Another primary match on the undercard was Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels in a rematch of their bout at WrestleMania 21.

Vengeance was an annual pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 2001.

[6] The event featured six professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines.

Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match.

All wrestlers were from the Raw brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other being SmackDown!.

The main feud heading into Vengeance was between Batista and Triple H, with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship.

[9] On the May 23, 2005 episode of Raw, Batista faced Edge, who had won the tournament to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.

[14][15] The other main feud heading into the event was between John Cena, Chris Jericho and Christian, with the three battling over the WWE Championship.

tenure came to an end when he became the first wrestler selected by the Raw brand General Manager, Eric Bischoff, in the draft lottery.

[18][19] Later that night, Cena and Jericho were placed in a tag team match and faced off against Christian and Tyson Tomko.

On the May 30 edition of Raw, Christy Hemme won a bikini contest; defeating Victoria, Candice Michelle, Maria, and Lilian Garcia.

[22] On the June 20 episode of Raw, it was announced in a backstage interview that Hemme and Victoria would face each other at Vengeance.

[23] Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Rosey and The Hurricane (with Super Stacy) defeated The Heart Throbs (Antonio and Romeo) in a match taped for Sunday Night Heat.

Control of the match went back and forth, but the bout came to an end when Victoria countered Hemme's sunset flip.

[25][26] The main event was a Hell in a Cell match between Batista and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship.

During the match, Triple H choked Batista with a chain and repeatedly hit him in the back with a steel chair wrapped with barbed wire.

[28] Immediately after their Hell in a Cell match as an exclusive to WWE Home Video, Triple H (with Ric Flair) and Batista encountered backstage to put their differences aside and embraced with Triple H quipping "This is Evolution, baby", referring to their past as a stable, which had disbanded until 2014.

General Manager Theodore Long scheduled a six-man elimination match between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), The Undertaker, Muhammad Hassan, Chris Benoit, Booker T and Christian, in which the winner would receive the SmackDown!

[29][30] On the July 7 episode of SmackDown!, it was revealed that the match between JBL and Batista would take place at The Great American Bash.

[33] Following Vengeance, Eric Bischoff vowed to make John Cena's stint on Raw difficult.

[36][37] After a successful tag team win at Backlash, in which Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan defeated Muhammad Hassan and Daivari.

[8] Michaels and Hogan were placed in tag team match against Kurt Angle and Carlito on an episode of Raw.

On the July 11 episode of Raw, Hardy, who at the time was unemployed by WWE,[42] made a surprise appearance, interfering in a match between Edge and Kane.

The duo defeated Masters and Carlito; after the match, Triple H turned on Flair and hit him with a sledgehammer marked the end of Evolution after more than two years since 2003.

At Taboo Tuesday, Triple H and Flair met in a Steel cage match, a stipulation chosen by the fans, for the Intercontinental Championship.