WWE Armageddon - History

History

Armageddon was a pay-per-view (PPV) event consisting of a main event and undercard that featured championship matches and other various matches. The first Armageddon event took place on December 12, 1999 at the National Car Rental Center and aired live on PPV. The event was replaced by Vengeance in 2001 due to the September 11 attacks; WWE felt that the name of the event would offend victims of the attacks.

In 2002, WWF was court ordered to change their name, which resulted in the promotion changing its name to WWE. Later that year, WWE held a draft that split its roster into two distinctive brands of wrestling, Raw and SmackDown, and ECW in 2006. Before the draft, matches featured wrestlers from the roster without any limitations; after the draft, matches only consisted of wrestlers from their distinctive brands. The first Armageddon event to be produced under the WWE banner and with roster limitations was Armageddon (2002), which took place on December 15, 2002. The following year, WWE announced that PPV events, excluding WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble, would be made exclusive to each brand; Armageddon was made exclusive to the SmackDown brand (the event was however made exclusive to Raw in 2003 before soon changing to SmackDown). After three years of being produced as a brand exclusive event, Armageddon (2006) was the final Armageddon event that was brand exclusive, as WWE announced that PPV events from then on would feature all three brands of WWE.