Jump to content

User:Save Us.Y2J/Sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
< User:Save Us.Y2J

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Save Us.Y2J (talk | contribs) at 06:24, 18 April 2009 (→Preliminary matches: added reference). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Armageddon (2008)
PromotionWorld Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
ECW
DateDecember 14, 2008
CityBuffalo, New York
VenueHSBC Arena
Attendance11,000
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous
Survivor Series (2008) 		Next →
Royal Rumble (2009)
Armageddon chronology
← Previous
Armageddon (2007) 		Next →
TBD

Armageddon (2008) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the ninth annual event and it took place on December 14, 2008 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York and featured wrestlers and other talent from all WWE's three brands: Raw, SmackDown and ECW. Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card.

In the main event, Jeff Hardy defeated Triple H and WWE Champion Edge in a Triple Threat match to win the title. Two main bouts were featured on the undercard. The first was a singles match for the WWE Championship, in which champion John Cena defeated Chris Jericho to retain his title. The second bout was a singles match, in which Batista defeated Randy Orton.

Background

See also: Professional wrestling
Edge, who lost the WWE Championship at this event

The event featured seven professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWE script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. All wrestlers were from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands–a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to different television programs of the same name.

The main event at Armageddon was contested in a Triple Threat match, a standard wrestling match involving three wrestlers for the WWE Championship between Edge, Triple H and Jeff Hardy. The buildup to the match began at Survivor Series, WWE's pay-per-view a month prior, when Hardy was originally scheduled to face the defending champion Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov (Oleg Prudius) in a Triple Threat match for the championship; but was, in storyline, found unconscious in his hotel and did not compete in the match. That angle allowed Edge to return to the WWE after a three month abscence, and subsquently won the championship. On the November 29 edition of SmackDown, General Manager Vickie Guerrero, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, announced a tournament where the person who wins their match in the fastest time wins. The tournament announced who would face Edge for the WWE title at Armageddon. Hardy was the first to compete against The Brian Kendrick, beating him at the twelve minute and thirteen second mark (12:13). Kozlov then faced ECW Champion, Matt Hardy, but failed to defeat Matt's time faster than Jeff's time. Triple H then wrestled Shelton Benjamin, and managed to defeat him in the exact same time as Jeff, and as a result, neither man was announced as the contender for the WWE Title, due to a dispute between officials. One week later, Guerrero announced that the WWE Board of Directors had, by overuling her decision, decided Edge would have to defend the title against both Triple H and Hardy in a Triple Threat match at Armageddon.

The event also featured a storyline between John Cena and Chris Jericho over the World Heavyweight Championship. At Survivor Series, Cena returned to the WWE after a legitimate neck injury and defeated Jericho to win the championship. On the November 24 episode of Raw, Jericho defeated Randy Orton and Batista (David Bautista) in a Triple Threat match to earn a championship match against Cena at Armageddon. Over the coming weeks, Jericho would tell Cena that he was going to win back the title at Armageddon. Jericho also stated the reason of him winning of the Superstar of the Year Award, which would lead to both Cena and Jericho having brawls. Jericho then got the advantage over Cena after receiving aid from "The Legacy" (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes (Cody Runnels), and Manu (Afa Anoa'i, Jr.).

Another match that took place at Armageddon was the conclusion of an 8-man tournament for a WWE Intercontinental Championship title shot against the then-champion, William Regal (Darren Matthews). On the November 11th Edition of Raw Stephanie McMahon announced that there would be a tournament to determine who would be the next person to receive a shot at the title. The first round saw four standard matches, in which Kofi Kingston (Kofi Mensah), CM Punk, John Morrison (John Hennigan) and Rey Mysterio (Oscar Gutierrez) won their respective singles matches. Second round was started by Punk defeating Morrison, and Mysterio defeated Kingston. As a result, Punk would wrestle Mysterio in the finals of the tournament.

