WWF Armageddon 1999 Review: A SmackDown Rewind Special

Previously on the SmackDown Rewind: Triple H throws Shane McMahon off a stage. Multiple mysterious masked Referee Vince McMahons swarm and attack Triple H. Weeks after Stephanie marrying Triple H, Test is absolutely buried against X-Pac.

So, I’ve never seen this show. In 1999-2000, my family wasn’t ordering every show because WWF and WCW were both putting out twelve shows a year. I think we had cut back to the “Big Five” at that point. I’ve gone back and watched a lot of what I missed, but I’ve never gone back to this one. Armageddon always felt like the fluff show between Survivor Series and Royal Rumble to me. Let’s see if this one is better than my expectations. If you’d like to join me and Pat McAfee in watching the Attitude Era, you can find this one on Netflix if you’re reading this in 2026.

Fireworks! Signs! We are at the National Car Rental Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on commentary and the great Howard Finkel is on the ring mic. They were doing great with having stages with unique sets and did their thing with this one, including a helicopter and a tank on the stage.

Tag Team Battle Royal for the #1 Contender’s Spot at the Royal Rumble

The winners face the New Age Outlaws for the WWF World Tag Team Championships at the Royal Rumble. Our teams include The Acolytes (Bradshaw & Faarooq), The Godfather & Mark Henry, The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher), Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy with Terri), The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley), Mean Street Posse (Pete Gas & Rodney), and Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Grandmaster Sexay). If one man on the team is eliminated, the entire team is out. Edge has recovered from his brief injury. This is a hell of a division (and the Mean Street Posse), really.

It’s a battle royal and battle royal things happen. Edge and Mosh fight around the floor. Christian eliminates Rodney and Joey Abs runs in to take his place. Joey Abs is tossed out and Rodney ducks back in. Faarooq tosses Pete Gas. They’re gone for real now. Godfather tosses Mosh. The Acolytes toss Henry. Too Cool topple out. They’ll have a more iconic spot at the Rumble anyway. The Hardys break off with the Acolytes while the Dudleys and Edge & Christian go at it. D-Von yanks Edge to the outside to eliminate them. Down to three teams.

Five of these six men are in the Hall of Fame and I’m sure Christian will get there. The Dudleys hit the corner headbutt to Bradshaw and call for a 3D. Matt runs up and tosses D-Von. Matt and Bradshaw tumble out at the same time, the one referee not seeing how they landed so things continue. Bradshaw turns Jeff inside out with a Clothesline from Hell, Jeff ranas Faarooq out but the referee misses it again. Jimmy Korderas needs help. Matt dropkicks Bradshaw onto the apron, Jeff dropkicks and he still doesn’t fall. Faarooq whips Matt over and he hangs on as well, but then Jeff Hardy is launched over all of them and to the floor.

The Acolytes win the tag team battle royal. 90% of this was every other battle royal, but the ending sequence was fun at least. You didn’t miss much, unlike Jimmy Korderas.

Lilian Garcia catches Kurt Angle backstage, who insists he is still undefeated as he wasn’t the one pinned in his tag match with Blackman on SmackDown. He knows the fans in South Florida will appreciate his gold medals and a true American hero.

Kurt Angle vs Steve Blackman

Spoiler alert: the fans do not appreciate Kurt Angle. He grabs a mic and wants to talk but Blackman’s music interrupts and we’re off. Angle tries and misses a big moonsault. Blackman rolls Angle into a modified bow and arrow, but Angle rolls it into a pin attempt. The fans chant “boring” because they suck. Blackman whips Angle into the steel steps and rolls him into a pin attempt. Angle crossbodies and is rolled through for another pin attempt. A sign notes *puts on glasses* “Triple H fears turkey jizz.” That’s a rational fear, I think, and a wild thing to write on a piece of cardboard.

Blackman snap suplexes Angle and this is a decent wrestling match, even if the Florida crowd doesn’t appreciate it. Blackman misses a spin keep, Angle bridges him with a German suplex into a three count. Blackman comes back in with his nunchucks and hits Angle because he’s a sore loser.

