Vengeance (2003)

The 2003 Vengeance was the third annual Vengeance professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown! brand division. The event took place on July 27, 2003, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card. The main event was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship, in which Kurt Angle defeated reigning champion Brock Lesnar and Big Show to win the championship. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard where WWE Chairman Vince McMahon defeated Zach Gowen and The Undertaker defeated John Cena.

Vengeance had an attendance of approximately 9,500 and received about 322,000 pay-per-view buys. This event helped WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $6.2 million from the previous year.

Vengeance was an annual pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 2001. While the 2002 event had featured wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown! brands, the 2003 event, however, was promoted as a SmackDown!-exclusive PPV, only featuring wrestlers from that brand. The 2003 event was the third event in the Vengeance chronology and was held on July 27 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

The event featured nine professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWE script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. All wrestlers were from the SmackDown! brand - a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees, with storylines produced on the brand's weekly television show, SmackDown!.

The main event at Vengeance featured WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defending the title against Big Show and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match. The buildup to the match began four months prior at WrestleMania XIX, where Lesnar defeated Angle and won the WWE Championship, as Angle underwent neck surgery afterwards. Two months later at Judgment Day, Lesnar defeated Big Show in a stretcher match to retain the title. On the May 29 episode of SmackDown!, Big Show teamed up with Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli and defeated The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. On the June 5 episode of SmackDown!, Angle returned and Big Show attacked him, but Lesnar came to save him and challenge Big Show to a title match. On the June 12 episode of SmackDown!, during the match between Lesnar and Big Show, the ring collapsed, causing the match to end in a no contest. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown!, the two had a rematch but The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) attacked Lesnar, making Angle and Mr. America to run for the save, only for Big Show to chokeslam all of them. On the June 26 episode of SmackDown!, the six men fought in a tag match where Big Show pinned Mr. America to win the match for his team. On the July 3 episode of SmackDown!, Lesnar and Angle cost Big Show a handicap match against Stephanie McMahon and Zach Gowen. On the July 10 episode of SmackDown!, Big Show chokeslammed Angle and teamed up with The World's Greatest Tag Team to defeat Lesnar. On the July 17 episode of SmackDown!, Angle defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team and Big Show by help from Zach Gowen. On the July 24 episode of SmackDown!, Gowen teamed with both Lesnar and Angle against Big Show and The World's Greatest Tag Team, and Big Show won for his team by chokeslamming both Lesnar and Angle.

One of the featured preliminary matches was Zach Gowen versus Vince McMahon in a singles match. The hype to this match began on the May 22 episode of SmackDown!, where Gowen, whose left leg was amputated when he was eight years old due to cancer, said that he wanted to wrestle for the WWE. McMahon, however, ordered police to arrest him. On the June 5 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon challenged Gowen to get a WWE contract by beating him in an Arm Wrestling contest. On the June 12 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon kicked Gowen's leg in order to win the contest. On the June 26 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon agreed to give Gowen a contract, but only if Gowen joined McMahon's "Kiss My Ass" club. Gowen low blowed McMahon. McMahon attacked Gowen and booked him and Stephanie McMahon against Big Show, with Gowen getting a WWE contract if they won. On the July 3 episode of SmackDown!, Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle helped Gowen and Stephanie win the match and earn his contract. On the July 10 episode of SmackDown!, while Gowen signed his contract, McMahon made a match between Gowen and himself for Vengeance. On the July 24 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon attacked Gowen during his match with Lesnar and Angle against Big Show and The World's Greatest Tag Team.

The other featured preliminary match was The Undertaker versus John Cena in a singles match. The buildup to the match began on the June 26 episode of SmackDown!, where Cena celebrated a year in the WWE. He fought Orlando Jordan and defeated him, but attacked him after the match, making The Undertaker run down for the save. On the July 3 episode of SmackDown!, The Undertaker cost Cena his match against Billy Gunn in the WWE United States Championship tournament. On the July 17 episode of SmackDown!, Cena and The Undertaker brawled in the ring. On the July 24 episode of SmackDown!, Cena taunted The Undertaker, rapping about him in a cemetery.