Search - WWE: Armageddon 2005 on DVD

Could've Been Better, Could've Been A Lot Worse

R.A. McKenzie | New York | 07/18/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm rather surprised at this PPV, because on paper, it looked like ARMAGEDDON 2005 was going to be a disaster from start to finish. Considering that bookings for these matches were rushed, ARMAGEDDON 2005 managed to avoid "awful" and acheieve "mediocrity".

JBL cuts an excellent promo in the ring, and has an okay match with Matt Hardy. A little too one-sided for my taste, plus these guys' styles seemed to mesh well together. I'm giving it my personal score, but I gotta admit the crowd was really into this opener. (5.0 / 10)

Then MNM take on Super Crazy & Psicosis (of the Mexicools) in an excellent Tag Team Match. This was going to be a titles match until MNM lost the belts two days prior. But that took nothing away from the contest; a great faceoff between two great teams. One of the year's best matches! (8.5 / 10)

Booker T and Chris Benoit continue their Best-of-Seven Series, with Booker ahead 3-0, in Match #4. Believe it or not, this wasn't too predictable, as Benoit nearly loses on plenty of occasions. I've seen these two do better, but Booker T and Benoit know how to make slower wrestling look strategic and intelligent. (6.5 / 10)

Then comes along a boring promo with Vito and Nunzio (FBI) dressed an evil Santa and elf, only to have The Boogeyman make short work of them.

We then get a pointless little match where Bobby Lashley takes on both Paul Burchill and William Regal in a 1-on-2 Handicap Match. Lashley getting a nice push, while Regal & Burchill still keep some credibility. But these 5 minutes are filler, and are forgettable when the finish comes. (5.5 / 10)

The Friendly Tap bar, home to many WWF/WWE comedy scenarios, is then the setting for the bizarre Tim White suicide. Don't ask.

Kid Kash challenges Juventud for the Cruiserweight Championship, with the crowd just bored and mostly dead. That's kind of sad, as Kash and Juvi work very hard and get no crowd momentum. Good physicality, but the tough crowd took me out of it. (5.0 / 10)

Kane & Big Show (RAW's World Tag Team champions) take on Batista & Rey Mysterio (SmackDown's WWE Tag Team champions). Sadly, due to Mysterio's smaller size and Batista's real-life injuries, this match was kept short. What's here is good, but way too short and inconsequential. One ponders what the point of this all was, considering the WWE didn't continue this storyline. (5.5 / 10)

For the main event, Randy Orton and The Undertaker conclude their awesome feud with an average Hell-In-A-Cell Match. I've noticed many writers and critics love this match, so maybe I admit I'm in the minority on this one. But I didn't witness Hell-In-A-Cell; I saw was a No DQ Match that happened to have a cage around it --- see the difference? I think what I dislike the most is that Taker and Orton compete in a very slow match, and I don't mean "slow" in a good way. You'd think that two guys who competed at WRESTLEMANIA and engaged in violent mind games would have more energy in the final showdown. I don't consider this Cell Match to be bad, but it's not exactly good either. I want to love this --- the outstanding Taker/Orton feud was 2005's best, but this 30-minute main event just didn't do the trick. (6.5 / 10)

ARMAGEDDON 2005 turned out much better than I thought it would. But overall, I can't quite recommend it because I was really disappointed with the two main events. Also, the extended "comedy" moments (the suicide & FBI Christmas) were flatout weird. To make matters worse, there is only one Extra (a 10-minute look back on previous Friendly Tap Bar segments). If you can get this at a cheap price ($10 or less), you might like it."

One Of The Better SmackDown PPV's

D.P. | California | 05/07/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Usually, SmackDown only PPV's leave a bad taste in my mouth because it always comes off like an old WCW PPV where they work on their top three matches & then just throw a bunch of fillers in there to take up PPV time with a poor to zero buildup & the matches just end up putting me to sleep. However, this has been one of the better overall SmackDown PPV's ever since the split. Of course, there are some things to fast foward through but still, it's good.

JBL v. Matt Hardy - A decent opener but honestly, nothing really memorable & not the best performance from Matt Hardy.

MNM v. Mexicools - Two of the best tag teams on the SmackDown brand. They kinda killed the buildup with the tag titles no longer being on the line but it's still a great tag team match. One of the best in the past year of WWE.

Chris Benoit v. Booker T - This match doesn't surpass any of their previous ones but it's still a great match.

Now comes the parts to where you start to press the skip button.
Lashley v. Regal and Burchill - Just a squash, nothing memorable. Just not a fan of squash matches on a PPV.

Vito & Nunzio come dressed as Santa & his elf out for a boring skit until Boogeyman showed up & did his usual worm deal.

Tim White's skit about suicide was just boring, stupid, had no point, and just seemed to drag on forever.

Juventud v. Kid Kash - These two actually had a decent match but nobody gave a damn since the Tim White skit really killed the crowd.

The PPV starts to pick up again here...
Big Show and Kane v. Batista and Mysterio - Watchable but overall, nothing memorable & pretty short since Batista was limited with his injury & Mysterio had to carry the load.

