Search - WWE: Tagged Classics - The Great American Bash 2004/Vengeance 2004 on DVD

What A Strange Summer For The WWE

R.A. McKenzie | New York | 07/16/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Yikes! We're in trouble here...

"SmackDown" produces one of the weirdest PPVs in the history of the company, and "RAW" fails to live up to its excellent TV shows for their July PPV. Someone's gotta get their hands dirty, so here we go:


*****GREAT AMERICAN BASH 2004*****
The WWE decided to bring back the acclaimed WCW milestone event after a 5-year absence. And they couldn't have picked a more bizarre event to do it. Every trick was pulled out of the hat, and very little of it worked.

To be fair, there are two excellent matches on this PPV.
First is a fantastic Cruiserweight Title Match between Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. While not quite as great as their "No Way Out 2004" encounter, it blows their 2006 matches out of the water. The crowd was a little quiet, but who cares? It's just too bad that this one is also on Mysterio's "Biggest Little Man" 3-disc set.

The other worthy contest is the Texas Bullrope Match between JBL and Eddie Guerrero (the WWE champion). While not as gruesome as their "Judgment Day" match (it's still the bloodiest match I ever saw), this rematch is much better. The bullrope allows for unique offense and strategy from both men, and the four-corners stipulation was utilized well. The action was stiff and rough, and the finish was a great example of how to anger an audience while keeping them happy. It's just too bad that this great match began 9 months of JBL as WWE champion. Man, those were some poor months.

The rest of the card is almost a complete waste of time.

Let's get right to it:
The main event was a Handicap Match to determine whether Paul Bearer was to be murdered or not. WHAT!? That's right, Paul Heyman tried to convince Undertaker to lose to The Dudley Boyz in order to forever control the "Dead Man". What resulted was a dull contest with Heyman occasionally yelling into the microphone to break up the action. And after Undertaker manages to defeat the bad guys, and stop Heyman from emtombing Bearer in a Concrete Crypt....... Undertaker sadly kills him anyway. O-Kay.

The opener is a basic Elimination Match for the US Title; with the likes of Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Rene Dupree, and John Cena, you'd think that they could've come up with something better than a bunch of one-on-one skirmishes. There's almost no multi-man action. Oh well, at leat it's sensible strategy.

Charlie Haas is forced to wrestle Luther Reigns after ticking off GM Kurt Angle. The two created a decent contest together. I suppose another marquee match would be Torrie Wilson against Sable in USA bikini attire. Too bad it's among Torrie's worst matches, and THAT is saying something.

What it comes down to is that "Great American Bash 2004" is a bland, dark, and strange PPV. Ultimately, it's boring except for two Match-of-the-Year candidates.
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*****VENGEANCE 2004*****
"SmackDown" was having a rough year in the WWE after the draft, but "RAW" was actually producing some good events and TV shows. It makes "Vengeance" all the more disappointing, considering what the brand was capable of.

Matt Hardy and Kane had a boring angle involving Lita, and their No-DQ Match was proof of that. I can't believe WWE included this on the "Twist of Fate" 2-disc set for the Hardys. Definitely not a good showcase for these two talented performers.

Victoria against Molly Holly in a #1 Contender Match should've been incredible. Instead, it was sloppy and uneventful.

Even Evolutions's four matches on the card didn't meet expectations.
Chris Jericho was dominated in a punch/kick/headlock match against Batista. Jericho is a legend, and Batista was putting on good performances before his first title win months later, so I don't know what happened here.

Ric Flair was teamed with Eugene to challenge La Resistance for the World Tag Team Titles. Flair is hilarious when he's upset, and Eugene was kinda funny at this point. But this match showed how poorly developed the tag division was, and it was mainly used to portray Evolution's attempt to dominate "RAW". Intriguing, but forgettable.

Where I find the most problems with "Vengeance 2004" is with the IC Title Match between Edge and Randy Orton. First off, having Orton end his 7-month reign agaisnt Edge (already a three-time IC champ) was pointless. There was no reason for Edge to hold the belt, especially because he got injured shortly after winning it. But more importantly, the match is just too slow-paced, and not in a good way. I can understand that maybe I expected too much of a crazy back-and-forth contest between these younger talents. But it seemed that Orton was deliberately ignoring the "BORING" chants just to tick us off. Overall, it's a decent match, but I think it's less well-received than some reviewers would have you believe.

Thankfully, the main event is an excellent World Heavyweight Championship match with Triple H and champion Chris Benoit. For almost 30 minutes, these two warriors used smart old-school wrestling to battle for the gold. It might be a little patience-testing seeing HHH keep the advantage over Benoit for the length of time that he does, and some may frown at Eugene being the key factor in the finish. But otherwise, I think it's the best one-on-one between Chris Benoit and Triple H, and they had some pretty good ones together.

But the main event isn't enough to justify buying "Vengeance". It looks like a great card, but it's not even close. "RAW" had a great TV show in 2004, but their PPVs began to falter for the rest of the year. Also, considering this PPV series had some great moments --- (Jericho winning the Undisputed Title in 2001, or my all-time favorite Tag Team Match from 2003, or the Match-of-the-Year candidates from the other years) --- the 2004 event doesn't measure up.
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Let's keep this clear: There are 3 fantastic matches from this two-PPV set, and the rest is forgettable at best. I suppose "Great American Bash 2004" is so bad that you should watch it just to see how puzzling a PPV broadcast can get, but "Vengeance 2004" is just lifeless.

Bottom line, skip this set. I give this 2 stars for the 3 Match-of-the-Year candidates. Otherwise, you better be a completist."