Kurt Angle pins Steve Blackman. A good little six-minute match. Don’t listen to the fans. It worked for me.

B.B. is changing her clothes behind a divider that happens to have a bright light behind it to let us see her shadow. That’s a weird place for a spotlight. Michael Cole comes in for an interviewer and stumbles through his words before helping zip her evening gown with a smile.

Celebrities! They love wrestling! Greg Norman is at ringside.

Evening Gown Pool Match for the WWF Women’s Championship: WWE Women’s Champion Ivory vs Jacqueline vs Miss Kitty vs B.B.

Our special guest referees are Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young because god help us. Why is it an evening gown match AND in a pool? Because it’s sexy, you see. That’s what they tell me. Lawler tells us that Kitty doesn’t wear underwear. Kitty tosses Jackie in as B.B. makes her entrance. You may know B.B. as the blonde EMT who was tossed into the gravy bowl on SmackDown and decided to sign a wrestling contract. The last one to keep her gown on is the winner.

The champ is pulled into the pool, and they flail around in dresses and water. The fans and Lawler chant for young dogs. Jacqueline is stripped to her bra and panties. Ivory tries to drown B.B. which hey, it is kind of a smart move. Kitty joins in the attempted drowning before they pull off B.B.’s gown. Ivory tries to further strip her and Kitty yanks Ivory back into the pool, the fans booing. They’re going to love having internet access one day. Boobs everywhere. Kitty yanks and pulls off Ivory’s gown. We have a new WWF Women’s Champion. Kitty grabs a mic and says she knows the fans came here to see her get naked, so she won’t disappoint them, but “they” made her wear underwear. “The Stripper” plays and she does indeed pull off her evening gown to her wet, transparent white undies and then yanks her top off, a blur and Sgt. Slaughter covering it quickly. As Tony Garea escorts the champ away, Mae Young has a mic and says she’ll do the same. Slaughter comes to the rescue.

Miss Kitty last removes Ivory’s evening gown to become the new WWF Women’s Champion. Well, this happened. It wasn’t good and the Women’s Division continues to be the Attitude Era T&A spot.

Kevin Kelly is with Rikishi Phatu. Phatu tells the Hollys to watch out for the Rikishi Drop. They might be making fun of fat people, but he’s here to represent the fat people of the world. He also warns his partner to have his back tonight.

Hardcore & Crash Holly vs Rikishi Phatu & Viscera

The super heavyweight division collides! Don’t be shocked, but Lawler is very distracted by talking about Miss Kitty. Rikishi takes down both Hollys and plops his large ass onto Crash for a two count. He drags Crash to the corner for the Rikishi Drop and Hardcore cheap shots him and tags in. Vis also tags in and the Hollys double team him a bit, speeding around him. Vis finally hits a leg drop on Crash and tags in Phatu. A DDT does no damage to Rikishi’s Samoan skull. Vis accidentally spin kicks Rikishi and Hardcore covers for the pin. Rikishi is not happy and we have a big man brawl.

Hardcore Holly pins Rikishi Phatu, The Hollys defeat Phatu & Viscera. This was not good and I can’t see Rikishi vs Viscera being great either.

Lilian is backstage with Val Venis, the poor woman. He has a shot at the European Title tonight and plans to take his new title, fly in a 747, and find the most beautiful women in Europe. He speaks a little French to Lilian and leads her off on his arm. Lilian, no.

WWF European Championship Triple Threat Match: WWF European Champion British Bulldog (with Mean Street Posse) vs D’Lo Brown vs Val Venis

These three have been intertwined with each other for over a month between the Survivor Series and little two-minute SmackDown matches. Val is wearing his fancy black PPV towel and tights. Unfortunately, the 1999 Bulldog run was pretty dire. Teddy Long throws the Posse out. Brown and Venis start together to pound down Bulldog before going at each other. Val and Bulldog battle to the outside and D’Lo hits a beautiful dive onto both of them that probably should have been in a lot more replays. D’Lo and Bulldog team up for a bit to work on Venis as the fans chant that “Bulldog sucks.” D’Lo turns on Bulldog and slips off the ropes while trying for a springboard on Venis. There is not a lot interesting happening here.

