Armageddon 2002 Armageddon 2002 was the third Armageddon professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on December 15 , 2002 at the Office Depot Center in the Ft . Lauderdale suburb of Sunrise , Florida and featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown ! brands . 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 . The main feud heading into Armageddon on the Raw brand was between Shawn Michaels and Triple H , with the two feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship . At SummerSlam on August 25 , Shawn Michaels defeated Triple H in an Unsanctioned Street Fight , pinning him with a jackknife roll - up . Three months later at Survivor Series , Michaels won an Elimination Chamber match , by eliminating Chris Jericho then Triple H , to win the World Heavyweight Championship . On the November 25 edition of Raw , Michaels defended the World title against Rob Van Dam ; however , Michaels retained the title with help from Triple H . On the December 2 edition of " Raw " , Triple H defeated Rob Van Dam in a number one contenders match , winning a World title match against Michaels 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 World title match at Armageddon would be a 2 out of 3 falls 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 on that edition , after Triple H defeated Jeff Hardy , Triple H and Ric Flair attacked Hardy and was close to take 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 main feud on the SmackDown ! brand was between The Big Show and Kurt Angle , with the two battling over the WWE Championship . The previous month at Survivor Series , 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 . Following Survivor Series on the November 21 edition 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 chokeslam s . 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 December 5 edition 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 . Event . The event unofficially began with a dark match between Jeff Hardy and D ' Lo Brown . Hardy pinned Brown after a Diving Crossbody and hooking the tights for leverage . The first match of the event was 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 World Tag Team champs Chris Jericho and Christian started the match off with the Dudleys , though both Booker T and Goldust and Lance Storm and William Regal were involved early and often . The first team to go were the Dudley Boyz ; Bubba Ray was pinned by Regal , after a Top rope leg drop by Storm . The second elimination was of team Storm and Regal ; Goldust pinned Regal after a Director ' s Cut , which made the match even at two - on - two . The final elimination came when Booker hit a Book End on Jericho , which allowed Booker to pin him and get the win for his team . As a result , Booker and Goldust became new World Tag Team champions . The second match was between Edge and A - Train . A - Train started the match and dominated Edge as he gave him a slam the corner , which was followed by a shoulder block . A - Train tried another slam on Edge , but Edge countered and tossed A - Train out of the ring . A - Train gained the advantage once more , when he catapulted Edge right into the ropes and nearly decapitated him , A - Train then got Edge in the headlock in the middle of the ring , but Edge dropped down and hit a DDT to break free . Edge then took the upper hand as he got up and knocked A - Train down with a spinning heel kick , which was followed by a facebuster from the middle rope . The match came to an end when , A - Train was disqualified for hitting Edge with a chair . As a result , Edge won the match . Afterwards , Edge hit A - Train with a chair seven times . The third match was between Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero . In the match , Benoit whipped Guerrero down and got Guerrero in a reverse chinlock . Guerrero managed to get out of the hold , as he kicked Benoit in the midsection . Guerrero got Benoit down on the mat and locked him in a head - scissors . Benoit countered the move and got Guerrero in a hold , but Guerrero was able to get the rope , to break the hold . After back and forth action between Benoit and Guerrero , Benoit forced Guerrero to submit to the Crippler Crossface . The fourth match was between Kane and Batista ( with Ric Flair ) . Kane and Batista locked up in the middle of the ring and Batista took the upper hand over Kane , as he hit Kane with a shoulder block . Batista then picked up Kane and slammed him , but Kane was able to drive his elbow onto him . In the match however Kane stopped Flair ' s interference . Kane slammed Batista into the turnbuckle , which was followed by a big boot to the face . The match came to an end when Batista hit the Batista Bomb on Kane and grabbed the pinfall . The fifth match was for the WWE Women ' s Championship between Victoria , Trish Stratus and Jacqueline . Victoria ran down to the ring , but was quickly tossed out by Jacqueline . Jacqueline took the advantage , as she hit a sweep kick on Victoria . Soon after , Trish attempted a bulldog on Jacqueline but Jacqueline and Victoria double - teamed her with a back suplex . Mid - way in the match , Trish dominated and hit Victoria with multiple kicks followed by a neckbreaker on Jacqueline . Victoria was pushed off the turnbuckle as Stratus hit a roundhouse kick on Jacqueline for a broken up two count . In the end , Victoria pinned Jacqueline after Stratus hit her with a Clothesline and Victoria hit Stratus with the Women ' s title belt , which resulted in Victoria pinning Jacqueline and retaining the title . The sixth match of the night was for the WWE Championship between The Big Show ( with Paul Heyman ) and Kurt Angle . Angle was taken down by the Big Show , but countered and got Big Show in a head - scissors lock . Angle battled back as he hit Big Show with a sidewalk slam . Angle got Big Show in a Sleeper Hold and got him down to the mat , but then Big Show reversed the hold and flipped Angle to the mat . Angle fought back and kicked Big Show in the face and then he went up to the top rope . Angle hit a missile dropkick from the top rope , but Big Show kicked out of the pin . After back and forth action between the two ( including some interference by A - Train against Angle ) , Angle pinned Big Show after interference from Brock Lesnar , Lesnar hit the F - 5 on Big Show , thus making Angle the winner of the match and new WWE Champion . Triple H challenging Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship was the main event . The first fall of the match was a Street fight . Michaels and Triple H battled inside and out of the ring . Triple H tried to suplex Michaels over the ropes and through the table , but Michaels countered and suplexed Triple H right back into the ring . Michaels was gearing up for the Sweet Chin Music , however Triple H caught Michaels and twisted Michaels ' knee . Triple H focused on Michaels knee , throughout the match . In the street fight , Triple H lit a piece of wood on fire , with the flames provided on the stage . However , Michaels countered Triple H ' s attack and nailed him right in the face with the flaming board , which resulted in Triple H ’ s forehead being busted open . However , Triple H picked up the first fall as he pinned Michaels after a Pedigree . The second fall was a Steel Cage match . In the match , Triple H catapulted Michaels into the wall of the cage , which was followed by Triple H grinding Michaels head into the side of the cage . After back and forth action between Triple H and Michaels , Michaels scored the second fall , after he Splashed Triple H through a table off the cage . The third and last fall of the night was a Ladder match . Michaels grabbed a ladder in which resulted in him dropping the ladder on Triple H ' s back which was quickly followed by Michaels suplexing Triple H on the ladder . The match concluded with Triple H retrieving the World Heavyweight title , after he pushed Michaels off the ladder , which resulted in Michaels crashing through four stacked tables on the outside .