Armageddon 2004

[Joe Kerr]

WWE Champion JBL had just given a glorious victory speech after defeating five-time WCW Champion and No. 1 Contender Booker T at Survivor Series in November.

He basically proclaimed himself the WWE Champion to end all champions, even comparing himself to Michael Jordan.

Suddenly, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, and Undertaker, the last three men JBL has defeated to retain his WWE Championship, all interrupted, demanding championship rematches.

SmackDown! General Manger Theodore R. Long couldn't handle those requests, so he did the next best thing: They all would get a shot at the WWE Championship in a Fatal Four Way Match at the Armageddon pay-per-view extravaganza on Dec. 12.

JBL has overcome long odds in the past. But nothing quite like what he will be up against at Armageddon. Can the WWE Champion overcome the most monstrous odds of his WWE Championship reign? Or will Booker T, Eddie Guerrero or Undertaker find a way to walk out of Armageddon with the WWE Championship around their waist? There's only one way to find out - order Armageddon, live on pay-per-view, Dec. 12.



It turns out Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio didn’t have to wait until Armageddon to become WWE Tag Team Champions.

Just three days before the big pay-per-view in Atlanta, the high-flying duo defeated rivals Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree on SmackDown!, making them the pair carrying the gold come Armageddon.

The roots behind this rivalry go back even further than when RVD and Mysterio teamed up. Dupree and RVD were tussling in singles competition and both were in the United States Championship hunt. On the Sunday Night Heat before SummerSlam, RVD got the best of Dupree, and Mr. Thursday Night beat the Frenchman once again on SmackDown! the following week. But after that match, Kenzo Suzuki came down and attacked RVD.

RVD wanted revenge and challenged Suzuki on the next edition of SmackDown! Dupree came down to ringside and helped Suzuki get the win and then pummeled RVD after the mach to add insult to injury. Dupree and Suzuki formed an unorthodox pairing, but it soon proved to be a very effective one. Proving that opposites do indeed attract, Dupree and Suzuki defeated Billy Kidman and Paul London for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

It was around this same time that RVD’s and Mysterio’s paths began to cross. The two combined with Hardcore Holly to take on all three Dudley Boys on a September edition of SmackDown! The following week, it was just Mysterio and RVD taking on Bubba Ray and D’Von Dudley in tag team competition and the pairing was a success. The two received a title shot at No Mercy in October, but Suzuki and Dupree came out on top.

Since then, they’ve had more time to gel and get their unique styles to mesh together. On the Nov. 18 edition of SmackDown! Mysterio and RVD upended Dupree and Suzuki, but it was a non-title match. Then, finally, on the Dec. 9 show, Rey and Rob won the WWE Tag Team Championship, making them the hunted for Armageddon.





John Cena may have won back the United States Championship on the SmackDown! following Survivor Series, but he has been laid up with another injury ever since.

Following Cena’s victory over Carlito, Jesus stormed the ring while Cena was trying to reclaim his trademark chain necklace. Jesus delivered a pulverizing shoulderblock followed by several thunderous blows to Cena’s kidney region. As Cena stumbled out towards the middle of the ring, Jesus wrapped the chain around his fist and delivered a crushing blow to Cena’s injured kidney region leaving Cena writhing in pain on the mat.

That was the last WWE fans had seen of Cena, but Jesus hasn’t been a stranger to SmackDown! In fact, he was wreaking havoc again on the Dec. 2 edition. With Charlie Haas already in the ring, Carlito and Jesus came out as Carlito complained that Haas gets all the girls. Jesus then brutally attacked Haas leaving him incapacitated. Once the duo returned back stage General Manager Theodore Long had some news for them.

He informed Jesus that since Jesus likes to bring the “streets” to SmackDown!, then he will put Jesus in a Street Fight Match for Armageddon. Jesus seemed to like that idea until Long informed him that his opponent would be United States Champion John Cena, who likely isn't 100 percent.

Falls count anywhere and anything goes in this match, which makes you wonder if Jesus will use Cena's stolen steel chain against him.

The bad blood between Jesus and Cena has grown so intense, that a normal match just wouldn’t do. Long realized that the two would refuse to follow the rules in a normal match, so he’s now giving them the proper stage to settle their differences. Will the Doctor of Thuganomics be able to gain his revenge and take out the massive Jesus? Or will Jesus continue to punish Cena for injuring his protégé Carlito? Tune in to Armageddon on Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern on pay-per-view to find out.




Time after time in WWE history, the best of friends have been turned into the most bitter of enemies, and time after time the reason tends to be because of some beautiful diva.

Charlie Haas, however, has had the tables turned on him. While he is currently engaged to the lovely Miss Jackie, the vivacious Dawn Marie has been fighting tirelessly to gain his attention. Obviously Miss Jackie hasn’t taken a liking to Dawn Marie’s tactics and is now ready to take her differences into the ring.

This bitter rivalry goes all the way back to September. On the Sept. 30 edition of SmackDown!, Dawn Marie came down to ringside and helped provide commentary for the Dudley Boys vs. Charlie Haas and Rico match. During the match she announced to the world that Miss Jackie and Hass were engaged, but that she was also having an affair with the groom-to-be. This prompted a titillating cat fight between the two WWE divas.

