Armageddon (2008)

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Armageddon
Promotion
World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
ECW
DateDecember 14, 2008
CityBuffalo, New York
VenueHSBC Arena
Attendance12,500[1]
Buy rate193,000
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous
Survivor Series
Next →
Royal Rumble
Armageddon chronology
← Previous
2007
Next →
Final

The 2008 Armageddon was the ninth and final

HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. It was the first and only Armageddon PPV broadcast in high definition. In 2009, the event was replaced by TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs
.

Seven

Batista
in a standard wrestling match.

Armageddon helped WWE earn US$15.9 million in revenue from pay-per-view events, thanks to an attendance of approximately 12,500 and 193,000 pay-per-view buys. When the 2008 event was released on DVD it reached a peak position of second on

Canadian Online Explorer
website rated the entire event a perfect 10 out of 10.

Production

Background

The event was held at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York.

Armageddon was established in 1999 as World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) December pay-per-view (PPV) and was held every year except in 2001.[2] The 2008 event was held on December 14 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. It was the ninth event in the Armageddon chronology and featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands.[1] This was also the first Armageddon PPV broadcast in high definition.

Storylines

Armageddon featured seven professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and

storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to the television program of the same name.[4]

The main

Spear. Next, Hardy surprisingly ran into the ring and attacked Edge. Hardy then grabbed a steel chair, returned to the ring and knocked both Triple H and Kozlov with each chair shot to the head. As Hardy was about to nail Edge with the chair, Edge countered by spearing Hardy then capitalized, by covering Triple H for the win and won his 6th World Championship. SmackDown general manager, Vickie Guerrero announced on the November 28, 2008 episode of SmackDown that Triple H, Hardy, and Vladimir Kozlov would compete in a "Beat the Clock" challenge to gain the opportunity to face Edge at Armageddon for the title.[5] In a Beat the Clock challenge, wrestlers compete in separate individual matches and whoever wins their match in the fastest time wins the competition. The first contest saw Hardy defeat The Brian Kendrick in 12:13.[5] Kozlov fought in the second encounter against Matt Hardy, but failed to defeat him in under 12:13, thus being eliminated from the challenge.[5] The last match-up pitted Triple H against Shelton Benjamin, which ended with Triple H gaining the fall at exactly 12:13. As a result of the tie, neither man was announced as the contender for the championship.[5] One week later on the December 5, 2008 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that the WWE board of directors had decided Edge would have to defend the title against both Triple H and Hardy at Armageddon.[6]

Batista in a Triple Threat match to earn a title match against Cena at Armageddon.[8]

On the November 24 episode of Raw,

Rey Mysterio were the victors.[9] In the second round, Punk defeated Morrison and Mysterio defeated Kingston, resulting in Mysterio and Punk both qualifying for the finals at Armageddon.[9]

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
English
Commentators
Michael Cole (Raw)
Jerry Lawler (Raw)
Jim Ross (SmackDown)
Tazz
(SmackDown)
Todd Grisham (ECW)
Matt Striker (ECW)
Spanish Commentators Carlos Cabrera
Hugo Savinovich
Backstage
interviewer
Eve Torres
Ring announcers Lilian Garcia (Raw)
Justin Roberts (SmackDown/ECW)
Referees Mike Chioda
Marty Elias
Chad Patton
Mike Posey
Aaron Mahoney

Pre-show

Before Armageddon began, a

John Morrison and The Miz and the team of Jesse and Festus, which Morrison and The Miz won.[1]

Preliminary matches

The first match of the event was between Matt Hardy and Vladimir Kozlov. Kozlov executed a chokeslam to gain the pinfall victory.[10]

The second match was the finals of the

Go To Sleep to win the tournament.[11]

shillelagh and hit Henry with it to win the match.[12]

Manu. The end came when Batista executed the Batista Bomb to win the match.[13]

The fifth match was an

Natayla. The match ended quickly with McCool getting a pinfall victory over Hall after the Faithbreaker.[14]

Main event matches

The sixth and penultimate match on the card saw John Cena defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Chris Jericho. Cena attempted an FU on Jericho but Jericho countered the move into a Codebreaker for a near-fall. Cena executed an FU on Jericho for a near-fall. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho on Cena but Cena escaped the hold. Cena forced Jericho to submit to the STFU to retain the title.[15]

The main event saw

spear on Triple H, but Triple H avoided the move, and Edge executed a spear through a broadcast table on Hardy. Triple H executed a Pedigree on Edge, but Vladimir Kozlov interfered and pulled Triple H out of the ring, voiding the pinfall. Kozlov attacked Triple H, but Matt Hardy stopped Kozlov. In the end, Triple H performed a Pedigree on Edge, but Hardy executed a Swanton Bomb on Edge, causing Triple H to roll out of the ring, and pinned Edge to win the title.[16]

Reception

The HSBC Arena has a maximum capacity of 19,200,

Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the event a perfect ten out of ten.[19] Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch rated the main event match for the WWE Championship 4 and a quarter stars out of 5.[15] He went on to state that the match was a "really satisfying main event and it's the finish WWE dared not do for a long time."[15] He rated the match for the World Heavyweight Championship 3 and a quarter stars out of 5 and proclaimed he thought it was a "good match".[15]

Sony Music Entertainment released the event on DVD on January 13, 2009,[20] and it reached second place on Billboard's
DVD Sales Chart for recreation.

