The 2002 Vengeance was the second annual Vengeance

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV) event produced by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

brand divisions. The event took place on July 21, 2002, at the

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. It was the first Vengeance event held under the WWE name, after the company had been renamed from World Wrestling Federation to WWE in May that year, as well as the first Vengeance held under the first brand extension. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

from SmackDown! saw The Rock win the

WWE Undisputed Championship The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling World championship (professional wrestling), world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American profe ...

in a

Triple Threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

also involving

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He first earned recognition for winning a Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, gold me ...

and the defending champion

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...

. The main event from Raw was between the champion

Rob Van Dam Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD) is an American professional wrestler. Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movemen ...

and challenger

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...

for the

WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, alo ...

, in which Van Dam retained his championship by disqualification. The

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

featured The Un-Americans (

Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadians, Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he works as a producer. He is best known ...

and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

) versus Hollywood Hulk Hogan and

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

for the

WWE Tag Team Championship The WWE Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE ...

Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 194 ...

versus

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name of Paul Wight. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) f ...

in a No Disqualification match and

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he is the current WWE Championship, Undisputed WWE Champion in his record 14th reign, which is ...

versus

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

in Cena's first PPV match.

Production

Background

In December 2001,

(WWE), at the time known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), held a

(PPV) event titled Vengeance to replace

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

that year as the Armageddon name was considered potentially offensive to the victims of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Following the company being renamed from WWF to WWE in May 2002, the promotion announced that Vengeance would return that year, but in the July slot of their PPV calendar—as Armageddon was reinstated for that December—thus establishing Vengeance as an annual event for the promotion, with the 2002 event also being the first Vengeance promoted under the WWE name. The 2002 event would also be the first Vengeance event held under the first

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this ...

that was introduced in March, in which the promotion divided its roster into two distinct brands, Raw and

, where the wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. The 2002 event thus featured wrestlers from both brands and was held on July 21, 2002, at the

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson and later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired Professional wrestling, profes ...

was featured on early promotional posters for the event, despite not wrestling or appearing at the event due to him walking out from the company the previous month.

Storylines

Vengeance featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on '' Raw'' and ''

'' –

's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers were from WWE's Raw and SmackDown! brands – a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name. The main

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

from SmackDown! heading into Vengeance was between The Rock,

and

fighting for the

. At King of the Ring, The Undertaker defeated

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

to retain the title. During the match, The Rock interfered hitting The Undertaker with a '' Rock Bottom''. The Undertaker, angry because of The Rock's interference, asked Mr. McMahon for a match with The Rock. McMahon booked the match for Vengeance and told The Undertaker that it was for the championship. On the July 4 episode of ''SmackDown!'', however, The Undertaker wrestled Angle to a draw in a WWE Undisputed Championship match, when The Undertaker pinned Angle and tapped out to Angle's submission hold at the same time. On the July 8 episode of ''Raw'', McMahon announced that Angle would be added to the match, making it a triple threat match. On the July 11 episode of ''SmackDown!'', The Rock made his return to confront Angle, who challenged him to a match the next week, only for The Undertaker to attack both The Rock and Angle. Later that night, as Angle teamed up with

against

and The Undertaker, The Rock hit the ''Rock Bottom'' on both Angle and The Undertaker. On the July 18 episode of ''SmackDown!'', The Rock defeated Angle by disqualification due to interference from The Undertaker. Angle then nailed The Undertaker with a chair. The main feud from Raw heading into Vengeance was between

and

for the Intercontinental Championship. The previous month at King of the Ring, Van Dam defeated Chris Jericho in the first semifinal match while Lesnar defeated

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

in the second semifinal match. Later that night, Lesnar defeated Van Dam in the finals become King of the Ring and earn the right to face the WWE Undisputed Champion at

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...

. Van Dam had held the Intercontinental Championship since the May 27 episode of ''Raw'' when he defeated

Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling ...

in a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself become ...

