[7.0] "A solid show with plenty of ups and downs. The match of the night had to be the opener of Eddie & Benoit putting on a great show for the US Title. The main event was good as well with all three guys involved putting on great performances and Angle's title win definitely sent the crowd home happy. Sable/Stephanie was pretty rough and the Bar Room Brawl didn't do much for me but other than that this show was fun from start to finish. Solid 3 stars."

[7.0] "The McMahon matches were poor, but everything else was really enjoyable, especially the three title matches. Smackdown was running laps around Raw at this time, and I wish they'd stuck with it instead of slowly shifting all the stars to the red brand."

[9.0] "Not done with 2003 yet but I'm almost positive this is going to be the best non-Wrestlemania PPV of 2003. The main event ruled and overdelivered, Eddie/Benoit was fantastic and the WGTT vs Kidman and Mysterio match was top-notch as well. There are a couple of weak spots on the card but none of them overstay their welcome so I'm not gonna complain about them much. Also zero obnoxiously long in-ring segments like the last 3-4 PPVs have had in 2003. Loved this!"

[9.0] "Excellent PPV and a great snapshot of what Smackdown was all about in this era. Guerrero vs Benoit is a classic and as entertaining as it sound, the tag title match is phenomenal and the sleeper match on the card with Mysterio/Kidman vs Haas/Benjamin all at their very best. Undertaker vs Cena is a surprisingly rare PPV match and I absolutely loved the storytelling in this. A real breakthrough match for Cena even in defeat. Mr. McMahon vs Zach Gowen is more entertaining than expected and like last year it ends with an excellent triple threat match with Kurt Angle winning the WWE title against Brock Lesnar and The Big Show. Even for a single brand show, it is a stacked card and while there are a few weaker moments here, with a pretty meh APA brawl and Stephanie vs Sable being the weakest match on the card (though not really as bad as I thought it would be) none of them really detract the overall quality of the show."

[9.0] "An incredibly fun show and a great showcase of SmackDown. While Sable vs Steph is what you'd expect from them, everything else is highly entertaining. Eddie vs Benoit and Mysterio and Kidman vs WGTT are the matches of the night for sure, but everything else is good to great. Also, I think this is the only PPV to have an appearance from The Easter Bunny, so that probably counts for something."

[8.0] "It's incredible how much better SmackDown was than RAW back then. When RAW was more focused on dumb high school drama and Bischoff's awful segments with Austin SmackDown was delivering fantastic matches on their PPVs. Still, some stupid stuff found the way in as Sable vs Stephanie was one of the worst things that happened all year and Noble's angle with Torrie was awful, but the rest was really exciting and it felt like the matches mattered unlike at Bad Blood. So Guerrero vs Benoit was a phenomenal opener and the match of the night with Eddie finally looking like an up and coming main eventer, Bar Room Brawl was actually a stupid fun and Haas & Benjamin vs Rey & Kidman was a professional and enjoyable Tag Team Match with Mysterio impressing once again with his smooth work. Taker vs Cena had a very good idea for a story, but it went for a little too long, while Vince vs Gowen had a very well thought out structure and they were able to tell a really good underdog story that didn't insult anybody's intelligence. And then the main event didn't disappoint and even Show added something to the whole thing, making Lesnar's and Angle's encounter feel more special when they finally had the ring for each other. So this is how you do a PPV - good matches and not authority figures just having fun with each other for the entirety of the show."

[6.0] "This was definitely an above average PPV, and went a long way in trying to show Smackdown wasn't a B show compared to Raw in terms of in ring action. Even the matches you might expect to be terrible on paper come together decently enough to not drag the card down. And all of the matches you'd expect to be good were excellent. The bar brawl was really the only moment that seemed like wasted time. That could have easily been cut and given to other matches. Even show, this is a card that you can easily watch back and enjoy from bell to bell. There isn't too much more you can ask for from this show."

[7.0] "Fun show - Benoit/Guerrero, Mysterio and Kidman vs WGTT, and Lesnar/Angle/Show are all worth the watch. Angle getting a feel-good title win upon his return from injury is sweet. The Indecent Proposal stuff is an... interestingly aged feud to say the least but the actual match is solid, Steph/Sable is fine for what it is, the APA brawl thing takes its time to get going but has some fun bumps when it does, 'Taker/Cena is alright, Vince/Gowen pretty dull for the most part, picks up a bit towards the end but Gowen winning would've been better. Good watch overall."

