Check out the WWE Night of Vengeance poster. Are you serious???? Both Mickey James and Chris Jericho are clearly pulling the old Shawn Michaels… “I’ve just stepped on dog-turd, and I’m about to meet the in-laws for the first time…whaddya do?” facial expression. The others featured, less so. Particularly Matt Hardy, who is dabbling with a more mild-mannered exterior.

Ahh, hello, and welcome to another edition of the rambling “Throwing in the Towel” column. With Night of Champions on the horizon, I thought it only apt to mention it somewhat. But instead of offering some insight as to what I think will happen, or should (that can come later), I thought I’d question its very existence, and remember the happier days of “Vengeance”.

Night of the Champions is a terrible, woeful, short-sighted, nonsensical product of Vince McMahon’s ass. Inept in conception, its ultimate legacy surely stands to become the PPV which destroys the other “B-Shows”, and renders them all redundant. It sprouted its ghastly legs forth from the comfortable body of another PPV, “Vengeance”.

Initially, it was just a sub-title, an unnecessary add-on to a usually successful show. The WWE you see, were well aware that their 2007 offering, was coming together to be about as exciting as a Best of Hardcore Holly DVD. Okay, that’s maybe harsh. Holly’s had at least enough good matches to fill ohhhhh, one disc. Thus, it became “Night of Champions”.

Seeing as that cheap notion popped (pooped?) a buy-rate (why fans…why!) the powers-that-be insanely decided to ditch Vengeance, and make it “Night of Champions” on a more permanent basis. Now, it’s set to be an annual concept show, akin to TNA’s horrible Lockdown show.

Good lord. It just doesn’t work, when you don’t even pretend that rivalries don’t grow organically, and storylines don’t develop at their own pace. It doesn’t work when self-imposed constraints such as the booking of this one are already set in place. Plus, the titles in question are devalued when the can fill a whole Pay-per-view.

Nothing feels important, and things have to occur, regardless of how much television time is to be filled each week. And what of those belts that aren’t included? My goodness, they, their legacies, and those that carry them, all look like fools. The worst aspect of all this madness is that as I mentioned, the importance of all the other shows is diminished, because this is the one that revolves around the belts, whereas the others, do not necessarily.

Is it really worthwhile to jeopardise all your other B-shows, for the sake of this one?

On the other hand, we have the original Vengeance. Ahhh yes, Vengeance. It sure gave is some scintillating moments didn’t it? Thanks to falling in the calendar well after the dizziness of Wrestlemania, (I should mention that the original 2001 show took place in December, and was a temporary name for Armageddon following 9/11.

It seems they liked the title enough to use it regularly, replacing the admittedly dire name of Fully Loaded) It seems to have served as the show which places all the pieces for the annual Summerslam bash. Seemingly aware that they lose direction in the may-June months, the WWE always seem to have relied on Vengeance to give themselves that well-deserved kick in the rectum.

The first to appear in Sequence, in 2002, was actually, an appalling effort. But it did serve to advance numerous storylines, and begin the formation of Summerslam. The year following was a Smackdown only effort and it was a fabulous breath of fresh air (especially compared to some of the subsequent Brand-specific outings).

Again, foundations were laid, as Kurt Angle returned to the company to win the WWE title, Eddie Guerrero won the US Title which had been revived, and at the very least, fresh faces and situations were in place elsewhere. The same could be said of the year that followed, as it for good or bad, freed up Randy Orton as a fresh main eventer, removed HHH from the title picture placing him in a fun match with Eugene, gave Batista something to do, and unexpectedly kick-started Edge’s eventual heel turn.

One thing was for sure, it certainly changed the course from where Wrestlemania had set out on.

In 2005, the WWE treated us to a scintillating show. Boasting only 6 matches, it sure didn’t look a stunner on paper. Maybe sensing this, the company threw in an unhyped Shawn Michaels/Kurt Angle match, which helped seal the deal for the wary such as myself. After all, a dull Batista/HHH match at Backlash did little to offer anticipation for their Hell in a Cell bout on this card.

