Armageddon 2007 kicks off with the United States Champion, MVP, defending his title against Rey Mysterio. MVP had been getting a fairly strong push since joining the main roster in 2006 and would soon be engaged in a lengthy feud with Matt Hardy. Him and Mysterio have excellent chemistry, MVP really taking the fight to Mysterio and bringing good ring psychology to the match by trying to keep Mysterio grounded. Some of the other highlights included Mysterio hitting a springboard moonsault and a great hurricanrana out of the corner that got a big pop. The finish was lackluster as MVP got himself counted out to retain the championship. At the time, I probably would've wanted to see MVP get the victory - even if it was cheap - rather than taking the L, but in hindsight, this was probably the right call to maintain Mysterio's status as a top guy. The finish prevents this from being a truly great match, but the action was so good I'd still consider it above average. (3/5)
Tonight's "ECW match" is ECW Champion CM Punk and Kane taking on Big Daddy V and Mark Henry. CM Punk works hard here and his minutes in the ring are the best of the bunch, but this is exactly the type of big man match one would expect and it runs for at least 3-4 minutes too long, its 10-minute duration feeling like twice that. If I'm not mistaken, they'd eventually turn Kane back into more of a "tweener" and have him challenge Punk for his ECW Championship along with Big Daddy V and Mark Henry, but I'm not 100% sure on that. The crowd is dead for stretches of this, which is unsurprising considering that this felt like a TV match more than a PPV-worthy contest. Maybe some stakes would've helped here? Or more involvement from Matt Stryker? Or some teasing of tension between Punk and Kane? This was bland. (2/5)
After a backstage segment involving Edge and his girlfriend Vickie Guerrero, Mr. Kennedy took on Shawn Michaels. Michaels had a really good series of matches against Randy Orton in the months leading up to this so I was curious if his streak of good outings would continue here, especially considering Kennedy's reputation of inconsistency. Kennedy goes right after Shawn Michaels from the start, this match starting with no sort of "babyface shine" at all. Instead, Kennedy dominates in the early goings until Michaels mounts a bit of offense and we get a match-changing moment when Michaels stomps on Kennedy's hand on the steps. Intentional or not, I like how Michaels' viciousness is a through-line that can be tracked to the Orton feud and then into his matches with Kennedy and then maybe even through the Ric Flair at WrestleMania the next year and the rivalry with Chris Jericho. Is it possible that 2007-2008 is actually Michaels' best run? Matches like this one would bolster the argument as he does a great job selling his back. There were some boring stretches, but these two wanted to put on a "mini-epic" and Michaels certainly does everything he can to make Kennedy look like a top guy (even if the crowd isn't fully there for it). I really liked the finish as it was inventive and played into Kennedy's injured hand perfectly. Maybe not a full-on "hidden gem," but also possibly Kennedy's best match in the WWE? (3.5/5)
Another big time match follows as we get Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy to decide who will challenge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Hardy was the Intercontinental Champion at the time and was very popular, but not yet at his popularity peak. Triple H was over too, undoubtedly, but this is around the time when I really feel like he should've been adapting his character to show more vulnerability...which he does here by *spoiler alert* losing clean. And yet I was still a bit miffed by the finish as Hardy's win was treated a bit like a fluke instead of being as definitive as it could've been. The 15 minutes of action before that are good, but this is definitely a Triple H match more than a Hardy match when I think it would've been funner to see Triple H come out of his comfort zone a little bit. Also, because Hardy was the underdog, the crowd seemed to be overwhelmingly behind him and they might've got bigger reactions had Triple H been a bit more heelish. A good match, but not as great a match as I remember hearing it was at the time. (3/5)
The next match was a continuation of The Great Khali/Hornswoggle feud, which started as the Vince McMahon/Hornswoggle feud months earlier. Khali's opponent is Swoggle's buddy (and father? I forget) Finlay. Everyone looks back at Khali's matches against Michaels and Cena to point to times and ways that Khali could be carried to something passable, but you never hear about this one. Granted, this match was presented as nearly as big a deal as his bouts with either of those two - Finlay was never a main eventer - but this match proves just how good the Belfast Bruiser was. Building the entire match around Khali's chest chops is a genius move to not only get over how powerful and dangerous Khali is, but it plays to the big man's strengths by not forcing him to do anything that requires too much athleticism. It also mean that when he does deliver another move - in this case, a simple bodyslam - it feels like a potential finisher. Finlay's selling is great from beginning to end and though I didn't like the finish (one shillelagh strike shouldn't be enough to beat Khali no matter how terrible Khali was as a worker), this was a solid piece of filler. (2.5/5)
Randy Orton defends his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho in the next match. The story coming into this match was that Orton had defeated all his major foes - John Cena, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels - proving that he was the top guy on RAW and felt he had nothing left to accomplish. Meanwhile, over the previous few weeks (months?), cryptic videos had been airing on RAW hyping the arrival/return of someone that most everyone believed to be Jericho. Jericho eventually did come out to interrupt an Orton promo and challenge him to this title match. Like the Triple H/Hardy match, there just seems to be something "off" about this despite the two not necessarily having bad chemistry or not working hard. You can't even blame the lack of heat on too many restholds. The last third of the match is when they finally seem to go to a second gear and get the audience's attention. The way Orton sends Jericho into the announce table and Jericho crashes into JBL was unexpected and a perfect way to ignite a feud between the two (they'd face off at the Rumble), though it also led to a very deflating finish to this match. I'm also not sure why Orton got to hit the RKO on Jericho after the match as Orton losing by DQ didn't really make him seem weak and, if anything, Jericho not being able to win the title hurt him more than Orton losing the match. (3/5)
After a commercial for the Rumble, Jillian Hall came down to the ring and "performed" an absolutely awful Christmas song. It was just brutal to listen to and not funny at all. It also had no connection to the Women's Championship match that followed - Beth Phoenix defending against Mickie James. They get well under 10 minutes and there's an audible "Boring" chant halfway through. I was surprised that James stuck with the company for a good while after this as she and Phoenix deserved more time than this to show what they could do. (1/5)
Main event time - Edge vs. The Undertaker vs. Batista for Batista's World Heavyweight Championship. Despite being the third wheel in the match - as the storyline going into this and into the subsequent WrestleMania was all about the Edge/Taker feud - Batista is the quiet MVP, his cut-offs and intensity outshining both Edge's cowardly heel act and The Undertaker's presence. Batista was shuffled down the card after this despite carrying the Blue Brand's main event scene for most of 07'. This match is fine for what it is - a sub-15 minute "sprint" with lots of hard-hitting action but really no story - and I didn't like the finish at all, which introduced the Edgeheads but barely had them factor into the finish. Why introduce two Edge lookalikes and not have them be the key reason why Edge is able to get the W? Nothing worth revisiting and Batista's title reign and last extended main event push ends with a whimper instead of a bang. (3/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.63-out-of-5, Armageddon 2007 is a decent show but lacks a truly great match (the closest being the Michaels/Kennedy bout). The title match could've been much more epic but never reaches that level despite Batista and Undertaker's chemistry and the inclusion of Edge as the "spoiler." Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy is a weird match where they tried to do something unexpected by giving Hardy the upset victory, but because he got there in fluke fashion and the rest of the match was built more around The Game than around Hardy's risk-taking, it's a match that doesn't feel nearly as memorable or important as it should've been. Orton/Jericho is fine, but features a disappointing screwy ending that hurt Jericho more than it made me excited to see him feud with JBL. A mostly skippable show not worth investing your time in.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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