Vengeance 2011 Vengeance 2011 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by WWE that took place on October 23 , 2011 at the AT & T Center in San Antonio , Texas . It is the 12th event under the Vengeance / Night of Champions chronology and the first event under the Vengeance name since the 2007 edition . There were eight matches that were scheduled on the card . Background . The main rivalry from Raw involved WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio against former champion John Cena for the WWE Championship . At Hell in a Cell earlier in the month , John Cena lost his title to Alberto Del Rio after John Cena was locked out of the steel cell while Alberto Del Rio pinned CM Punk . A week later , recently instated Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis booked John Cena ' s rematch against Alberto Del Rio for Vengeance . On the October 17 episode of Raw , John Cena won a tag team match with Jim Ross to defeat Alberto Del Rio and Michael Cole and as per the pre - match stipulation , he chose the match at Vengeance to be a Last Man Standing Match . Another rivalry from Raw was between CM Punk and Triple H and The Miz and R Truth . At Night of Champions 2011 during the main event which was between the COO Triple H and Punk , Miz and Truth interfered and attacked both competers . the following night on Raw Triple H fired Miz and Truth ( kayfabe ) . At Hell in a Cell after the main event concluded which involved Punk Alberto Del Rio and John Cena for the WWE Championship in Hell in a Cell Miz and Truth came out from under the ring and attacked everyone in the cell ( with it still closed ) including superstar , refforees , and cameramen . The whole lockeroom came out to find a way into the cell . Eventually , they found pliers and got into the cell and Triple H attacked Miz and Truth . On the October 8th edition of Raw , Triple H was relieved from his duties of running Monday Night RAW ( though still COO ) and Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis was named Interim General Manager Of Raw and later that night made this match . The main rivalry from SmackDown involved World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry against Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship . At Money in the Bank , Mark Henry injured The Big Show via a steel chair when Mark crushed the chair on Big Show ' s fibula keeping him out of action for roughly four months . Afterwards , Henry defeated Randy Orton at Night of Champions to claim the first World Heavyweight Championship in his career , and defeated Orton once more at Hell in a Cell to retain his title . The Smackdown after Hell in a Cell , Big Show returned and began to attack Mark Henry demanding a title match for Henry ' s title . As Big Show was about to crush Mark ' s leg with a steel chair , General Manager Theodore Long said that if Show did not crush Henry ' s leg , he would get his title match . Show decided to give Henry a chair shot to the back , fearing that if he crushed Mark ' s leg , he would not get his World Heavyweight Championship match . A second rivalry from SmackDown involved Randy Orton and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes . Earlier in the month at Hell in a Cell , Randy Orton lost his World Heavyweight Championship rematch in a Hell in a Cell match against Mark Henry , while Cody Rhodes brought back the classic Intercontinental Championship title belt and then successfully defended it in an impromptu match against John Morrison . Rhodes would cost Randy Orton another World Heavyweight Championship match on the October 7 edition of Smackdown . On the October 14 edition of Smackdown , Randy Orton would get vengeance against Rhodes when he picked up a pinfall victory over Rhodes . On the October 17 edition of Raw , Cody Rhodes picked up a pinfall victory over Orton after interference from Mark Henry . It was then announced that Randy Orton would face Rhodes at Vengeance in a non - title match . The only rivalry on the Divas card was between Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix over the Divas Championship . On the 18th of October edition of Raw , Torres defeated Natalya to earn a shot at the championship . The following edition of Smackdown ! Torres interrupted Phoenix talking about the match , pushed her over and showed her ' ranty panties ' . The same night of their match Kelly Kelly was being interviewed ( because she is Eve ' s best friend ) on a WWE . com exclusive but was attacked by Phoenix and Natalya but Torres saved her . Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis announced that Kelly and Natalya were banned from ringside .