10 Great Matches From WWE Vengeance PPVs

It was recently rumoured that WWE are considering bringing back old PPV names to coincide with the upcoming draft split and, wouldn't you know it, WWE have confirmed that a Clash of the Champions special will take place in September. Other rumoured returnees include Backlash and No Mercy.

I, for one, look forward to the return of old PPV names/concepts. There's something so much cooler about, say, Fully Loaded or No Way Out than there is Fastlane or Battleground (even if they all sound like 80s B movies). One event I'd like to see return in particular is Vengeance, which ran from 2001 to 2007.

Vengeance was introduced to the WWE pay-per-view schedule in December 2001, because WWE felt as though the name 'Armageddon', which had been WWE's December PPV the previous two years, was a little too harrowing in the wake of 9/11. Vengeance was much more uplifting, it was reasoned, and besides, a lot of supercard matches have to do with one guy avenging something, so why not?

Over the next six years Vengeance became one of WWE's stronger B level pay-per-views, whether it was dual-branded or Raw or Smackdown exclusive. There has been genuine history at the event, with the crowning of the first-ever WWE Undisputed Champion and United States Champion (in 2001 and '03), but were either of those the consequence of 'great' matches?

Having revisited all seven Vengeance pay-per-views, I have identified 10 great matches for you to seek out on the WWE Network.

Vengeance 2003 was easily one of the best single-brand pay-per-views ever (it was in fact the first ever Smackdown-exclusive PPV). Boasting great matches up and down the card from a motivated and hardworking roster, it was a real gem when it could have just as easily been a humdrum affair.

One of the sleeper matches that evening was the WWE Tag Team Title match between the Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team, who had recently split from Kurt Angle, and the team of Rey Mysterio and the Billy Kidman, former Filthy Animals who were stalwarts of WWE's cruiserweight division.

The babyfaces dazzled early on, hitting the amateur wrestling standouts with all manner of high-flying moves. At one point, Kidman even busted out the rarely-seen Shooting Star Press to the outside, before TWGTT cut him off and began working him over with their fluid tag team attack.

Billy eventually came back because YOU CANNOT POWERBOMB KIDMAN TWICE, allowing Rey to come in like a Mexican house on fire, dizzying Haas and Benjamin with his lucha offense. Kidman gave Rey an assist for a hurricanrana for a very close near fall which had everyone in the arena thinking that was it.

In the end, however, a clever blind tag from Shelton Benjamin allowed the Minnesota man to pin Mysterio following a powerbomb/springboard clothesline combination. There was a lot of action in this unsung, 15-minute match. It's well worth checking out on the Network if you have a quarter of an hour spare.