Coming off the heels of the exciting nostalgia trip known as the "Raw 15th Anniversary Special", WWE’s latest PPV extravaganza; Armageddon certainly had the proverbial deck stacked against it in regards to whether the general public would be willing to give up their hard-earned cash for a 3-hour show after just having another (and a very unique one at that) 3-hour show given to them for free.
It’s no secret that WWE PPV buy-rates have continued to decline overall over the past few years (the company eliminated "single brand" PPV’s for that very reason). It appears that the "E" is finding it increasingly difficult to justify monthly PPV events (I’ve thought for a long time now that they should cut back on some of them). Even some of the hardcore WWE fans that stick by the company though thick and thin have become blasé about the "lesser" events (or "B" shows).
That said, Armageddon (on paper, at least) did have some things working in its favour. But much like that WWE shows that transpired after the 1st truly awesome ECW One Night Stand in 2005, there was always the chance that it would pail in comparison to the "feel-good" nature of the Raw special that it was forced to follow.
It certainly set off on the right foot with a lively and exciting U.S. Title bout between MVP and Rey Mysterio. Unfortunately, Mysterio hurt his knee early on in the match, meaning that overall, their efforts failed to reach the lofty heights that both men were capable of reaching.
In fairness to Rey, he worked around the problem nicely and hopefully will not miss any ring time (he seemed to be in good shape on the following SD! show, although he was in a 6-man tag-team match).
The biggest problem with the match was the finish. MVP simply went to the floor and took the cheap way out (he lost by count-out, but retained the title). It was an insulting way to end such a promising match, but at least Rey got a measure of revenge on the champ.
The "inter-brand" tag-team bout between Big Daddy V & Mark Henry and CM Punk & Kane may have worked out better had they not been given so much time out there (it wasn’t really a long match overall, but whenever "V" and Henry were on the offence, it dragged).
It appeared as if Punk and Kane were going to topple the big men, until "Big Daddy" caught Punk with an admittedly impressive flying Samoan Drop. Great finish, but how depressing was it to see the ECW World Champion job to two useless lugs like "V" and Henry?
Shawn Michaels VS Mr Kennedy had the potential to be Kennedy’s biggest and best match to date. Sadly, it was average (and sometimes boring) fare that didn’t make Kennedy look like a main event-calibre star.
There were too many rest-holds for my liking, plus the story of Michaels trying to "break" Kennedy’s hand didn’t really aid the match much (I’ve noticed that Michaels has opted to work simpler, more ground-based matches as of late. With his part-time schedule and the risk of him suffering another injury by doing a succession of high spots and "high impact" moves, I can understand the change. But for the fans, it’s not something that they’re used to seeing from him).
I will give credit for the finish (Kennedy paused a took a sudden "Sweet Chin Music" to the face) and some of the near-falls at the end. But overall, this should have been much better.
While there was nothing wrong with Jeff Hardy’s upset win over HHH in their number 1 contender’s match, there was certainly A LOT wrong with "The Game’s" reaction after he realised he’d had his shoulders pinned to the mat.
Instead of flying into a rage with Hardy or the referee (or getting thoroughly pissed off with himself), Hunter merely laughed to himself (in what looked like a "piss-taking" manner). To me, this suggests that Hardy doesn’t have a chance of beating Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at the "Rumble" (and yes, I will commend HHH for "doing the job" and "putting Jeff over". But why didn’t he show anger, pause for a few moments and then shake the better man’s hand? Why does Jeff’s win have to look like a fluke?).
The match itself was very enjoyable (save for a few minor miscues from Hardy). However, it appears that despite the general consensus on the "net", HHH is popular where it truly matters most: With the live WWE audience. Anyone expecting the younger Jeff Hardy to get a thunderous response and have the fans in the palm of his hand would have had a rude awakening. It was HHH all the way with the crowd.
I think they were as shocked as anyone was when Hardy reversed Hunter’s "Pedigree" attempt into a pinning combination. As I said earlier, it was nice to see HHH put over a younger talent, but at the same time I don’t think he helped with his facials after the match.
Finlay’s match with The Great Khali was fairly painless (although still pointless). It was shocking to see "The Tough Irish B*****d" and his little leprechaun friend Hornswoggle get the better of the giant, but it was a fun little twist as well that seemed to entertain the fans.
As mentioned in my "Predictamania" piece, Chris Jericho’s much hyped comeback has been flatter than an ant that’s been sat on by an elephant. And I don’t think that throwing him into a WWE Championship match almost immediately was a good idea, either.
Jericho proved this much to be true with his rather dull match with Randy Orton (again, too many rest-holds and a tepid crowd reaction). This match did pick up when "Y2J" broke out the "Lion Sault" and began to get several near-falls. But was it a PPV worthy, main event-quality match that showcased Jericho (and Orton for that matter) as a true main event talent? Certainly not.
I did enjoy the finish, though (ok it was a cheap DQ finish, which I normally hate. But it DID set the table for a feud between Jericho and the returning "JBL"). After accidentally crashing into Bradshaw at the announce booth (and then moving him out of the way). Jericho was blindsided by a pissed-off Texan, who delivered a big boot to the head, causing the match to be thrown out on a DQ.
Post-match, Orton drilled Jericho with a "RKO". It seems that Jericho will now be returning back to the mid card. I think that’s a wise decision, at least for the time being.
Sandwiched in between two championship matches and played out in front of a burnt-out audience, the WWE Women’s Championship Match between "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix and the feisty Mickie James never really stood a chance (which is a shame, because they really tried their best out there).
Phoenix dominated James for the most part and just when it looked like Mickie might defeat the powerful Diva, "The Glamazon" drilled her foe with the impressive release fisherman’s suplex and retained her strap.
The crowd was definitely into the triple threat main event between Batista, Edge and The Undertaker, and with a strong performance from all 3 men, how could they not be?
I loved the way Edge tried to dodge the proverbial bullet and leave ‘Taker and Batista to fight it out (only to get caught and get knocked from pillar to post by both men). And the sequence where "The Animal" turned on Undertaker and clobbered him with a clothesline on the ring apron (while "The Dead Man" was about to drop a big running leg-drop on Edge) was also very well executed.
The finish was also a little different (ok so Kurt Angle did it in 2003 but that was only with one guy; his brother Eric); with Edge using two "impostors" to divert the referee’s (and the participants’) attention away from the match and ultimately allowing him to hit a spear and win the title.
The "Edge Heads" later turned out to be The Major Bros, although I think WWE dropped the ball slightly by announcing their identity so soon after the show (the "mystery Edge’s" angle could have been kept going well into the New Year, with Batista and Undertaker on the warpath demanding to know who screwed them out of the championship).
Overall, Armageddon was a "hit and miss" show, with more "miss" than "hit" I’m afraid. However, WWE have at least set up 2008 quite nicely. Raw has a new number 1 contender to its crown (Jeff Hardy) and SD! has a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion (Edge). ECW still has CM Punk as their champ (although another loss to "Daddy V" can’t be far away) and in general, things are looking bright for next year.
Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:
http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
