STW - Vengeance 2004 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Vengeance 2004 took place on July 11th, from the Hartford Civic Center, in Hartford, Connecticut. The show drew about 7,000 fans, which was 6,000 paying $370,000, with much of the arena tarped off. It did a 0.55 buy rate, which translated to about 240,000 buys

This was the 4th Vengeance pay per view, and it was a Raw brand pay per view

What did you think of the split ppvs for Raw and Smackdown, did you think it was a good idea?

Were the ppv's for both shows managed the same backstage, or were there any differences between how the two were run?

We're coming off of the Badd Blood pay per view, in which Triple H defeated Shawn Michaels in a Hell in a Cell match, and Chris Benoit retained the World Title by defeating Kane

What did you think of the Benoit World Title reign up to that point?

July 5th Observer -

WWE recently had an interview with a well respected soap opera writer about joining the writing team for a supposed $200,000 per year role doing among other things, keeping storyline continuity. It was the role that movie writer Paul Guay (a lifelong fan who wrote “Liar, Liar”) held for some time before quitting. The key to this was the writer was not only never a wrestling fan, but had no knowledge whatsoever of the product 

July 12th Observer -

Edge has been told by management that he needs a makeover. They’ve been asking him to cut his hair, but he’s been refusing. There has been a feeling that the long blond hair stuff is outdated (hence the biggest star in the company still has it, what a rib?) that they;’ve told people like Test and Christian, and the new haircut sure changed their careers (Christian’s rise, and the new haircut helps, was only due to Jericho including him in his storyline as without it, he’d probably be buried underground by this point). Edge himself has always joked about his appeal to women by saying if he cut off his hair, it would all be gone. They also want to change his ring entrance. HHH was so high on Edge that he got him off Smackdown specifically to work with him, and they had him beat Kane out of the chute, but it didn’t work. Many have noticed him getting booed in the more hardcore arenas like Madison Square Garden, but a lot of that is due to Orton always being put over and people liking him because they think he’s cool. There is a legit problem, as fans simply don’t buy Edge as a tough guy, and that’s been the role he’s been trying to play since he came back 

It is expected that Larry Zbyzsko, in his “Living Legend” lawsuit filed against WWE, will add more points since they’ve called Randy Orton “Living Legend” on some recent shows 

WWE released the financial data for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2004 touting an increase in revenues over fourth quarter last year of $21 million. The figures released this week include the latest WrestleMania 20 buyrate figure of 885,000, a strong increase (55%) over WrestleMania 19. Also greatly enhancing the revenue for the latest quarter compared to the previous fourth quarter was that four PPVs were part of this fourth quarter compared to only three the previous year's fourth quarter. The extra PPV, Royal Rumble, drew 582,000 buys, up about 15-20 percent from the year before. 

Also, home video business revenues increased by $8.0 million to $11.1 million overall this quarter. "Fiscal 2004 was a terrific year and we owe a great deal of thanks to our talent and employees for their contribution to these results," says Linda McMahon, WWE CEO. 

"We have worked hard to increase our profitability, and that effort is reaping rewards, as seen in the full year results in which profitability from continuing operations more than doubled. 

We intend to keep a keen focus on profitability as we work to expand our business globally. We will continue to develop new and innovative approaches to enhance the WWE fan experience and draw in a generation of new fans." Other key figures: Live event revenues were $22.2 million Q4 this year compared to $19.0 million Q4 last year, mainly due to there being 13 more events overall, seven of them overseas which lately has drawn much better than domestic live events ($165,000 in profit contribution versus $41,500 in profit contribution domestic on a per event average). 

Average North American attendance was 5,000, down from 6,000 in Q4 last year. International attendance was 8,400, down from 8,900. TV advertising revenue was $13.6 million this year Q4 compared to $19.0 million last year Q4 in part due to a shift to UPN selling more Smackdown commercials in exchange for WWE receiving more in TV programing rights fees ($20.9 million this year, up from $15.6 million last year). Merchandise sales were $25.7 million, up from $20 million. Home video was way up to $11.1 million from $3.1 the year before thanks in great part to the Monday Night War DVD which sold 118,000 units in the quarter and the WrestleMania 20 DVD which sold 114,000 units in that quarter. 

Licensing revenues were $3.7 million, down from $5.0 million. Publishing revenues were $3.1 million, down from $4.2 million mainly due to a decrease in newsstand magazine sales. Profit margin overall was 51 percent, up from 42 percent. Total 2004 revenues were $374.9 million, basically even with the $374.3 million the prior year. Wall Street analysts, though, were not pleased with the future forecast for a decrease in revenues next year, as WWE stock began dropping in price in the 24 hours following the release of the financial statement. 

