WWE Armageddoon 12/17/2006

Five weeks of PPVs in a row, and the best one definitely came last!

Inferno Match: MVP VS Kane
Funny how the flames only rise when Kane is on offense? I REALLY enjoyed this match! And give credit to MVP for that finish where his lower back was lit on fire! Both men did a good job with the psychology of avoiding the fire as well as pulling of some fun near misses from both men almost getting burned! The first Inferno Match in over seven years, and they did it right!
Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Tag Team Championship – Ladder Match: Paul London & Brian Kendrick [C] VS William Regal & Dave Taylor VS MNM VS the Hardy Boyz
Now this is what you call a GOOD BAIT ‘N’ SWITCH!!! ALL YEAR LONG I’ve been waiting for that one WWE match that would keep you on the edge of your seat and stand out as a clear Match of the Year candidate, and THIS WAS IT! It was great that they were still able to stick to the game plan after the horrific incident that happened to Joey Mercury. The live audience was heavily backing the Hardys, but I was supporting London & Kendrick as they need the rub more, and was awesome to see them retain their titles here after taking the beating of a lifetime here.
And give much respect to EVERYONE in the match for taking it to the next level and delivering my pick for WWE MATCH OF THE YEAR RIGHT HERE!
Match Rating: *****!!!!!

The Miz VS The Boogeyman
I’ll be damned, Miz actually pulled a wrestling match out of Boogeyman! Boogey is still green as moss, but give Miz credit for getting the most offense ever on the guy, as well pulling some decent spots out of him before falling to his double-arm chokeslam.
Match Rating: *

WWE US Title: Chris Benoit [C] VS Chavo Guerrero
This was the match they should have had the first time around! A very strong showing from both, and even though it would have been better without the Vickie Guerrero interference, it still didn’t effect the outcome when Benoit was able to counter a roll-up into the Sharpshooter to retain.
Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Gregory Helms [C] VS Jimmy Wang Yang
I gotta agree with JBL that this match did not deserve the “boring” chants from the audience that it got. There haven’t been a lot of cruiserweight title matches lately, but this was definitely a solid one. I liked the modified facebuster Helms used to win the match with, but I wonder if that was supposed to be the closer as hitting the Shining Wizard after Yang missed the corkscrew moonsault would have been more natural looking.
Match Rating: **1/2

Last Ride Match: Ken Kennedy VS The Undertaker
Crowd was heavily more into this than the Cruiserweight title match even if it was mostly just a big brawl. Though why Undertaker still had to win after taking the bump off the entrance set was beyond me. Maybe they want to stretch this feud up to Wrestle Mania 23 where Kennedy will end ‘Taker’s streak?
Match Rating: *1/2

Ashely won the Naughty or Nice Diva Lingerie Challenge, beating Layla, Krystal Marshall and Jillian Hall. The only reason Ashley won is to give her a push as she's doing Playboy, but the crowd vote clearly voted Layla the winner.

King Booker & Finlay VS WWE Champion John Cena & World Heavyweight Champion Batista
TNA wanted WWE’s attention, and I guess they got it since Batista did a muscle buster and a botched Black Hole Slam! The WWE champion and the world heavyweight champion dominated most of the match, with Booker & Finlay only able to get an advantage after cheating, but it still didn’t do them much good as the face team rallied back and Batista pinned Booker with the Batista-bomb for the win. This match basically was all about Batista getting a rub from John Cena as Cena played up the weak link for a bit before giving Batista the hot tag to clean house, and Cena more than gave props to Batista after the match.
A good tag match, but seriously, THAT was the main event of the PPV?
Math Rating: **1/2

Overall: I think this was definitely the strongest PPV WWE have put on in a while, which is saying a lot after that debacle of an ECW PPV a few weeks back. Why they couldn’t come up with something for ECW like they did tonight will forever be a mystery.