#68: Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. William Regal & Dave Taylor vs. MNM vs. The Hardys, WWE Armageddon (12/17/2006).
This is a Fatal 4 Way Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships.
This was originally scheduled to just be London & Kendrick against Regal & Taylor, however before the match began, Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long came out to announce an early Christmas gift - this would now be a Ladder Match, and two more teams would be added to the mix: The freshly reunited Johnny Nitro & Joey Mercury of MNM, and the also freshly reunited Matt & Jeff Hardy, the latter of whom was the Intercontinental Champion.
Big brawl to start things out. MNM and Regal and Taylor are sent to the outside, and now the Hardys and London and Kendrick square off. London with a hurricanrana to Jeff. Matt pulls Kendrick to the mat head first.
Regal and Taylor, and MNM, return and beat up the baby faces. MNM double team Jeff, Regal beats up on London, and Taylor goes after Kendrick. MNM grab the ladders first. The Hardys meet them on the entrance way and grab the ladders for themselves.
Regal and Taylor toss the ladders out multiple times. Hey, don't these guys know how to win this match? Matt uses a ladder on Regal and Taylor. Kendrick and London attack Nitro. The Hardys hit Taylor with Poetry in Motion. MNM with the Snapshot next.
Double superkick to Regal by the champs. Elbow drop by Matt off the top rope. Matt Irish whips Kendrick into Jeff, who tosses a ladder right into his body. The Hardys take London out next.
The Hardys set the ladder up, and Jeff makes the climb first. London prevents him from climbing any further. He makes the climb next, and Jeff tries to stop him. Nitro looks for a dropkick to London, who avoids it, and Nitro only hits ladder.
Mercury with a ladder takes out everyone in the Ring, giving MNM the advantage. He sets the ladder up, and makes the climb. The Hardys, Kendrick and London lift the ladder up, and send Mercury flying to the outside onto Nitro.
London kicks Hardy high in the corner. Matt pulls Kendrick off the ladder, then places it in the corner. Kendrick is whipped into the ladder, and then London. The Hardys try Poetry in Motion, but London moves, and Jeff eats ladder.
Double Suplex to Matt by the champs. London climbs the ladder, and Matt drops him with a clothesline. Kendrick makes the climb now, and Matt pulls him down as well. Neckbreaker to Kendrick follows.
Nitro with a Suplex to Regal on the floor. London dropkicks Matt into a leaning ladder against the ropes. He lifts the ladder, and Kendrick comes off the top rope with a double stomp into Matt's ribs on the ladder.
MNM are in, and they hit London with a gutbuster. They set ladders up as a somersault. They grab Jeff and place him on the top rope. They look for a double Suplex, but Matt breaks it up. He headbutts MNM, and Jeff flies off the top, sending the ladder into MNM's face - specifically Mercury, who is quite literally bleeding like a faucet EVERYWHERE.
Off screen, Mercury is immediately escorted to a hospital.
Matt and Kendrick climb the ladder, and Kendrick with a back suplex off the ladder. Regal and Taylor clear the Ring, and they set ladders across two top turnbuckles. Taylor places Kendrick on the ladder, then tosses him off.
Regal with an overhead half Nelson Suplex to London into the ladder. Taylor sets the ladder up, and Regal makes the climb. He tells Taylor that he's too scared to go too high! Taylor makes his attempt, and Kendrick stops them. Regal tosses him out of the Ring hard.
Matt is back in, and he hammers away on Taylor. Jeff is in, and the Hardys double team Regal. Jeff goes to the aisle and grabs a tall boy! Matt with a Twist of Fate to Taylor. Jeff sets the tall ladder up on the outside, and Nitro rushes into the Ring and dropkicks the ladder over, sending Jeff flying hard onto the top rope.
Nitro throws a ladder at Taylor, then hits Regal right in the head. Another shot to Taylor, and he scales the top rope. He falls into the ladder, and lands on Regal. Nitro sets the ladder up, and he climbs up, as he tries to win solo.
Kendrick meets him there, but Nitro knocks him down. Here's London with a springboard dropkick to take Nitro out. Matt and Kendrick fight on top of the ladder, and Matt hip tosses him down.
London scales the ladder and gets hit with a back body drop that sends both men to the mat. Jeff climbs now, and Nitro follows. They fight for control, and Jeff connects with a sunset flip into a powerbomb off the ladder!
Matt sets two ladders up in the middle, and he climbs them both. Regal and Taylor pull them apart, and Matt lands on his feet. They double team Matt, using a Regal Knee combo to take him out.
They slowly climb the ladders. Kendrick brings Taylor to the mat, and he climbs up to punch Regal. Taylor pulls him down and hits a clothesline. London clothesline himself and Taylor to the outside.
Kendrick nearly breaks his damn neck to hit the Sliced Bread to Regal off the ladder! Regal looks knocked out. London crawls back into the ring, and scales the ladder. Matt follows him up. Taylor slowly crawls in the Ring.
London explodes with punches to Matt, as Nitro and Jeff come back in. Matt falls flat on his back from the ladder, and London grabs the titles to win and retain for his team.
This is a wonderful match inside of a bubble. Nothing really came of this. Paul London & Brian Kendrick would lose the Tag Titles to Deuce & Domino in April of 2017. William Regal was not long from starting his great reign as the Raw General Manager. Not sure what happened to Dave Taylor. The Hardys would team on and off, earning a World Tag Team Title reign the night after WrestleMania 23. Jeff was about to really explode as a singles star. Matt, to his credit, was about to have a great feud with MVP.
These four teams never did get a sequel to this match. It was briefly announced for No Way Out in February of 2007, however it was then switched to London & Kendrick defending against Deuce & Domino, while The Hardys teamed with Chris Benoit to face MNM & MVP. Allegedly, the reason is because WWE didn't think too much of Dave Taylor.
That said, these guys definitely captured lightning in a bottle here. It's not an all time classic, but it is a ton of fun. Everybody gets to shine, it's full of spots, and the different styles and backgrounds of each team make for a unique setting amongst all the ladders.
Of course, if you're reading this, then you know the reason this match really gets talked about still is because of the injury to Joey Mercury. If you've seen that spot, you know it fucking sucks. If you haven't...proceed with caution. Four fractures on the inside of his nose, 5 stitches on the inside and 15 on the outside, internal bleeding from his nose and eye, and 40% vision loss in his left eye. What's that phrase about this not being ballet?
The injury Joey suffered here led to his drug addiction that nearly ended his own life. Thankfully, Joey is sober today, and is doing much better.