Venis dropkicks D’Lo off the top rope and tries for a superplex which D’Lo squirms out of and turns into a sunset flip from the top, Bulldog pulling Long out to break the count. Bulldog and Venis backdrop Brown out of things for a while and go back to each other. Bulldog hits his powerslam and D’Lo puts Val’s leg on the bottom rope. Brown slams Bulldog and hits the legdrop. He hits the Lo Down and Venis hits a Moneyshot on top of him, getting the pin and the title.

Val Venis pins British Bulldog to win the WWF European Title. It was a match and it was adequate but also not very interesting.

Michael Cole talks with X-Pac who has successfully changed a few rules in the cage match. Kane can only win by pinfall while X-Pac can climb out to win. That sounds like a dumb thing for Kane to agree with, but perhaps it’ll work out for him..

Steel Cage Match: Kane (with Tori) vs X-Pac

This is the same shortened cage used on SmackDown in the Outlaws/Hardys match, so Kane could probably stand on his tiptoes and touch the top. X-Pac harasses Tori on the outside and Kane goes on the attack. Kane bounces X-Pac off the steel steps and X-Pac grabs the ring bell and nails X-Pac with it. X-Pac climbs in and Kane follows to officially start the match. Lawler runs through all his small dick jokes in the early stages as Kane can’t quite get the upper hand on X-Pac. X-Pac nears the top of the cage and Kane grabs the chokeslam but falls onto the ropes, X-Pac chasing instead of climbing on out.

X-Pac drops a leg from the top rope for a two count, Kane tossing him off. Road Dogg and Mr. Ass run out with bolt cutters to cut the lock on the door which is helpful to X-Pac since he has the whole “you can leave through the door” clause. Ass slams the cage door on Kane’s face and Dogg tosses a chair in towards X-Pac. X-Pac X-Factors Kane on top of the chair and grabs a pair of handcuffs, cuffing Kane to the cage. X-Pac lines up with the chair and repeatedly smacks Kane over the head as Lawler can’t quit talking about Tori possibly having a handcuff kink. X-Pac climbs the cage and Tori comes in to pull him down, so he grabs her head and hits her with the X-Factor. X-Pac goes after Kane with the chair again and Kane kicks it back at him. X-Pac climbs and Kane breaks the handcuffs, going outside and catching X-Pac on the outside, bringing him back in the ring and slamming the door into X-Pac’s head. Kane climbs the top rope and on up to the top of the cage, hitting X-Pac with a giant flying clothesline. Kane Tombstones X-Pac and the referee counts the three.

Kane pins X-Pac. This started slowly but got hot as it went on. It’s worth a watch. Babyface Kane continues to grow as a good character even if he’s kind of an idiot.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: WWF Intercontinental Champion Chyna (with WWF Women’s Champion Miss Kitty) vs Chris Jericho

Jericho attacks as Chyna enters. JR notes that Chyna has taken on several challengers including one who is no longer in the organization. Don’t worry, he’ll be back. Jericho works over Chyna in the corner and misses a dive, hitting the ring post. They battle outside and Jericho suplexes Chyna onto the announce table. He grabs a chair and swings, Chyna moving and then dropkicking it into his face. Y2J lays a kiss on Kitty’s mouth and stomps away at Chyna. Back in the ring, Chyna’s able to hit a low blow and then her handspring elbow in the corner. She DDTs Y2J for a two count.

Jericho works over her injured thumb and tries for a powerbomb, Chyna rolling him into a two count. Jericho exposes the top turnbuckle and tries to whip Chyna into it but she counters. Jericho continues to get the advantage back and this might be going longer than it needs to go. Maybe I’m used to matches being three minutes on SmackDown now. Jericho takes Chyna down with a bulldog and then a slam, trying for a Lionsault but landing on her knees. Chyna powerbombs Jericho and slingshots him into the exposed turnbuckle, getting a near fall. She tries for a Pedigree, Jericho counters into a back slide. Jericho hooks the Walls of Jericho and she reaches, Jericho pulling her into the middle of the ring and Chyna taps. We have a new champ.

Chris Jericho defeats Chyna by submission to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. This was a good match that could have used about three minutes chopped out of the middle. Chyna overall was fine as champ and I know it wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but she worked well with Jericho.

Cole grabs Jericho backstage. Jericho tells “Mitchell” that the I-C belt has been restored to the status it deserves. Chyna walks up and offers a handshake.

WWF World Tag Team Championship: WWF World Tag Team Champions New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Mr. Ass) vs The Rock ‘n Sock Connection (The Rock & Mankind)

I feel like I’ve seen combos of this ever since I started the SmackDown run and I’m excited to move past the tag era and get Rock and Mankind into bigger things. I’ll get my wish very soon. Not much to write about happens in the first few minutes until Rock gets the hot tag and the crowd wakes up. Rock and Ass argue and Rock nails Ass as he takes his shirt off. Mankind tags in and works over Ass. Dogg tags in and things slow back down. Mankind hooks the claw and Ass comes in to break it up, Rock following and things breaking down on the outside. Rock and Ass fight into the crowd before Rock hip locks Ass back over the barricade. The referee has lost all control.

After battling back in, Ass and Dogg double-team Rock in the corner for a while. A long while. This match feels half an hour long. Rock finally gets a tag and it isn’t really a hot tag in that the crowd mostly doesn’t care. Mankind does the Dogg punches on Dogg until he accidentally hits the ref. Mankind tries to help the ref up and Ass leaps on both of them, further destroying the ref. Rock and Ass battle again to the outside while Mankind hooks Socko. Al Snow and Head run out and Snow clobbers Mankind with Head, the fans booing as the ref counts Road Dogg’s pin attempt (Rock breaks it up). Rock chases Snow up the ramp and throws him into the helicopter, Ass nails Mankind with a bell and Mankind still kicks out. Mankind gets the hot tag to Rock and Rock hammers both Outlaws. Spinebuster on Dogg, Rock Bottom on Ass but in runs Snow to attack and cause a DQ after sixteen minutes of this thing. Mankind and Snow brawl outside, Rock still gets a Rock Bottom on Dogg and then Snow. Rock hits a People’s Elbow on Snow to send the crowd home happy. Wait, we have two more matches? Ugh.

The Rock ‘n Sock Connection defeat New Age Outlaws by disqualification, the New Age Outlaws retain the WWF World Tag Team Championship. This was long and boring, and I never want to watch it again, thanks. You’re not missing a thing if you skip this one. Thankfully business is about to pick up for Mankind and Rock.

WWF Championship: WWF Champion Big Show vs Big Boss Man (with Prince Albert)

Boss Man has looked ineffective in most of the build to this match after Big Show won the gold. Boss Man grabs a mic and makes fun of the discovery that Big Show’s daddy might not be the one that died. Lawler suggests calling an ambulance which is a good bit of commentary on his end.

Show runs in and grabs Boss Man, tossing him across the ring repeatedly. Albert tries to attack Show on the outside and Show chokeslams him through the Spanish announce table. Boss Man clobbers Show with the steel steps and then runs him into the ring post. Boss Man tries a cover in the ring; Show tosses him and kips up to his feet. Chokeslam and a three count.

Big Show pins Big Boss Man to retain the WWF Title. It was short and mostly inoffensive, though expectations were low to begin with. If you’re watching this in 1999, you’re hoping they move Show into a more serious title program. (Bad news to come for Show, I’m afraid.)

No Holds Barred: WWF Chairman Vince McMahon vs Triple H

If McMahon wins, the marriage of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon is annulled. If Triple H wins, he gets a WWF Title shot. After the texts that leaked earlier in the week, McMahon probably wishes he could have annulled that marriage. Stephanie McMahon heads out prior to the participants, taking her front row seat to watch the match. HHH enters with a sledgehammer. JR argues that no holds barred doesn’t mean you can use a sledgehammer, but that’s not quite what “no holds barred” means. Stephanie gives HHH a scowl.

