Vengeance 2003 Vengeance 2003 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) and presented by Eidos Interactive ' s " Tomb Raider : The Angel of Darkness " , which took place on July 27 , 2003 at the Pepsi Center in Denver , Colorado . It was the third annual Vengeance event and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown brand . Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event ' s card . The main event was a No Disqualification Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship , in which Kurt Angle defeated WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and The Big Show to win the championship . Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard . In a standard match , WWE Chairman Vince McMahon defeated Zach Gowen . The other was a standard match in which 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 . Background . 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 . The main event at Vengeance featured WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defending the title against The Big Show and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match . The buildup to the match began four months prior at Wrestlemania , where Lesnar defeated Angle and won the WWE title , as Angle went through a neck surgery . Two months later at Judgment Day , Lesnar defeated Big Show in a streatcher match . At May 29 on an episode of Smackdown , Big Show teamed up with Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli and defeated The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar . On the June 5 , 2003 episode of Smackdown , Angle returned and Big Show attacked him , but Lesnar came to save him and challenge Big Show to a title match the next week . However , during the match , the ring collapsed . The following week during Smackdown , the two had a rematch but Team Angle ( Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas ) attacked Lesnar , making Angle and Mr . America ( Hulk Hogan ) to run for the save , only for Big Show to chokeslam all of them . The next week , the six men fought in a tag match where Show won by pinning Mr . America . However , the week after that , Lesnar and Angle cost Show a match against Zach Gowan . On July 10 , 2003 during an episode of Smackdown , Show chokeslammed Angle and teamed up with Team Angle to defeat Lesnar . The next week , Angle defeated Team Angle and Big Show by help from Zach Gowen . At the July 24 , 2003 Smackdown , Gowan teamed with both Lesnar and Angle against Show and Team Angle , and Show won by chokeslamming both . One of the featured preliminary matches was Zach Gowan versus Vince McMahon in a singles match . The hype to this match began on May 22 , 2003 during an episode of Smackdown , where Gowan , who ' s left leg was amputated when he was eight years old , said that he wanted to wrestle for the WWE . Vince McMahon , however , ordered police to arrest him . Two weeks later , McMahon challenged Gowan to get a WWE contract by beating him in an Arm Wrestling contest . The week after that , McMahon kicked Gowan ' s leg in order to win the contest . Two weeks later , on the June 26 , 2003 episode of Smackdown , McMahon agreed to give Gowan a contract in the WWE , but only if Gowan will join McMahon ' s " Kiss My Ass " club . Gowan low blowed McMahon . Later during the program , McMahon attacked Gowan and booked him and Stephanie McMahon against the Big Show the next week , with Gowan getting a WWE contract if he will win . Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle helped Gowan to win the match and earn his contract . During the next week ' s show , while Gowan signed his contract , McMahon made the match for the event . At the July 24 , 2003 episode of Smackdown , McMahon attacked Gowan during his match with Lesnar and Angle against Show and Team Angle . The other featured preliminary match was The Undertaker versus John Cena in a singles match . The buildup to the match began on June 26 , 2003 during an 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 . The next week , Undertaker cost Cena his match against Billy Gunn in the US Title tournament . Two weeks later on Smackdown , Cena and Undertaker brawled in the ring . On the July 24 , 2003 episode of Smackdown , Cena taunted the Undertaker , rapping about him in a cemetery .