Likewise, the bad-taste storyline involving Edge/Lita and Kane didn’t excite the taste buds much, which left initially, only the WWE title triple threat (contested between Jericho, John Cena, and Christian), as the big draw. In execution, any fears were trampled, as both title matches, the IC bout, the HBK/Angle match, and even the women’s encounter, surpassed expectation. It was a glittering show.

By contrast, 2006 promised much, and only delivered in small doses. The main bout, a DX tag match, was an artificial, soulless exercise, as was the much-hyped dud between Ric Flair and Mick Foley.

Kane versus Kane was as pointless as you get in 2006, and it was left to Edge versus Rob Van Dam, and a wonderful Intercontinental title bout, to save the day.

But, at the very least, when one finished viewing this show, there was a sense of contentment as to where we were going. With Sabu enjoying some quality Television time, RVD and Angle on top of ECW, and the abandonment of the two Kanes story, there was much to look forward to, or so it seemed…

And that brings us to last year’s finale, the average-at-best abomination that killed Vengeance as we knew it.

Hopefully, Night of Champions this summer fails miserable to ignite the audiences’ attentions, and the WWE go back to the drawing board. Fresh stars, storylines, and building attractive PPV matches that makes one want to spend money on, isn’t rocket science.

But by creating oddly restrictive and blatantly counter-productive canvases such as the one they’re currently drawing on, they certainly make it seem as if it is. In 2009, I’d be happy to simply have a Vengeance show more like that of 2005.

In Memory of another Lost PPV, here are ten great matches that I recommend from Vengeance’s history…

1.Triple H vs. Batista (2005)

Still one of the finest performances of Big Dave’s career, this was a battle that completely obliterated the views of us critics who cynically sneered at their third successive PPV encounter. It didn’t look especially dazzling on paper. And the finish, Hunter reclaiming the World title, was as predictable as punch. But that proved not to come to fruition.

Instead, Big Baps retained in a shocking upset, following a genuinely thrilling battle. Epic, vicious, satisfying, and at times, innovative, this is the sort of Main Event Hunter absolutely excels at. I also whole-heartedly recommend you investigate some of his other Sledgehammer tarnished bouts, especially against The Undertaker at WM 17, in order to fully appreciate the absolute genius of this bouts’ finish.

2. The Rock vs. Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle (2002)

Another unexpected treat. It didn’t exactly squeal, “BUY THIS PPV” at me, as the top-liner six-years ago, but perhaps that was more to do with the rest of the show being, well, a whole load of brown sauce.

This encounter saved the show, and is indeed, a complete roller-coaster. Non-stop action, this is one of the earlier examples of the high-tempo triple threats that you may be familiar from the past couple of years from the WWE (the recent Hunter/Orton/Cena Mania match being a shining example). Plus, it’s always nice to see The Rock in these nostalgic efforts.

3. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels (2005)

Okay, so the hype for this one completely blew. But the match speaks for itself. Greatness indeed.

4. Chris Jericho vs. The Rock (2001)

Chris Jericho had one heck of a groovy pony-tail in 2001. Turning heel, and feuding with the Rock, he could have taken the time-honoured approach favoured by so many heels… and let… yep, his chest hair grow. Luminaries such as AJ Styles and Kurt Angle have recently sported this villainous trait, which many will recall was also preferred by Ted Dibiase and a young Shawn Michaels.

However, showing true Y2J innovation, Chris instead dyed the tail of his lovely locks a heinous red colour. A clear heel characteristic if ever I saw one. The “do” was so impressive I copied it myself, and of course, improved upon it.

I believe it was this outrageous act of coolness that led Jericho to have a succession of winning performances against the Rock through late 2001. This, accompanied by the (also) highly recommended Steve Austin/Jericho match was The King of the World’s path to the Undisputed Title. Un-missable.

5. Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit (2003)

Sometimes, it’s relieving that the WWE just allow two great talents to go out and simply work a fantastic twenty minute match. That’s what happened here, as these two, a little shy of their historic World title victories, were floundering in the mid-card. Enjoying the best matches on Smackdown on almost a weekly basis, they were seldom rewarded with the opportunity to showcase exactly what brought each man to the dance. Admittedly, hard to watch now, but worth doing so.

