Preliminary Matches
The first match of the event was Booker T versus Mark Henry. Henry controlled most of the match, as he was able to execute a spinebuster and apply various submission holds on Booker. Booker, however, executed a scissors kick and pinned Henry afterwards to win the match.
The match that followed saw Rob Van Dam defend the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Randy Orton with Mick Foley as special guest referee. The match contained many notable spots, including the execution of an elevated spike DDT by Orton on Van Dam, and the execution of rolling thunder by Van Dam. Ric Flair, who accompanied Orton, attempted to interfere many times on Orton's behalf, but was stopped by Foley. Orton pinned Van Dam after an RKO to win the match and begin his first reign as Intercontinental Champion. The third match was an Intergender tag team match billed as the "Battle of the Sexes". It saw Chris Jericho and Christian face off against Trish Stratus and Lita. The match went back and forth, as each team was able to gain the advantage. In the end, Christian pinned Stratus with a roll-up to win the match for himself and Jericho.
The next match was Shawn Michaels versus Batista. Near the end of the match, Batista executed a series of spinebusters on Michaels and attempted to execute a powerbomb. Michaels escaped the powerbomb attempt and executed Sweet Chin Music. He pinned Batista afterward to win the bout. After the match, Maven and Matt Hardy came out for their scheduled match. The two, however, attacked one another outside the ring. Hardy then threw Maven into the ring, where Batista still was. Batista attacked Maven and executed a powerbomb, which forced the referee to declare that Maven could not compete and that his match against Hardy was canceled.
Read more about this topic: Armageddon (2003), Event
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