McMahon is in his black sweatshirt look tonight. He throws powder in HHH’s face to start things off and throws some punches. McMahon knocks HHH down with right hands. They brawl to the announce table and HHH is whipped into the steel steps. It’s interesting to watch the WWF crew trying to wrangle all of the camera cords. They fight into the crowd and HHH tosses Vince into a metal door. They brawl some more, Vince being punched and choked against the barricade. HHH runs at Vince and is backdropped back to the ringside area. Mankind wheels out a shopping cart full of plunder for Vince. We start with a trash can lid that HHH punches into Vince’s face. Vince nails the second shot as HHH tries to wash the powder out of his eyes. HHH is down and Stephanie is enjoying it.

Next up, McMahon grabs the rest of the trash can. “Vince has never touched one of those in his life,” Lawler says. McMahon smacks the trash can over HHH’s head and back right in front of Stephanie, knocking him over the barricade in front of Stephanie. Vince grabs a crutch and chokes HHH with it until HHH grabs Vince’s head and rams it into the stairs. HHH gets the crutch and crotches Vince in the grapefruits with it. HHH wraps a chain around his fist and slugs away at Vince’s forehead. Vince grabs a stick and breaks it across HHH’s back and nails him with a sign. Up the ramp they go where HHH tosses Vince into the helicopter’s nose.

The brawling continues in the Attitude Era main event formula which largely worked for them. Triple H clocks Vince in the head by spinning a mounted machine gun into his head. McMahon counters a whip and sends HHH flying into an airplane. They fight over to a tank and then the sound equipment area. Back to a steel door that raises for them. HHH tosses Vince onto the hood of a Ford truck and climbs up to elbow drop him. HHH disappears and Vince limps around trying to find him, heading outside. Vince wanders the parking lot and suddenly we hear a horn, Vince leaping over a barricade before a car hits him. HHH comes out of the car and beats down Vince having failed at vehicular murder. They fight on top of a limo and HHH slams McMahon on the limo.

HHH slowly works Vince back through the backstage area and back into the arena. HHH climbs some scaffolding on the stage and Vince climbs after him. JR guesses 20-30 feet off the floor as McMahon falls backwards into a padded bunker area. Well Vince should be thankful for his complex stage setup. HHH climbs down to knock a bloodied Vince over the head with a gas can and strut back to the ring to grab the mic from Fink. He walks over to Steph. “Tell me how it feels baby, tell me what you’re feeling inside watching your daddy get his ass kicked in front of the world.” As HHH taunts Stephanie, Vince zombie walks up to the ringside area and HHH knocks him over the head with the microphone as Stephanie gives us “worried.” HHH grabs a pipe and holds Vince in front of Stephanie, yelling for her to tell him goodbye. He holds the pipe over Vince in the head and tosses it down, going to get his sledgehammer instead.

HHH stands over Vince with the sledgehammer and Stephanie screams, Vince kicking up just in time to stop the hit. Vince swings a base hit with the pipe and picks up the sledgehammer, Stephanie jumping the barricade and running in to tell her dad she wants to hit HHH. Vince hands Stephanie the sledgehammer and HHH grabs it from her, nailing Vince in the abdomen and head. HHH puts a foot on Vince and pins him as he stares at Stephanie.

Triple H pins Vince McMahon.

As Stephanie checks on Vince, HHH walks up behind her and raises the sledgehammer. She turns around and he drops it. A smile comes on her face, and she embraces Triple H. “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD,” yells JR, as she raises HHH’s hand with a smile. They kiss and friends, we’re entering the McMahon-Helmsley Era. Decades later, they’d still be coming out to open WrestleManias.

The match in itself was your usual Attitude Era brawl – long, all over the place, full of plunder. It was a 30-minute match that easily could’ve and probably should’ve been a 20-minute match. The end result was a shock that was needed and started a LOT of change in the WWF storylines.

As a whole, I’d give the event the ol’ thumbs in the middle. The main event was fine but long, the earlier matches were interesting. The tag title match almost took me out. You’re not missing much if you skip this one.

Next time on the SmackDown Rewind: X-Pac vs Tori, a falls count anywhere match, and Brisco and Patterson challenge for the World Tag Teram Titles.