Background
The main feud heading into the event was between Goldberg, Kane, and Triple H over the World Heavyweight Championship. In November, at Survivor Series, Goldberg retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H. The night after Survivor Series, Kane became involved in the feud between Goldberg and Triple H after attacking Goldberg following a Handicap match. The following week, on the November 24 episode of Raw, Kane interfered in a match between Triple H and Goldberg. After the match, General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that Goldberg would be defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H and Kane in a Triple Threat match at Armageddon.
Another primary feud heading into the event was between Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam over the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Van Dam won the title on the September 29 episode of Raw by defeating then-champion Christian. On the November 17 episode of Raw, during a match between Ric Flair and Van Dam, Orton interfered and executed an RKO on Van Dam. Later that night, Orton was granted an Intercontinental Championship match against Van Dam at Armageddon. On the December 8 episode of Raw, Co-General Manager Mick Foley appointed himself as the special guest referee for the match.
One of the predominant matches on the card was Batista versus Shawn Michaels. Their feud first started when Batista attacked Michaels during his elimination match at Survivor Series, with Steve Austin's career on the line. On the November 24 episode of Raw, Eric Bischoff scheduled a match between the two for Armageddon. Later that night, Michaels and Chris Jericho defeated Batista and Ric Flair in a tag team match. Towards the end of the match, Jericho turned on Michaels and superkicked him. Michaels landed on Flair as a result and got the pinfall to win the match for himself and Jericho. After the match, however, Batista executed a powerbomb on Michaels.
Read more about this topic: Armageddon (2003)
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