WWF No Way Out (February 2000)

From Hartford, Connecticut; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

Opening WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Chris Jericho v Kurt Angle: Kurt is the European Champion at this point, but only Jericho's title is on the line here. Fast start, as Angle tries to grab a headlock, but Jericho makes him criss cross, and hits a hiptoss. Another criss cross ends in Jericho chopping him, but a third try proves to be one too many, and Kurt drops him across the bottom rope with a drop-toehold. He charges, but Chris is ready with a backdrop over the top, and he follows up with a springboard dropkick. Baseball slide, but Kurt sidesteps, and smacks him into the rail, then into the announce table. Whip into the steps next, but Jericho springboards off of them to block, and turns it into a moonsault. Back in, Chris goes to the top, but Angle is ready, and superplexes him down before he can leap. Kurt goes to work on the arm (which he hurt out on the floor earlier), and hits a snap suplex between arm wrenching holds. Chris fires back with a butterfly backbreaker for two, but walks into a German suplex, and Kurt goes back after the arm. Angle's improvement since debuting is just mesmerizing! It takes some guys years to look as good and as confident in the ring as he does here. Kurt tries suplexing him into oblivion, but telegraphs a backdrops, and takes a bulldog. Jericho with a diving forearm for two, and a two-alarm no-release powerbomb gets two - Angle kicking out INTO a cross-armbreaker! Chris wisely grabs the ropes, but Kurt hits the Olympic Slam as he gets to his feet for two. Frustrated, Angle grabs the title belt, but ends up in the Walls of Jericho as the referee wrestles it away from him. He gets the ropes, so Jericho suplexes him and goes for a springboard moonsault, but Kurt whacks him with the title belt on the way down, and scores the pin at 10:14. Well, that was unexpected, as Angle was already European champ, and they usually don't book that way. Strong opener, with both guys working very well together, and not afraid to tell for one another. ***

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The New Age Outlaws v The Dudley Boyz: The Dudley's charge in for a brawl, with the dust settling on Jesse James and Bubba Dudley. Bubba dodges the dancing punches, and hits a full-nelson bomb, then D-Von Dudley flies in with a headbutt to the groin. The Dudley's go right into the heat segment from there, cutting the ring in half on Jesse, with James getting totally slaughtered. He manages to superplex Bubba to allow the tag to Billy Gunn (his first time in the match at all), but the Dudley's put out his house of fire with a lead pipe, and Jesse takes the Death Drop at 5:20 to crown new champions. Very, very strong booking there, as this was basically a total squash. ¼*

Viscera v Mark Henry: Viscera tries charging in, but Henry shrugs him off, and pounds him with forearms - only to walk into a spinheel kick. Viscera tosses him out of the ring for a whip into the steps, and inside, he drops him like a Samoan. Belly-to-belly suplex draws Mae Young down to plead with Viscera to leave her man alone, but he slams her too. He goes for a splash, but Henry breaks it up with a clothesline, and bodyslams Viscera for the pin at 2:47. Some strong effort from both guys, but the match was so forgettable, that the Network guys didn't even bother with a bookmark for it. ½*

#1 Contenders Match: Edge & Christian v The Hardy Boyz: Man, they really loved #1 Contenders matches during this period, didn't they? Christian starts with Jeff Hardy, and he tries a backdrop, but Jeff lands on his feet (in a breathtaking spot), then brings Matt Hardy in for a double-team legdrop. Matt with a side suplex for two, but Christian breaks up another double-team by dropkicking both guys, so Jeff pulls him out to the floor, and tosses him into the rail. Back in, the Hardy's work him over with tandem stuff, and Jeff hits a springboard-slingshot moonsault for two. Great bit of tag team psychology, as Matt and Christian do a double-knockout, so before Matt makes the tag, he makes sure to drag Christian towards the Hardy corner to prevent him from doing the same. Sometimes, it's the little things. Christian still manages to lift his boot when Jeff tries a flying splash though, and that's enough to allow the tag to Edge. He pinballs the Hardy's for a bit, and schoolboys Jeff for two. E&C work him over with their own brand of tandem stuff, and Edge gives him a nice piledriver for two. Chinlock (the first time this has slowed down thus far... like, at all) allows us to check out super hot Terri Runnels in the Hardy's corner, so no complaints from me. Edge with a flying bodypress after Matt prevents them from double-teaming any more, but Jeff shoots him out of the sky with a dropkick, and makes it to Matt. Four-way brawl immediately breaks out, and it's spot city! Boyz go for the kill on Christian with their flying legdrop/flying splash combo, but Edge breaks it up. Jeff tries the Swanton, but Terri hops up onto the apron, and shoves him off (Hardy bumping all the way down to the floor off of it), and that's enough to allow Christian to pin Matt at 15:18. If this were their only match, it would likely be quite fondly remembered today, but unfortunately has gotten completely lost in the shuffle of their (more spotty) ladder based bouts. Still, quite the tag match, and an interesting change of pace. ***