[8.0] "Strong offering from SD's first brand exclusive PPV. My MOTN goes to the Tag Title match, but the opener and the WWE Title were very good as well. Cena-Taker was good, and Vince-Gowen worked well enough as a spectacle. Sable-Steph and Noble-Gunn weren't good, but were at least watchable as wrestling matches. Despite this, they still detracted from the PPV overall due to the awful, insulting storylines that they were part of, and the presentation and treatment women in both matches is very uncomfortable when viewed today. The APA Invitational was bad, saved only by a short run time. I would recommend skipping all three of these matches if you are looking to watch this show. The strongest parts of the event are definitely enough to earn this a high rating, but there was definitely room for improvement here."

[8.0] "This show was really good, and the only thing that I thought was offensive was the Stephanie/Sable match putting two non-wrestlers in the ring is inexcusable. Gunn vs Noble was solid, and the APA invitational was an interesting stipulation match . Vince vs Gowen was better than I expected it to be, and Cena/Taker was also a good brawl. Benoit/Guerrero, the 3-way, and the tag match were all really good with the tag match being the MOTN."

[3.0] "This had an impressive number of bad matches. MOTN was far and away the opener of Benoit vs Eddie. It told a good story of Eddie trying to grind Benoit down, throw out cheap shots, and outwrestle him, but Benoit's natural intensity was too great to keep him down. Their technical exchanges were all very good, their later big-move trades were all similarly impressive, and they sold and bumped for everything expertly. Even the 'sports entertainment' antics at the end were genuinely entertaining because of Eddie's natural charisma. This is literally the only match definitely worth watching on this whole show. ***1/2. Noble vs Billy had a trashy and moronic backstory, and the match itself was devoid of anything interesting. Too short to properly rate. NR. The APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl was charmingly stupid, being such a goofy WWE gimmick match that I couldn't help but somewhat enjoy the mindless chaos of it all. Good dumb fun. Another match too short to rate. NR. Haas & Shelton vs Kidman & Mysterio was a bit disappointing but still quite good. There was a strong heels-vs-babyfaces dynamic to hold the match together. Mysterio bumped well, sold well, and hit all his spots perfectly. Kidman was a bland character but still decent with his in-ring. Haas and Shelton were nicely aggressive and powerful, with solid tag work as well. Nothing absolutely 'must-see' but still quite enjoyable. ***1/4. Stephanie vs Sable wouldn't be suitable even if it was only in a high-school gym in front of 5 people. This had 0 chemistry, 0 athleticism, and simply nothing remotely good. Those 6 minutes felt like 20. 1/2*. Cena vs Taker was a super boring brawl that just went on and on without any creativity or interesting developments. Neither man had any interesting or convincing offence or selling. **1/4. Gowen vs McMahon was really, really, really bad. Their work was moderately fine at points, but the visual of a match between a 60-year-old non-wrestler musclehead and a one-legged twig of a guy was impossible to take seriously. The entire storyline was embarrassingly forced with how heavy-handed Gowen's victim narrative was at the hands of "evil" Vince McMahon, making Gowen actively unlikeable.*. Lesnar vs Angle vs Show wasn't the main-event to save this show, since it was yet another bad match. It featured the same tired WWE main-event structure of heavy brawling, weapon attacks, and finisher spam, plus all the old 3-way tropes thrown in for extra boredom. Show was lifeless with everything he did, but even Angle and Lesnar felt quite restrained in their interactions. **. That run of final 4 matches was absolutely brutal, with the matches there ranging from bad to outright awful, completely ruining the show's relatively strong first half with the good US Title and Tag Titles matches. Watch those and literally nothing else."

[9.0] "This was an awesome show all around. Eddie vs Benoit (****1/2) was MOTN, this is their best work together in the WWE and it was amazing. The tag title match (****) was great with both teams coming out of it looking amazing, and McMahon vs Gowen (**1/2) wasn't too remarkable but still pretty entertaining. The main event Angle vs Lesnar vs Big Show (****) was a great way to end the show, with everyone involved doing great work and Angle scoring a really feel-good victory after returning from injury. All in all this was an amazing show."

