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WWE Armageddon

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WWE Armageddon
WWE Armageddon logo
PromotionsWorld Wrestling Entertainment
BrandsRaw (2002–2003, 2007–2008)
SmackDown (2002, 2004–2008)
ECW (2007–2008)
First event1999
Last event2008

WWE Armageddon was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 1999, when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed to WWE in 2002). It was held every December except in 2001, as that year, Vengeance replaced Armageddon as the event's name was thought to be insensitive following the September 11 attacks, although Armageddon was reinstated in 2002 with Vengeance moving up to July.

To coincide with the brand extension introduced in 2002, the event was made exclusive to the Raw brand in 2003 before becoming SmackDown-exclusive from 2004 to 2006. Following WrestleMania 23 in 2007, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued. The final event was held in 2008, with TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs replacing Armageddon in 2009.

History

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From May 1995 to February 1999, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) held a series of monthly pay-per-views (PPV) titled In Your House. The WWF discontinued the In Your House series to establish permanent names for the monthly PPVs that would be held annually.[1] Armageddon was established that year to be held as the annual December PPV. The inaugural Armageddon was held on December 12, 1999, at the National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida and it aired live on PPV.[2] The first two Armageddon events were held when the promotion was still called the WWF.[2][3] In 2001, Armageddon was replaced by Vengeance due to the September 11 attacks; the promotion felt that the name "Armageddon" would offend victims of the attacks.[4] Armageddon, however, was reinstated in 2002 with Vengeance moving up to July.[5]

In 2002, the WWF changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) due to a court order following a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund over the "WWF" initialism.[6] The promotion also held their very first draft that year to split its roster into two distinctive brands of wrestling, Raw and SmackDown!, where wrestlers would exclusively perform[7]—ECW was added as a third brand in 2006.[8] The 2002 event featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown!,[5] but the 2003 event was held exclusively for the Raw brand.[9] It was then held exclusively for the SmackDown! brand from 2004 to 2006.[10][11][12] Following WrestleMania 23 in 2007, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs.[13] The 2007 event was the last pay-per-view to be broadcast by WWE in 480p standard definition format. In January 2008, all WWE programming switched to 720p high definition.[14] The 2008 event was the final event as Armageddon was discontinued and replaced by TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in 2009.[15]

Events

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Raw-branded event SmackDown-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Armageddon (1999) December, 12, 1999 Sunrise, Florida National Car Rental Center Triple H vs. Mr. McMahon in a No Holds Barred match [2][16]
2 Armageddon (2000) December 10, 2000 Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center Kurt Angle (c) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H vs. The Undertaker vs. The Rock vs. Rikishi in a Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship [3][17]
3 Armageddon (2002) December 15, 2002 Sunrise, Florida Office Depot Center Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match for the World Heavyweight Championship [5][18]
4 Armageddon (2003) December 14, 2003 Orlando, Florida TD Waterhouse Centre Goldberg (c) vs. Triple H vs. Kane in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship [9][19]
5 Armageddon (2004) December 12, 2004 Duluth, Georgia Gwinnett Center John "Bradshaw" Layfield (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. The Undertaker vs. Booker T in a fatal four-way match for the WWE Championship [10][20]
6 Armageddon (2005) December 18, 2005 Providence, Rhode Island Dunkin' Donuts Center The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match [11][21]
7 Armageddon (2006) December 17, 2006 Richmond, Virginia Richmond Coliseum Batista and John Cena vs. King Booker's Court (Finlay and King Booker) [12][22]
8 Armageddon (2007) December 16, 2007 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mellon Arena Batista (c) vs. Edge vs. The Undertaker in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship [23][24]
9 Armageddon (2008) December 14, 2008 Buffalo, New York HSBC Arena Edge (c) vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship [25][26]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cawthon, Graham (2013). The History of Professional Wrestling. Vol. 2: WWF 1990–1999. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ASIN B00RWUNSRS.
  2. ^ a b c "Armageddon (1999) Venue". WWE. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Armageddon (2000) Venue". WWE. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  4. ^ Martínez, Sebestián (December 11, 2020). "Jim Ross reveals why WWE did not celebrate the 2001 edition of Armageddon". Solo Wrestling. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Armageddon (2002) Venue". WWE. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  6. ^ "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. May 6, 2002. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  7. ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. May 27, 2002. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  8. ^ "WWE Launches ECW as Third Brand". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. May 25, 2006. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Armageddon (2003) Venue". WWE. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Armageddon (2004) Venue". WWE. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Armageddon (2005) Venue". WWE. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  12. ^ a b Elliott, Brian (December 17, 2006). "Unexpected ladder contest steals Armageddon". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ "WWE Pay-Per-Views To Follow WrestleMania Formula". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. March 14, 2007. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  14. ^ Clayton, Corey (January 17, 2008). "'Redefining' television with WWE HD". WWE. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  15. ^ "WWE issues a new online fan survey". WrestleView. August 25, 2009. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2009.
  16. ^ "Armageddon (1999) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  17. ^ "Armageddon (2000) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  18. ^ "Armageddon (2002) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  19. ^ "Armageddon (2003) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  20. ^ "Armageddon (2004) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  21. ^ "Armageddon (2005) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  22. ^ "Armageddon (2006) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  23. ^ "WWE presents Armageddon sponsored by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare". WWE. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  24. ^ "Armageddon (2007) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  25. ^ "Armageddon". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  26. ^ "Armageddon (2008) Main Event Synopsis". WWE. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
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