The Motley Fool financial website analyzed the latest WWE financial statement as follows- When it comes to wringing out profits, WWE is clearly at the top of its game. The question for investors is whether they're willing to buy into a company with such a murky revenue picture. For my own part, I suspect revenues will remain in a slow-growth phase for quite a while. But on the other hand, wrasslin' ain't goin' nowhere anytime soon, so I'm also confident that there will be few nasty downside surprises. So

long as WWE keeps a headlock on costs and continues to reward investors with a dividend and ample free cash flow, I'd be glad to keep it on my tag team. And if investor uncertainty drops the price over the next few months, that would help seal the deal. But if you get in the ring with these brutes, keep your eyes peeled. A big drop in revenues, like a folding chair to the back of the head, could change the direction of the match in a flash.

JBL did some Nazi gestures during a tour of Germany and ended up being fired by CNBC, where he was a contributor. He then was a guest on the Howard Stern radio show.

He defended his usage of Nazi gestures during a June 18 interview on the Howard Stern radio show. "I make fun of everybody I can," said Bradshaw. He described his character as "a cross between J.R. Ewing, Pat Buchanan, and David Duke." He compared his role as a wrestler to that of an actor in a movie. "This is like saying Anthony Hopkins is culpable for being Hannibal Lechter," he said. Bradshaw blamed his being fired by CNBC on "some little guy that had a pro wrestling website" who e-mailed the network. He did say he was not at all in favor of the actions of Nazi Germany. 

Bradshaw also talked about his firing from CNBC during a passionate promo on the June 24 Smackdown, although he never acknowledged the reason for his firing, instead implying he was fired because he was a pro wrestler. 

What's your memories and feelings of that incident?

Brock Lesnar did an interview with ESPN-  He said he wanted to be able to have money and not be poor, which is why he took the quick path to fame and riches, but in retrospect wishes he had gone right into trying out for the NFL. That is yet another comment which, while certainly sincere, won't exactly endear him to his colleagues if he returns to WWE some day. ESPN said Lesnar had a "multi-million dollar contract with WWE," which is a fair representation of his contract, unlike many other media reports stating he had a $45 million contract. Lesnar also denied using steroids, which Colts coach Tony Dungy backed up. Lesnar was also the subject of an ESPN.com cover story which told of an incident of the reporter witnessing Lesnar lashing out at a young female fan. The woman told Lesnar that a male friend of hers thought he was cute. Lesnar was quoted as saying, amidst a burst of swearing, "I don't like gays. Write that down in your little notebook. 

I don't like gays." Lesnar described himself as a redneck who'd be happy with three channels on his TV 24 hours a day: a hunting and fishing channel, the weather channel, and the Playboy channel. He said: "If it was legal and I wouldn't get in trouble, I'd pick a fight on every street. If I wouldn't lose any money or nothing, I would fight. I'd fight every day." He denied being on steroids and said he looks the way he does because he began working out at age six. The ESPN story repeated the grossly exaggerated, but often reported "seven year, $45 million WWE contract" that Lesnar supposedly walked away from. 

Regarding his chances in the NFL, which the story painted as a longshot, Lesnar said: "This is not some half-assed shot to see what I can do and try to make the NFL. For me, this is balls out, 100 percent. And I plan to knock the snot out of somebody." The story said in his April motorcycle accident, he broke his jaw, fractured, his left hand, severely pulled his groin, and suffered tissue damage in his lower abdomen. Plus, his testicles were swollen and bruised for weeks. The accident was much more serious than he and his agent initially let on to the media when it first happened. 

This was a few months after he left the WWE after WrestleMania 20. Being a huge football fan as you are, what did you think of his decision to leave the WWE and try out for the Minnesota Vikings?

Ju;y 5th Raw – Go home show before the ppv. It 7/5 drew a 3.63 rating (3.37 first hour; 3.86 second hour; 4.48 million viewers). 

JR and Jerry Lawler introduced the show and said Eugene was G.M. for the night. Eugene made Jerry Lawler, Stacy, Tyson Tomko, Chris Jericho, and Tajiri play musical chairs with the winner getting a title shot. Jericho won.  Eugene revealed it was an IC Title shot. 

La Resistance beat Rhyno & Val Venis at 4:28 to retain the WWE Tag Titles.

Eugene told Evolution backstage that he would team with Ric Flair against La Resistance at Vengeance... Triple H came out and promo'd his title match against Benoit at the PPV. Edge interrupted and vowed he would be taking out Evolution one member at a time. They fought, then Edge bailed when the rest of Evolution came out.

