Armageddon (2008) - Background

Background

Armageddon featured seven professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines that had played out on Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, and ECW on Sci Fi—WWE's television programs. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or heroes in the scripted events that built tension and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches and competed either under their real names or stage names. The event featured wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to the television program of the same name.

The main rivalry heading into Armageddon on the SmackDown brand was a match involving three competitors, known as a Triple Threat match in WWE, for the WWE Championship between Edge, Triple H, and Jeff Hardy. At Survivor Series, Jeff Hardy was out of action after being found unconscious in the stairwell of his Boston hotel earlier in the morning. This resulted to Hardy being removed from the WWE title match, leaving Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov battling each other one-on-one. Just when it looked like Triple H had Kozlov beat after nailing him with a hard-hitting Pedigree, SmackDown's primary authority figure Vickie Guerrero interrupted the match to announce that it would indeed be Triple Threat match– with Edge as the last minute third competitor. Edge made his way to the ring and nailed Triple H with a vicious Spear. Next, Hardy surprisingly ran into the ring and attacked Edge. Hardy then grabbed a steel chair, returned to the ring and knocked both Triple H and Kozlov with each chair shot to the head. As Hardy was about to nail Edge with the chair, Edge countered by spearing Hardy then capitalized, by covering Triple H for the win and won his 6th World Championship. SmackDown General Manager, Vickie Guerrero announced on the November 28, 2008 episode of SmackDown that Triple H, Hardy, and Vladimir Kozlov would compete in a "Beat the Clock" challenge to gain the opportunity to face Edge at Armageddon for the title. In a Beat the Clock challenge, wrestlers compete in separate individual matches and whoever wins their match in the fastest time wins the competition. The first contest saw Hardy defeat The Brian Kendrick in 12:13. Kozlov fought in the second encounter against Matt Hardy, but failed to defeat him in under 12:13, thus being eliminated from the challenge. The last match-up pitted Triple H against Shelton Benjamin, which ended with Triple H gaining the fall at exactly 12:13. As a result of the tie, neither man was announced as the contender for the championship. One week later on the December 5, 2008 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that the WWE Board of Directors had decided Edge would have to defend the title against both Triple H and Hardy at Armageddon.

John Cena and Chris Jericho were involved in the main rivalry on the Raw brand over the World Heavyweight Championship. At WWE's November Survivor Series, Cena returned to the WWE after a legitimate neck injury (that he sustained at SummerSlam) and defeated Jericho to win the championship. On the November 24 episode of Raw, Jericho defeated Randy Orton and Batista in a Triple Threat match to earn a title match against Cena at Armageddon. Later that night, Chris Jericho attempted to steal Cena’s thunder, claiming that he plans on winning back the title at Armageddon. When World Champion, John Cena could even make his much anticipated return to Raw, he then gave Jericho an opportunity to confront him face-to-face, Cena explained the difference between himself and Jericho, stating that he actually cares about the many members of the WWE Universe. After Jericho once again stated his intention to beat Cena at Armageddon and continued to belittle the WWE Universe, Cena snapped. He proceeded to brutalize Jericho, throwing him against the announce table, bludgeoning him with the steel stairs and locking him into an STFU. On the following week's episode of Raw, Jericho made his presence known in much the same way as Cena did the week before, addressing the audience as he made his way through the crowd down to the ring. The difference however, was that while Cena welcomed his fans, Jericho made pains to ignore them. He then went on to explain his resentment toward Cena, stating that while away from the WWE since August 2005, Jericho’s son grew to be a fan, not of his father, but of John Cena. Now, Jericho hopes to show his son and all of the WWE what a real hero is, by beating Cena for the World Heavyweight Title at Armageddon. Later that night, Cena fought Kane in Raw’s main event. Though Jericho attempted to become involved, Cena managed to fight off and then go on to defeat Kane. After the match, Cena chased Jericho, who was attempting to escape. The tables turned, however, when Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Manu emerged to attack Cena, allowing Jericho to lock Cena in the Walls of Jericho.

On the November 24 episode of Raw, Raw's primary authority figure Stephanie McMahon announced an eight-man single-elimination tournament to determine the number-one contender to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, which William Regal held. The first round saw four standard matches, in which Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, John Morrison, and Rey Mysterio were the victors. In the second round, Punk defeated Morrison and Mysterio defeated Kingston, resulting in Mysterio and Punk both qualifying for the finals at Armageddon.