WWE: 8 Modern PPVs That Performed Miserably

6. Vengeance 2011 - 121k worldwide, 65k domestic

Vengeance 2011Top Matches: John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio (last man standing); Big Show vs. Mark HenryAwesome Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena Good matches: Big Show vs Mark Henry, Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger Okay matches: Dolph Ziggler vs Zach Ryder, Triple H & CM Punk vs The Miz & R-Truth, Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes, Sheamus vs Christian Lame matches: Beth vs Eve Vengeance 2011 finished 6th in the Wrestling Observer balloting for "2011 Worst Major Wrestling Show" behind 3 TNA Shows (Victory Road, Turning Point, No Surrender) and 2 WWE PPVs (Capitol Punishment and Night of Champions). It was held only three weeks after another poorly performing PPV, Hell in a Cell 2011 (98 domestic buys; 182k worldwide buys). With the top champions being Mark Henry and Alberto Del Rio, it's possible that WWE fans felt disconnected that the top stars weren't holding the top titles. Similar to TLC 2012, being the PPV prior to the Rock's wrestling return at Survivor Series 2011 (312k worldwide buys, 179k domestic buys) may have hurt Vengeance, though whether many casual WWE fans knew when the Rock was returning is questionable. It's also possible that fans were not interesting in seeing two Hell in a Cell 2011 rematches (Air Boom vs Swagger/Ziggler and Sheamus/Christian). Also, going from a hot triple threat Hell in a Cell main event (Cena/Punk/ADR) to just a Last Man Standing Stipulation (Cena/ADR) felt out-of-order to some. VENGEANCE 2011 VERDICT: Give this PPV a chance. There's a lot to love such as Big Show and Mark Henry destroying the ring and Awesome Truth being built up to face Cena/Rock.
 
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I'm a professional wrestling analyst, an improviser and an avid NES gamer. I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota and I'm working on my first book (#wrestlenomics). You can contact me at chris.harrington@gmail.com or on twitter (@mookieghana)