WWE's 12 Fails Of Christmas

11. Shawn Michaels Vs Triple H - Armageddon 2002

Paul Heyman December to Dismember Facepalm
WWE.com

In a seemingly impossible feat, two of the best wrestlers in the history of the industry managed to assemble three bad individual contests in one single match.

An ego-driven 40-minute bore, Triple H and Shawn Michaels failed to recapture their Summerslam 2002 magic, and foreshadowed future snoozers between the two that would occasionally pollute main events in upcoming years.

Over the each of the three 'stages' (street fight, cage match, ladder match) the two liberally stole high spots from their contemporaries, with little psychology nor attention to their own characters.

Engaging in lousy weapons/TLC brawls in all three matches, the low point came as Michaels wrestled away a flaming barbed wire two-by-four from HHH, signalling that just about every shortcut would be taken in place of the decent match they were both capable of.

The finish was equally guilty, as Michaels went sailing through four stacked tables allowing Triple H to meander up a ladder to claim the gold.

For those still in the arena that hadn't already left early to beat the traffic, HBK’s fairytale title win lasting less than a month ensured they experienced every stage of hell alongside the wrestlers themselves.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett