WWE Armageddon's Top 10 Moments

The time has come once again for the end of another year, and with that comes WWE's last pay-per-view of the year, Armageddon.

This is always the PPV where they pump out last minute storylines before diving right into Wrestlemania with the Royal Rumble build-up. With Armageddon coming up, I usually look back to old VHS tapes and DVDs of the past eight out of nine years (2001's December PPV was Vengeance).

With that, I have compiled a list of the Top 10 matches/moments of Armageddon past that stood out in my opinion. While it wasn't hard coming up with 10 moments and matches, it was putting them in order of importance to the WWE that was the tough part.

10. Ric Flair & Batista win the World Tag Team Championship in a Tag Team Turmoil Match (2003)
Batista had already lost his match against Shawn Michaels, making Evolution 1-1 on the night, when he was stopped in the back by the Nature Boy. Flair had a plan in motion, and Batista was more than willing to follow through. The Dudleyz went through La Resistance, Hurricane/Rosey, Jindrak & Cade, Venis/Storm, and Test & Steiner to retain their titles...or at least they did until Eric Bischoff announced one last team had been added: Evolution. Flair and Batista came in, cleaned house, and won their first of two World Tag Team Titles.

9. Miss Kitty wins the WWF Women's Championship in a Four Corners Evening Gown Pool Match, then takes off her top (1999)
The match itself was not very memorable, lasting about three minutes. The match was what it was: four women wrestling around in a pool with evening gowns trying to rip each other's off. The moment that everyone remembers is immediately after she won, she teased taking off her top, but then delivered by taking off her top and exposing her breasts for a mere second until Sgt. Slaughter wrapped her in a towel.

8. John Bradshaw Layfield interferes in the Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho WWE Championship Match (2007)
John Bradshaw Layfield had retired from active competition in 2006 after having back injuries for quite some time. He took over as the Smackdown commentator and was one of the most knowledgeable commentators the WWE had ever seen.

In November 2007, Chris Jericho made his triumphant return to the WWE, and immediately went after Randy Orton and his WWE Title. This led to a match at Armageddon where Jericho inadvertently knocked down then-commentator JBL. The action returned in the ring, where Jericho put the Walls on Jericho on Orton, but JBL interfered and kicked Jericho in the face. This would lead to JBL returning full-time to the ring, and a feud with Y2J.

7. A nine-month feud between Randy Orton and The Undertaker culminates inside Hell in a Cell (2005)
Starting just weeks before Wrestlemania 21, Randy Orton set his sights on ending The Undertaker's 12-0 record at Wrestlemania.

Orton, even with the interference from his Hall of Fame father, Bob Orton Jr., came up short in an attempt to end it. Orton would be sidelined with a shoulder injury that put him out for a few months. Fast forward to June during the WWE Draft, where it was Randy Orton interfering on Smackdown during an Undertaker match and announcing he had been drafted to Smackdown.

This rekindled the Taker-Orton feud where they had matches at Summerslam and a handicap casket match at No Mercy, both of which were won by Orton.

Undertaker disappeared after the casket he was put in was set on fire by Randy, but appeared after Orton was the sole survivor at that year's Survivor Series. This led to the end of the feud, which could only be settled inside of Hell in a Cell.

In the third-longest Hell in a Cell, the Undertaker took his urn back from Bob Orton, destroyed the Orton family in one match, and put an end to the nine-month long feud.

6. Triple H regains the World Heavyweight Championship from Shawn Michaels in Three Stages of Hell (2002)
Shawn Michaels' triumphant return to the ring in late 2002 was going to mark the return of D-Generation X to the WWE.

Instead, Triple H had ulterior motives against Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels' return match at Summerslam was a victorious one, but Triple H destroyed him with a sledgehammer post-match. Michaels was out of action for weeks, but returned in time to win the World Heavyweight Championship inside the Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series.

This would then lead to Hunter and Shawn facing off in a Three Stages of Hell Match. A two of out three falls match with each match having a different stipulation. The first match was a Street Fight, second match a Steel Cage Match and third being a Ladder Match. Triple H would win the first fall, Michaels the second, and after a very memorable fall off a 20-foot ladder through four tables on the outside by HBK, Triple H grabbed the belt and regained the World Heavyweight Championship from his long-time friend and partner.

5. Randy Orton captures his first WWE gold against Rob Van Dam (2003)
Randy Orton was primed to win the Intercontinental Championship, but it was just a matter of when he was going to win it.

In 2003, Orton got his shot against Rob Van Dam, with Mick Foley as the special referee. Foley's impartiality was to be questioned, considering earlier in the year, it was Randy Orton who kicked Foley in the head and sent him down a flight of stairs. Foley called the match right down the middle, and in what was considered match of the night, Randy Orton used a distraction from Ric Flair to his advantage and hit the RKO on RVD to win the Intercontinental Championship and begin his way to the top.