Dawn Marie then joined forces with the Dudleys to take on Haas, Rico and Miss Jackie in a six-man tag match at No Mercy. Haas, Rico and Miss Jackie came out on top, but Dawn Marie predicted that the marriage wouldn’t last.

Then on the Nov. 4 edition of SmackDown!, the to divas engaged in an arm wrestling contest. Before the contest could even begin, Dawn Marie attacked Miss Jackie, prompting Charlie Haas to hobble out on crutches as he was recovering from an injury. The two then faced off again on the Thanksgiving edition of SmackDown! in a Pilgrim vs. Indian Match. The two could not compose themselves enough for a full match yet again as the contest resulted in another cat fight.

Things finally came to a head on the Dec. 2 edition of SmackDown!. The two divas came out during the night wearing the same Santa outfit. They were scheduled for a match, but before it could begin, Dawn Marie taunted Miss Jackie with more remarks insinuating that she was with Charlie the previous night. After yet another cat fight ensued, General Manager Theodore Long came out and proclaimed that he had enough. To settle the score, he set up a match between the two for Armageddon. And since they’re both fighting over Charlie Haas, Haas will get to sort it all out as the guest referee.

Will Charlie stay true to his fiancée, Miss Jackie? Or will the seductress Dawn Marie lure him to the dark side?




Kurt Angle, Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak have been wreaking havoc on Big Show for quite some time now, and the big man has finally had enough. In order to make sure there’s no interference in his match, he decided to ask that all three of his rivals be involved in this handicap match. Has he bitten off a little more than he can chew?

This rivalry dates all the way back to the April 15 edition of SmackDown! Big Show lost a match against Eddie Guerrero in which he had to retire due to the loss as mandated by General Manager Kurt Angle. Infuriated by this result, Big Show attacked Torrie Wilson. Angle came to the rescue, but Big Show chokeslammed him off a platform down to the concrete floor.

Big Show was reinstated when Theodore Long took over as General Manager, though, and he reappeared on the Sept. 9 edition of SmackDown! He came out during a Lumberjack Match between Angle and Guerrero and demolished all of the lumberjacks. The following week he was forced to choose between two contracts. One was to face Angle at No Mercy and the other was to face Guerrero. Big Show teased choosing the Guerrero contract, but chose Angle instead.

On the Sept. 26 edition of SmackDown!, Angle came out with Jindrak and Reigns and shot Big Show with a tranquilizer dart. Once the big man had fallen and was out of commission, the trio shaved Big Show’s head, stripping him of his dignity. Big Show took out his anger on Angle at No Mercy and won the match with a Chokeslam off the top rope.

Big Show found himself on the opposite side of Angle, Jindrak and Reigns at Survivor Series, but before the event even took place, Angle tried to break the big man’s ankle in his patented Ankle Lock. Although not broken, Big Show suffered a severely injured ankle that required heavy taping.

Then on the Thanksgiving edition of SmackDown!, Reigns interrupted Big Show’s Thanksgiving Dinner, hitting new WWE Diva Joy Giovanni in the face with a cream pie. Big Show threw Reigns out of the ring before a full-blown food fight ensued. One week later, Reigns apologized for the scene he caused and asked Giovanni out to dinner. The diva was flattered, but already had plans with Big Show. Reigns was infuriated and backed Joy into a corner. Big Show came to the rescue and challenged all three men to a handicap match.

If anyone can take out three world-class athletes at one time it would have to be the massive Big Show. But not only are these three world-class athletes, Angle has been known to have a world-class mind as well. Will Angle be able to outsmart Big Show? Or will the big man finally get his revenge?



The competition began with thousands of entries from all over the world.

After weeks of grueling training and unique and sometimes humiliating challenges, the $1,000,000 Tough Enough has come down to two hopefuls:

Daniel Puder and Mike Mizanin.

Puder, a former cage fighter, and Mizanin, a MTV reality show veteran, will battle each other for Tough Enough bragging rights.

This match will feature three 1-minute rounds.

Anything can happen in this kind of format. WWE fans might remember WrestleMania XV, when Bart Gunn and Butterbean had a Brawl for All. Butterbean demolished Gunn, who lasted barley 40 seconds before being sent down to the canvas.





Spike Dudley had a wonderful night at Survivor Series, surviving a Fatal Four Way that included Billy Kidman, Chavo Guerrero and Rey Mysterio.

Still, Funaki wasn’t involved in that match, which makes Armageddon all the more interesting.

While Funaki has been more known in recent months as SmackDown!’s No. 1 announcer, he can capture his first Cruiserweight Championship with a win over Spike on Dec. 12.

But that doesn’t figure to be easy. Spike, often with the help of his brothers Bubba and D-Von, has turned back all challengers.

But when Funaki surivived a Cruiserweight Battle Royal on the SmackDown! prior to Armageddon, he became the new No. 1 contender, unlikley as it may sound.


Armageddon Trivia

http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/a...ndivafight.jsp