Factions/Stables in the WWE have a weird and generally underwhelming legacy. In the mid to late 80s, even with the Four Horsemen taking over the wrestling world down South, they didn't really exist in Vince McMahon's promotion. You would technically have groups that formed due to multiple competitors having the same managers, as guys like Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, and Mr. Fuji really got around, but that didn't stretch to large groups that would interfere in matches or anything. The concept of factions began to take hold a bit more in the 90's, when less overall star power meant you had to combine multiple acts in the hopes that fans would be interested in seeing a group rather than an individual. The Million Dollar Corporation held a solid spot for a year or so in the WWF, while WCW went full hokey with the Dungeon of Doom, then struck gold with the New World Order. That spurred Vince to finally invest in factions in the late 90's, mainly to feud with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, like his very own Corporation and the Hart Foundation. Just a few weeks into 2003, one of the most important factions in WWE history was formed, when Triple H and Ric Flair joined forces with new stars Randy Orton and Batista. Evolution seemed like a rote copy of the Horsemen, with the class suits and gaggle of women, plus Flair being involved, however the group had a very specific purpose, to get Orton and Batista, regarded as the future of the company, as over as possible. Throughout the year, we've seen Orton slowly move up the card thanks to his work with Shawn Michaels, culminating when both Evolution members screwed over Michaels at Survivor Series. The quartet has their sights set on full control over Monday Night Raw, with Triple H challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship, Randy Orton going after the Intercontinental Championship, and Batista squaring off with Michaels. Evolution may be a mystery, but after tonight, they will never be forgotten.
- Armageddon 2003 comes to you from the now-demolished Amway Arena (known on this night as the TD Waterhouse Centre) in Orlando, Florida, the former home of the Magic. As this is a Raw-branded event, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler are on the call.
- Booker T's time in the Team Austin vs Team Bischoff match at Survivor Series ended thanks to Mark Henry and the World's Strongest Slam, a statement elimination for the former powerlifter, who was getting a renewed push on Raw while being managed by Teddy Long. Booker and Henry square off in a singles contest here to open the show, and it's a solid enough big man against slightly smaller man routine, carried by the crowd, who were very hot for Booker. Even through a long period of slow dominance from Henry, who works the back and applies a chinlock, the crowd is still well into it, chanting loudly for Booker, who makes a comeback to hit the Scissors Kick. Mark retakes control a little while after that, and shows that he's still green when attempting a powerbomb, which he seems to release a little too early, almost dropping Booker on his neck. Thankfully, the move didn't end up being too dangerous, and Mark then unexpectedly does the job, going down to a second Scissors Kick. It was great for Booker to get this win after a rollercoaster of a year for him, but I do question the point of building Henry up only to immediately have him lose cleanly.
- Mick Foley has replaced "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as the co-GM of Raw, essentially just a different take on the story the WWE had been running with Eric Bischoff being frustrated having to work alongside a fan favorite authority figure. Mick turns up here to announce that his petition to get Austin rehired now has a million signatures, and celebrates by bringing out Stacy Keibler in a cheerleader get-up to do some high kicks and leap into his arms. Randy Orton, who's match Foley is scheduled to officiate, shows up to threaten Foley, who just declares that Orton should wrestle right now.
- On we go to the Intercontinental Championship match, as Randy Orton challenges Rob Van Dam in the first of Evolution's three scheduled matches. Orton and Van Dam display some good chemistry in this one, as their athletic abilities mesh well. Van Dam delivers a big diving crossbody, but gets shoves off the top rope into the barricade, allowing Orton to take control, and the match slowly loses my interest. Orton's work on Van Dam's head and neck is executed well enough, and the Canadian neckbreaker impressed the crowd, but this period just wasn't especially fun to watch. Things do pick up with Van Dam's comeback, as he nails the twisting guillotine leg drop on the barricade, before crumpling after taking Orton's hanging DDT, a terrific sell. Unfortunately, they immediately follow that with a botch, as Orton drags Van Dam a little too far into the ring, leaving the latter unable to fully grab the ropes, though Van Dam luckily kicked out very close to the three count to cover for it. A stiff back heel kick from Van Dam connects, and Ric Flair, hanging around ringside to assist Orton, runs onto the apron clutching brass knuckles. Foley, who had gotten into it with Flair earlier in the match, decks the 16-time world champion, but Orton is still able to take advantage of Flair's presence, using the distraction to stop Van Dam with a dropkick. The RKO then connects, and we have a new Intercontinental Champion. Orton still had a lot of growth ahead of him as a performer, but Van Dam did extremely well to cover for Orton's deficiencies, and while the match may not have been a classic, this would prove to be a pivotal title change, as Orton's reign as champion would prove to be a huge stepping stone on his climb to the top.