[6.0] "Pros: - triple threat match for WWE Championship (match of the night); - Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit; - World's Greatest Tag Team vs Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio; - The Undertaker vs John Cena; Cons: - Jamie Noble vs Billy Gunn; - invitational bar room brawl; - Sable vs Stephanie McMahon; - Vince McMahon vs Zach Gowen; In conclusion, Vengeance 2003 was an average show where great matches were followed by wasteful ones."

[9.0] "This was an awesome show. Three fantastic matches and a solid undercard. What a show. BEST TO WORST: WGTT vs Kidman/Mysterio [****1/2], Guerrero vs Benoit [****1/4], Angle vs Lesnar vs Big Show [****1/4], McMahon vs Gowen [***1/4], Steph vs Sable [**1/2], Billy Gunn vs Noble [**]."

[8.0] "Opener) **** The perfect opener to pump up the crowd 2) *** Jamie Noble was amazing, just perfect for that gimmick 3) Cheap angle but effective 4) **** 2002/2003 were the golden era of the tag championship: no matter if it was a TV show or a PPV, the matches were always amazing. 5) It sucked of course, but this wasn't about quality so I won't rate it. Oh, that referee made the best heel turn of 2003 by giving his shirt to Sable. 6) ***1/4+ Good young vs veteran, John looked good in even in defeat 7) ***1/4 One of the best matches in Vince's career, for sure the best without weapons. 8) ****1/4 Great main event, these 3 guys had a great chemistry. Easy the best - non Mania - PPV of 2003."

[9.0] "Very good show overall! I can honestly say I liked every match, except Stephanie/Sable I suppose. Even the Bar Room Brawl was good for what it was. The tag match was narrowly match of the night by Benoit/Eddie, Taker/Cena, Vince/Gowen (yes, that one! ) and the main event brought an awful lot to the table."

[9.0] "Amazing PPV, one of the highlights of the utterly drab year of PPVs that was 2003. Great from start to finish and very little filler apart from a Sable vs Stephanie match that didn't really need to be here (the match could be worse though) and an overly long McMahon vs Gowen match but even that has its high points. Everything else is brilliant. Three **** worthy matches in one show is nothing to scoff at and the Taker/Cena match that some people still can't remember exists is thankfully a great match. The APA invitational is a fun little car crash of a hardcore brawl and even Noble vs Gunn is a solid little 5 minute undercard match. Everything on the card is good in some way (even Sable vs Stephanie if you can overlook the obvious lack of wrestling ability) and it ranks up there with WrestleMania 19 as one of the best PPVs of the year. Recommended watch from start to finish."

[8.0] "There is something strangely brilliant about the way this whole card plays out, the match order and variety of characters and action coming together in a highly entertaining package that will please fans of both great in-ring action (the opener, the Tag Titles match, and the main event) and of extreme, ridiculous, and borderline offensive "sports-entertainment" (Vince McMahon vs. Zach Gowan and, with its high spots and blood, the main event again). Sable/Stephanie is a bad match, but it does nearly descend into "so bad-it's good" territory, while Noble/Gunn, if you ignore the highly offensive premise of the match, is actually really well-wrestled, maybe the perfect distillation of the card itself. Cena/Taker is a fun match to revisit knowing where Cena's career would go and that, despite ten more years in the company together, they'd never wrestle again on PPV even though this match proves they could've easily put on an all-time classic."

[9.0] "Highly enjoyable show and my pick for WWE Show of the year in 2003 as this was fantastic and an easy watch through. Eddie/Benoit was a classic, Tag Title & Cena/Taker were awesome! The WWE Ttitle 3 way was really good and the Bar Room invitational was very enjoyable IMO. The rest is skip able as it's just boring in my view and not worth viewing. Tremendous show that I highly recommend viewing."

[8.0] "The 3 title matches were good, my favourite was the rag team match. Everything else on the show was not very good though and prevented this pay per view from being an outstanding show with the exception of John Cena vs. Undertaker which was a fine match. Thumbs Up"