Armageddon 2005

Armageddon 2005 was the sixth Armageddon professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by Microsoft's Xbox 360, and took place on December 18, 2005 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island and was a SmackDown! brand-exclusive event.
The main event was a Hell in a Cell match between Randy Orton and The Undertaker, which Undertaker won by pinfall after performing a Tombstone piledriver. One of the predominant matches on the card was an Interpromotional tag team match between WWE Tag Team Champions Batista and Rey Mysterio and World Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane. Big Show and Kane won the match after Kane pinned Mysterio following a chokeslam. Another primary match on the undercard was Booker T versus Chris Benoit in the fourth match of their "Best of 7" series for the vacant WWE United States Championship. Benoit won the match after forcing Booker to submit with the Crippler Crossface, thus earning his first victory in the series.
==Background==
The event featured six professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers belonged to the SmackDown! brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other being Raw.
The main event at Armageddon was fought in a Hell in a Cell, a match where the ring is surrounded by a structure of metal between The Undertaker and Randy Orton. The buildup to the match began at WrestleMania 21, where The Undertaker defeated Orton, a Raw superstar at the time, in an Interpromotional match. On the June 16 episode of SmackDown!, during the third annual WWE Draft, a mock sports draft lottery in which wrestlers switched programs, Orton was drafted to the SmackDown! brand. At the August pay-per-view event, SummerSlam, Orton defeated The Undertaker, where he pinned him after performing an RKO following interference from his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. This led to a Handicap Casket match between Undertaker and Orton and his father at No Mercy. At the event, Orton and his father defeated Undertaker, and set the casket, which Orton locked Undertaker in, which was scripted to be on fire. The proceeding month, at Survivor Series, the Undertaker returned and attacked several SmackDown! superstars following a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match between Raw and SmackDown!. Orton, who won the match for SmackDown!, was able to escape the attack.
The pay-per-view event featured the buildup of a rivalry among two tag teams, a group of at least two wrestlers. The two groups were Batista and Rey Mysterio versus Big Show and Kane. On the November 11 episode of SmackDown!, an Interpromotional Street Fight match was scheduled between Batista and Edge. Edge, who earlier in the night, pleaded to Batista not go through the match. Batista, however, declined to cancel the match. Outside the arena, General Manager Theodore Long was outside talking to Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, who had just arrived to the show. As Long and Bischoff were talking, Chris Masters showed up and grabbed Long from behind and placed him in a full nelson submission hold, which he calls the Master Lock. After the assault on Long, Bischoff and Masters got into a limousine and drove away from the arena. Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) got into JBL's limousine and followed Bishoff and Masters. Inside the arena, Kane and the Big Show showed up and chokeslammed Batista. The chokeslam resulted in Batista legitimately injuring his back. On the November 21 episode of Raw, one of WWE's primary television programs, SmackDown! superstars, Batista, Randy Orton, JBL, Rey Mysterio, and Bobby Lashley, arrived to the show's arena. The Raw superstars met the SmackDown! superstars and a brawl broke out between both rosters. The fight led to Kane and the Big Show to double chokeslam Batista on top of a car, which was scripted so that Batista could attend to his injury. On the November 25 episode of SmackDown!, Batista was scheduled to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Orton in a No Holds Barred match. Batista retained his title after the Raw roster showed up to the arena and began a fight with the SmackDown! roster. Kane and the Big Show double chokeslammed Batista into the announcer's table.
The secondary rivalry heading into Armageddon was between Chris Benoit and Booker T over the vacant WWE United States Championship. The feud all started on the October 21st episode of SmackDown!, when Booker defeated Benoit to win the United States Championship after his wife Sharmell interfered by low blowing Benoit. The following week, Booker turned heel and attacked Benoit with the title belt after revealing that he knew of Sharmell's involvement in his matches the entire time. After Booker saved his title by getting himself counted out in his rematch with Benoit, the two were booked into another match for the title which ended in a double pin, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long vacated the United States Championship and set up a "best of seven series" match between Benoit and Booker and announced that whoever wins out of the most falls would be declared the undisputed United States Champion. The following weeks would see Booker winning most of the series with Sharmell's help (3-0) and that the 4th match would be held at Armageddon.
==Results==
;
;
*WWE Heat: Jamie Noble defeated Funaki. (3:30)
*John "Bradshaw" Layfield (w/ Jillian Hall) defeated Matt Hardy (6:44)
*MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (w/ Melina) defeated The Mexicools (Super Crazy and Psicosis) (8:55)
*Chris Benoit (1) defeated Booker T (3) (w/ Sharmell) in the 4th match in a "Best of 7" series for the vacant WWE United States Championship (20:09)
*Bobby Lashley defeated William Regal & Paul Burchill in a Handicap Match (3:38)
*Kid Kash defeated Juventud (c) to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (9:25)
*Kane & The Big Show defeated Rey Mysterio & Batista (8:37)
*The Undertaker defeated Randy Orton (w/ "Cowboy" Bob Orton) in a Hell in a Cell match (30:30)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Michael Cole
*Tazz
;Interviewers
*Kristal Marshall
*Josh Mathews	
;Ring announcer
*Tony Chimel
;Referees
*Nick Patrick
*Charles Robinson
*Jimmy Korderas
*Chris Kay
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*Armageddon
==DVD release==
* Armageddon 2005 on DVD
==External links==
* Armageddon 2005 Official Website
* Armageddon 2005 at CAGEMATCH.net
* Armageddon 2005 at Online World of Wrestling
* on WWE Network
Category:Events with Hell in a Cell matches
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:Armageddon
Category:2005 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Handicap matches