. On the June 24 episode of ''Raw'', Van Dam interrupted Lesnar's King of the Ring coronation by attacking him from behind and knocking him down with the '' Van Daminator'' and a diving superkick. Later that night, Lesnar faced Van Dam for the Intercontinental Championship in a match that Lesnar lost by disqualification when Lesnar's agent,

Paul Heyman Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former executive, promoter, and commentator. He is signed to WWE as the on-screen manager of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed, and is widely regard ...

, interfered. Afterward, Lesnar nailed Van Dam with two

powerbomb A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted (usually so that they are sitting on the wrestler's shoulders) and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a s ...

s, including one through the announce table. On the July 1 episode of ''Raw'', Lesnar and Heyman issued a challenge to Van Dam at Vengeance for the Intercontinental Championship, which Van Dam accepted. On the July 8 episode of ''Raw'', Van Dam brawled with Lesnar and Heyman, with Van Dam nailing Heyman in the face with a '' Van Terminator'' with a steel chair. Later that night, Van Dam chased

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

to the back while being distracted, allowing Lesnar to perform an '' F-5'' on Van Dam onto the steel ramp. On the July 15 episode of ''Raw'', Lesnar and The Undertaker defeated Van Dam and

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

in a tag team match. After the match, Lesnar attacked The Undertaker. Another storyline heading into Vengeance was Triple H determining what

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

he would permanently join. He could either stay on SmackDown! with the new

General manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Stephanie McMahon Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque ( ; ; born September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023. The daughter of Vince McMahon, Vince and Lind ...

or move to Raw with General Manager

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Booker, professional wrestling booker, promoter, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Sen ...

. Originally the New World Order (nWo) was planning to threaten Triple H to join the nWo if he joined Raw, but due to backstage circumstances, the nWo was written off television a week before Vengeance. Shawn Michaels, however, would still promise to bring Triple H to Raw. John Cena made his WWE debut a month before Vengeance on the June 27 episode of ''SmackDown!'' and had entered a minor feud with Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. Jericho and

were also feuding at that time. Their feud began on the June 6 episode of ''SmackDown!'' when Edge and Jericho were scheduled to compete in the King of the Ring first round tournament, but Edge forfeited his match to Jericho due to a legitimate shoulder injury that he suffered on the May 30 episode of ''SmackDown!'' in a

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

hitting Angle with a

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

. Jericho then forced Edge to raise his hand in victory, but Edge refused and tried to assault Jericho, who retaliated by targeting Edge's shoulder, including nailing his shoulder onto the steel ring steps with the steel chair. Edge and Jericho were booked for a match at Vengeance, until Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Edge defeated Billy and Chuck for the

on the July 4 episode of ''SmackDown!''. Later that night, Jericho had a match with Cena, which Jericho won after he pinned Cena with his own feet on the ropes. On the July 11 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Cena teamed with The Undertaker to take on Angle and Jericho in a tag match, which Cena and The Undertaker won after Cena pinned Jericho. Chris Jericho then asked Mr. McMahon to let The Un-Americans (

and

) to wrestle Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Edge for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Vengeance, to which McMahon agreed. On the July 8 episode of ''Raw'',

Jeff Hardy Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and also appears on partner promotion WWE on its NXT (WWE brand), NXT brand. He is re ...

defeated

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as the vice-president of Global Talent Development. He is also known for ...

to win the European Championship. Regal, upset after his loss, used his rematch clause at Vengeance. On the July 15 episode of ''Raw'', Hardy teamed with Bubba Ray and

Spike Dudley Matthew Jonathan Hyson (born August 13, 1970) is an American semi-retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his tenure in WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Spike Dudley. Prior to WWE, Hyson began performing ...

to take on Regal,

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit ( ; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, but is notorious for Chris Benoit double-murd ...

and

in a six-man tag team

elimination match Much like the Singles match (professional wrestling), singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, Hardcore wrestling, ha ...