4. Jeff Hardy shocks the world and beats Triple H to earn a WWE Title shot (2007)
Leading into the PPV, Jeff Hardy and Triple H were allies with the same goal on their mind: the WWE Title.

They both had claims to being the No. 1 contender for the title, so they were put into a match where the winner would receive a WWE Title shot at the Royal Rumble.

Clearly, Triple H was the heavy favorite and obvious winner to the match. Wrestling websites, smart marks, and "insider" information all said that Triple H would win the match and then win the WWE Title at the Rumble against Orton.

However, everyone had to eat their words that night because after a respect-filled match, it was Jeff Hardy who countered a Pedigree to win the match and the title shot. The crowd, along with Triple H, were stunned to see Hardy get one over that night.

3. Kurt Angle survives a 6-Man Hell in a Cell to retain the WWF Championship (2000)
Kurt Angle arrived to the WWF in 1999 and immediately made an impact, winning the European and Intercontinental Titles within a little over three months.

He would lose both titles at Wrestlemania that year, but would then start on the path towards the WWF Championship. He would accomplish this goal at No Mercy, defeating The Rock in the main event. The win came with a little help from Rikishi, but still a win nonetheless.

That sent The Rock into a feud with Rikishi. Angle would then retain the title in a championship match at Survivor Series against The Undertaker. In this match, it was a switcheroo by Kurt and his brother Eric that helped get the win.

Elsewhere, Triple H and Stone Cold were heavily involved in a feud of their own.

All three of these feuds would come together in one match. For the first time ever, and still hasn't been done again, six men would compete against each other inside Hell in a Cell for the WWF Championship. After a memorable moment when Rikishi was pushed off the top of the cell into a dumptruck, Angle pinned The Rock to keep the title.

2. Paul London & Brian Kendrick win a Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match in which Joey Mercury breaks his nose (2006)
Leading up to the event, it was going to be a standard tag team match where London and Kendrick would defend their WWE Tag Team Titles against Dave Taylor and William Regal.

Both teams make their entrances for the match, only to be interrupted by then-Smackdown General Manager, Theodore Long. He wanted to give the crowd a surprise and made this match be a Ladder Match. But wait, there would be even more.

He then announced it would be a Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match, throwing in the teams of MNM and The Hardys. The match would be one of the best tag team ladder matches in WWE history, but it was most memorable for one moment.

MNM would set up two ladders so they could double suplex Jeff onto one of them. Matt would stop them, give them a a smash to the skulls, and Jeff flies off the top and sits on the end of the ladder, sending the other end flying into the faces of MNM.

Nitro fell over the ropes, selling the ladder shot, but Mercury immediately dropped to the canvas and clutched at his face. A close-up shot of Mercury would show his face, chest and tights covered in blood, stemming from a broken nose.

By the time he hit the floor, Mercury's face and chest were completely red, there were puddles of blood on the floor and his nose was destroyed. Referees attended to him and took him to the back, where he would not return. Nitro would finish the match on his own, but London and Kendrick retained the titles in arguable the best tag team ladder match ever.

1. Stephanie McMahon turns on her father and joins her husband, Triple H (1999)
Daddy's little girl, Stephanie was to be married to Test, a great guy who Vince actually wanted her daughter to marry.

It was to happen live on Raw, until Triple H came out and showed footage of a drugged Stephanie McMahon and Triple H getting married at a drive-through chapel in Las Vegas.

This would lead to a No Holds Barred match between Triple H and Vince McMahon with very high stakes. If Triple H were to win, he would receive a WWF Championship match the next night on Raw. If Vince won, Triple H would have to sign an annulment.

The match took place and Stephanie, of course, got involved in the match.

Vince was going to hit Triple H with the trusty sledgehammer, but Steph wanted to do it. When she went for it, she couldn't pull the trigger. Hunter grabbed the sledge, hit Vince, pinned him and won the match. Stephanie checked on her father, as Triple H stepped up behind her. She saw he was about to hit her, and then she smiled and stood up.

After a brief moment, Triple H and Stephanie embraced to a stunned audience. This match would lead to the beginning of the Helmsley-McMahon Era.

Conclusion

Those are my Top 10 moments from Armageddon past. Some are arguable where they could be placed in the list and there are other moments that could probably make the list, but in terms of importance to wrestling history/storylines/entertain value, this is where I would put them.

In closing, I would like to say that every year, Armageddon has at least one match that people remember. It may not have a five-star card from top to bottom, but I guarantee there will be a match that people will want to watch again and again.