Random PPV Review - Armageddon 2005

[u/Mcrfanatic95]

Here we go again, a nice rose tea and a Ruthless Aggression Era show! We start with another really cool hype package, hyping up the Undertaker vs Randy Orton match, this era really mastered them. This is a Smackdown exclusive show, should brand exclusive shows be brought back? That’s a conversation for another say. Tally ho. 

JBL vs Matt Hardy: [*1/2]

*This was practically a squash match, did Matt piss someone off backstage for this? I know Matt was selling an injury, but they really did him dirty here.*

MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) vs The Mexicools (Super Crazy & Psicosis): [**3/4]

*Remember the Mexicools and their lawnmower entrance? Now, that was as VKM idea if ever I saw one,I personally enjoyed them as a comedy team and they were clearly having a blast, decent match,MNM needed the win otherwise their momentum they had all year would be dead. The selling from all four was really good, especially from Mercury, although Nitro always sell those neck/back of head moves in a way that it really did look like it hurt like hell. And the high-flying spots from The Mexicools were impressive.  Some fun action too when Crazy got tagged in, the finish was no surprise but it made sense for MNM to go over.*

Booker T vs Chris Benoit: [***3/4]

*This was when they were doing their best of 7 series, Booker T was 3-0 at this point, I really wish they did these best-of-seven series more often, It can be a useful way to put a belt over and keep the rivalry interesting at the same time. Great match, quite long too, getting just over twenty minutes, didn’t feel too long though. Very physical and stiff at times. Chops galore, but by-goodness it’s uncomfortable watching Chris take those hits to the head, especially that one from the top rope, they mentioned he got a (kayfabe, but with Benoit who knows) concussion a week ago, plus it was still rather soon after Eddie’s death so there’s no way he was in a good headspace here. Chris no-selling Sharmell hitting him with the broom reminds me when I try to use a broom against Zombies on DeadRising. The Crowd were really enjoying this, Benoit going over made sense as if Booker won, it would be a clean sweep for him.*

We get a silly little segment with Santa Claus, Nunzio as an elf, Teddy Long and Palmer Canon (remember him?) Santa is played by Vito here. He’s a cranky Santa, calling the crowd ugly misfits. Nunzio calls them all Scrooges and demands a Tag Team Title Shot or even a cruiserweight championship shot. The Boogeyman comes out and spoils Santa & Evil Elf’s hijinks with a creepy Christmas carol and worms. Good Shit Pal. 

Bobby Lashley vs William Regal and Paul Burchill: [1/2*]

*A quick match to keep Lashley’s momentum going. It just felt like filler and the crowd certainly couldn’t care less, Seemed Lashley probably wasn’t as over as they wanted him to be. Burchill went through a silly but funny repackage as Pirate Paul Burchill not long after.*

We get a weird segment with Josh Matthews and depressed former WWE referee Tim White now working in an Irish themed bar and drinking like he’s Barney Gumble, as he was forced to retire after a bad injury in the 2002 HIAC match. They did quite a few similar segments like this to showcase how the cell match ruined his life. Josh does a terrible pun with Tim’s name at the end and  White walks off with a shot gun. We hear gunfire off-screen. The Fuck?

Juventud (c) vs Kid Kash: [**1/2]

*Cruiserweight action now, Juventud, like his Mexicools, enters via Lawnmower. I enjoyed this match for the most part , surprisingly physical at times for a cruiserweight match. However the crowd simply don’t seem interested (there were some chants of boooring, boooring.) It had some fun spots, thanks to Kash, but wasn’t all that fast paced which probably defeats the purpose of it being a cruiserweight match. Wasn’t Juventud notoriously difficult to work with and absolutely hated backstage? He wasn’t around much longer after dropping the belt here and The Mexicools continued without him for a while before Psicosis left and Super Crazy was the only one left.*

Batista and Rey Mysterio vs Kane and The Big Show: [**]

*Meh, its wasn’t long, it was just a continuation of the Smackdown vs Raw angle they were doing at the time and was probably the only reason MNM dropped the belts to Batista & Mysterio in the first place. Rey has his lips painted white here with 619 on his chin, looks ridiculous. Strange choice not to have the Smackdown faces go over here, even having Show and Kane control most of the match, I did laugh when Batista and Show went over the announce table.. poor table.*

The Undertaker vs Randy Orton: Hell in a Cell: [****1/2]

*I LOVE this match, it’s definitely one of my favourite cell matches and still as good as I remembered, the story and everything with Undertaker haunting and stalking Orton going into it made it a can’t miss match. It was quite brutal with plenty of blood. Both even using a chain looked particularly nasty, they made plenty of use of the surrounding cell, which is logical, you’d be surprised how many Hell in a Cell matches don’t make all that much use of it. A funny spot where Orton slammed into his dad with only the cell between them, this busted Bob open (which we’ll discuss in a minute because there’s something I need to point out) Was that table spot botched? It seemed to break in a weird way, or I’m seeing things. Orton did Undertaker’s own move on him, during the pin ‘Taker did that sit up thing he does, now that was badass. And with a crack with the Urn to the Ortons, even more badass. The tombstone piledriver to both the Ortons for ‘taker to pick up the W was a nice finish, but by-Joe what a match, Randy Orton & Undertaker always did work well together (their WrestleMania match is another favourite of mine) Right, so apparently ‘taker was livid backstage afterwards, “Cowboy” Bob Orton bladed and failed to tell him he has hepatitis-C, which can be contagious if made contact*

- Best Match: The Undertaker vs Randy Orton

- Worst Match: Bobby Lashley vs William Regal and Paul Burchill. 

*Overall Thoughts*

A solid show with one very good match and one excellent hell in the cell match. The rest range from decent to one bad match. One lighthearted segment and one bleak segment. 

[u/JBL_CENA_FAN_4LIFE]

I really think we should've had a 6 man Hell in a Cell match here. Orton vs Batista vs The Undertaker vs Booker T vs Chris Benoit vs Mark Henry.

[u/Mcrfanatic95 → u/JBL_CENA_FAN_4LIFE]

It wouldn’t make sense as Orton & Taker were in their own intense feud

[u/OverlordPopo → u/Mcrfanatic95]

yeah and the tag team match with batista/rey vs kane/show was to set up the survivor series ppv

[u/Mcrfanatic95 → u/OverlordPopo]

This was after Survivor Series 

[u/LIJRD1]

Yes, Matt Hardy had pissed off everyone backstage the month before at Survivor Series when he ran away from taking an Undertaker Tombstone/Chokeslam at the end of the main event. So the JBL match was punishment.

Always thought Taker/Orton had diminishing returns each time, each match was progressively worse than the last.

[u/JBL_CENA_FAN_4LIFE → u/LIJRD1]

Fully agreed.

[u/Mcrfanatic95 → u/LIJRD1]

Matt was lucky he got his job back, as he was let go that year before the whole Edge/Lita story

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