- One of the major midcard stories for the next few months on Raw would be the romantic entanglement between Trish Stratus and Chris Jericho, which began when Jericho and Christian began to display affection towards Trish and Lita respectively. It turned out the two men weren't actually developing genuine feelings, but had taken a bet of one Canadian Dollar for whomever managed to sleep with their prospective partner first, which predictably blew up in their face when Trish and Lita found out, leading to a "Battle of the Sexes" tag match here at Armageddon. This is some classic sports-entertainment nonsense, as Jericho demonstrates remorse and tenderness towards Trish, while Christian goes full bastard and heels on both women. Christian's most dastardly act comes when he tears off Lita's shirt, which does initially get a pop from the horny crowd, but then he taunts her with it, and those same fans turn on him and rally behind Lita, Christian really is a natural at this. Lita nails Christian below the belt, Trish hits a Chick Kick, and the two gals almost pull off the upset, Christian getting rolled up for a near fall after running into Jericho on the apron. Lita's diving hurricanrana gets a great pop, but Jericho affirms his heel status, at least for now, launching her into the apron to stop the potential upset. Y2J then lifts Stratus to her feet, seemingly apologetic, but Christian takes the opportunity to roll her up for the win, celebrating the win wildly with a more reserved Jericho. This isn't going to be a match of the year contender or anything, but all four performers told an entertaining and nuanced story, and whet the appetite for intriguing drama to come with Jericho, Stratus, and Christian.
- After a brief break, Evolution returns to the foray, as Batista gets a massive opportunity to impress the top brass, going one on one with Shawn Michaels. Despite not being in world title contention for much of the year, Shawn has had an excellent 2003, and is coming off one of his best single match performances at Survivor Series. You can tell that he's feeling it right now, and is eager to get the most out of his more limited opponent, who makes a good account of himself in this one. Nothing Batista does in this match is especially impressive, but he certainly has a presence, screaming intensely at Michaels and putting a ton of force into some of the blows that he delivers. They do go to Irish whip spots very frequently in this one, especially during a sequence where Batista whips Shawn two or three times, before Michaels finally connects with his flying forearm. Shawn counters a chokebomb into a DDT, and nails his diving elbow drop, possibly the best he's ever executed that move. The crowd come unglued when he tunes up the band in the corner, the atmosphere is absolutely electric, an awesome sight. Batista catches Shawn's kick and nails a Spinebuster, then another. The Batista Bomb is on it's way, but in a terrific moment, Shawn just slips out to land on his feet, then blasts Batista when Sweet Chin Music, collapsing right into the cover for the three count, as the match ends in shockingly swift fashion.
- Shawn, still selling the beatdown he took during the match, then exits up the ramp, leaving Batista in the ring, who has been knocked loopy after the superkick, and believes he won, reacting in fury when Ric Flair informs him of the result. This transitions into the following match, which is between Maven and Matt Hardy, and the two men refuse to enter the ring, instead brawling on the ramp, a wonderful way to get over Batista's terrifying nature. Matt gets the better of the brawl, and rolls Maven into the ring as fresh meat, which Batista eagerly devours, delivering two Batista Bombs. Batista and Flair then exit, and the ref declares that the match has been called off, but Matt is having none of it, delivering a splash to Maven and making his own three count. I really love the flow this show has put together to this point, and these past 20 minutes did wonders for Batista. Vince McMahon loves nothing more than pushing a new monster to the moon, and history tell us that committing to Batista was a wise choice.