Batista fought Kane to a no contest at 1:54 when Matt Hardy attacked Kane.

Todd Grisham interviewed Hardy backstage, who refused to comment on Lita 

Randy Orton pinned Chris Jericho with a roll-up from behind and feet on the ropes at 18:32 

Hunter jumped with Eugene in a fair air mattress dome while manipulating him to go along with their plan.

Nidia beat Victoria and Molly Holly in a Contract For a Title Match on a Pole match at 3:32. Trish then KO'd Nidia with her cast and pinned her to fulfill her title match defense.. Trish gave Lita a hard time about being pregnant.

Triple H & Ric Flair & Eugene beat Edge & Chris Benoit after Eugene KO'd Benoit with a chair from behind as Benoit had Hunter in the Crossface at 15:45.

Vince McMahon was back at this Raw after missing last week's shows with diverticulitis. Brock Lesnar got that during his UFC career. Any memories of Vince getting this? 

July 19th Observer - 

Hogan was clearly angling for another comeback on “Best Damn Sports Show Period” on 7/9. The subject of Vince came up and Hogan played perfectly to Vince’s ego, talking about how Vince was both a good business man and a legit tough street fighter (sometimes I really admire how clever Hogan is at this game because that’s the perfect thing to say and who else would have thought of it?). He told a story about being at some convention and Vince beat somebody up. How perfect. The hosts were ripping on Vince as being disrespectful to Hogan by not bringing him back and Hogan said he’d consider coming back. Hogan claimed he had never been contacted about being in the Hall of Fame. Well, I doubt they’ll get to work on that until February. He talked about being interested in one last comeback, and then, as Hogan would do, said maybe he’d do it with Ted Turner. Not sure if Vince would fall for that one since he didn’t bite when Hogan played the Jarrett card, and Jarrett at least had a company going, and it would be impossible for Turner to even start getting serious about even thinking about wrestling without Vince knowing. 

Nothing is impossible, but at Turner’s age, but when he discussed with his closest confidant in wrestling getting into wrestling maybe two years back, it never got past the first day of discussion because of the start-up costs involved. Turner was interested, but was told it would cost him $50 million just to get something off the ground that could be competitive, and with Turner’s personal wealth down with the AOL/Time Warner disastrous money losses and stock decline, he decided against it at the time. In addition, when Jeff Jarrett had a meeting at Turner with Bill Shaw to get funding for TNA, they at that point also turned down the idea of getting back into wrestling. Rock was in the audience (or possibly, they showed a tape of Rock waving to give the illusion he was in the audience, since BDSSP tapes guys when they appear doing the wave and splices them in to do this from time to time). 

Hogan cut a wrestling promo on him, saying he beat up Rock, ran him over with a semi, and beat up Rock’s father (did they ever wrestle?), but then said that he and Rock were tight. He brought out daughter Brooke and said that Playboy was interested in her. He also talked about running for the Presidency in 1998 (another of those fake retirements to play off Ventura winning the Governor’s election in Minnesota) and claimed there was a poll that showed he’d beat Clinton, but said he was talked out of it by his son, saying his son was afraid he’d be shot. He looked smaller than before, but he’s got no reason to be big right now, still physically looked in shape and muscular at 50, but his face looked older than ever. He did his poses and got a big reaction, and they talked about him being the most recognizable figure in wrestling history. Hogan is also trying to offer himself as a guest to other major talk shows to parlay it into an opportunity for his daughter (most of his current focus is geared toward making her the next Britney Spears) to sing on those shows. I believe he’s got Jay Leno and Regis booked soon. VH-1 is doing a special called “Inside Out” on the two of them, which is set to debut on 7/29. 

Hogan and Goldberg were both at the big autograph signing put together by XTRA on 7/11 at the Anaheim Pond. The show itself was something of a bomb, as they had all those celebrities from Donald Trump to Steve Garvey to Magic Johnson, and drew less than 6,000, and that was with a lot of late comps. Hogan’s daughter sang the national anthem and her single. Hogan first talked about the value of staying in school, and introduced both Mr. T and Goldberg. He called Goldberg the man who will dominate wrestling for the next ten years. That was funny. Austin was advertised, but wasn’t there, which adds to the stories from several who know him that he’s broken contact with almost everyone. Even Goldberg, who was his closest friend just a few weeks back, hasn’t heard from him in weeks. Everyone there praised Hogan, Goldberg and Mr. T. Pete Rose was there, and let’s just say people didn’t leave with a good impression of him 

