WWE Vengeance

1) Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin (for the Intercontinental title). Shelton is a great athlete, but Carlito still needs a lot of work. His cheating tactics slow down the pace of the match. Eddie (RIP) also used to cheat a lot, but Carlito is no Eddie (not yet, at least). **

2) Christy Hemme vs. Victoria. More of a catfight than an actual wrestling match. Pretty intense, but not very good. It's just not believable to have Christy throwing Victoria around, and even though she is supposed to be the "face" of the match she gets booed by the crowd. **

3) Kane vs. Edge. This match is 40% Lita and her barely-there outfit (she is in incredible shape here), 40% soap opera storyline, 10% power, 5% Snitsky and 5% wrestling. Only thing I liked (apart from Lita) was the ending. **

4) Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle. Unsurprisingly, the best match of the night. Not quite the "epic encounter" promised, but undeniably good. Angle is a phenomenal wrestler, HBK is not in the same league (who is?) but working with Angle brings out the best in him, too. After their first match in "Wrestlemania 21", the ending of this one is predictable, but it is also fair. ***

Just when I was thinking we would get through this PPV without any stupid "comic" relief, Lilian Garcia calls Viscera (who could use some diet) in the ring, sings a love song to him and asks him to marry her, but just when he's about to respond the Godfather (who could also use some diet) appears and tempts him with his girls, so the "500-pound love machine" turns poor Lilian down. A total waste of time.

5) Chris Jericho vs. John Cena vs. Christian. Triple-threat match for the WWE title. Begins poorly, more like a streetfight than a wrestling match, but picks up some steam as it progresses. Cena was still HUGELY popular with the crowds then. **

6) Batista vs. Triple H. Hell in a Cell match for the world heavyweight title. This is a matter of taste. If you consider blood, steel chairs, steel steps, sledgehammers, barbed wire, chains, punches and clotheslines synonymous with the word "wrestling", you'll love this one. I don't, though I do appreciate these men's willingness to put their bodies on the line. **

Overall an overrated PPV in my opinion, no bad matches (which is rare), but also no really great ones.

Vengeance 2005 was above average for today's WWE pay-per-views. On paper, it looked as though only 6 matches would detract from the show but at a closer look, three of those matches could main event any show the WWE puts out and two of the others were strong matches in themselves. Most of the matches were given more time to build a better story and allowed the fans to soak it all in.

MATCH REVIEWS - Once again I'll try to keep it short and spoiler free.

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP Carlito (Champion) vs Shelton Benjamin This was a good, solid match that was almost as good as their match on RAW previously. Although this was good, it seems that these two wrestlers could have a match that is much better and that they just don't click together in the ring. Hopefully, they can get used to working with each other and give us the match I know they want to have.

Victoria vs Christy Hemme This was the gratuitous and time-filling ladies match. Victoria did an excellent job of carrying Christy to easily her best match (shouldn't have been too hard to top her previous ones). I think Christy must have been working pretty hard as I can see vast improvement since her WrestleMania match. Is it just me or does anyone else think that Christy is even hotter when she looks angry?

Kane vs Edge with Lita Again, I think a solid match but could have been better. Lita is debuting her new "Slut of the Century" gimmick and I must say, she looked the part (and I'm not complaining). This match was littered with "We Want Matt", "You Screwed Matt" and "She's A Crack Whore" chants, which seemed to upset Lita (especially the crack whore one). Throw in some needless Gene Snitsky interference and you have your match. They could have done better here.

Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle This was, like WrestleMania, the match of the night and where the entire show began to pick up. Angle vs Michaels II was another match where it seemed nothing could go wrong. I have read reports saying this match was on par with their WrestleMania match but I believe it was not quite at that level, although still a great match and definite Match of the Year candidate. Michaels seemed to be injured at the end but still put on a great match. If you have not seen Vengeance 2005, then this match alone is worth it.