Intercontinental Championship Tournament[2]

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

Event

Before the pay-per-view went live, a Dark match took place between John Morrison and The Miz and Jesse and Festus, in which Miz and Morrison won.[3]

Preliminary matches

Randy Orton, who faced off against Batista at this event.

The first match of the event was between Matt Hardy and Vladimir Kozlov. The match was even, which both men getting the advantage over the another. During the match, Hardy tried to grab Kozlov's head in a forward position and forcefully pulling it down over his shoulders, but Kozlov retaliated by pushing Hardy into the corner ring post. Kozlov then lifted Hardy on his shoulders and slammed Hardy down in a sitting position, followed by a pin to win the match.[4]

The second match was the finals of the 8-man tournament, where the winner would receive a future WWE Intercontinental Championship match against the then-champion William Regal (Darren Matthews) between Rey Mysterio and CM Punk. The match was evenly paced, which both men executing high-flying moves. Both men tried to execute their respective finishers on one another, with Mysterio trying to jump through the second and top rope while holding on to the ropes, and uses the momentum to swing back around into the ring to hit Punk in the face, a move in which Mysterio calls the 619 and Punk lifting Mysterio on his shoulders and proceeding to drop Mysterio in front of him and then quickly lifting a knee up striking Mysterio in the face, a move in which Punk calls the GTS (Go to Sleep). Mysterio then hit a Springboard dropkick, a move that is executed by grabbing the rope and jumping up and bouncing off it, then hitting a kick, that sended Punk out of the ring and then went to the top rope and leaps onto Punk on the outside. Near the end of the match, Mysterio tried to execute another 619, and then a splash, but Punk moved. Punk then hit a GTS, and pinned Mysterio to win the match and a future Intercontinenal title shot.[5]

Next saw a segment where John Bradshaw Layfield (John Layfield or JBL) announced that Shawn Michaels, in storyline, was his new employee. Michaels then come out and got into te ring. He announced that he was in need for money and he had agreed to work for JBL. He stated that if he was in his 20's he would be rich and livin the high life. He also stated that he doesn't know how much time he has left, that is why he took JBL up on his offer, despite the fact he doesn't like him. Michaels said that JBL is very good financially, and he said that it's wasn't something he wanted to, it was something he had to do. JBL extended his hand to Michaels for a handshake, and Michaels shook his hand.[6]

Mark Henry, who faced Finlay in a Belfast Brawl

The following match saw Finlay (Dave Finlay) face off against Mark Henry (accompanied by Tony Atlas) in a match in which the use of foreign objects, which is usually illegal under the standard rules of professional wrestling, is allowed, dubbed a Belfast Brawl. Finlay gets the advantage early on, until Henry (who stands at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and weighs 380 lb (170 kg) uses his size and advantage over Finlay. Finlay, however, gets out of the ring and throws some trash cans and some kendo sticks and hits Henry in the head with them, followed by driving Henry's head into the mat, a move dubbed a DDT. Finlay then grabbed the steel steps, but Henry boots him in the face. As Henry grabs the steel steps, Finlay kicks him in the left knee, followed by hitting Henry in the head with a Shillelagh. Finlay then pinned Henry to win the match.[7]

Batista versus Randy Orton was next, with Orton being accompanied to the ring by his other "Legacy" members Cody Rhodes and Manu. The match started with Orton taking control and knocking Batista to the outside. Batista used his size over Orton, by hitting powerslams and throws to Orton. The ending came when Batista tried to lift Orton on his shoulders and slam him down in a sitting position, a move that Batista calls the Batista Bomb. Orton, however, jumped out of the move and tried to jump to Batista's head while parallel to the ground, applying a three-quarter facelock and then slamming Batista's face to the ground, a move Orton calls the RKO. But Batista backs him into a corner. Orton tries to lift him out of the corner, but Batista falls back right into the position for the Batista Bomb. Batista then pinned Orton for the victory.[8]

