Y2J The King Of The World

Well, Armageddon has come and gone. Not the most memorable PPV - but that can be blamed more on a lack of proper build-up than to WWE's usual shortcoming in PPV's: predictability.

Booker T vs. Mark Henry was a decent match for both guys. However, we've seen it on Raw a few times since Survivor Series, so it's not exactly the kind of match that people were "dying" to see. Henry continued to be booked properly, though his ring work is still iffy. Booker got the receipt, which he desperately needed. So, in all, it was a fitting end (hopefully) to this feud.

Orton vs. RVD went as I suspected. The match itself was decent, but a little slow for my liking. I doubt that this will be the end of this feud, since Orton got the nod, and WWE never books anything for RVD unless there's a title involved.

The Battle of the Sexes match was somewhat surprisingly the highlight of the show. This match was booked perfectly. I was expecting a Trish heel turn, but it looks like Y2J will be making his face turn after all. This storyline is straight out of the ultra-cheesy teen flick "She's All That"...except Trish is hardly a dorky chick. Jericho makes a bet, gets to know Trish, falls for her, she finds out, he begs for forgiveness, and he finally wins her in the end. I'm just waiting for Freddie Prinze to make a cameo in this story line. Anyhow, excellent booking of Y2J, Trish, and Christian. Lita just kind of did her thing without a whole lot of emotion. More than anything, I'm glad that they didn't just kill off this storyline, since it has been one of the better things going on Raw lately, and it's the perfect vehicle for a Jericho face turn.

HBK vs. Batista was actually a decent match. I'd venture to say I was right that it is the match of Batista's career thus far. For HBK, it was business as usual. For a guy whose career was "ended" a few years ago from a back injury, he can still impress. It's pretty apparent that Batista is moving on to other ventures after this PPV, so I'm interested to see what's in store for the Heartbreak Kid.

Matt Hardy vs. Maven...on PPV?? I missed Heat, so I didn't expect this one to happen, but WTF? No heat going into it, or storyline. Fortunately, it wasn't really a match, since Batista annihilated the Mavester before the match started. V-1 had to get the bragging rights, which was all good and fine, but he deserves better than a pretend victory over Maven.

The tag team turmoil match was thankfully booked to be a gauntlet rather than a cluster...you know what. The matches were pretty short, which I would normally think was bad, since the teams are made to look weak, but with 6 (eventually 7) teams involved, it kept this match from getting too dull. I did find it funny that the only teams with matching attire were La Resistance (first team out), Rosey & Hurricane (2nd team out), and the Dudleys. Everyone else just threw on whatever and went at it. Why is it, again, that the tag division gets no respect? Anyhow, it was pretty apparent that when Bischoff's music hit that he was going to screw the Dudley's, and Naitch gave it away when he was consoling Batista backstage that they were going to move in and take the belts. After this win, I cringed because I knew what the main event held in store...

Molly vs. Ivory was a decent match that, again, had zero heat going into it. I know I said that it was a shame to keep Matt Hardy and Molly off of PPV, but throwing them into impromptu matches for kicks isn't the way to give them their just due. I'm big on Ivory's ring work, and wish she'd get some actual TV time, and Molly consistently delivers. No surprise that Molly retained, but I wish that they'd give her a contender while Trish & Lita are playing Days of Our Lives with Y2J & Christian.

The World Title match was decent. I don't love Triple Threat matches, because they tend to be booked the same. Heel A and Heel B team up on Face C, until A pisses off B by trying to win the match, and all bets are off. The match then ends up being mostly A vs. C or B vs. C, with little action between all three except for the first 10 minutes. I thought with certainty that they'd keep the belt on Goldy going into the PPV, but, as I mentioned, after Evolution winning the I-C and Tag belts, I knew Haitch was going to take it. I did have a few hope spots for Kane, but, in the end, Hunter Hearst McMahon-Helmsley regained the title. The only thing notable about his victory is how they played up Kane's anger. Hopefully, he won't let it slide. As for Goldberg, I don't know what they have left for him to do. Smackdown desperately needs a fresh face - maybe he'll be traded.

Overall, I liked Armageddon from the standpoint that it was booked well. The ring psychology was overall better than what WWE generally offers, and they progressed some key storylines while starting new ones. It does feel like there are a lot of loose ends after this PPV, which will be challenging for the Raw writers over the next month or two, but that also makes for compelling TV and increases interest (in my view). Hopefully, WWE will learn from its booking mistakes and plan ahead for all of the matches they want to put on the card ahead of time, rather than waiting until the day of the PPV to throw on a few matches, as the Hardy/Maven and Molly/Ivory matches were a waste.