Aftermath

After Armageddon on the January 2, 2009 episode of SmackDown, Vickie Guerrero announced that Jeff Hardy would defend the WWE Championship against Edge at the WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view.[21] At the Royal Rumble, Edge defeated Hardy to regain the WWE Championship with the unexpected help from Matt Hardy.[22]

The rivalry between Batista and Orton continued until the December 15, 2008, episode of Raw, when Orton

punted Batista in the head, giving him a storyline concussion, causing him to take time off indefinitely.[23] WWE.com later reported that Batista elected to undergo surgery to repair a legitimate hamstring tear (that he suffered during his match with John Cena at SummerSlam).[24]

CM Punk received his match for the Intercontinental title on the January 5, 2009 episode of Raw against William Regal, but failed to win due to Regal getting himself disqualified.[25] Two weeks later, Punk and Regal had another match this time under no disqualifications rules, which Punk won to claim the title.[26]

The rivalry between

Maryse continued on the following edition of SmackDown when Maryse defeated Maria
to earn another shot at Michelle's Divas Championship. On the December 26 edition of SmackDown, Maryse defeated Michelle to win her first Divas Championship in a match that Maria officiated. After the match ended, Michelle turned heel and attacked Maria; blaming her for the loss.

The 2008 Armageddon was the final Armageddon PPV produced. In 2009, the event was discontinued and replaced by TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.[27]

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes
dark match

Tournament brackets

The brackets for the tournament to determine the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship.[9]

Round 1 Semifinals Finals
         
Kofi Kingston DQ
Kane
Kofi Kingston
Rey Mysterio Pin
Rey Mysterio Pin
The Miz
Rey Mysterio
CM Punk Pin
John Morrison Pin
Finlay
John Morrison
CM Punk Pin
CM Punk Pin
Snitsky

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Armageddon". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  2. ^ Martínez, Sebestián (December 11, 2020). "Jim Ross reveals why WWE did not celebrate the 2001 edition of Armageddon". Solo Wrestling. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  3. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  4. ^ "WWE Launches ECW As Third Brand". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d Keller, Wade (November 29, 2008). "Keller's WWE Smackdown report 11/28: Beat the Clock Challenge with Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Kozlov, plus Bella Twins, Festus Fun". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  6. ^ Keller, Wade (December 5, 2008). "Keller's WWE Smackdown report 12/5: Big Show vs. Undertaker in a cage, Triple H & Jeff Hardy forced to team together". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  7. ^ "John Cena def. World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 23, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Sitterson, Aubrey (November 3, 2008). "Many happy returns". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  9. ^ a b c "Intercontinental Tournament Brackets". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 18, 2008.
  10. ^ Burdick, Michael (December 14, 2008). "Results:Extreme mauling". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  11. ^ Vermillion, James (December 14, 2008). "Results:One step closer". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  12. ^ Passero, Mitch (December 14, 2008). "Results:Belfast brawled". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  13. ^ Tello, Craig (December 14, 2008). "Results:A "Legacy" scorned". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  14. ^ Rote, Andrew (December 14, 2008). "Results:Michelle and mistletoe". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
  15. ^ a b c d Keller, Wade (December 14, 2008). "Keller's WWE Armageddon PPV report 12/14: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live event – John Cena vs. Chris Jericho". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  16. ^ DiFino, Lennie (December 14, 2008). "Results:Swanton to the top". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  17. ^ "Quick Facts". HSBC Arena. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
  18. ^ "WWE Reports 2008 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results" (PDF). World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  19. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  20. on January 26, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
  21. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  22. ^ DiFino, Lenny (January 25, 2009). "Results:Royal Rumble: Hardy's twisted fate brings gold to Edge". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
  23. ^ Keller, Wade (December 16, 2008). "Keller's WWE Raw report 12/15: Batista & Cena vs. Cody & Manu & Orton, Kelly Kelly & Melina vs. Glamazon & Jillian". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  24. ^ "Batista undergoes hamstring surgery". World Wrestling Entertainment. December 27, 2008. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  25. ^ Keller, Wade (January 5, 2009). "Keller's WWE Raw report 1/5: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live event from New Orleans, La". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  26. ^ Keller, Wade (January 19, 2009). "Keller's WWE Raw report 1/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of He's Baaaaack!". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  27. ^ "WWE issues a new online fan survey". WrestleView. August 25, 2009. Retrieved October 13, 2009.
  28. ^ Martin, Adam (December 14, 2008). "Armageddon PPV results – 12/14/08 – Buffalo, NY". Wrestleview. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008.

External links