Angle was the subject of a full page article in the 7/8 Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun. The story about the deaths of his older sister, his father and David Schultz. He said he was injecting Novocain directly into his neck in 1996 during the U.S. Olympic trials. On his decision to join WWF, he said, “The reaction I got from coaches, peers and the fans was very negative. I was considered a leader, an ambassador…I was the best wrestler in my weight class in the world and the best in America, period.” Angle said he believed he’s done more for amateur wrestling being in the WWE than from winning the Olympics because of the far greater weekly television exposure. He said his goal is to be like Rock and become an actor, but that he loved pro wrestling and wouldn’t want to leave it. He said he wants to keep WWE as his prime focus 

That takes us to the Vengeance pay per view.   

WWE VENGEANCE POLL RESULTS

Thumbs up 153 (60.7%)

Thumbs down 12 (04.8%)

In the middle 87 (34.5%)

BEST MATCH POLL

Randy Orton vs. Edge 164

Chris Benoit vs. HHH 73

WORST MATCH POLL

Chris Jericho vs. Batista 79

Molly Holly vs. Victoria 53

Tajiri & Rhyno vs. Cade & Coachman 52

Matt Hardy vs. Kane 13

A. Tyson Tomko pinned Val Venis in 2:52 after a high kick. Nidia came out with Venis to counteract Trish Stratus. Tomko looked bad. So bad that Jim Ross actually pointed out after he’d blown some spots that he was a powerhouse, but that his wrestling was raw. After he delivered the high kick, he stopped, and seemed to be about to do another move when it hit him this was the finish. That was weird. After the match, he was stalking Nidia, but Maven came out and made the save.

1. Tajiri & Rhyno beat Jonathan Coachman & Garrison Cade in 7:30 when Tajiri pinned Coachman after a high kick. Everyone looked fine in this match except Coachman, but he had more personality out there than the other three combined. Tajiri blew the mist at Cade. Rhyno went to gore Coachman, but he moved, allowing Cade to take it. Tajiri looked good and made the match. *1/2

The HHH-Eugene show long storyline saw Eugene disappear. When HHH found him, he was talking to Benoit. Benoit was telling him HHH was using him.

Batista pinned Chris Jericho in 12:19 after a power bomb, even though Jericho got a foot on the ropes. Batista looked the worst he’s looked in a long time. He was even worse than Tomko. Much of it was Batista dominating with power working off a full nelson. Jericho made a brief comeback late in the match. *

La Resistance retained the tag titles, beating Ric Flair & Eugene via DQ in 12:30. Not much for wrestling, but it had its moments of campy entertainment. Flair & Eugene worked as babyfaces. Even though they had teased that they wouldn’t get along, there were no signs of it during the match other than Flair being pissed because Eugene did all of his spots, including the face first flop. Flair came in, and was probably the most popular wrestler on the show, as he got a far bigger reaction than Eugene. He did a few trademark spots, and then sold a lot. They did the au revoir on Flair, but Eugene came in and went berserk, and threw down ref Mike Chioda for the DQ. He then gave a stunner to Grenier and a rock bottom to Conway, and then did the people’s elbow to Conway. *3/4

The crowd heavily booed the promotional package of the Hardy-Kane-Lita soap opera.

Matt Hardy pinned Kane in 10:34. Hardy had to win, because nobody believed in him a lick. They worked how they should have, but considering how much time has been spent on this angle, it had little heat. Hardy hit Kane with the ring bell, and then hit a twist of fate, but Kane kicked out and sat up. Kane did a sloppy choke slam and then went to get the ring steps. Lita ran in to protect Hardy. Kane came into the ring with the steps but Hardy clocked the steps with a chair and Kane fell backwards and was pinned. **1/4

Edge pinned Randy Orton to win the IC title in 26:36. A mixed reaction early, with lots of “Lets Go Orton” chants, which saw “Lets Go Edge” chants follow up from his fans. I thought this was an excellent match, with Orton showing the most poise and star charisma I’ve ever seen from him. Orton worked over Edge’s neck for a long time. He did a long cranking chin lock. To some, it was a never ending resthold, but to others it was working the neck using a unique angle. The timing in the spots was perfect. They got up and did one near fall after another, playing off all of Orton’s previous cheating wins, and the crowd heat at the finish was excellent. At one point they traded hard elbow and forearm shots like they were in NOAH. Orton rolled through on a cross body for a near fall. Orton undid the turnbuckle padding. Edge used an implant DDT for a near fall. Orton dropped Edge on the exposed metal and used the ropes for a near fall. Place was popping huge for the near falls. Orton ended up being whipped into the exposed metal and was hit with a spear for the pin and title win. ****1/4

This ended Orton's 7 month reign as the IC champion, which was the longest IC title reign in the previous 7 years.

