Armageddon It

I've always wanted to try one of those blog entries where you write your impressions of a live event as it happens. While I won't post this until after it's finished, I'm going to try this approach with WWE Armageddon.

MVP vs Rey Mysterio for the US championship

Rey always seems a little bit of a challenge for other wrestlers to work with because of the amount of selling they have to do for his moves to work. Having said that, MVP is doing a reasonably good job. Rey dominates the first half of the match with hurricuranas and corkscrew jumps both in and out of the ring. Rey hurts his leg and that allows MVP to work a hard hittng ground game. The match ends with MVP intentionally taking a ten count outside of the ring. Rey wins the match but not the belt and delivers a 619 for revenge.

Kane and CM Punk vs Big Daddy V and Mark Henry

I missed some of this match, but predictably with this many big guys in the ring it's filled with hard hitting combat. CM Punk impresses with his agility and keeps the match moving so the fight doesn't become a big Sherman tank battle. Big Daddy V catches CM Punk in mid air for a Samoan drop and the win. Wow, Big Daddy V needs a bra! And no, I would never say that to his face.

Vicki Guerrero is in a wheel chair talking to her boyfriend Edge. The room is filled with balloons in anticipation of his victory.

Mr Kennedy vs Shawn Michaels

One of the best of the new breed of superstars, Mr Kennedy comes to the ring. Love this guy's entrance, he can definitely talk. Kennedy....Kennedy. HBK comes out now to a huge pop from the crowd.

Kennedy dominates the early going but Michaels is starting to chop away at Kennedy's chest. Ate some dinner during this match, it became a very physical match. Kennedy works Michaels' back while Michaels works Kennedy's left hand. Michaels scores Sweet Chin Music with a great sell by Kennedy. Michaels wins the match but Kennedy gains the momentum careerwise. Both men sell like crazy to get this match over.

Jeff Hardy talks about going to the next level in his career. He still isn't great on the mic.

Triple HHH vs Jeff Hardy

Boring match as Triple HHH dominates the entire match. Some great character moments particularly for HHH showing his intelligence during the match in scouting Hardy's moves. Hardy wins with a surprise pin. Hardy wins a Championship match at Royal Rumble!

Great Khali cuts a promo. He has a translator which helps. As I was commenting to my wife, Khali's nipples are as big as his translator's head. He's huge!

The Great Khali vs Finley

Fightin for the honor of Hornswoggle, it's pretty much a squash match while Bradshaw works as many Irish metaphors as he can think of. Hornswoggle and Finley sneak a couple of shots to Khali's presumably massive balls with a shalaleigh to get the win. (I bet Khali's balls are so big that hitting them was like batting a pinata). The second "against the odds" victory in a row. Boorriing. Yawn. Oh Jeez, they're Irish square dancing now.

Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship

Break the code Jerky! One of my favorite wrestlers has returned and gets a title shot. And Lillian Garcia looks great in her robe...I mean dress. This match has the potential to be great, both performers are young and uninjured.

Pretty solid match, both did a good job of working the emotion as it's clear the audience wants Jericho to win after his comeback. During the match, Orton throws Jericho into the announce table and JBL. Later, Jericho has Orton in the Walls of Jericho when JBL attacks Y2J. Orton wins by DQ and Orton delivers a RKO to add insult to injury.

This brings back some of the energy to this event overall, but it still needs more to catch up with the opening matches.

Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James for the Womens Championship

Jillian Hall interrupts to plug her "music". Her awful singing follows until Mickie James skips out. Now Phoenix comes out, easily the most muscular woman since Chyna in the WWE. The match goes back and forth, James demonstrating almost Mysterio like agility. But in the end, Phoenix powers out a victory. Pretty good match, keeping the energy of the event at a low simmer.

Edge vs Batista vs Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship

After the third or fourth rerunning of the clips telling the story of what's led to this match, Batista comes running out. Tazz has replaced Bradshaw at the Smackdown table to announce. Now the Rated R superstar makes his entrance with added Kurt Angle style fireworks. Undertaker makes his classic entrance.

This match brings the energy back as Undertaker and Batista duke it out with each other for the Championship and the right to bash Edge. Edge utilizes several tricks including decoy Edges to score the victory. A strong match filled with good moments as the opponents go back and forth in momentum. Clean story telling with Edge playing the fearful opportunist as Batista and Undertaker chase each other like meatheads. Edge is World Champion!

This wraps up Armageddon. Overall, I'd rate this PPV as decent with some high points. The opening match of Rey Mysterio vs MVP was the best match, both wrestlers got to show off their strengths and the match moved quickly. Shawn Michaels vs Mr Kennedy ran a close second, a surprisingly brutal match. Chris Jericho entered with the most momentum and leaves with it intact. A fun PPV though when I think of past Armaggedons like the six man Hell in a Cell, it seems a little on the low budget side.