Armageddon (2005)
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Promotional poster featuring Batista
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| Information | ||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | |||
| Brand(s) | SmackDown! | |||
| Sponsor(s) | Microsoft | |||
| Date | December 18, 2005 | |||
| Attendance | 8,000[1] | |||
| Venue | Dunkin' Donuts Center | |||
| City | Providence, Rhode Island | |||
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||||
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| Armageddon chronology | ||||
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Armageddon (2005) was the sixth Armageddon professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by Microsoft's Xbox 360, and took place on December 18, 2005 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island and was a SmackDown! brand-exclusive event.[2]
The main event was a Hell in a Cell match between Randy Orton and The Undertaker, which Undertaker won by pinfall after performing a Tombstone piledriver.[3] One of the predominant matches on the card was an Interpromotional tag team match between WWE Tag Team Champions Batista and Rey Mysterio and World Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane. Big Show and Kane won the match after Kane pinned Mysterio following a chokeslam.[4] Another primary match on the undercard was Booker T versus Chris Benoit in the fourth match of their "Best of 7" series for the vacant WWE United States Championship. Benoit won the match after forcing Booker to submit with the Crippler Crossface, thus earning his first victory in the series.[4]
Contents
Background
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The event featured six professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers belonged to the SmackDown! brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other being Raw.
The main event at Armageddon was fought in a Hell in a Cell match stipulation between The Undertaker and Randy Orton. The buildup to the match began at WrestleMania 21, where The Undertaker defeated Orton, a Raw superstar at the time, in an Interpromotional match.[5][6] On the June 16 episode of SmackDown!, during the third annual WWE Draft, a mock sports draft lottery in which wrestlers switched programs, Orton was drafted to the SmackDown! brand. At the August pay-per-view event, SummerSlam, Orton defeated The Undertaker, where he pinned him after performing an RKO following interference from his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. This led to a Handicap Casket match between Undertaker and Orton and his father at No Mercy. At the event, Orton and his father defeated Undertaker, and set the casket, which Orton locked Undertaker in, which was scripted to be on fire. The proceeding month, at Survivor Series, the Undertaker returned and attacked several SmackDown! superstars following a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match between Raw and SmackDown!. Orton, who won the match for SmackDown!, was able to escape the attack.
The pay-per-view event featured the buildup of a rivalry among two tag teams, a group of at least two wrestlers. The two groups were Batista and Rey Mysterio versus Big Show and Kane. On the November 11 episode of SmackDown!, an Interpromotional Street Fight match was scheduled between Batista and Edge.[7] Edge, who earlier in the night, pleaded to Batista not go through the match. Batista, however, declined to cancel the match.[7] Outside the arena, General Manager Theodore Long was outside talking to Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, who had just arrived to the show. As Long and Bischoff were talking, Chris Masters showed up and grabbed Long from behind and placed him in a full nelson submission hold, which he calls the Master Lock.[7] After the assault on Long, Bischoff and Masters got into a limousine and drove away from the arena. Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) got into JBL's limousine and followed Bishoff and Masters. Inside the arena, Kane and the Big Show showed up and chokeslammed Batista.[7] The chokeslam resulted in Batista legitimately injuring his back.[8] On the November 21 episode of Raw, one of WWE's primary television programs, SmackDown! superstars, Batista, Randy Orton, JBL, Rey Mysterio, and Bobby Lashley, arrived to the show's arena. The Raw superstars met the SmackDown! superstars and a brawl broke out between both rosters. The fight led to Kane and the Big Show to double chokeslam Batista on top of a car, which was scripted so that Batista could attend to his injury.[9] On the November 25 episode of SmackDown!, Batista was scheduled to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Orton in a No Holds Barred match. Batista retained his title after the Raw roster showed up to the arena and began a fight with the SmackDown! roster. Kane and the Big Show double chokeslammed Batista into the announcer's table.