Tazz v Big Bossman: Barely a match, as Bossman attacks Tazz on the floor for a brawl, but gets locked in the Tazzmission in short order, so Prince Albert runs in and breaks it up for the DQ at 0:49. Not really sure why this belonged on pay per view, but there it is. DUD

No Holds Barred Match: Kane v X-Pac: X-Pac attacks before the bell, but walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and gets clotheslined out of the ring. He decides to bail, but Kane follows, and drags him back - making sure to stop and beat him with a bunch of weapons along the way. Paul Bearer (aligned with Kane at this point, for those Bearer-tracking) even gets in a few licks! Inside, X-Pac hits a spinheel kick to takeover, and blows him low ahead of the X-Factor. Kane sits up and hits the big boot, followed by a flying clothesline, and a chokeslam. He goes for the kill, but Tori runs in, and though he manages to Tombstone her, the distraction allows X-Pac to dropkick the ring steps into his face for the pin at 7:50. Couldn't really recapture the lightning of the cage match from Armageddon, unfortunately. *

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Too Cool v The Radicalz: Big brawl to start, with Too Cool cleaning house until the dust settles on Grandmaster Sexay and Saturn. Saturn chops him in the corner, but a superplex is blocked with a forward-falling version, and Sexay hits a 2^nd rope dropkick followed by an enzuigiri. Tag to Chris Benoit, but he charges right into a bulldog for two, and Sexay passes to Scotty 2 Hotty for a tandem elbowdrop. Scott with a snap suplex, and he passes to Rikishi for a cross corner clothesline. Benoit takes the Stinkface (never has anyone been more deserving...), and Rikishi tries the Driver, but Dean Malenko sneaks in with a dropkick to his bad cankle, and Chris topples him for two. The Radicalz immediately capitalize, and cut the ring in half on Rikishi with quick tags, focusing their fury on the cankle, but the size of the rump proves too much for Saturn, and Scotty gets the tag. He tries the Worm, but Malenko cuts him off with a clothesline - pissing the crowd off. They get right back to cutting the ring in half on their new victim - which is fine, but Rikishi made more sense for the heat segment. Scotty manages to post Benoit to allow the tag to Rikishi, and he's a hut of fire! Six-way brawl, and Rikishi hits the Driver on Saturn to allow Scotty to finish the Worm from earlier. The Radicalz run back in before they can score the fall though, and Malenko clips Rikishi's cankle, but ends up taking the Driver before he can score the fall, and Rikishi finishes with a Banzi Drop at 12:42. Good, well paced, crisp tag match, but the finish would have worked better had Rikishi taken the heat segment. ***

#1 Contender's Match: The Rock v Big Show: Big staredown to start, and Rock slugs at him to control early. Cross corner clothesline, but Show blocks a Russian legsweep with a headbutt, so Rock snaps off a hurricane DDT. Rock Bottom, but Show elbows him to block, and swats him right out of the ring! He follows, but Rock reverses a whip into the steps, and they brawl into the crowd (boo!), with Rock tossing Show around like a cruiserweight at points. Back at ringside, Show takes control with a whip into the rail, and he powerslams Rocky on the way back in for two. Russian legsweep, but now it's Rock's turn to block one, and he reverses into his own for two. DDT gets two, but charges into a sidewalk slam for two. Show with a big boot to set up the Chokeslam, but the referee is down, so no count. That draws Shane McMahon out, and Rock whacks Show with a chair and hits Bottom. People's Elbow, but Shane cuts him off with a chairshot of his own, and Show gets the pin out of the deal at 9:28. Nothing groundbreaking, but both guys were eager to sell for each other, and worked well together as a result. *

