After a year of lackluster pay-per-view events, the card for WWE’s Armageddon 2008 show was very promising. Both the WWE and World titles were on the line, a four-year long rivalry was brought to a head, and the number one contender for the Intercontinental title was to be decided. Promising indeed, and the show actually lived up to the hype.
Opening the show was probably the least exciting match on the card, which was still a decent showing. It saw ECW champion Matt Hardy face off against the monstrous Russian Vladimir Kozlov. This match was the result of Hardy costing Kozlov a shot at the WWE championship a couple of weeks prior. Kozlov, Jeff Hardy (Matt’s brother) and Triple H were involved in a Beat the Clock series where whoever won their match in the least amount of time would go on to face Edge for the title at Armageddon. Jeff Hardy set the time of 12:13 in his match, then next up was Matt Hardy vs. Kozlov. Hardy took care to outlast the time limit so that his brother would advance. This match was a revenge match for that loss.
Furthermore, Kozlov attacked Matt Hardy during an interview segment and left the older Hardy brother laying after a vicious headbutt to the sternum. So blood was boiling and tempers were flaring as this match got off. And got off it did, surprisingly with Hardy taking the offense to Kozlov early on and throughout the match. However, Kozlov’s power was just too much for Hardy who, after hitting his head on the steel post, got headbutted in the sternum once more before Kozlov put the final nail in the coffin with a chokeslam like Sambo Suplex (similar to the famous “Rock Bottom”) for the win.
Whether this feud will continue beyond this one off match is hard to say, but something must be said for Kozlov pinning the ECW champion in this non-title bout.
Edge and Vicki and Chavo Guerrero are then seen backstage discussing how karma is a beautiful thing, referring to Matt Hardy getting pummeled after “falsely” accusing Edge of attacking Jeff Hardy prior to the WWE title match at the Survivor Series in November. Edge leaves to get ready for his match and Chavo prods Vicki to tell him about the attack. Vicki sticks to her guns denying the attack and sending Chavo off to fetch coffee.
Back out on the arena floor Tazz and Jim Ross ask fans to vote on who attacked Jeff Hardy via text messaging.
Then we headed backstage again for a brief encounter with Finlay who was telling his son Hornswaggle to stay in the back during his match later.
Next up was the culmination of the number one contender tournament for the Intercontinental title held by William Regal, who was at ringside with Layla for the match. This final pitted two popular face superstars in CM Punk and Rey Mysterio against one another for a shot at the coveted Intercontinental strap. One of the better matches of the night, this one got off to a fast start with a see-saw match as both competitors gained the upper hand early on. But it wasn’t long before Mysterio was countering everything Punk had to offer. False finish after false finish saw the two attempting, and at times landing, finishing maneuvers, but neither would give up. Finally, Punk was able to execute the GTS (Go-To-Sleep) on Mysterio, and in the process legitimately breaking his nose, or at least it appeared so as the crimson mask formed on the stunned Mysterio before our eyes. Punk took the win and will face William Regal for the IC title at a later date.
Following a Royal Rumble 2009 promo we head backstage once more to find Jeff Hardy, face painted and giving another cryptic promo ending with the inevitable, that he will be WWE champion at the end of the night.
Another video package airs next reliving the events that have been transpiring betwee JBL and the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels over the past several weeks. JBL had come out weeks prior and interfered in HBK’s match, attacking his opponent, much to the confusion of HBK and everyone watching. JBL later explained that he had given HBK an offer he couldn’t refuse. This lead to a confrontation between the two where JBL revealed that HBK had lost all his savings in the stock market fall recently, and JBL was his only hope at providing for his family. This brought us to Armageddon where JBL then came to the ring.
Once in the ring, JBL introduces his newest employee: Shawn Michaels. Michaels enters the ring and gives a very long-winded explanation as to why he had to take JBL’s offer, and then the two shake hands allowing the real show to continue.
Another interview segment takes place backstage with Eve interviewing Randy Orton. But before Orton could respond, Cody Rhodes and Manu interrupt and answer for him, selling Randy as the superior wrestler to Batista. Orton says nothing and walks away.
The Belfast Brawl is next, with Finlay facing off against Mark Henry, who is accompanied by Tony Atlas. The reason for Finlay asking Hornswaggle to stay backstage during the match is because of what occurred on ECW earlier in the week, with Mark Henry taking advantage of the situation and squashing Hornswaggle. So it’s just Finlay against virtually two men.
Things start off fast with Henry taking an early advantage, pummelling Finlay with power shot after power shot. It wasn’t until weapons were introduced that Finlay took the upper hand, but it was short-lived. Henry decimated Finlay with trash cans before Finlay finally grabbed the shelaliegh, which Henry subsequently grabbed and broke in half. The same thing happened with a kendo stick shortly after. But fortunately Hornswaggle ignored his father’s protests and came to ringside providing Finlay with an extra shelaliegh, which in turn gave Finlay the win.