6. John Cena vs. Christian vs. Chris Jericho (2005)

As if to confirm that Vengeance 2005 was one of the finest PPV’s of the year, here arrives yet another quality tussle from that particular show. Some complained that the inclusion of Chris Jericho somewhat diluted the impact of Christian’s promotion to main-event stardom (including Christian himself), but it’s foolish to do so.

Christian wasn’t a “chosen” main eventer; he was passing the time thanks to fine crowd reactions, as a brief pit-stop for Cena on route to something “bigger”. Jericho’s insertion into the feud made it that much spicier, and added a much-needed dimension to this WWE title match. It’s a wonderful assortment of well-planned spots, perfect chemistry and WWE-style storytelling at its finest.

Oh and will Christian (Cage) end up back in the WWE? Yes, of course he will.

7. Randy Orton vs. Edge (2004)

Poorly booked Championship victory for Edge here. He just should not have dethroned Orton. As if thumped on their cranium’s by a hail of frogs from above, at some point in mid-2004, it donned on those intellectuals in creative, that Randy Orton was the longest running Intercontinental Champion in years.

So what does one do in that instance?

You would perhaps suggest they turn this into an exciting story, as young heel Orton grows cockier as his reign continues. Fans become more and more infuriated by his narrow victories that nonetheless show his abilities, frustrating them to the point where everyone continues to pay for tickets to see him lose.

The WWE of course, did follow this pattern, umm for like a month. What happened next is another story…. That aside, this was a hugely entertaining effort which whipped the crowd in Connecticut into a complete frenzy, as these two reminded us what the IC belt is all about.

8. Undertaker vs. John Cena (2003)

This is the infamous bout that saw the entire world infuriated that Taker did not put over young Cena, who was a hot rising star at the time. It was probably a sensible move, as it was certainly too soon for The Chain gang err, soldier take that step. Still, a surprisingly thrilling match-up, and one that genuinely still raises a hair or two on the ol’ neck.

9. Carlito vs. Johnny Nitro vs. Shelton Benjamin (2006)

A quality Intercontinental title triple threat that makes me mourn the fact that Chris Jericho is currently waltzing around with a belt clearly “beneath” him that stars of his level don’t “need” to challenge for. The strap is custom made for talents like these three to contest fast-paced, exciting, but still grappling-orientated affairs. Worth checking out for sure.

10. World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio (2003)

Though Vengeance played host to a few other battles that undoubtedly warranted inclusion on this list, I wanted to include this one in recognization of the fact that good tag wrestling does exist somewhere within the WWE. Obviously, with the talent on show, this is pretty much, a can’t miss match. But it also enjoyed, gasp…. Something of a storyline Amazing, I know. Oh yeah, ridiculously entertaining match too.

What the hell, here are a couple other great Vengeance bouts that I nearly shoved in the list….

Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (2001)

Chris Benoit vs. Triple H (2004)

A shining example of how to deliver a combination of ridiculous storylines as well as quality in-ring action.

Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle (2006)

Although the reincarnation of ECW has absolutely sucked, from the very moment that the very first episode was broadcast, there was a few bright sparks throughout the initial storylines.

One of these was Kurt Angle’s transition into the more serious competitor that he became upon entering TNA, before TNA started screwing around with his character. As an ECW representative, Kurt was super-aggressive and an intensely motivated tweener, who delivered the odd quality moment. This was one of those.

A quality, if short encounter that revolved around mat-wrestling, it kicked off the poor 2006 show with a misleading bang.

Rob Van Dam vs. Edge (2006)

Sometimes, variety is exactly what the doctor ordered. That happened to be the case here, as fans loved seeing RVD on top as WWE Champion. Not booked to close the show (this daft PPV was built around the reunion of DX), these two enjoyed a lack of pressure, and had a pleasing encounter indeed. Then RVD was busted on the road with some recreational substances. Sigh…Rob….

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I welcome any and all feedback and I can be contacted at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc or simply by emailing me at michael@wwepreview.com. I look forward to hearing from you, and will be back soon!