The End Is Here!
Armageddon was a WWE pay-per-view event that begun in December 1999. It was the annual event for December every year, except for 2001 where it was temporarily replaced by Vengeance.note
In 2003, Armageddon was exclusive for the Raw brand, and from 2004 to 2006, it was exclusive for the SmackDown brand. Following WrestleMania in 2007, all PPV events were tri-branded and the final event was held in 2008, and was replaced by TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs in 2009.
Armageddon contains examples of:
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Invoked by the 2008 poster, which has a slickly dressed Chris Jericho pressing a Big Red Button.
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- There's a number of main event matches have been won by heels.
- 1999: Triple H defeated Vince McMahon in a street fight match.
- 2000: Kurt Angle defeated Rikishi, The Undertaker, Triple H, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and The Rock in the 6-man Hell in a Cell match to retain the WWF Title.
- 2002: Triple H defeated Shawn Michaels in a 3 Stages of Hell match to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
- 2003: All four Evolution members won all of the titles - Ric Flair and Batista won the Tag Team titles, Randy Orton defeated Rob Van Dam to win the Intercontinental title, and Triple H defeated Goldberg and Kane to win his 8th world title.
- 2004: JBL defeated Eddie Guerrero, Booker T, and The Undertaker to retain the WWE Title.
- 2005: Not the main event, but after over a month of attacking and injuring the Smackdown roster faces, RAW World Tag Team Champions Kane and Big Show defeat their Smackdown counterparts Batista and Rey Mysterio.
- 2007: Edge defeated Batista and The Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
- There's a number of main event matches have been won by heels.
- Battle in the Rain: Invoked by the 2006 poster by having Batista screaming in the middle of a pouring rain.
- Big Red Button: The 2008 poster featured Chris Jericho pressing the button.
- Book Ends: In Armageddon Ladder match in 2006, the Hardys and London and Kendrick were alone in the ring, only Matt and Paul were standing after they traded blows. More than 20 minutes later on a ladder, Matt and Paul were the ones fighting to get the championship, but with Paul winning.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak:
- Edge never lost at this event until 2008.
- The Hardy Boyz never won a match at this event as a team until 2006. This is more true for Matt, as Jeff won his match in the pre-show of the 2002 event (Jeff eventually won in the main show in 2007).
- Both Kurt Angle and Booker T were undefeated at this event until 2004.
- Chris Jericho was undefeated at this event until 2002.
- Chainmail Bikini: Torrie Wilson's outfit on the 2002 poster.
- The Chew Toy: Trish Stratus, Lita, William Regal, Road Dogg, Ken Anderson, Sean Waltman, and The Dudley Boysnote all never won a match at this event.
- Commuting on a Bus: The PPV debuted in 1999 and was not held in 2001 (out of respect for the victims of the 9/11 attacks). It returned in 2002 and lasted until 2008.
- Covers Always Lie: The Undertaker was on the 1999 poster, but did not appear in the event due to a groin injury.
- Disqualification-Induced Victory:
- 1999: The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock & Mankind) defeated The New Age Outlaws by disqualification after Al Snow interfered and broke up The Rock's pinfall attempt.
- 2002: Edge defeated A-Train by disqualification after A-Train attacked Edge with a chair; this led to Edge hitting A-Train with a chair seven times.
- 2007: Chris Jericho defeated Randy Orton this way after JBL gave him a boot to the face after Jericho accidentally ran into him.
- Earn Your Happy Ending:
- After being screwed on winning the title throughout the last quarter of 1999, Chris Jericho finally defeated Chyna for the Intercontinental Championship in the inaugural event. This was also the very first time he won the title that he would eventually hold a record nine times.
- In 2008, Jeff Hardy defeated both reigning champion Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat Match to become WWE champion for the first (and only) time. This is after fighting his way through the second half of that year. Sadly, he lost it at the very next pay-per-view back to the same man he won it from, thanks to his brother's betrayal.
- Establishing Character Moment: Stephanie McMahon's Face–Heel Turn on Vince and siding with Triple H at the 1999 event effectively set her heel persona in stone.
- Facial Horror: Joey Mercury's face was hit by a ladder during a match in the 2006 event. It wasn't a pretty sight.
- Fanservice: After winning the WWF Women's title in 1999, The Kat flashed the crowd.
- Final Battle: The Undertaker and Randy Orton, who had been feuding since early 2005, had their final confrontation inside Hell in a Cell.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Joey Mercury's aforementioned Facial Horror in the 2006 event.
- Giant Foot of Stomping: The Big Show in the poster of the 2004 event.
- History Repeats:
- Edge had competed in two triple threat matches with the World Heavyweight Title on the line (2007 and 2008); he won the title in the former, but lost the title to Jeff Hardy in the latter.
- Triple H and Jeff Hardy had faced off at this event twice (2007 and 2008), with the latter being a triple threat match which involved then-World Heavyweight Champion Edge.
- Ivory and Molly Holly had faced off in this event for the Women's Championship twice (2000 and 2003), the first time being a Triple-Threat Match.
- Trish Stratus was in a Triple-Threat Match for the Women's Championship in this event twice (2000 and 2002).
- Invincible Hero: The only wrestlers to remain undefeated in this event in all their appearances throughout the event's run are John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Chris Benoit, John Cena, and Val Venis.
- Man on Fire: In 2006, Kane defeated MVP in the Inferno match by placing MVP's back on the fire.
- Mêlée à Trois:
- Just about most of the main event world title matches were either Triple Threat or Fatal-4-Way matches.
- 2000: The 6-man Hell in a Cell match which featured then-world champion Kurt Angle, Rikishi, The Undertaker, Triple H, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and The Rock.
- 2003: Goldberg vs Triple H vs Kane for the World Heavyweight Championship.
- 2004: JBL vs Eddie Guerrero vs Booker T vs The Undertaker for the WWE Championship.
- 2007: Edge vs Batista vs The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship.
- 2008: Edge vs Triple H vs Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship.
- The only non main-event world title match with this tripe was the 2006 Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Ladder match with London and Kendrick versus William Regal and Dave Taylor initially then adding MNM and both Matt and Jeff Hardy.
- Just about most of the main event world title matches were either Triple Threat or Fatal-4-Way matches.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The 2003 event featured Maven, who was scheduled to face Matt Hardy, being given one at the hands of Batista, who was seething over losing to Shawn Michaels.
- Screaming Warrior: The posters of the 2003 (Triple H), 2005 and 2006 (both Batista) have the featured wrestlers screaming.
- Series Mascot: Batista has been on the poster of this pay-per-view three times (2005, 2006, and 2007). The Undertaker has appeared on the poster twice (1999note and 2000).
- Three Round Death Match: The 2002 event featured the Three Stages of Hell match (Street Fight, Steel Cage Match, Ladder Match) between Triple H and Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship.
- Wham Line: Teddy Long drops two of them before the Tag Team Match of London and Kendrick vs William Regal and Dave Taylor. He first states that the match is now a Ladder match and that he's adding two more teams to the contest.
- The Worf Barrage: At Armageddon '05, Randy Orton gave The Undertaker three RKOs and a Tombstone, but it wasn't enough to defeat him, and Randy lost.
- Worthy Opponent: In the Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Ladder Match in Armageddon '06, London and Kendrick face down the Hardys, and Jeff gives a swift applause as if to respect that they're the high-flying tag team duo of the Ruthless Aggression era.