. Benoit last eliminated Hardy by forcing Hardy to submit to the '' Crippler Crossface'' following a

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (also referred to as brass knucks, knuckledusters, iron fist and paperweight, among other names) are a melee weapon used primarily in Hand to hand combat, hand-to-hand combat. They are fitted and designed to be worn around the kn ...

shot by Regal, who had already been eliminated.

had been feuding with the nWo at the time of their demise after being kicked out of the group on the June 10 episode of ''Raw''. On the June 17 episode of ''Raw'', Booker T competed in the King of the Ring quarter final round against Brock Lesnar, who won following the interference from the nWo. On the July 15 episode of ''Raw'', Booker T defeated former nWo member

by disqualification after Big Show hit Booker T with a chair. After the match, Big Show asked Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff if he could fight Booker T in a no disqualification match at Vengeance, which Bischoff granted. On the June 6 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Jamie Noble debuted by attacking The Hurricane and was joined by Nidia. On the June 20 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Noble defeated

Billy Kidman Peter Alan Gruner Jr.(born May 11, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Billy Kidman. He works for WWE, where he is a producer. As a wrestler, Kidman is best known for his work with World Championsh ...

after he nailed him with a DDT off the top rope. Afterward, Hurricane got his mask back (that Noble and Nidia had taken from him the previous week) after nailing Noble with a

chokeslam A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerf ...

. Then at King of the Ring, Noble defeated Hurricane for the Cruiserweight Championship. The following three weeks on ''SmackDown!'', Kidman and Hurricane defeated Noble and Tajiri in two tag team matches and Kidman then challenged Noble to a Cruiserweight Championship match at Vengeance.

Event

Before the event went live on pay-per-view,

Goldust Dustin Patrick Runnels (born April 11, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes, with a nickname of "The Natural" and is a member of The Sons of ...

defeated Stevie Richards in a match aired live on '' Sunday Night Heat''. The show began with

Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator, sports announcer, and podcaster, better known by the ring name Jim Ross (often shortened to JR). He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he ...

and

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American retired color commentator and professional wrestler signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federati ...

until

Tazz Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967), better known by the ring name Taz (also spelled Tazz), is an American radio personality, color commentator, and retired professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a color commentator f ...

and Michael Cole said they deserved to call Vengeance just as much as Ross and Lawler should. Ross agreed and let Tazz and Cole call the first half of the show.

Preliminary matches

The first match saw

The Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team who consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley. The team was also joined by various Dudley Brothers, Dudley family members, notably ...

(

Bubba Ray Dudley Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971), known by his ring name Bubba Ray Dudley (also spelled Buh-Buh Ray Dudley), is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for being ...

and

) face

and

in an Elimination tag team tables match. Guerrero was eliminated by Spike after a Dudley Dog through a table. Spike was eliminated by Benoit after a Military Press Slam through a table. Benoit was eliminated by Bubba Ray after a Bubba Bomb through a table, winning the match for the Dudley Boyz. The second match was for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship between Jamie Noble and

. Noble pinned Kidman after a Gibson Driver to retain the title. The third match was for the

WWE European Championship The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWE Intercontinental Championships within short ...

between

and

. Hardy pinned Regal with a roll-up to retain the title. The fourth match was between

and

. Jericho attempted to apply the Walls of Jericho on Cena, but Cena countered with a roll-up to win the match, ending their feud. The fifth match was for the

between

and

. In the end, Lesnar attempted an F5 on Van Dam but Van Dam countered with a DDT and executed a Five Star Frog Splash on Lesnar. Van Dam attempted to pin Lesnar, but

pulled Charles Robinson out of the ring, meaning Van Dam retained the title by disqualification. After the match, Van Dam performed a Baseball Slide on Heyman and Robinson attacked Heyman. Van Dam attempted a Van Terminator on Lesnar, but Heyman stopped Van Dam and Lesnar performed an F5 onto a steel chair on Van Dam. The sixth match was a No Disqualification match between

and

. Booker T performed a Scissors Kick on Big Show through a broadcast table, another Scissors Kick and a Houston Hangover to win the match. A segment occurred involving SmackDown! General Manager

and Raw General Manager

trying to sign

to ''Raw'' or ''SmackDown!''. After

told Triple H he had an idea (referencing reforming

D-Generation X D-Generation X (DX), is an American professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stable, and later a tag team, who consisted of various members mostly Generation X wrestlers, most notably Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Ch ...

