the ring and around the
arena. In that sense, this matchup quickly turns into a hardcore brawl, and a
decent one at that.
The disc includes the usual 1.78:1 transfer, and both image and audio do what they're supposed to do. The only bonus you'll find on the DVD is a lame backstage interview with Alberto del Rio.
WWE: Vengeance 2011 boasts a few compelling matches and some decent moments, but it lacks the kind of wow factor you would expect from a major WWE PPV. This isn't the company's worst 2011 event, but we've seen better.
Guilty.
Review content copyright © 2011 Franck Tabouring; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2013 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Judgment: 74
Perp Profile
Studio: WWE
Video Formats:
* 1.78:1 Anamorphic
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English)
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Spanish)
Subtitles:
* None
Running Time: 175 Minutes
Release Year: 2011
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Interview
Accomplices
* Official Site
http://www.wwe.com/shows/vengeance