World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event
The 2001 Vengeance was the inaugural Vengeance professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on December 9, 2001, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. The event replaced the promotion's usual December PPV, Armageddon, for the year 2001; Armageddon was reinstated in 2002 with Vengeance moved up to July. It was also the only Vengeance event promoted under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. It would also be the only Vengeance held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.
The main event was a three-match tournament to unify the WWF Championship and the World Championship (formerly the WCW Championship) into what became known as the Undisputed WWF Championship.
Production.
Background.
In 1999 and 2000, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) held a December pay-per-view (PPV) entitled Armageddon. However, following the September 11 attacks, WWF staff felt that the "Armageddon" name may potentially be considered offensive to the victims of the terrorist attacks. In turn, the WWF replaced Armageddon with an event titled Vengeance, and it was scheduled to be held on December 9, 2001, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California.
Storylines.
The Invasion, which began in June 2001, ended at Survivor Series, when Team WWF won a "Winner Takes All" Survivor Series match. The Alliance was forced to close business as a result, and all their titles except for the World Championship were abandoned (the remaining championships were unified with their respective WWF equivalents and subsequently deactivated, and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship became a WWF title). On "Raw" the following night, WWF Owner Vince McMahon attempted to strip Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was a member of The Alliance, of his WWF Championship, and award it to Kurt Angle due to his actions in costing The Alliance the match at Survivor Series. However, before he could do so Ric Flair, who had not been seen on any wrestling program since McMahon's purchase of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March 2001, interrupted McMahon and explained that the leaders of The Alliance, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, had sold their stake in the WWF to him and that he was now equal partners with McMahon. Austin then attacked both Angle and McMahon, after which Flair presented him with his title belt.
Soon after, Flair scheduled a match between Austin and The Rock, the holder of the World Championship, to unify both titles and create one undisputed champion. McMahon, however, convinced Flair to create a four-man tournament instead. Two matches were made, with Austin defending the WWF Championship against Angle and The Rock defending the World Championship against Chris Jericho. The winners of both matches would then face each other in a third match where the winner would be the first Undisputed WWF Champion.
Both title matches were rooted in feuds that were carrying over from earlier in the year. Austin and Angle had become allies after Triple H, with whom Austin had been teaming with since after WrestleMania X-Seven, went down with an injury and left Austin without a partner. Around this time The Invasion was taking hold of the WWF and in July at the InVasion event, Austin and Angle were part of Team WWF in a ten-man tag team match against five members of The Alliance. During the match, Austin turned on Team WWF and hit Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner, allowing Team Alliance to win. On the July 23 episode of "Raw Is War" Austin, now the leader of The Alliance, stated that he did this because he felt that Vince McMahon was grooming Angle to take over his spot, and that he was "unappreciated" when McMahon insisted he return to the old Austin.
Angle, who became a fan favorite as a result of Austin's treachery, immediately began challenging Austin for the WWF Championship. His first chance came at SummerSlam, which Angle won by disqualification allowing Austin to retain the title. At Unforgiven in September, Angle forced Austin to submit to his ankle lock and won the WWF Championship in front of his hometown fans in Pittsburgh. Austin demanded a rematch, claiming his hand was under the ropes when he tapped out, and received it on the October 8, 2001 edition of "Raw". Austin regained the title when William Regal, the WWF Commissioner and special enforcer, attacked Angle and joined The Alliance.
Three weeks later Angle successfully defended the WCW United States Championship against Regal. Angle later joined The Alliance during a WrestleMania X-Seven rematch between Vince McMahon and then-WCW owner Shane McMahon, he interfered seemingly to aid Vince but instead struck the members of team WWF with a steel chair. However, McMahon revealed that he had planted a "mole" in The Alliance and Angle revealed himself to be that person at Survivor Series, which led to the leading to the aforementioned events involving Flair and Austin.
The feud between The Rock and Jericho had started while the two were uneasy allies due to their mutual hatred of Alliance co-owner Stephanie McMahon. The Rock kept reminding Jericho that he had never won "the big one" (a world heavyweight championship) and wrote Jericho off as a "comedy act". On the October 11 episode of "SmackDown!", Jericho defeated Rob Van Dam of The Alliance to become the number one contender to Rock's WCW Championship (later renamed the World Championship). At No Mercy he defeated The Rock to win the title, becoming a world champion for the first time in his career. The following night on "Raw", Jericho and The Rock set aside their differences and won the WWF Tag Team Championship when they defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley). On the October 29 episode of "Raw", The Rock and Jericho successfully defended the WWF Tag Team Championship against then-Alliance members, Booker T and Test but a few days later on "SmackDown!", they dropped the titles to Booker T and Test after Jericho inadvertently Missile dropkicked The Rock, enabling Test to nail Rock with the big boot for the victory. After the match, The Rock and Jericho stared each other down, which ended with The Rock nailing Jericho with two Rock Bottoms. Later on that episode, The Rock challenged Jericho for the WCW Championship in a No Mercy rematch. On the November 5 episode of "Raw", The Rock defeated Jericho to win the title back with a surprise roll up, beginning his second WCW Championship reign. Irate at having lost the title, Jericho savagely attacked The Rock after the match and hit him with a steel chair and the championship. Jericho was made part of Team WWF for the Winner Take All match at Survivor Series, promising that he would set aside his differences with The Rock for the good of the company. However, Jericho attacked The Rock following his elimination from the match and nearly cost Team WWF the victory. The feud resumed after Jericho attacked The Rock on "Raw" the next night and escalated leading up to Vengeance.
