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 storylines that had played out on Raw, SmackDown, and ECW on Sci Fi—WWE's television programs. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or heroes in the scripted events that built tension and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches and competed either under their real names or stage names.^[3] The event featured wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to the television program of the same name.^[4]

The main rivalry heading into Armageddon on the SmackDown brand was a match involving three competitors, known as a Triple Threat match in WWE, for the WWE Championship between Edge, Triple H, and Jeff Hardy. At Survivor Series, Jeff Hardy was out of action after being found unconscious in the stairwell of his Boston hotel earlier in the morning. This resulted to Hardy being removed from the WWE title match, leaving Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov battling each other one-on-one. Just when it looked like Triple H had Kozlov beat after nailing him with a hard-hitting Pedigree, SmackDown's primary authority figure Vickie Guerrero interrupted the match to announce that it would indeed be a Triple Threat match– with Edge as the last minute third competitor. Edge made his way to the ring and nailed Triple H with a vicious 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]

John Cena and Chris Jericho were involved in the main rivalry on the Raw brand over the World Heavyweight Championship. At WWE's November Survivor Series, Cena returned to the WWE after a legitimate neck injury (that he sustained at SummerSlam) and defeated Jericho to win the championship.^[7] On the November 24 episode of Raw, Jericho defeated Randy Orton and Batista in a Triple Threat match to earn a title match against Cena at Armageddon.^[8]

On the November 24 episode of Raw, Raw's primary authority figure Stephanie McMahon announced an eight-man single-elimination tournament to determine the number-one contender to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, which William Regal held.^[8] The first round saw four standard matches, in which Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, John Morrison, and 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]

Pre-show

Before Armageddon began, a non-televised match took place between the team of 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 Intercontinental Championship contender tournament between Rey Mysterio and CM Punk. In the end, Mysterio attempted the 619 but Punk countered the move into the Go To Sleep to win the tournament.^[11]

Finlay was pitted against Mark Henry, who was accompanied by Tony Atlas, in a match with no disqualifications billed as a Belfast Brawl. In the climax, Finlay retrieved the steel steps but Henry countered and retrieved them himself. Finlay retrieved a shillelagh and hit Henry with it to win the match.^[12]

Batista versus Randy Orton was next, with Orton being accompanied to the ring by Cody Rhodes and Manu. The end came when Batista executed the Batista Bomb to win the match.^[13]

The fifth match was an Eight Woman Santa's Little Helper Tag Team match where all eight competitors were dressed in Christmas outfits. It pitted two teams of four against each other: Michelle McCool, Maria, Kelly Kelly, and Mickie James versus Maryse, Jillian Hall, Victoria, and 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 Edge defend the WWE Championship against both Triple H and Jeff Hardy in a triple threat match. Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Triple H but Edge pulled Hardy out of the ring, voiding the pinfall. Edge attempted a 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]

Tournament brackets

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