4. Shawn Michaels Vs. Triple H (Armageddon 2002)
Shawn Michaels came back in the summer of 2002 after a four-year hiatus. The Heartbreak Kid immediately started feuding with his former (and future!) DX partner, Triple H. The two degenerates tore the house down in Shawn’s return match at SummerSlam 2002, delivering a five-star Street Fight that is still talked about to this day.
The feud continued when Michaels entered the first Elimination Chamber Match at Survivor Series 2002 and walked out of MSG with the World Heavyweight Championship.
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One month later, Triple H challenged Michaels for the title in a Three Stages of Hell Match at Armageddon. Fans had high expectations following their SummerSlam and Survivor Series classics. The first fall – a Street Fight won by Triple H – was quite good, but sadly, the in-ring action was disappointing from that point on. Triple H eventually won the match 2-1 (Shawn won the second fall inside of a steel cage before falling short in a Ladder Match).
While far from a bad wrestling match overall, this rematch didn’t connect as much as some of their previous encounters. Almost one year later, on the final Raw of December 2003, Triple H and Shawn Michaels had a banger of a World Heavyweight Championship match in HBK’s hometown of San Antonio, Texas, that totally outshined this Three Stages of Hell Match.
3. Batista Vs. The Undertaker Vs. Edge (Armageddon 2007)
The Undertaker and Batista dominated SmackDown’s main event scene in 2007. The Animal and The Deadman had many great wars over the World Heavyweight Championship throughout that year, culminating with a Hell in a Cell Match at Survivor Series. Batista successfully retained the Big Gold Belt when the returning Edge (disguised as a cameraman) cost The Undertaker the win.
Edge entering Hell in a Cell for the first time, as he disguises himself as a cameraman to disrupt The Undertaker vs. Batista World Heavyweight Title Match at Survivor Series 2007
byu/broken-mirror- inSquaredCircle
This led to a triple threat match for Batista’s title in the main event of what turned out to be the last Armageddon of the Ruthless Aggression Era. After 13 minutes of back and forth (and forth!) action, Edge came up with a creative way to cheat when his Edgeheads, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, interfered. The Rated-R Superstar stole the win a few moments later and left Pittsburgh with the World Heavyweight Championship.
