Armageddon 2002: A Strong Opener and Benoit-Guerrero Cannot Fully Rescue an Uneven Finale

The four-team elimination opener gives Armageddon an immediate lift because the match has recognizable stakes and a crowd that badly wants Booker T and Goldust to finish their chase. The format stays readable despite eight wrestlers, with the Dudleys removed first and Storm and Regal following before the final stretch becomes Booker and Goldust against Jericho and Christian. That last phase matters because it lets the crowd settle into one clear rooting interest instead of ending in a blur of teams and shortcuts. Booker finally lands the Book End on Jericho and scores the championship-winning pin, creating one of the night's most satisfying images. The wrestling is good rather than transcendent, but the emotional payoff pushes the match comfortably above ordinary opener territory.

Edge and A-Train never find enough momentum to make the match feel like more than a bridge between stronger parts of the card. A-Train controls long stretches with power offense, while Edge's comeback provides the expected speed contrast and temporarily gives the match some life. The problem is the finish: A-Train uses a chair and gets disqualified, turning a seven-minute singles match into setup for Edge's post-match revenge instead of a meaningful competitive result. Edge swinging the chair repeatedly afterward gives the segment a sharper ending than the bell itself, but that does not improve the match grade. It is short enough to avoid becoming exhausting, yet too inconclusive to add much value to the event.

Benoit and Guerrero give Armageddon its best pure wrestling match by stripping away most of the card's gimmicks and trusting the chemistry that defined the SmackDown Six period. They trade control through holds, counters and escalating pressure rather than rushing toward a collection of signature moves, which makes the sixteen-plus minutes feel purposeful. Guerrero repeatedly looks for ways to change the balance with positioning and opportunism, while Benoit keeps dragging the match back toward the Crossface and a more punishing pace. The finish is decisive when Benoit finally forces Guerrero to submit, and that clean ending is especially welcome on a show with multiple interference-driven championship matches. It is not their absolute career peak, but it is easily one of the best reasons to revisit Armageddon 2002.

Batista against Kane is more important as an early test of Batista's push than as a complete pay-per-view match. The two heavyweights keep the structure simple, with Kane using his established offense and Batista leaning on power while Ric Flair provides the expected ringside distraction. Kane stops one attempt at interference, which gives him a brief surge, but Batista ultimately lands the Batista Bomb and scores the pin. The result is useful because it puts a credible veteran underneath a rising heel, but the six-minute runtime limits how much drama can develop. It does the job cleanly enough without becoming a memorable showcase for either man.

The women's triple threat gets less than five minutes, which is barely enough time to establish three-way rhythm before the finish arrives. Trish supplies the crowd-friendly comeback, Jacqueline adds another moving piece, and Victoria spends much of the match looking for a way to escape with the championship rather than dominate outright. The closing sequence fits that character when Victoria uses the title belt to strike Stratus and then pins Jacqueline to retain. The result protects Trish from taking the fall and keeps Victoria's reign moving, but the match is too compressed to become more than functional. The wrestlers work with urgency; the time allocation simply gives them no room to build.

Big Show and Kurt Angle have a solid championship match whose real importance comes from the way Brock Lesnar re-enters the title picture. Angle has to work around the champion's size, using movement and counters to create openings while Big Show keeps pulling the match back toward power. A-Train's interference briefly tilts the match against Angle, but Lesnar arrives and gives Big Show the F-5, allowing Angle to secure the pin and championship. The outside involvement keeps the bout from feeling like a definitive one-on-one title victory, yet the result has obvious consequence because Angle leaves as WWE Champion and Lesnar's path back toward the belt becomes clear. It is good championship storytelling even if the match itself stops short of greatness.

Michaels and Triple H close 2002 with a nearly forty-minute Three Stages of Hell match that is ambitious, violent and periodically exhausting. The Street Fight gives Triple H the first fall after the Pedigree, the Steel Cage phase lets Michaels answer with the most spectacular moment when he splashes through a table, and the ladder finale provides the deciding image. There are memorable visuals throughout, including the flaming barbed-wire board and Michaels' crash through stacked tables, but the match also feels like it is constantly trying to top itself rather than building one seamless escalation. Triple H retrieving the championship gives Raw its preferred long-term direction and ends Michaels' brief reign after Survivor Series. The match is substantial and historically notable, but it is more impressive in scope than consistently excellent in execution.