The next match was an Eight-Diva Santa's Little Helper tag team match between Maria, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James and Michelle McCool versus Maryse, Jillian Hall, Victoria and Natalya. The match was short-lived as Maria was about to finish Jillian of, but McCool makes a tag, and wins the match for their team.[9]

Main event matches

The match that followed was for the World Heavyweight Championship between the champion John Cena and Chris Jericho. The match started off with Cena trying to put Jericho on his shoulders, using the motion to push Jericho off his shoulders, flipping Jericho onto his back on the mat, a move Cena calls the FU. Cena then kept going for the FU, but Cena flipped Jericho out of the move to land on his feet, which allowed Jericho to jump up to Cena's face then falls backwards to the mat, thus forcing Cena to fall forwards and impact to Jericho's knees, a move that Jericho calls the Codebreaker, but only got a two-count. Jericho then charges at Cena, but Cena catches Jericho on his shoulders, and then hits the FU, but only got a two count. Cena then wrapped his arm around the neck of Jericho in a sleeper hold, a submission referred to as an STFU, and as a result, Jericho tapped out and Cena retained the World Heavyweight Championship.[10]

Triple H, one of the challengers to the WWE Championship

Next was the main event, which saw Jeff Hardy and Triple H challenge Edge for the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match. The action was on the outside area fairly quickly into the match, with Triple H disposing all three announcers tables. Triple H then put Hardy on the table, and goes to tuck Hardy's head between his knees and jump up to slam his head through the table, a move that Triple H calls the Pedigree, but Hardy reverses the move and tries to execute a Twist of Fate. Triple H, however, pushed Hardy away, then out of instinct, Edge runs across both announcers tables, and executes a running shoulder block takedown off the Raw announce table, through the SmackDown announce table to Hardy. Edge then goes to the outside, grabs two chairs, and then positioned Triple H's head on top of a chair. Edge then went to smash another chair over Triple H's head, but Hardy grabbed the chair and smashed it over Edge's head, and went to leap off the top turnbuckle keeping his body straight and arms out-stretched making it resemble a swan dive to execute a flip then landing with impact on Edge, a move Jeff calls a Swanton Bomb, but Triple H pushed Hardy, which made Hardy get clutched into the top rope. Triple H then executed a Pedigree to Edge. As Triple H was in the cover, Hardy executed a Swanton Bomb to Edge, and pinned Edge to begin his first reign as WWE Champion.[11]

Aftermath

Edge continued his rivalry with Jeff Hardy over the WWE Championship. Edge cashed in his rematch clause for the title at the Royal Rumble, in which he won after Matt Hardy (Jeff's brother), interfered and hit Jeff in the head with a folding chair, which allowed Edge to win, and in which it started a rivalry between the two brothers.[12] At WrestleMania, both Matt and Jeff were scheduled to compete in a match where there is no disquallifications or countouts, dubbed an Extreme Rules match, in which Matt won.[13] At No Way Out, Edge lost the WWE Championship in SmackDown's Elimination Chamber to Triple H[14], but interfered in Raw's Elimination Chamber, and won the World Heavyweight Championship from John Cena[15], which started a rivalry between Edge and Cena, with the addition of The Big Show. At WrestleMania, Cena regained the title after winning a Triple Threat match between Edge and Big Show.[16]

The storyline between John Cena and Chris Jericho slowly died down after the event, as Cena went on to feud with JBL, which led to a match at the Royal Rumble, in which Cena won to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.[17] Jericho went on to compete in the Royal Rumble match, but came up short of winning. Jericho was then put into a storyline where he would disrespect the WWE Legends, in which the storyline led to a Handicap match at WrestleMania, in which Jericho won.[18]