Event
Pre-show
Prior to the pay-per-view, Jamie Noble defeated Funaki on Sunday Night Heat, which aired on Spike TV.[10][11]
Main card
The first match of the night on the main card was a singles match between Matt Hardy and JBL (with Jillian Hall). Before the match began, JBL cut a promo on Rhode Island and Matt Hardy. JBL harped on the fact that Hardy's now ex-girlfriend, Lita, cheated on him. JBL would then criticize him for making the break-up public. He was soon cut off by Matt Hardy, who came through the crowd and attacked him. JBL would have most of the offense for the entire match, since at the beginning of the match, Hardy got caught up, neck first, between the top and middle rope, and stayed there for a little while as JBL proceeded to choke, punch and kick his head in. After attacking Hardy for a few minutes, JBL illegally ripped off a turnbuckle pad, sent Hardy into it and delivered a Clothesline From Hell for the win.
In a backstage segment, The Mexicools (Psicosis and Super Crazy) walked up to Melina and told her that they will cancel the match they have with MNM, as long as Melina does to them what she did to Batista. She told them that they were sick and walked away.
The second match of the night was a tag team match between The Mexicools (Super Crazy and Psicosis), and MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (with Melina). Psichosis and Crazy did many high-flying moves, landing a corkscrew as well as a tope con hilo over the referee's back. Melina got involved, tripping up Psichosis and taking away his momentum. MNM used their double teaming tactics to wear down Psichosis, keeping him isolated from making the tag. Once the tag was made, Crazy controlled most of the offense for the rest of the match. Melina tried to get involved again, but was sent down for her troubles. Crazy hit a moonsault on Joey Mercury, but the pinfall was broken up by Johnny Nitro, leading to The Snapshot for the win.
The third match of the night was match four of a best of seven series match for the vacant WWE United States Championship between Booker T (with Sharmell) and Chris Benoit. There were tons and tons of chops and suplexes from both wrestlers. They seemed to be a little off their game however, floundering a bit at times. Several Crossface attempts, as well as a low blow/scissor kick combination from Sharmell and Booker all came back negative. With Booker down, Benoit went for a Diving headbutt, only to come up with a two count. Benoit once again went for the crossface, this time Booker rolled through and hit referee Jim Korderas. Benoit was quick to his feet to apply the Sharpshooter, forcing Booker to tap. The only problem was that the referee was out. Sharmell came in and hit Benoit with the broom, but that didn't faze him. As he went to take care of Sharmell, Booker came from behind and attacked, setting up for the Book End, which was reversed into a DDT and topped off with a Crossface for the victory.
In another segment, SmackDown's GM Teddy Long and Palmer Cannon made their way to the ring. Long thanked all the fans for their support in making SmackDown! number one. Cannon took the mic and said that since it is the holiday season, he has a treat for everyone. He brought out Big Vito as Santa Claus and Nunzio as an elf. The duo handed out lumps of coal to everyone including Michael Cole. Once in the ring, the two began requesting all sorts of title shots. Cannon denied their requests, but offered them a different gift. The Boogeyman made his way to the ring and destroyed the FBI. Nunzio was thrown shoulder first into the ring post, who then ran away. Vito tried to charge in, but caught the stick into the midsection and a pump handle slam. The Boogeyman then lit his stick, and as the smoke poured out, he waved it over the Santa Claus bag and opened it up as worms poured out everywhere. He took a bite himself and then shoved a handful down Vito's throat before leaving.
In a backstage interview, Randy Orton stood by with Kristal and cut a promo on how he is the master of the mind games. He showed off The Undertaker's urn before leaving to prepare for his match.
The fourth match of the night was Bobby Lashley vs William Regal and Paul Birchill in a 2 on 1 Handicap Match. An big time squash match that saw a little double teaming from Regal and Burchill, but mostly a power display from Lashley. Lashley used the Dominator on Burchill to secure himself a win.
In another interview, at the Friendly Tap, Josh Mathews was standing by with Friendly Tap owner and former WWE official, Tim White. White wasn't answering any questions, rather just drinking beers and drowning his sorrows. They showed a clip of the Hell in a Cell match from Judgment Day in 2002 that put him out of commission. When asked how he was doing, White talked about how his wife left him, how he lost all his friends, and how he developed all these medical problems. He then pulled out a rifle and told Josh Mathews to leave. Mathews agreed as White walked away with the gun. From there the most disturbing thing on Armageddon took place. With screams from Josh Mathews, a gun went off, signifying what could only be the suicide of Tim White.
