The stakes could not be higher at Armageddon when Triple H and Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy battle for the right to face the WWE Champion at Royal Rumble.

For The Game, it will be an opportunity to get a chance to reclaim the prize he has coveted most in his illustrious career, the WWE Championship. The 11-time World Champion would love to be on top of the WWE mountain for a 12th time.  But Jeff Hardy has never held the WWE Title, and he has said that his career would not feel complete without the sports-entertainment's greatest prize.

When Raw GM William Regal first made the match between between Triple H and Hardy, it seemed odd. These were two Superstars who did not have a budding rivalry with each other. The Game doesn’t covet Jeff’s Intercontinental Championship, and the Master of the Swanton Bomb didn’t seem – at least on the surface – to want to use Triple H as a steppingstone into the upper echelon of WWE.

But that all changed when Regal announced that the winner of the Hardy-Triple H match would earn an opportunity at the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble. Triple H and Jeff share a bond and mutual respect that was forged from being teammates on victorious Survivor Series teams for two consecutive years. They have also watched each other in the ring and admired each other’s work ethic and ring style.

"Stepping into the ring with Triple H will be an honor," Jeff said on Raw. "We've been on an incredible roll since Survivor Series. I just hope what happens at Armageddon doesn't ruin our friendship."

Winning the WWE Championship has long been a dream for Jeff Hardy. Defeating The Game would help him make great progress toward getting that golden opportunity.

But Triple H will not lay down for anybody, no matter how much he respects them. The Game has waged war with some of his best friends over World Championships. This time around, he wants to show the world, at Jeff Hardy’s expense, that he is still truly The King of Kings, the Superstar by which all other Superstars are measured. However, some observers still wonder whether The Cerebral Assassin's respect for Hardy will cloud his focus at Armageddon.

What will happen when the “Rainbow-haired Warrior” and The Game collide at Armageddon? Catch Armageddon live on pay-per-view and find out.

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