Vengeance: Night of Champions Recap

Tonight was a huge night for the multiple careers of John Cena. Wrestling fans on the West Coast must have felt like they were in some type of a time vortex because at the same time John Cena was defending his WWE Championship against four other wrestlers, he was also NASCAR racing five other celebrities to try and win the championship of Fast Cars & Superstars. In addition to the WWE Championship being on the line at tonight’s show, every WWE Championship was on the line. While this event was dubbed “The Night of Champions”, was it a better night for the challengers?

- In honor of the “Night of Champions” theme, tonight’s show featured a special look back at many of the legendary champions in WWE history. Former World Tag Team Champions Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo are announced to the crowd.

World Tag Team Championship: Champions Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. The Hardys- Matt entered this match with an injured left knee due to Finlay’s shillelagh attack on Friday night. The tag team champions took advantage of the situation and worked over Matt’s leg for most of the match. Later in the match, Jeff went up to the top rope and was tossed off by the illegal man, Trevor Murdoch. Lance Cade then hit a modified power bomb on Jeff to get the win. Winners: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

- A commercial for SummerSlam was shown. The event will be invaded by the cast of Jackass.

- A tribute to Eddie Guerrero is shown which is highlighted by footage of him beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.

Cruiserweight Title: Champion Chavo Guerrero vs. Jimmy Wang Yang - Jimmy thought he had Chavo in trouble and went to the top rope. While on the ropes with his back towards Chavo, Chavo tossed him off the ropes. Chavo then went up the ropes and hit the frog splash to get the win. Winner: Chavo Guerrero

- The show went an entire 30 minutes before showing the “death” of Vince. I need a calculator to figure out how many times this footage has been shown over the past two weeks. If you haven’t seen it enough, don’t worry, there will be a 3-hour tribute to Mr. McMahon tomorrow night.

Tournament Final for the Vacant ECW World Championship: Chris Benoit vs. CM Punk - Prior to the start of the match, it was announced that Chris Benoit will not be in attendance tonight due to personal reasons. Johnny Nitro has been named as his replacement. The crowd is not happy by this turn of events. In a total shocker, while dragging Punk back into the ring, Johnny Nitro hit a swinging neck breaker to get the victory. Winner and New Champion: Johnny Nitro

- Footage from the classic Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII is shown.

- Ricky Steamboat was announced to the crowd.

Intercontinental Championship: Champion Santino Marella vs. Umaga - With Vince McMahon dead and Armando Alejandro Estrada no longer around, there was no one able to control the savage beast known as Umaga. Despite dominating the match, the referee was forced to disqualify Umaga for not stopping his assault when Santino was in the corner. After the match, Umaga destroyed Santino. Despite being the bad guy, the fans cheered on Umaga’s assault and chanted one more time after Umaga leveled Santino with the Samoan Spike. Winner: Santino Marella by DQ

- Lead investigator Daniel Beck’s statement from Friday night was shown. He said that there was DNA from a well-known person found on Vince’s limo. We are reminded again that tomorrow night will be a three-hour memorial for the “late” Mr. McMahon.

- Magnum T.A. was introduced to the crowd.

U.S. Title: Champion MVP vs Ric Flair - When the referee had his back turned, MVP gave Ric Flair a thumb to the eye and then hit the Playmaker to get the win. Winner: MVP

- Former tag team champions Tony Garea and Rick Martel are introduced to the crowd.

Open Challenge for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Champions Deuce & Domino vs. ??? - The challenge has been answered by Jimmy Snuka and Sgt. Slaughter. In real-life, Deuce is the son of Jimmy Snuka. The match thankfully ended when Snuka hit a body press on Deuce but Deuce was able to roll his dad over and get the pin. After the match, the champions continued to beat up the two Hall of Famers until Tony Garea and Rick Martel jumped into the ring. Winners: Deuce & Domino

- Harley Race is introduced to the crowd.

Last Chance Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Champion Edge vs. Batista - At the end of the match, Batista attempted a Batista Bomb. Edge countered by giving Batista a blatant low blow. The referee disqualified Edge. Due to the rules of this match, Edge kept the title and Batista will never get another title shot. As Edge was leaving, SmackDown GM Teddy Long came out and demanded that the match restart and stated that if Edge gets disqualified he will lose the title. A few minutes into the restart, the action went outside the ring. Batista hit Edge with the Batista Bomb on the floor. Batista pushed the unconscious Edge back into the ring but he could not make it back into the ring by the 10 count. By being counted out of the ring, Batista will never get another chance to get the title as long as Edge is champion. Winner: Edge by Count Out

- Footage of the Spider Lady (Fabulous Moolah) beating Wendi Richter for the Women's Championship is shown.

Women's Title: Champion Melina vs. Candice Michelle - Out of nowhere, Candice hit Melina with a horrible looking reverse kick to get the win. Winner: Candice Michelle

- Prior to the WWE Championship match, announcer JBL was announced to the crowd. He demanded that the ring announcer read a prepared statement.

- While not a part of the show, now would be a good time to mention that the night has not started off good for John Cena. Earlier tonight, John Cena came in third place in the NASCAR reality TV show. John Elway won the tournament.

WWE Championship Challenge: Champion John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. King Booker vs. Lashley vs. Mick Foley - The rules of the match were that all five men could be in the ring at the same time and that the match had to end by submission or pin fall. However, there was an unwritten rule in this match that three men had to be incapacitated at the same time, while the other two men fought. When one man was about to win, one of the men outside of the ring miraculously would come out of nowhere to stop the count. The man that was about to be pinned then would roll out of the ring in a near unconscious state. Repeat that for ten minutes and that is what this match was. It ended when John Cena hit the FU on Mick Foley while everyone else was too hurt to crawl back in the ring to stop the referee from counting three. Winner: John Cena

What does this event mean for the future?
Nothing. Everything is currently focused on the death of Mr. McMahon.

Overall Thoughts
This show was really bad. With the exception of some interesting swerves in the Batista vs. Edge match, every other moment of this show was mediocre at best. Three of the matches (Santino’s, Snuka’s, and Candice Michelle’s) were atrocious. All of the matches were very short because of a combination of the large number of matches, the legends segments, the backstage interviews, the video package previews for each match, and the repeat segments of the Mr. McMahon saga.

Match Results

• World Tag Team Championship: Champions Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch beat The Hardys
  
• Cruiserweight Championship: Champion Chavo Guerrero beat Jimmy Wang Yang
  
• Tournament Final for the Vacant ECW World Championship: Johnny Nitro beat CM Punk
  
• Intercontinental Championship: Champion Santino Marella beat Umaga by DQ
  
• U.S. Championship: Champion MVP beat Ric Flair
  
• WWE Tag Team Championship: Champions Deuce & Domino beat Jimmy Snuka & Sgt. Slaughter
  
• Last Match Chance for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge beat Batista by Count Out
  
• Women’s Championship: Candice Michelle beat Melina to win the title
  
• WWE Championship Challenge: Champion John Cena beat Mick Foley, King Booker, Randy Orton, and Lashley

_{Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images}