The Scottish View: Armageddon 2003

Armageddon 2003 Review


I've heard that this PPV is pretty awful, so of course, I'm looking forward to it. Let's see how it is.




Lilian Garcia sings the American National Anthem. I'm not sure of the occasion or why they're putting it in the show, but Lilian does a great job as usual.



Oh right Saddam was caught, that makes a lot of sense now. And now for some wrestling. Hopefully.




Booker T vs Mark Henry
I'm not sure why these guys were feuding, but I think it was because Henry pinned Booker a couple of times. Bit of a sore loser then. Unfortunately this is the Henry that hadn't figured out how to be an awesome monster heel yet. Not a bad match here, and it even had a nice nearfall towards the end. The finish did seem a bit out of nowhere though. **



Backstage, Eric Bischoff tells Jericho and Christian to embarrass Lita and Trish.


Co-GM Mick Foley enters the ring and gets a cheap pop. He does a Dr Evil impression and says that the petition to bring back Steve Austin has one million signatures. Way to make the Survivor Series match look pointless. Stacy Kiebler comes out as a sexy cheerleader to brighten up the place. And just when I thought this was all pointless, Randy Orton comes out to further the soon-to-be-awesome feud between himself and Foley. Foley reveals himself as the guest referee and starts the IC Title match.


I've already reviewed this match in my Evolution of a Predator Blu Ray Review, so I'll just re-do it. Here's the original match review:



Randy Orton vs Rob Van Dam
From Armageddon 2003 . Big moment and match for Orton here as this was the contest in which he won his first and only IC Title . Mick Foley was the guest referee for the bout .This was a good match and it made Orton look good as well . Orton hits a sick looking RKO to win the match . ***1/4


(Well this is certainly a historical match thanks to Orton's first Title win that would help him on his way to stardom. He did look very good coming out of the match, and even made the IC Title look prestigious, as you could tell that he was overjoyed to win it. This might have been the first time that Orton used the rope DDT. Orton's sleepers were boring, but apart from that this was a very good match. I'll keep the rating at  ***1/4)




That's enough of the re-doing for this show.



Chris Jericho & Christian vs Trish Stratus & Lita
This was billed as the Battle of the Sexes. This story would have it's culmination at Wrestlemania when (SPOILER ALERT) Trish turned on Jericho. Jericho didn't want to fight, but Christian had no problem fighting the women. Jericho was fine with fighting Lita, just not Trish. The match was good at getting the guys heat from the crowd. This was never gonna be a technical classic, but it was entertaining, especially when the women had the advantage. **1/2




Shawn Michaels vs Batista
This feud started at Survivor Series when Batista cost Shawn the match with a powerbomb. Batista was still green at this point and hadn't had a lot of PPV matches, but if one guy could give him a good match, it would be HBK. HBK has a good record of great matches with big guys. This was quite slow due to Batista's offense, but Shawn made it as good as he could. Solid match. The ref did seem to ignore the fact that Shawn's shoulders were down during the pin. Still, it was a good effort. **3/4



Maven comes out as he was scheduled to face Matt Hardy, but Batista is still in the ring, so they fight outside the ring. Hardy tosses Maven into the ring and Batista takes him out, so the match doesn't take place. I don't think anyone is really disappointed.




Tag Team Turmoil Match
Tag Team Titles are on the line here. For some reason I like these kind of matches. La Resistance and Hurricane & Rosey start the match off. The Frenchmen are eliminated by a big frog splash, and that brings out Jindrak & Cade who sneak attack the Superheroes to get a very quick pin. Val Venis and Lance Storm are out next. Crowd didn't seem to care about either of these teams. Venis eliminated and that brings the Dudleyz out. The 3D takes out Jindrak & Cade, and that brings out Scott Steiner and Test. This match is WAY too long. Team 3D seemingly win, but Bischoff comes out and adds Batista and Flair as a team. Batista hits the powerbomb to win. This match was too long and only decent at best. *3/4



Molly Holly vs Ivory
Womens Title is on the line. I didn't even know that Ivory was still in the WWE at this point. This match was basically just here as filler until we got to the main event. JR and King's commentary during this match was just atrocious. The match wasn't too bad, but it was too short. *1/2



It's time for the main event and hopefully it can save the show.



Goldberg vs Triple H vs Kane
World Heavyweight Title is on the line. I think Kane was just added because the HHH/Goldberg feud was boring, and they had to give him something to do after that silly feud with Shane McMahon that lasted for three or four months. Pretty good triple threat match, and I liked the power-move style of the match. HHH wins to put himself back on top, and to give Evolution every Title on Raw. ***




4/10. Damn this was a pretty dire show. There's nothing truly terrible here, but the only thing going out of your way to see is Orton's first Title win, which you can find on his DVD anyway. Give this one a miss guys.