- A six team gauntlet match is up next, and it's for the World Tag Team Championships. It gets off to a good start with The Hurricane and Rosey squaring off with La Resistance, as both teams mesh well in the three minutes they work together. Rosey has a big run off a hot tag, and Hurricane gets the elimination, leaping over Rosey to splash Conway. Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade are next out, and they cleverly jump the two superheroes from behind, Jindrak rolling up Hurricane to score the elimination in mere seconds. A longer period of wrestling then follows, as Jindrak and Cade take on Val Venis and Lance Storm, the latter of whom has some gorgeous armdrags to show off. Storm's clothesline to take Cade out of the ring is perfectly delivered, and Venis almost beats Jindrak with a back suplex powerbomb. Venis wants to follow up with a suplex, but gets Cade runs in, smoothly tripping Venis, before holding down his leg as Jindrak gets the three count. These few minutes were somehow the best wrestling of the entire night, that trip by Cade was effing perfection. Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley then batter their way through Cade and Jindrak, surviving a dull period of control by the heels, and then running through them, with Bubba delivering a double splash, D-Von fighting through a double team, and Jindrak going down to the 3-D. The match falls off a cliff with the final two entrants, the misogynistic frat duo of Test and Scott Steiner, who target Bubba's arm. The two don't have much of interest to offer, and Steiner is putting in about 30% effort, clearly ready to just get out of this company. Test screwing around with the referee by sliding the tag belt in, then hitting D-Von with a chair was pretty great, and he pays for his chicanery with a Bubba Bomb, as the Dudley Boyz retain.
- But wait, there's more, as Eric Bischoff declares that Bubba and D-Von haven't beaten every team in the gauntlet yet. One more duo needs to enter, and it's Batista and Ric Flair, as Evolution's close association with Bischoff pays off big time. Batista and Flair quickly pick apart the champions, as Ric targets Bubba's knee and applies the Figure Four, while Batista emphatically ends D-Von's night with a Batista Bomb to claim the gold. I love how everything on this night has tied together, and man, Batista has gotten some shine, hasn't he? A competitive match with Shawn Michaels, a destruction of Maven, now a tag title win. A good night for the man and his gargantuan schlong.
- The Women's Championship got an elevated role thanks to the return of Lita, but has now slipped back into p*** break territory, as Molly Holly defends against Ivory to crowd apathy. Ross and Lawler chat about Molly's sexual frustration, good to see they're paying attention, and Molly displayed some vicious heel behavior, pulling on Ivory's face. Molly retains despite having her head bonked off a turnbuckle that she exposed, as she was able to roll through a pinfall by Ivory.
- Main event time, as Goldberg defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Kane and Triple H. JR calls this match "bowling shoe ugly", and that's exactly what it is, a lot of dudes just clobbering each other, with very few highlights to speak of. I really didn't care for Kane's booking in this match, as he's mostly just Triple H's puppet, working with the man who, last year, humped a mannequin dressed up as Kane's former girlfriend, and this year, defeated Kane and forced him to remove his mask. But Kane apparently sees no issue taking direct orders from Hunter, and after both men put Goldberg through the Spanish announce table, Kane even gets followed by Triple H, who hides a chair behind his back and waits for Kane to go after Goldberg, which predictably leads to a sneak attack by Hunter. Someone really needs to give Kane a brain scan, I refuse to believe any human being could be this dumb. Kane does get revenge later on, chokeslamming Triple H on the ramp, and Goldberg emerges from out of nowhere to blast the monster with a Spear. The crowd are into Goldberg as he takes down both men with a double clothesline, hits even more Spears, and fights off Flair and Orton. However, they turn on the champion during a double choke spot with Kane, which definitely just seemed too contrived for these powerhouses. Kane goes low to weaken Goldberg, and drops him with a chokeslam, but Batista intervenes at exactly the right moment, pulling Kane out of the ring and holding the big man at bay for a few moments. That's all the time Triple H needs to make the cover, winning back the World Heavyweight Championship, definitively ending the Goldberg experiment. Triple H is carried up to the stage, where he, Flair, Orton, and Batista all pose with their gold, an iconic shot to be sure, as Evolution now fully controls Monday nights. This main event was a bit of a slog to get through, and I'm not excited for another Triple H world title reign, but the over-arching storyline with the group was well executed, about as good of a night as any faction in the WWE could ever experience.
6/10
2003 Final Average: 6.5 (Down from 6.54)
The year of 2003 in the WWE closes in solid but unspectacular fashion, a really good summary of what these 12 months had brought to the table. It was clear that the company was suffering creatively, and while the investment in Evolution here at Armageddon paid off in the long haul, it didn't result in a blockbuster event. I'm glad that they at least ended Goldberg's time in the main event, that should be a big help moving forward, but based on what I know about it, it seems unlikely that 2004 will reverse the downward trend. I guess we'll wait and see.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: Royal Rumble 2004, which features a historic and controversial Rumble win, and a Last Man Standing match between Triple H and Shawn Michaels. See you soon.
- Henry
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