Batista and Randy Orton's rivalry also ended after the events that occoured on the December 15th edition of Raw. A Handicap match was scheduled between "The Legacy" (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Manu) and Batista and John Cena. During the match, Orton struck Batista with a punt to the head. Batista was knocked out and put out of action indefinitely due to a (storyline) head injury. WWE.com later reported that Batista elected to undergo surgery to repair a hamstring tear.[19] The hamstring was injured at SummerSlam, in the same match that former World Heavyweight Champion John Cena was forced out of action with a neck injury. Orton went on to win the 2009 Royal Rumble match and went into a rivalry with Triple H after attacking Triple H's father-in-law Vince, brother-in-law Shane and real-life wife Stephanie McMahon. At WrestleMania, Triple H defeated Orton to retain the WWE Championship.[20]

Reception

The HSBC Arena has a maximum capacity of 19,200,[21] but it was reduced for Armageddon. The event resulted in 193,000 pay-per-view buys, which was less buys than the previous year's event received. The promotion's pay-per-view revenue was $15.9 million, which was less than the previous year's revenue of $19.9 million.[22] Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the event a perfect ten out of ten.[23]

The event was released on DVD on January 13, 2009,[24] by Sony Music Entertainment and reached second on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart for recreational sports during the week of Feburary 07, 2009[25]

Results

# Matches Stipulations Times
Dark John Morrison and The Miz defeated Jesse and Festus[26] Tag team match Unknown
1 Vladimir Kozlov defeated Matt Hardy Singles match 9:02
2 CM Punk defeated Rey Mysterio Singles match for a future WWE Intercontinental Championship match 12:15
3 Finlay defeated Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas) Belfast Brawl 9:38
4 Batista defeated Randy Orton (with Cody Rhodes and Manu) Singles match 16:41
5 Maria, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James and Michelle McCool defeated Maryse, Jillian Hall, Victoria and Natalya Eight-Diva Santa's Little Helper tag team match 4:33
6 John Cena (c) defeated Chris Jericho Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 12:43
7 Jeff Hardy defeated Edge (c) and Triple H Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship 17:19
(c) - refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

References

  1. ^ "WWE Armageddon". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-11-24. The official theme song for Armageddon is "Chinese Democracy" by Guns N' Roses.
  2. ^ "Intercontinental Tournament Brackets". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  3. ^ "Armageddon". prowrestlinghistory.com. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  4. ^ Burdick, Michael (2008-12-14). "Results:Extreme mauling". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  5. ^ Vermillion, James (2008-12-14). "Results:One step closer". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  6. ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (2008-12-14). "Results:JBL funds HBK's bailout". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  7. ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-12-14). "Results:Belfast brawled". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  8. ^ Tello, Craig (2008-12-14). "Results:A "Legacy" scorned". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  9. ^ Rote, Andrew (2008-12-14). "Results:Michelle and mistletoe". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  10. ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (2008-12-14). "Results:The falls of Jericho". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  11. ^ DiFino, Lennie (2008-12-14). "Results:Swanton to the top". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  12. ^ DiFino, Lenny (2009-01-25). "Results:Royal Rumble: Hardy's twisted fate brings gold to Edge". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  13. ^ Tello, Craig. "Results:Matt: The better Hardy?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  14. ^ Passero, Mitch. "Results:Regaining the throne". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  15. ^ Tello, Craig. "Results:Gold way out". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  16. ^ Passero, Mitch. "Results:Cena reclaims his gold". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  17. ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (2009-01-25). "Results:Beating the odds". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  18. ^ Vermillion, James. "Results:Rourke, Flair laugh in the face of defeat". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  19. ^ "Batista undergoes hamstring surgery". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  20. ^ Sitterson, Aubrey. "Results:The Legacy Killer". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  21. ^ "Quick Facts". HSBC Arena. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  22. ^ "WWE Reports 2008 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results" (PDF). World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  23. ^ Kapur, Bob. "Hardy finally breaks through". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  24. ^ "WWE: Armageddon". For Your Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  25. ^ "WWE Armageddon 2008 DVD Sales". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  26. ^ Martin, Adam (2008-12-14). "Opening Moments of WWE's Armageddon PPV live from Buffalo, NY". Wrestleview. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=User:Save_Us.Y2J/Sandbox&oldid=284570976"