Main Event: WWF Title v Career Hell in a Cell Match: Triple H v Cactus Jack: Jack wants to start the match on top of the Cell again, but they have the door secured with a dozen padlocks to prevent that from happening. HHH attacks as he fiddles with the locks, but loses a slugfest, and Jack headbutts him, then bounces his head off the mat a few times. Clothesline, and he goes for the door again, but no luck. Back in, Hunter unloads in the corner, and hits a kneeling facebuster, but a charge gets him backdropped over the top. Cactus finds a chair underneath the ring, but he's too slow going after HHH with it, and gets knocked off the apron and into the cell wall. Triple H capitalizes with a shot into the post, and he throws the steps at his face next, in a particularly vicious bump. I mean, OUCH! He uses the chair from earlier on him for a two count, and adds a DDT for a series of two counts. Yes! Love when guys do that! More chair fun, but Cactus blocks with a few stiff shots downstairs (which JR hilariously refers to as 'barbaric birth control'), and a double-arm DDT gets two. Running kneesmash, but Hunter is ready with a drop-toehold into a chair for two, and he clotheslines Jack over the top. Pedigree on the steps, but Jack sweeps him, and hits an impressive slingshot into the cage, off of the steps! That draws blood from the champion, and Cactus sadistically rakes his face across the mesh for good measure. Chair-assisted Cactus elbow hits, and he grabs the chair to payback Hunter with a throw of his own, but HHH dives out of the way, and the steps break right through the wall of the cell! The look on Jack's face here is just wonderful, as he charges the gap full on to widen in, and then whips HHH through it, and out of the cell. Now officially free, Jack gives him a pulling piledriver onto the announce table, and decides to climb, so Stephanie grabs his ankle to stop the effort. HHH, of course, uses that for a sneak attack, but Jack is ready, and nails him again, then decides to punish him by fetching his barbwire covered 2x4. Triple H tries bailing into the crowd to escape, but Jack drags him back over the rail, and whacks him with it. Now desperate, the champ starts climbing the cell, and Jack is all too eager to follow suit! HHH is ready, however, and knocks Jack off the cell before he can reach the top - Cactus flying back through the Spanish announce table! This is just one hell of a match - I don't remember loving it this much in 2000. Jack climbs out of the rubble with a bladejob to match HHH's, but now he's just good and pissed. He climbs up after Hunter, but the Game is waiting with the 2x4, and whacks him when he gets to the top. The look on Steph's face as he beats Cactus with the barbed wire is just brilliant. Jack fights back with a suplex on the roof of the cell, and delivers a double-arm DDT up there - drawing an equally brilliant look of terror from Stephanie. She's still good at the selling angles with her facial expressions today, too, actually. Jack then gives her something to really cry about, as he grabs the 2x4 and lights that sucker on fire! He whacks HHH with it, then sets up a piledriver onto his torch, but HHH counters with a backdrop - Cactus crashing through the cell, and smashing a dent in the ring as he lands! Triple H climbs down into the ring to finish, but somehow Jack is still coming! He crawls out of the hole and after the champ, so Triple H kills him dead with the Pedigree to end it at 23:58. Wow! I mean, following that Royal Rumble match was no small feat, but man, they delivered! Another intense, creative, star-making brawl - THIS is how you do a main event brawl! They also managed to follow not only their act at the Rumble, but had to deal with enormously high expectations people have when you put 'Mick Foley' and 'Hell in a Cell' in the same sentence - and did! Unfortunately, they messed up by bringing Foley back for WrestleMania a month later, but the match is still an absolute classic, regardless. **** ¼

BUExperience: Excellent show, with a strong undercard supporting a long, brilliant main event, and nothing bad – all the weak stuff kept short. Compare this to what WCW was putting out at the time, and its no wonder they were circling the drain.

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