Event.
Sunday Night Heat.
Before the event went live on pay-per-view, The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) defeated Billy and Chuck in a match, taped for "Sunday Night Heat".
Preliminary matches.
The opening match was a tag team match between Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert, and Christian and Test. Before the match had even started, Scotty and Albert started attacking Christian and Test. Scotty dominated in the beginning but Test soon tagged in. Albert, who was of Test's size, then tagged in. Scotty and Albert double-teamed Test before Christian attacked Scotty. Test and Christian took the opportunity and assaulted Scotty and prevented him from tagging in Albert. Scotty fought them out, however, and tagged in Albert. Albert dominated both of them, and set Christian up for a Baldo Bomb, but Test pulled Albert out of the ring. Scotty hit Christian with a bulldog, and attempted a Worm, but Christian knocked him down. Christian tried to hit the Worm, but Albert stopped him. Test made the save by hitting Albert with a big boot. Scotty hit a bulldog on Test, and hit a Worm. Christian tried to hit Scotty with an Unprettier, but Albert hit Christian with a Baldo Bomb for the victory.
The second match was between Edge and William Regal for Edge's WWF Intercontinental Championship. In the beginning of the match, Edge had the advantage, showing his speed and agility. However, Regal threw Edge out of the ring, and knocked him against the barricade. In the ring, Regal hit Edge with a series of European uppercuts and reversed a sunset flip into a knee drop. Edge fought back and got several near-falls before Regal knocked Edge with a forearm smash but Edge kicked Regal to the outside. On the ring apron, Edge tried to hit Regal, a diving spear on the floor but Regal sidestepped and Edge crashed the ring steel steps. As the referee was distracted, Regal took out a pair of brass knuckles from under the ring and stuffed them into his tights. In the ring, Regal hit Edge with a powerbomb and two double underhook suplexes. Regal then hit Edge with a series of brutal kicks and, when the referee turned around, he took out his brass knuckles. Edge immediately speared Regal to win and retain his title.
The third match was between Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy with Lita as the Special Guest Referee. In the beginning, the two had several reversals until Matt got in control. Jeff sidestepped when Matt attempted a diving leg drop. Jeff hit a falling headbutt and a clothesline. Jeff went on to deliver a diving leg drop of his own. Jeff went to the top rope but Matt trapped him in a Tree of Woe. Matt then applied the sunset flip, which Jeff countered and both men were lying outside the ring. In the ring, Jeff injured his left knee, which Matt would work on. He hit a chop block and a series of moves. He tried a powerbomb, but Jeff countered it into a Compactor Clutch. Matt assaulted Jeff again with a Half Boston Crab. Jeff got to the ropes, breaking the hold, and kicked Matt to the outside. Jeff went to the top, but, because of his hurt knee, he fell down. Matt grabbed Jeff's leg but Jeff hit a mule kick. Matt tried a Twist of Fate, but Jeff countered it into a leg drop. Jeff hit a suplex, and went to the top rope again but, because of his knee, Matt took advantage and clutched him. Matt tried to hit a Twist of Fate but Jeff reversed it into his own. Matt attempted a pinfall on Jeff and used ropes for leverage but Lita ordered him to break it. Jeff went to the top rope again, but Matt caught him, and tried to hit him a Twist of Fate from the top. Jeff forced Matt off and hit a Swanton Bomb. Matt tried to get his feet on the ropes, but Jeff pulled them off, and won the match.
The fourth match was between The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley), and Big Show and Kane for the Dudley Boyz's WWF Tag Team Championship. Kane dominated in the beginning, and tagged in Big Show. Big Show also dominated, but as he attempted a chokeslam, Bubba Ray held the ropes and raked the eyes of Big Show. D-Von tagged in but received a sidewalk slam from Big Show. Big Show then hit D-Von with a series of hip attacks. Kane and Big Show dominated in the ring, knocking the Dudleys out of the ring. Kane went to the top rope and jumped to the outside, knocking out Dudleys. In the ring, Stacy Keibler tried to encourage the Dudleys, but The Big Show snuck up and pulled down her skirt. The Dudleys hit Kane with a double suplex and started working on him. They gave Kane a diving headbutt low blow, and a series of double-team maneuvers. They set him for the Dudley Death Drop but Kane kicked D-Von in the head and hit Bubba Ray with a clothesline. Kane tagged in Big Show, who tried to chokeslam D-Von but Bubba Ray hit him a chop block. Kane tried to hit D-Von with a flying clothesline