The 2006 Armageddon was the seventh Armageddon professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown! brand division. The event took place on December 17, 2006, at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. It was the final Armageddon to be brand-exclusive as following WrestleMania 23 the following year, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued.
The main event was a tag team match, in which the team of Batista and John Cena defeated the team of King Booker and Finlay. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard, including The Undertaker versus Mr. Kennedy, in a match where the objective was to place an opponent in a hearse located on the entrance stage and drive them out of the arena, which Undertaker won. The other match was an Inferno match featuring wrestlers attempting to set the opponent on fire with flames surrounding the ring. Kane defeated Montel Vontavious Porter.
The event grossed over $423,500 in ticket sales from an attendance of 8,200. Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the WWE Tag Team Championship match a nine out of ten stars, the highest rating match. The event was released on DVD on January 16, 2007 by Sony Music Entertainment. The DVD reached second on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart for recreational sports during the week of February 18, 2007, and it dropped to the tenth spot the following week.
Production
Background
Armageddon was established in 1999 as World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) December pay-per-view (PPV) and was held every year except in 2001. The 2006 event was held on December 17 at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. It was the seventh event in the Armageddon chronology. Like the previous two years, the 2006 event featured wrestlers exclusively from the SmackDown! brand.
Storylines
The leading staged rivalry written into the event was between Batista and King Booker. At Survivor Series, Batista defeated Booker to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On the December 1 episode of SmackDown!, Booker and Finlay both competed in a Triple Threat match against Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, with Batista winning. Later that night, General manager Theodore Long announced that Booker and Finlay would form a tag team to compete against Batista and a partner of his choice at Armageddon. Batista announced that his partner would be WWE Champion John Cena, a member of the Raw brand. The following week on the December 8 episode of SmackDown!, Batista defeated Finlay by disqualification after Booker interfered on Finlay's behalf. On the December 15 episode of SmackDown!, Cena defeated Finlay after an FU.
The secondary rivalry was between The Undertaker and Mr. Kennedy. On the September 8 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy announced that he was looking for a new opponent, one that he had never faced before. Long informed Kennedy that he knew a SmackDown! superstar that had never faced Kennedy, Undertaker. A match was made between the two for No Mercy, in which Kennedy defeated Undertaker by disqualification. At Survivor Series, Kennedy once again defeated Undertaker in a First Blood match. On the December 1 episode of SmackDown!, Undertaker fought Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in a match where neither wrestler won. During the match, MVP attempted to escape from the ring, but Kennedy caught him during the process and tried to throw him back into the ring. MVP instead threw Kennedy in. Undertaker then kicked Kennedy in the face, and Kane attacked MVP at ringside. The following week as Kennedy was in the ring, the hearse, appearing to have nobody in the driver's seat, drove into the arena; suddenly, The Undertaker appeared from the back of the hearse, as Kennedy sprung from the ring. Later that night, Kane defeated Kennedy by disqualification after MVP interfered on Kennedy's behalf. On the December 15 episode of SmackDown!, Undertaker and Kane teamed together to face Kennedy and MVP in a tag team match, which ended with neither team winning. Kennedy knocked Kane down in the aisle and jumped into the driver's seat of the hearse that had been at ringside for the match and threatened to run him over with it; However, Undertaker appeared in the passenger side seat scaring Kennedy off.