The Hardys vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch. This was a good opener, a solid, Southern-styled tag match. Murdoch and Cade - the incoming champs - work together well as a team and have developed effective heel personas. The Hardys are their usual fun selves in this one, proving once again that they have more to offer than the suicidal acrobatics that they're known for.

Chavo Guererro vs. Jimmy Wang Yang. An okay but fairly pedestrian cruiserweight match. Not too much high-flying or mat wrestling, this felt like something they could've given us on Smackdown.

CM Punk vs. Johnny Nitro. Johnny Nitro's cocky heel tricks are a gas, and he's not a bad wrestler either. His fast-paced offense and nifty submission holds keep everything interesting here; Punk holds up his end admirably. The end does kind of come out of nowhere, but its a nice surprise and would mark the beginning of a fun feud in ECW.

Umaga vs. Santino Marella. A quick squash, not much fun in and of itself but important in the long run to build up Umaga as a credible threat. This kind of thing had gone out of style for awhile, and its good to see the WWE using it again. Even if the match itself doesn't have much to sink your teeth into.

MVP vs. Ric Flair. I'm still not sold on the greatness of MVP - I think it has something to do with the fact that he insists on wearing that ugly singlet - but Ric Flair does what he can to make him look good, actually bumping quite a bit for a guy who's pushing 60. Flair's been wrestling the same match since about 1981, so you probably know if you'll like this or not. I thought it was just okay.

Deuce & Domino vs. Sgt Slaughter & Jimmy Snuka. Jeez, speaking of old guys, Slaughter and Snuka hobble to the ring like they were Statler and Waldorf, and I'm sad to say that they don't have much more to offer in the ring. Poor Deuce and Domino have to slow their style way down in order to make this work, and it still doesn't. Has there ever been a "bring-the-old-geezer-back" match that's ever been any good?

Batista vs. Edge. I thought I didn't want to see this match-up again after Judgment Day and One Night Only, but this turned out to be my favourite of the three. Somewhat by-the-numbers, this was a solid match with a beginning, middle and end, nice selling, nice offense, nice everything. I actually wouldn't mind Edge vs. Batista IV now.

Candice Michelle vs. Melina. At least they seemd to be trying for an actual match. Still this was pretty lame: some attempts at submission moves in the beginning, a few bumps and then an ending out of nowhere. Hopefully the WWE will continue to build female wrestling for awhile, but this was fairly dull.

Mick Foley vs. Bobby Lashley vs. John Cena vs. King Booker vs. Randy Orton. Killer main event. The nice thing about these everybody vs. everybody matches is that a fast, violent pace can be maintained pretty easily. It doesn't descned into shapeless mayhem the way that some of these have done, but manages to stay focused and exciting for the duration. My one complaint: a bit too short.

The DVD

Video
All WWE shows are shot on video, and the image quality relfects that. This looks good overall, without a lot of artifacing or pixelation, but it will never look as good as a film image. But that's par for the course for sports (or even "sports entertainment") events. Vengeance, like most other WWE releases, is presented in the 1.33:1 full-frame ratio.

Audio:
This disc sounds great, the Dolby 5.1 reproducing the roar of the crowd, the strikes, the impact on the ring and the commentary track with great gusto. A Spanish-language track is availible as well.

Extras:
Extras for Vengeance include interviews with Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda, Magnum T.A., Harley Race, Dean Malenko, Ricky Steamboat and Tony Garea & Rick Martel. All of these guys were present at ringside during the show itself.

Final Thoughts:
This was a fun show with two tremendous main events and some good matches on the undercard as well. It must have been a blast to see this live, and the crowd is pretty hot all the way through. Tell your friends to bring the beer and pizza, as I can wholeheartedly Recommend this one.