The WWE’s annual Tribute to the Troops was promoted with a video package next.
It’s backstage again next as the Divas are decorating a Christmas tree when Santa Haas (Charlie Haas) walks in with presents. Santino and Beth Phoenix walk up and Santino begins taunting the Divas who he said wanted Beth’s Slammy for best Diva. Instead they would have to settle for the next gift, and Santino proceeded to reach in the bag for it. What he pulled out though was the Boogeyman, which resulted in Santino screaming in a high C and running for the door. At the door, though, he found another present in the form of Golddust standing under the mistletoe. Everyone else begins singing Christmas Carols as Mr. Kennedy walks in, freaked out, and does a quick, crazy promo for his new movie “Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia”.
Following this, another video package airs parallelling the careers and highlighting the feud between Randy Orton and Batista, starting back in their days with Evolution.
This, of course, is followed by the grudge match between the two. Early on, Rhodes and Manu got involved, but fortunately the referee sees this and sends them to the back. Now it’s just the two of them one-on-one. Orton launches some offense working on the Animal’s arm, but Batista quickly counters and brings the power game to Orton. Orton continues trying to launch a comeback, but Batista just continually overpowers him, even launching him over the rope causing Orton to grab for his shoulder, reliving his dreadful injury in a like manner against Triple H not too long ago. But the break was what Orton needed as he managed to gain the advantage on the outside and continued it in the ring, working on Batista’s neck. The two went back and forth after this, each hitting high calibur moves, but neither being able to finish the other off. In the end, Batista was able to power Orton up for a Batista bomb for the win. This feud is far from over, though, and one can not doubt that Orton will have some repercussion in mind for Monday Night Raw.
Yet another video package airs, this time highlighting all the Slammy Award winners this year.
Next is the Santa’s Little Helper 8-Diva tag match pitting Michelle McCool, Maria, Mickey James and Kelly Kelly against Natalia, Victoria, Maryse, and Jillian. The match was largely forgettable, though Kelly Kelly showed marked improvement. Her team had the advantage for most of the match and eventually won after McCool tagged herself in, much to the chagrin of her teammates.
After the match it was time for a special Khali Christmas kiss. After some deliberation, it was decided it would be McCool to kiss Khali, but the Diva Champ refused and ran from the ring. But Singh had a backup plan – a very special Diva for Khali to kiss. Cue the music for Mae Young! Khali was not pleased, but Mae certainly was as she leaped into the giant’s arms and planted a big one on him.
We take a look at Chris Jericho warming up backstage before a video package airs detailing the events that brought him and John Cena to their World Heavyweight title match.
Naturally, John Cena, World Champion, and challenger Chris Jericho fought next. Cena takes the fight to Jericho early on, but Jericho gives as well as he gets. Both went for their finishing moves several times throughout the match, but neither were able to score a victory. Cena managed to get free of the Walls of Jericho, and Jericho was able to kick out after an FU because Cena took too long to pin him. In the end, Cena caught Jericho in the STFU forcing Jericho to tap. Cena is still the champ, and we can be sure that Jericho isn’t going to be too happy on Monday Night Raw.
Another promo for the Royal Rumble airs. Then JR and Tazz bring up the text vote again and reveal that 65% of the voters think that Edge attacked Hardy.
Then we endure the last video package showcasing the events that transpired to bring us to the main event of the card.
The main event was for the WWE title, and was a triple threat match between champion Edge and challengers Jeff Hardy and Triple H. For weeks, Hardy and Triple H have been at each others’ throats, attacking each other from behind, turning on each other in tag matches, and just outright taking it to each other. Edge entered the fray at the Survivor Series after Hardy had been injured and was unable to compete. Edge came in at the last minute and won the title, and now the three of them would settle it once and for all.
Jeff starts off the match with a bang by diving on Edge before Triple H joins in and attacks Hardy. The three then put on the best match of the night with each throwing everything they could at one another. Hardy sent Triple H into the steel steps, Edge speared Hardy through an announce table, Triple H pedigrees Edge and so on. Kozlov came down and assaulted Triple H allowing Hardy to climb the ropes hoping to deliver the Swanton to Edge. But Kozlov pushes him off sending him flying to the outside. Edge then tried to do a one man conCHAIRto on Triple H, but Hardy grabbed the chair and clocked Edge in the head. Triple H covered Edge, but Hardy hit the Swanton on both knocking Triple H outside the ring. Jeff Hardy covers for the win and is now, for the first time and finally, the new WWE Champion!
All in all, this was one of the top three pay-per-views of the year for the WWE, vastly surpassing the abysmal Survivor Series the previous month.
