Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown! Date December 15, 2002 Venue Office Depot Center | Sponsor(s) Lugz Attendance 9,000 | |
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Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment | ||
Armageddon (2002) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and took place on December 15, 2002, at the Office Depot Center in Sunrise, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was the third Armageddon event and included talent from the Raw and SmackDown! brands.
Contents
The main match on the Raw brand was a Three Stages of Hell match for the World Heavyweight Championship between champion Shawn Michaels and Triple H. The first match was a Street Fight, which Triple H won after performing a Pedigree. The second match was a Steel cage match, which Michaels won by pinfall after jumping off the top of the steel cage onto Triple H through a table. The third and final match was a Ladder match, which Triple H won after retrieving the belt suspended above the ring. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was The Big Show versus Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. Angle won the match and the WWE Championship after pinning Big Show following interference from Brock Lesnar. One of the primary matches on the undercard was Chris Benoit versus Eddie Guerrero, which Benoit won by forcing Guerrero to submit with the Crippler Crossface.
Background
At SummerSlam on August 25, World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Triple H in an Unsanctioned Street Fight. Three months later at Survivor Series, Michaels won an Elimination Chamber match, lastly eliminating Triple H, to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On the November 25 episode of Raw, Michaels defended the title against Rob Van Dam; however, Michaels retained the title with help from Triple H. On December 2, on Raw, Triple H defeated Rob Van Dam to face Michaels for the title at Armageddon. Afterwords, Michaels awarded the win to Triple H and the two brawled with one another ending with Michaels nailing Triple H with the Sweet Chin Music. The next week on Raw, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that the title match at Armageddon would be a Three Stages of Hell match. He said the first fall would be a Street fight, the second fall would be a Steel cage match, and that the third fall would be a Ladder match. Later that night, after Triple H defeated Jeff Hardy, he and Ric Flair attacked Hardy and was close to taking out Hardy with a steel chair until Michaels came out to challenge both men. Moments later, Flair cut a promo with Michaels stating that if Michaels doesn't pass the torch at Armageddon, Triple H will kill him, taking the most coveted trophy in the business from him. Towards the end of the show, Michaels attacked Triple H and Flair with an iron shovel outside the arena. Michaels then smashed Triple H with a trash can, causing him to fall inside a dumpster. Shortly after, Michaels climbed to the top of a trailer and jumped off onto Triple H, sending a clear message toward their title match at Armageddon.
The last month at Survivor Series, The Big Show defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship, pinning him after a chokeslam on a steel chair, thus handing Lesnar his first Pinfall loss in WWE. During that match, when Lesnar tried to pin Big Show following an F-5, he was betrayed by his agent Paul Heyman who pulled the referee out of the ring, allowing Big Show to capitalize and win the title. On the November 21 episode of SmackDown!, Lesnar checked the villain's locker room to look for Big Show and Heyman until Matt Hardy stood up and made insults to Lesnar about his loss at Survivor Series. Lesnar responded by throwing him through the wall. Moments later, SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon informed Lesnar that he can't get his rematch for the WWE title until his ribs, that were still injured when Big Show tossed him off the stage the previous two weeks on SmackDown!, are healed up to 100%. She then stated that she will suspend Lesnar if he would lay his hands on Heyman, Big Show or any other SmackDown! superstar. During the segment between Heyman and Big Show, Heyman made it clear that Lesnar would not get a rematch, even going so far as to sneak a special clause in his contract. Shortly after, Lesnar went after the two by grabbing the steel chair from ringside and nailed Big Show in the spine with it. Later that night, Big Show defended the WWE title against Edge, which ended in a no-contest when Heyman interfered, enabling Big Show to put Edge away with three chokeslams. Afterwords, Lesnar got to the ring and nail Big Show with an F-5 and then chased Heyman backstage until Heyman took off in a limousine. The following week on SmackDown!, SmackDown! GM Stephanie McMahon suspended Lesnar due to Lesnar ignoring her orders twice the previous week about not laying his hands on anybody, even Big Show. Later that night, Lesnar would still come out and hit an F-5 on Big Show through the announce table then he once again tried to go after Heyman until Stephanie McMahon bought the officers out in Lesnar's way and ordered them to get him out of the arena. On the edition of December 5 of SmackDown!, Angle defeated Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Edge in a Fatal Four-Way match to become number one contender to the WWE Championship at Armageddon. Shortly after the match ended, Big Show, accompanied by Heyman, came out and chokeslammed Angle. The next week on SmackDown!, Angle interrupted Lesnar's autograph session to inform Lesnar that he would get his suspension lifted if Lesnar could help him defeat The Big Show at Armageddon. Lesnar responded by saying, he'll think about it. However, SmackDown! GM Stephanie McMahon reminded Big Show and Heyman that Lesnar's suspension has been lifted. Later that night, Big Show and A-Train defeated Angle and Edge. Towards the end of the match, as Angle was preparing to apply the ankle lock on The Big Show, Heyman distracted him, which allowed Big Show to hit a chokeslam for the win.
Preliminary matches
Before the match, a dark match took place between Jeff Hardy and D'Lo Brown, which Hardy won after a Diving Crossbody The event opened with a Fatal Four-Way tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship between Chris Jericho and Christian, Lance Storm and William Regal, The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von), and Booker T and Goldust. The Dudley Boyz were eliminated after Regal pinned Bubba Ray after a Diving leg drop by Storm. Regal and Storm were eliminated after Goldust pinned Regal after a Director's Cut. Jericho and Christian were eliminated after Booker pinned Jericho after a Book End, meaning Goldust and Booker T won the title.
Next, Edge faced A-Train. A-Train was disqualified for attacking Edge with a chair. After the match, Edge hit A-Train with the chair seven times.
After that, Chris Benoit faced WWE Tag Team Champion Eddie Guerrero. Benoit forced Guerrero to submit to the Crippler Crossface to win the match.
Next, Kane faced Batista (with Ric Flair). Batista executed the Batista Bomb to win the match.
After that, Victoria defended the WWE Women's Championship against Trish Stratus and Jacqueline. After stratus executed a Clothesline on Jacqueline, Victoria hit Stratus with the Women's title belt and pinned Jacqueline to retain the title.
Main event matches
In the sixth match, The Big Show (with Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle. After back and forth action between the two (including some interference by A-Train against Angle), Brock Lesnar interfered and attacked Big Show with an F5. Angle pinned Big Show to win the title.
In the main event, Shawn Michaels defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match. The first fall was a Street fight. Triple H pinned Michaels after a Pedigree to win the first fall. The second fall was a Steel Cage match. Michaels pinned Triple H after a Splash off the top of the cage through a table to win the second fall. The third fall was a Ladder match. Triple H pushed a ladder, causing Michaels to fall off the ladder through four tables stacked outside the ring, and retrieved the title belt to win the match!