The 2005 Armageddon was the sixth

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

brand division. The event took place on December 18, 2005, at the

Dunkin' Donuts Center The Amica Mutual Pavilion (originally Providence Civic Center and formerly Dunkin' Donuts Center ("The Dunk")) is an indoor arena located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It was built in 1972, as a home court for the Providence College Fr ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was a

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a four-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link f ...

match between

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...

and

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...

, which Undertaker won by

pinfall In professional wrestling, a pin is a move where a wrestler holds an opponent's shoulders to the mat in an attempt to score a fall. A pinfall is a common victory condition, where the attacker pins an opponent and the referee makes a three count ...

after performing a

Tombstone piledriver A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs their opponent, turns them upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The technique is said to have b ...

. One of the predominant matches on the

card Card or The Card may refer to: Common uses * Plastic cards of various types: **Bank card **Credit card **Debit card **Payment card * Playing card, used in games * Printed circuit board, or card * Greeting card, given on special occasions Arts an ...

was an Interpromotional

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

between WWE Tag Team Champions

Rey Mysterio Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as both one of the greatest '' luch ...

and

World Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

Batista Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player João Batista da Silva * Dave Bautista, Batista (wrestler) (Dave ...

and World Tag Team Champions

Big Show and Kane Big Show and Kane were an American tag team active in professional wrestling during 2001–2002, 2005–2006, 2011 and 2014–2016 consisted of Paul Wight (Big Show) and Glenn Jacobs (Kane). Using their gigantic statures and power to dominate o ...

. Big Show and Kane won the match after Kane pinned Mysterio following a

chokeslam A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerf ...

. Another primary match on the undercard was

Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 194 ...

versus

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit ( ; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, but is notorious for Chris Benoit double-murd ...

in the fourth match of their " Best of 7" series for the vacant

WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defend ...

. Benoit won the match after forcing Booker to submit with the Crippler Crossface, thus earning his first victory in the series.

Production

Background

was established in 1999 as

's (WWE) December

(PPV) and was held every year except in 2001. The 2005 event was held on December 18 at the

. It was the sixth event in the Armageddon chronology. Like the previous year, the 2005 event featured wrestlers exclusively from the

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

Storylines

The event featured six

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

ed feuds,

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the connected story elements of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 ...

s and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers (aside from the one interpromotional match) belonged to the

brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other being Raw. The main event at Armageddon was fought in a

match stipulation between

and

. The buildup to the match began at

WrestleMania 21 WrestleMania 21, also promoted as WrestleMania Goes Hollywood, was a 2005 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 21st annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2005, at ...

, where The Undertaker defeated Orton, a '' Raw'' superstar at the time, in an Interpromotional match. On the June 16 episode of ''SmackDown!'', during the third annual WWE Draft Lottery, Orton was drafted to the SmackDown! brand and attacked The Undertaker during his match with

John "Bradshaw" Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield, is an American professional wrestling color commentator, retired professional wrestler and former American football, football player. He is s ...

(JBL). At the August pay-per-view event,

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...

, Orton defeated The Undertaker, where he pinned him after performing an

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

following interference from his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. This led to a Handicap

Casket match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

between The Undertaker and the Ortons at No Mercy. At No Mercy, the Ortons defeated The Undertaker and set the casket on fire. The proceeding month, at

Survivor Series Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...

, The Undertaker returned and attacked several SmackDown! superstars following a 5-on-5

Survivor Series match The Survivor Series match is a professional wrestling tag team elimination match held in WWE. The match typically sees two teams pitted against each other and members of the teams are eliminated one-by-one until one entire team is eliminated. Memb ...

between Team ''Raw'' and Team ''SmackDown!''. Orton, who won the match for Team ''SmackDown!'', was able to escape the attack. Then, on the December 2 episode of ''SmackDown!'', The Undertaker called Orton to face him inside Hell in a Cell at Armageddon, which was made official. The pay-per-view event featured the buildup of a rivalry among two

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

s, a group of at least two wrestlers. The two groups were

and

versus

. On the November 11 episode of ''SmackDown!'', an Interpromotional Street Fight match was scheduled between Batista and

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

. Edge, who earlier in the night, pleaded to Batista not go through the match. Batista, however, declined to cancel the match. Outside the arena, General Manager

Theodore Long Theodore Robert Rufus Long (born September 15, 1947) is an American former professional wrestling Referee (professional wrestling), referee, Manager (professional wrestling), manager and Authority figure (professional wrestling), authority figur ...

was outside talking to Raw General Manager

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Booker, professional wrestling booker, promoter, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Sen ...