Even though Orton was a heel with Evolution during this time, the fans cheered him a lot during this match. Orton would end up turning babyface the night at SummerSlam in little over a month. Do you recall if this reaction had anything to do with Orton's upcoming face turn?

Victoria pinned Molly Holly in 6:20 in a match where the winner would be next in line for a title shot at the injured Trish Stratus, possibly at SummerSlam. They had no chance whatsoever because of the previous match and just being in that spot on the card. They probably couldn’t have done much better, as Holly always works well and Victoria looked great. She did a moonsault block and a plancha. She took a weird bump on the ring steps which made her selling her shoulder so believable. Holly worked on the shoulder. Because of this, Victoria couldn’t do her widow’s peak, but still won with a superkick. **½

The next match is the main event, for the World Title. Chris Benoit defending against former champion, HHH.

Leading up to the match - 

At the Royal Rumble, Benoit won the Royal Rumble match which earned him a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H at WrestleMania 20. At WrestleMania, Benoit defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship by forcing Triple H to submit to the Crippler Crossface. At Backlash, Benoit successfully defended the World Title in another Triple Threat match against Triple H and Michaels, after he forced Michaels to submit to the Sharpshooter. Following Backlash, Benoit had a small feud with Kane, while Michaels and Triple H would finish their feud at Bad Blood. On the June 14th Raw, Triple H demanded another World title shot. It would later be granted to him by Raw GM Eric Bischoff for Vengeance, 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 21st Raw, Triple H faced Eugene, and tried to hit him with a chair, per Bischoff's orders, only for Benoit to run in for the save. Benoit, however, accidentally hit Eugene with the chair, making Triple H hit Benoit with a Pedigree. On the June 28th Raw, Triple H offered Eugene to be an honorary member of Evolution, making William Regal confront Triple H. Later on, Triple H defeated Regal by DQ as Eugene was the guest referee, making Eugene attack Regal. On the July 5th Raw, Benoit teamed up with Edge and fought against Ric Flair, Eugene and Triple H. Triple H, Flair and Eugene won after Eugene hit Benoit with a chair. 

A video package aired for the Benoit/Triple H match. All the Eugene stuff is shown with Bischoff telling Triple H he can be number one contender if he beats up Eugene. Triple H went to attack Eugene, but Benoit made the save and Benoit accidentally hit Eugene with a chair to the head. Triple H manipulated Eugene and made him an honorary member of Evolution. 

It led to Eugene saving Triple H from a Sharpshooter and hit Benoit in the back with a chair leading to Triple H pinning Benoit in a match on Raw. Triple H commented that Eugene would play a part in HHH winning back the World Title 

Chris Benoit pinned HHH in 29:04 to keep the World title. Most of the match saw HHH work over Benoit’s upper chest. They acted as if Benoit suffered a sternum injury by running fast chest first into the turnbuckles. HHH delivered what started as a vertical suplex, but kept dropping Benoit forward on his chest. As HHH was using an abdominal stretch, with the usual Wilbur Snyder reference, Jim Ross mentioned he didn’t know if Benoit had ever submitted (wasn’t that Kurt Angle match at Rumble just about the best company match of 2003?). Benoit blocked a pedigree into a sharpshooter, and held it a long time before HHH made the ropes. Benoit hit the three German suplex combination, and even did a tope. They had a ref bump here. HHH did a DDT. HHH told Eugene to come out. 

He did, but Benoit got the crossface and there was no ref. Benoit told Eugene to get the ref, but Eugene refused to do so. 

HHH was tapping of course. The ref stayed down forever, to the point this was stupid. Benoit decked Eugene because he refused to get the ref. Crowd booed that. HHH used a low blow and pedigree, and Eugene then got the ref. Benoit kicked out. HHH told Eugene to get a chair. Eugene gave HHH a chair, but then stopped him from using it. HHH shoved Eugene off the apron to the floor. Eugene then got the chair and teased he was going to hit Benoit. He then stopped and teased he was going to hit HHH. He stopped again. Benoit and Eugene then struggled over the chair, until Benoit let go and Eugene pulled the chair away and accidentally hit HHH with it. Eugene started crying about screwing up and Benoit scored the pin with a schoolboy. ***3/4

This was their first singles match against each other since Benoit won the title at WrestleMania. They previously wrestled each other at the No Mercy 2000 pay per view, with Triple H getting the win

Would you have booked anything differently on Vengeance?