The fifth match of the night was for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship between Kid Kash and defending champion Juventud. Near the end of the match, Kash went for his trademark springboard moonsault, but caught a pair of knees to the midsection. Juventud then hit a huge huricanrana off the top rope, and planted Kash with a Juvi Driver for the two count. Juvi missed the front flip leg drop and was leveled with the Dead Level brainbuster by Kash for the win and the title.
The sixth and final match on the night on the main card was an Interpromotional Tag Team Champions vs Champions match between WWE Tag Team Champions Batista and Rey Mysterio, and World Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane. Each team demonstrated their strength, with Mysterio being the only man out of place. The match evolved into a brawl, with Batista and Big Show wrestling over the announce table, as Mysterio delivered a 619 to Kane. He went for the West Coast Pop, but was caught in midair and was planted with a chokeslam for the three count.
Main event
The main event of the night was a Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Randy Orton (with Bob Orton). The match started off slow with Orton playing the coward, ducking 'Taker's punches and running scared. Orton was able to use his quickness to score a few key hits, but 'Taker countered with a boot to the face. Once the fight spilled out to the floor, all bets were off. A chair shot to the skull of Orton busted him wide open. With Orton bleeding, 'Taker went right to work on the gash, grinding Orton's face across the steel mesh. 'Taker then found a chain buried underneath the ring and proceeded to use it as a choking instrument, driving the air out of Orton's body, but Orton was able to turn things around later on and choke The Undertaker until he turned a nice shade of purple. After a shot to the head via the steel steps, Undertaker found himself tasting his own blood, and not necessarily liking it. Orton followed up with a thunderous chair shot of his own, taking Undertaker off his feet. "Cowboy" Bob Orton tried to intervene, but found himself on the receiving end of a boot to the face that sent the cage back at him, in the process lacerating him above the eyebrow. The younger Orton came back with repeated shots, eventually setting up a table and splashing Undertaker through it. However that was not enough to put 'Taker away, Orton took some more jabs, taunted a little and was nearly put away with a Last Ride. Orton escaped and ducked a punch that caught referee Nick Patrick, busting him open as well. As referees and EMTs came down, the door was left open for Bob Orton to enter. Randy then hit an RKO, but there was nobody to make the count. Once a count by referee Charles Robinson was started, it only came out to a two. The Undertaker got back to a vertical base and planted Randy with a Last Ride that was broken up by Bob. 'Taker went outside the ring, grabbed Bob and proceeded to pound the daylights out of him. 'Taker went for a Tombstone on Randy, but it was reversed as Randy hit 'Taker with a devastating Tombstone for a two count. Bob tried to get involved again, but was once again stopped thanks to a hard blow from 'Taker. 'Taker regained his urn and used it to crack the Ortons in the face. A couple of Tombstones later and both men were laid to rest as The Undertaker stood atop the cell, urn in hand and victorious.
Aftermath
In the "Best of Seven" series, Booker T ended up winning the vacant WWE United States Championship on the January 13, 2006 edition of SmackDown in Philadelphia, with the help of Randy Orton. The feud between Randy Orton and The Undertaker ended in the Hell in a Cell match after the feud ran for about nine months. Batista and Rey Mysterio, who were the WWE Tag Team Championship holders at the time, lost the title to the team of MNM after Batista suffered a legitimate injury in early 2006, sidelining him for up to seven months. Big Show and Kane continued to reign as World Tag Team Champions until April 2006.
Results
| No. | Results[4] | Stipulations | Times |
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| 1H | Jamie Noble defeated Funaki[1][12] | Singles match | 03:30 |
| 2 | John "Bradshaw" Layfield (with Jillian Hall) defeated Matt Hardy | Singles match | 06:44 |
| 3 | MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (with Melina) defeated The Mexicools (Super Crazy and Psicosis) | Tag team match | 08:55 |
| 4 | Chris Benoit defeated Booker T (with Sharmell) by submission | Singles match; match four of a best of seven match series for the vacant WWE United States Championship | 20:09 |
| 5 | Bobby Lashley defeated William Regal and Paul Burchill | Handicap match | 03:38 |
| 6 | Kid Kash defeated Juventud (c) | Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship | 09:25 |
| 7 | World Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio and Batista | Tag team match | 08:37 |
| 8 | The Undertaker defeated Randy Orton (with Bob Orton)[3] | Hell in a Cell match | 31:05 |
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References
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