Vengeance 2004 Vengeance 2004 was the fourth annual Vengeance professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by American promotion , World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on July 11 , 2004 from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford , Connecticut and featured talent from the Raw brand . The main event was Chris Benoit versus Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship , which Benoit won by pinning Triple H with a roll - up . The predominant match on the card was Randy Orton versus Edge for the WWE Intercontinental Championship , which Edge by won pinfall after executing a Spear . The primary matches on the undercard included Matt Hardy versus Kane in a No Disqualification match , which Hardy won after he hit Kane with a steel chair to get the pin , and Batista versus Chris Jericho , which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb . The event grossed $ 370 , 000 with 7 , 000 ticket sales and had a 0 . 43 buyrate . Following the event , Benoit began a feud with Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship . The two would have a match at SummerSlam , where Orton would win the World Heavyweight Championship , and become the youngest World ' s Heavyweight Champion in WWE history . Edge went on to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Batista and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam . Kane and Matt Hardy continued their feud at SummerSlam in a " Till Death Do Us Part " match , where the winner would get to marry Lita . Kane was the victor , and as a result , Lita had to marry Kane . Background . The main feud heading into Vengeance was between Chris Benoit and Triple H , with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship . In January at the Royal Rumble , Benoit won the Royal Rumble match which earned him a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H at WrestleMania . At WrestleMania , Benoit defeated champion Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship . Benoit won the match by forcing Triple H to submit to the Crippler Crossface . At Backlash , Benoit successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship in another Triple Threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels , after he forced Michaels to submit to the Sharpshooter . Following Backlash , Benoit had a small feud with Kane , while Michaels and Triple H would finish their feud at Bad Blood . After Bad Blood , Triple H would demand another World Heavyweight Title shot . It would later be granted to him by General Manager Eric Bischoff to fight against Benoit at Vengeance for the championship . Event . Before the pay - per - view went on live . Tyson Tomko defeated Val Venis in a match on " Sunday Night Heat " , by pinfall after performing a Kick to the face . The first match was Tajiri and Rhyno facing Garrison Cade and Jonathan Coachman in a tag team match . Tajiri ' s team won after Rhyno performed a High impact shoulder strike , called a " Gore " , on Cade , which left Tajiri able to perform Spinning kick to the face on Coachman . Tajiri pinned Coachman to pick up the victory for his team . The second match of the night was the encounter of Batista and Chris Jericho . Batista gained the advantage early on , and put Jericho in a choke hold . Jericho countered the move by grabbing Batista ' s legs under his arms and turning him on his stomach , a move dubbed the " Walls of Jericho " . Near the end , the match went back and forth , but at the end Batista won the match after putting Jericho on his shoulders and slamming him down , while sitting down . Jericho had his foot on the bottom rope , which should have meant that the pin was illegal , but the referee didn ' t see it , and Batista won the match . The next match was Eugene and Ric Flair going up against champions La Résistance ( Róbert Conway and Sylvain Grenier ) for the World Tag Team Championship . The match started with Eugene using Flair ' s signature taunts to anger La Résistance , but La Résistance gained the advantage . Eugene got himself intentionally disqualified to finish the match after he pushed the referee . After the match ended , Eugene attacked both members of La Résistance . The next match was a No Disqualification match between Matt Hardy and Kane . The match started on the outside with Kane getting the upper hand , until Hardy hit him with a television monitor . Hardy attempted to grab Kane ' s head and slam him down through the Spanish announce table , called a " Twist of Fate " , but Kane countered by pushing Hardy off the table into the security wall . The end of the match came when Kane brought the steel ring steps into the ring , but Lita distracted him . Hardy hit Kane with a steel chair which ricocheted the steel steps off his face . Hardy then pinned Kane to win the match . The predominant match of the night was for the WWE Intercontinental Championship between Randy Orton and Edge . The match started off with Edge getting the upper hand , by locking in an armbar on Orton , and knocking him out of the ring . Near the end , Orton attempted to jump and grab Edge ' s head to slam him down , which Orton calls an " RKO " , but Edge countered by pushing Orton into the ropes . Edge then went to hit Orton with his shoulder , a move called a " spear " , but Orton jumped over Edge . Orton went for another RKO , but was countered into a backslide pin . Edge then executed a spear and pinned Orton to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion . The sixth match of the night was the encounter of Victoria and Molly Holly for the number one contendership for the WWE Women ' s Championship . The match was short , and ended when Victoria executed a high angle kick to the jaw and pinned Molly to earn the right to face Women ' s Champion . The main event was between Chris Benoit and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship . During the match , Benoit inadvertently knocked the referee out of the ring . Triple H then gave Benoit the Pedigree , but there was no referee to count the pin . Triple H then called out Eugene , and told him to get a steel chair . Benoit recovered and attacked Triple H , and knocked Eugene off the ring apron . Triple H then hit Benoit in the groin , which allowed Triple H to grab the steel chair . Triple H was going to hit Benoit with the steel chair , but Eugene stopped him , causing Triple H to attack him . Eugene got back into the ring and grabbed the steel chair , provoking a tussle between Eugene and Benoit for the chair . Benoit suddenly let go , however , which led to Eugene inadvertently hitting Triple H with chair . Eugene ran out of the ring , and Benoit to executed a Roll - up on Triple H , and retained the World Heavyweight Championship . Aftermath . The next night on " Raw " , Eugene apologized to Evolution ( Batista , Ric Flair , Randy Orton and Triple H ) , and Triple H told Eugene to go see Eric Bischoff . Bischoff booked a match between Chris Benoit and Eugene later that night for the World Heavyweight Championship . At the end of the match , Evolution then come out and attacked Eugene and Benoit . William Regal attempted to help Eugene , but was stopped by Evolution . The feud between Triple H and Eugene lasted until SummerSlam , where they had a match , which Triple H won by pinfall . On the July 26 edition of " Raw " , 20 men competed in an over the top rope Battle Royal to determine the number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam . Randy Orton won the match by last eliminating Chris Jericho . At SummerSlam , Orton faced Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship , which Orton won by pinfall after performing an RKO . On the August 16 edition of " Raw " , Orton defeated Chris Benoit in a rematch to retain the World Heavyweight Championship . After the match , Batista , Ric Flair , and Triple H , threw Orton a mock celebration , only to turn on him . Flair and Batista attacked Orton as Triple H told him that he was nothing without Evolution . On the August 23 edition of " Raw " , Triple H told Orton to give him the title or pay the price . Orton refused , spat in Triple H ' s face and hit him with the title belt . General Manager Eric Bischoff scheduled a match between Orton and Triple H for the title at Unforgiven . At Unforgiven , Orton lost the title when he was pinned by Triple H .