Hell In A Cell: Undertaker vs. Randy Orton - This for the most part came off as a "No Holds Barred" type of match match more than a Hell In The Cell match. Weapons were used like a chain & steel steps while everyone bled (including Cowboy Bob & the referee). I personally enjoyed it while some didn't because again...it wasn't as brutal, non-stop high impact or "spotty" like the previous Cell matches were.

The DVD extra was that they showed all the skits they've filmed over the years (all of them involving the A.P.A.) at "The Friendly Tap" bar that they did the Tim White skit at earlier.

I know my review probably isn't the best one but compare this to other SmackDown PPV's like Great American Bash, No Way Out, and Judgment Day...you'll see this is one of the better ones out there."

HELL IN CELL

mdogg20 | dudleyvill usa | 12/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"THIS PPV WAS A GOOD ONE NOT BAD AT ALL SOME REALLY GOOD MATCHIES INCLUDING THE MAIN EVENT

JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFLID vs MATT HARDY
THIS MATCH WAS JBL BEATING ON HARDY FOR ABOUT 6 MINS HARDY DID GET SOME OF HIS MOVES IN BUT NOT REALLY 6/10

MNM vs PHYCOSIS & SUPER CRAZY
GREAT TAG TEAM MATCH IN MY VIEW NICE TEAM WORK BY BOTH TEAMS BUT THE MATCH WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF MNM HAD THEIR TAG TEAM TITLES AND THEY WERE ON THE LINE BUT STILL A GREAT TAG TEAM MATCH 7.5/10

BEST OF SEVEN SEIRES MATCH 4
BOOKER T. vs CHRIS BENIOT
GREAT MATCH REALLY ENJOYED THIS MATCH IN MY VIEW BEST IN THEIR WWE SERISE WCW DID THE SAME THING WITH THESE TWO AND WCWS TURNED OUT BETTER BUT STILL GREAT MATCH 8.5/10

HANDIE-CAP MATCH
PAUL BURCHILL & WILLAM REIGL vs BOBBY LASLEY
THIS WAS AND OK MATCH JUST A DECENT FILLER VERY BORING THOUGH 5/10

CRUSIERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
JUVENTUD champ vs KID KASH
GOOD MATCH EVEN THOUGH THE CROWD WAS DEAD THE MATCH WAS A GOOD CRUSIERWEIGHT BOUT WITH BOTH MEN GIVING IT THEIR ALL 7/10

TAG TEAM MATCH
REY MISTERIO & BATISTA vs BIG SHOW & KANE
OK TAG TEAM MATCH KINDA SHORT BUT STILL A GOOD MATCH 7.5/10

HELL IN A CELL
UNDERTAKER vs RANDY ORTON
I LIKED THIS MATCH EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOTHING REALLY GREAT BUT THEIR WHERE SOME SPOTS DID VINCE BAN WRESTLERS FROM GOING TO THE TOP OF THE CELL BUT A GOOD SOLID MAIN EVENT 8.5/10

OVERALL REALLY GOOD SMACKDOWN PPV BETTER THAN THEIR LAST ONE BEFORE THIS"

THE END IS HERE!

mdogg20 | 04/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"JBL vs. Matt Hardy 7.5/10
Really not a bad opener. Good choice in fact. The only downfall is that is was abit too short for these two men. Could have been abit longer by about 3-4 mins.

Mexicools vs. MNM 7/10
Decent tag match. Nice moves from both teams. I really felt, while i watched this, that these teams have a great connection with each other. I think it's because they are like the tag teams on Smackdown. Good match.

United States Championship - Match 4 of the Best of 7 Series
Chris Benoit vs. Booker T with Sharmell 9/10
Kinda predictable, but still a fantastic match. I really wanted Benoit to put Sharmell in the crossface or sharpshooter, but still it sure was nice to see her reaction about the reaction.

Lashley vs. Wiiliam Regal & Paul Burchill 6/10
Short and sweet. I actually really enjoy seeing Lashley beat the crap out of his opponents.

Segment: Boogeyman, Vito & Nunzio
The Boogeyman... um... he should really be fired. His character is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo pathetic and pointless. This segment is should of been in place with a match or another segment, which wasn't stupid.

Friendly Tap Bar: Tim White interview
Sick. Thats it.

Cruiserweight Championship
Juventud vs, Kid Kash 8/10
Nice match with high risk moves.

Interbrand Match
Batista & Rey Mysterio (SMACKDOWN) vs. Kane & Big Show (RAW) 9/10
A great tag team match. Non stop action all the way. The ONLY downfall is that it could have been longer. However it's understandable because Batista at the time was injured. All in all, great contest.

Hell in a Cell
Undertaker vs. Randy Orton 10/10
Final match, thank God, from these two. But they went out with a huge bang. They used chairs, ring steps, steel chaiin, table, the cage it self, everything, on each other. Blood was spilt on both men, Bob Orton and even the ref. Great match. Match of the night. One thing i did hate, but not about the match. It's the Undertakers tights. What happened to his leather, bagy pants?

Overall, Armageddon 2005 was much better than 2003 and 2004. And draws with 2002. Good way to end the year. Would have been the perfect way, only if they didn't have those two segments."