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP John Cena (Champion) vs Christian vs Chris Jericho This was one of Cena's better matches, possibly his best. How can he go wrong with Christian and Jericho in there with him? I think Cena has gotten a bad reputation as a worker and I believe he is better than being given credit for. It seems that certain wrestlers expose his weaknesses while others can cover them up, which is the mark of a great wrestler. Jericho and Christian both fall into this category. This was a great Triple Threat match. Hopefully, Christian gets his due. He is deserving of a nice push.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HELL IN THE CELL MATCH Batista (Champion) vs Triple H Batista is obviously learning a lot from wrestling guys like Triple H and Kurt Angle, among others. He has been put on the fast track and is forced to learn quickly. He's not the greatest worker but he fits the part of a world champion in a big way. Triple H wanted to prove he could do a hardcore match in the WWE style and make it good. This was a good, bloody match. Along the way, we saw some barbed wire chairs, sledgehammers and the ring stairs being used. When all was said and done, I thought the finish of this match elevated the whole thing. That was one of the greatest match finishes I have seen. It even had me fooled.

Overall, the 3 big matches made the event worth watching. Both Cena and Batista are put in a position to make or break themselves. Obviously, the odds are with Batista more than Cena, being backed by Triple H and all, but I think there is room there for both of them. I think Cena needs to work on new ways to finish his match. The FU is becoming like Hulk Hogan's leg drop. That was the only way Hogan knew how to finish a match. Given that there were not much in time restraints, the matches were better which made the event better, above average even. 8.5/10

Vengeance was a pretty decent PPV which had some highlights and some downsides.

1) Intercontinental Match: Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin- a decent match,with Shelton, unfortunately, being screwed out of getting the title back. however there were some good action (apparently Calito is actually wrestling now).- 2/5 2) Victoria vs. Christy: wow...this was a pretty unnecessary match. This match also proved that Christy CANNOT wrestle and she should stick to posing and smiling.- 1/5 3) Kane vs. Edge: This was one of the better match (as opposed to the previous two). Kane finally got the payback he needed against Edge and Lita. I loved the part when Snitsky ran down and attacked Kane.-3/5 4) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Micheals: Fantastic: the only word to describe it. It was an excellent rematch and I could have sworn that Angle was going to win and then i let out a yell of relief when Angle got a huge sweet chin music. This began the progress of matches becoming actually good at Vengeance.-5/5 5) WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Christian vs. Chris Jericho: A good match. The fact that it was a triple threat made it even better. The highlights were when Cena power-bombed Jericho and ending up super-plexing Christian. Of course, the way Cena used Christian (in the FU position)to hit Jericho and win the match.-4/5 6) World Heavyweight Championship: Batista vs. Triple H-HELL IN A CELL: The best match of the night. It was a very good match in which there was blood, violence, weapons, and a victorious Batista. This was the perfect way to end the HHH/ Batisa rivalry. The only reason i saw Vengeance was for this match. The best part was when HHH had the sledgehammer and Batista almost got destroyed but then Batista Bombed HHH for the pin. Overall, an excellent Hell In A Cell.-5/5

WWE must be proud of themselves. Vengeance was a fine PPV and all of the wrestlers worked hard. This PPV reminds me of Backlash in April.

Results from Vengeance are as follows: - Carlito defeated Shelton Benjamin to retain the IC title in a decent match. However I can't help noticing that Carlito sucks as IC champ and all of the other wrestlers who were very good IC champs such as Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon and the legendary Bret Hart must feel insulted.

• Victoria pinned Christy Hemme in a fair Women's match. Yes you read that correctly Hemme was in a good match.

• Kane defeated Edge in a very good match.

• Shanwn Michaels defeated Kurt Angle in a scorching match. This is what I call wrestling.

• John Cena defeated Christian and Chris Jericho to retain the WWE title in a decent match. Yes, you read that correctly again Cena was in a decent match. Perhaps Cena and Hemme are an item? - Batista defeated Triple H in a superb Hell in a Cell. Again HHH losing to Batty 3 times in a row makes this writer wonder if Triple H has finally seen the light.

Overall Grade - A