), Triple H decided to sign with the Raw brand. The seventh match was for the

between Hollywood Hulk Hogan and

and The Un-Americans (

and

). During the match, Edge attempted a Spear on Storm, but Edge accidentally speared the referee.

interfered, executing a Big Boot on Edge. Storm pinned Edge for a near-fall. Edge performed a Spear on Storm, but Christian distracted the referee, allowing Chris Jericho to interfere and hit Edge with a title belt. Storm pinned Edge to win the match and the title for The Un-Americans.

Main event match

The main event was a

Triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

for the

between

, The Rock and

. During the match, The Rock performed a Chokeslam on The Undertaker and applied an Ankle Lock on Angle, but Angle countered with a Rock Bottom on The Rock. Angle attempted an Angle Slam on The Undertaker, but The Undertaker countered with an Angle Slam on Angle. The Rock performed a People's Elbow on The Undertaker, but Angle pulled The Rock out of the ring and nearly pinned The Undertaker for a near-fall. Angle hit The Undertaker with a steel chair and performed an Angle Slam on The Rock, getting near-falls on both competitors. The Undertaker performed a Last Ride on The Rock, but Angle broke up the pinfall by applying an Ankle Lock on The Undertaker, The Undertaker escaped the hold. The Undertaker performed a Chokeslam on Angle and The Rock performed a Rock Bottom on The Undertaker for a near-fall. Angle performed an Angle Slam on The Undertaker and The Rock performed a Rock Bottom on Angle to win the title for a record seventh time.

Aftermath

After winning the

, The Rock then entered a feud with the number one contender

for the upcoming

event. Lesnar went on to win the match and become the youngest champion in the title's history. It was also the last match for The Rock as an active WWE wrestler, and his final reign as WWE Champion until winning the title at the

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

in 2013, prior to being a full-time actor in Hollywood.

and

came out the night after Vengeance and what appeared to be a reunion for

was instead Triple H turning heel and nailing a '' Pedigree'' on Michaels. This caused Michaels to retaliate and challenge Triple H to an Unsanctioned Street Fight at SummerSlam, marking his first official match since

WrestleMania XIV WrestleMania XIV, also promoted as WrestleMania dX raided, was a 1998 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; WWE as of 2002). It was the 14th annual WrestleMania and took place on March ...

. Michaels won the match, and Triple H attacked him after the match. The following night on ''Raw'',

decided to merge the Intercontinental Championship and the European Championship into one, putting

and

against each other in a ladder match. Van Dam won the match, and the European Championship was retired. On the next ''Raw'', Van Dam lost the Intercontinental Championship to

, who would then jump to the SmackDown! brand. Van Dam used his rematch clause for SummerSlam and brought the Intercontinental Championship back to Raw. After losing to

had to face

in a

on the July 25 episode of ''SmackDown!''. Edge won the match, and Jericho, along with The Un-Americans, moved to the Raw brand. Jericho then went on to feud with

and

began to feud with

and

, while

had a one-month feud with

. After his steel cage match win over Jericho, Edge began a two-month-long feud with

. After losing the triple threat match to The Rock,

was pinned by

Rey Mysterio Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as both one of the greatest '' luch ...

in a six-man tag team match on the August 8 episode of ''SmackDown!''. As a result, on the following episode of ''SmackDown!'', he challenged Mysterio to a match at SummerSlam to which Mysterio agreed. Although the 2002 Vengeance featured wrestlers from both brands, the following year, Vengeance was promoted as a SmackDown!-exclusive PPV.

Results

References

External links

Official Vengeance 2002 website
{{WWEPPV, Vengeance

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2002 in Detroit Professional wrestling shows in Detroit 2002 WWE pay-per-view events July 2002 in the United States