, who had just arrived to the show. As Long and Bischoff were talking, Chris Masters showed up and grabbed Long from behind and placed him in a full nelson

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

hold, which he calls the Master Lock. After the assault on Long, Bischoff and Masters got into a limousine and drove away from the arena. Rey Mysterio,

Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he a former List of TNA World Tag Team Champions, three time TNA Wor ...

, and

(JBL) got into JBL's limousine and followed Bishoff and Masters. Inside the arena, Kane and the Big Show showed up and chokeslammed Batista. The chokeslam resulted in Batista legitimately injuring his back. On the November 21 episode of ''Raw'', one of WWE's primary television programs, SmackDown! superstars, Batista, Randy Orton, JBL, Rey Mysterio, and

Bobby Lashley Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Hurt Syndicate and is one-half of the AEW World Tag Team C ...

, arrived to the show's arena. The Raw superstars met the SmackDown! superstars and a brawl broke out between both rosters. The fight led to Kane and the Big Show to double chokeslam Batista on top of a car, which was scripted so that Batista could attend to his injury. On the November 25 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Batista was scheduled to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Orton in a

No Holds Barred match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

. Batista retained his title after the Raw roster showed up to the arena and began a fight with the SmackDown! roster. Kane and the Big Show double chokeslammed Batista into the announcer's table.

Event

Pre-show

Prior to the

Jamie Noble James Gibson (born December 23, 1976) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name Jamie Noble. He is signed to WWE, where he works as a producer. In addition to his work with WWE, Noble is known for his tenures in ...

defeated Funaki on '' Sunday Night Heat''.

Main card

The first match was a match between

and

(JBL) (with

Jillian Hall Jillian Hall (born September 6, 1980) is a retired American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She is best known for her time in WWE. After debuting in 1998, Hall worked on the independent circuit under the name Macaela Mercedes. ...

). JBL would have most of the offense for the entire match, since at the beginning of the match, Hardy got caught up, neck first, between the top and middle rope, and stayed there for a little while as JBL proceeded to choke, punch and kick his head in. After attacking Hardy for a few minutes, JBL illegally ripped off a turnbuckle pad, sent Hardy into it and executed a

Clothesline From Hell Strikes can be offensive moves in professional wrestling, that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a hold or for a throw. There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, and many are known by several different names. Professional ...

for the win. In the second match, The Mexicools (

Super Crazy Francisco Islas Rueda (born December 3, 1973), better known by his ring name Super Crazy, is a Mexican '' luchador'' (or professional wrestler). In Mexico, Islas has worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and made appearances ...

and

Psicosis Dionicio Castellanos Torres (born May 19, 1971) is a Mexican Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Psicosis (sometimes Anglicisation, Anglicised as Psychosis) and Nicho el Millonario. He is best known for ...

) faced MNM ( Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (with Melina). Psicosis and Super Crazy performed many high-flying moves, landing a corkscrew as well as a tope con hilo over the referee's back. Melina got involved, tripping up Psicosis and taking away his momentum. MNM used their double teaming tactics to wear down Psicosis, keeping him isolated from making the tag. Once the tag was made, Super Crazy controlled most of the offense for the rest of the match. Melina tried to get involved again, but was sent down for her troubles. Super Crazy executed a moonsault on Mercury, but Nitro broke the pinfall, leading to the Snapshot for the win. In the third match,

(with Sharmell) faced

in match four of a best of seven series match for the vacant

. There were multiple chops and suplexes from both wrestlers. They seemed to be a little off their game however, floundering a bit at times. Several Crossface attempts, as well as a low blow/scissor kick combination from Sharmell and Booker T all failed to win the match for both wrestlers. With Booker T down, Benoit executed a Diving headbutt, only for a near-fall. Benoit once again went for the crossface, but this time Booker T rolled through and hit referee Jim Korderas. Benoit was quick to apply the

Sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

, forcing Booker T to submit but the referee was out. Sharmell came in and hit Benoit with the broom, but that did not affect him. As he was distracted, Booker T attacked Benoit, setting up for the Book End, which was reversed into a DDT and Benoit forced Booker T to submit with a Crossface for the victory. In the fourth match,

faced

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as the vice-president of Global Talent Development. He is also known for ...

and Paul Burchill in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. Lashley was in control for most of the match. He used the Dominator on Burchill to win the match. In the fifth match, Juventud faced

Kid Kash David Tyler Cash (born July 31, 1969), better known by his ring name Kid Kash, is an American mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler, best known for his tenures with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Total Nonstop Action Wre ...

for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. In the end, Kash went for a springboard moonsault, but caught a pair of knees to the midsection. Juventud then executed a huricanrana off the top rope, and executed a Juvi Driver for the two count. Kash countered a front flip leg drop with a Dead Level to win the title. In the sixth match, WWE Tag Team Champions

and

faced World Tag Team Champions

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name of Paul Wight. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) f ...

and And or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar and computing * Conjunction, connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a Boolean oper ...

Kane in an Interpromotional Tag Team Champions vs Champions match. Each team demonstrated their strength, with Mysterio being the only man out of place. The match evolved into a brawl, with Batista and Big Show wrestling over the broadcast table, as Mysterio executed

619 __NOTOC__ Year 619 ( DCXIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 619 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe f ...

to Kane. He went for the West Coast Pop, but Kane caught him in midair,

ming him for the win.

Main event

In the main event,

faced

(with

Bob Orton Robert Keith Orton Sr. (July 21, 1925 – July 16, 2006) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. The patriarch of the Orton wrestling family, his two sons Bob Orton Jr. and Barry Orton, and grandson Randy Orton, have all wr ...

) inside

. During the match, The Undertaker hit Orton with a steel chair, bloodying Orton. Orton hit The Undertaker with the steel steps, bloodying The Undertaker also. "Cowboy" Bob Orton tried intervening, but The Undertaker executed a Big Boot, causing the Cell and Bob to collide, causing a laceration. Orton executed a Diving Splash through a table on The Undertaker for a near-fall. Orton ducked a punch from The Undertaker that caught referee Nick Patrick, bloodying him as well. As referees and EMTs came down, Bob entered the Cell. Orton executed an

, but there was no referee to make the count.

Charles Robinson Charles, Charlie or Charley Robinson may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Charles Dorman Robinson (1847–1933), American painter *Charles Napier Robinson (1849–1936), English journalist and story writer *Charles M. Robinson (architect) (18 ...

made the count, but The Undertaker kicked out at two. The Undertaker executed a Last Ride on Orton but Bob broke up the pinfall, leading The Undertaker to attack Bob. The Undertaker attempted a

Tombstone Piledriver A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs their opponent, turns them upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The technique is said to have b ...

on Orton but Orton reversed into a Tombstone on The Undertaker for a near-fall. Bob tried to get involved again but The Undertaker attacked Bob. The Undertaker hit Bob and Orton with an urn and executed a Tombstone on Bob. The Undertaker executed a Tombstone Piledriver on Orton to win the match.

Aftermath

In the "Best of Seven" series,

ended up winning the vacant

on the January 13, 2006 edition of SmackDown in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, with the help of

. The feud between

and

ended in the

match after the feud ran for about nine months.

and

, who were the

WWE Tag Team Championship The WWE Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE ...

holders at the time, lost the title to the team of MNM after Batista suffered a legitimate injury in early 2006, sidelining him for up to seven months.

and Kane continued to reign as World Tag Team Champions until April 2006.

Results

References

External links

Official Armageddon 2005 website
{{2005 WWE pay-per-view events

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2005 in Rhode Island Professional wrestling shows in Providence, Rhode Island 2005 WWE pay-per-view events December 2005 in the United States WWE SmackDown