WWF No Way Out (February 2001)

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and Tazz

Opening WWF Hardcore Title Match: Raven v Big Show: Raven attacks him in the aisle, and gets his ass kicked with a stop sign, then tossed into the steps for his efforts. Kind of a dumb move, anyway. You're the champion! Make him chase you! Raven fires back with a fire extinguisher, and hits a baseball slide to prevent Show from climbing back in. However, Crash Holly pops out of the crowd dressed as a popcorn vendor, and sneaks up on Raven with a bulldog. Since anyone can win the Hardcore Title at anytime, Show destroys him, then goes for the kill on Raven, but here comes Steve Blackman and Hardcore Holly to join the fray. However, while they're busy beating the big man down, Billy Gunn sneaks in, and hits Raven with the Fameasser to win the title at 2:27. Blackman and Holly go after Gunn now, but get cut off again when Show tosses them out of the ring, and Raven sneaks up to pin Gunn for the title at 3:28. Now Show is good and pissed, and starts press-slamming everything in sight before Chokeslamming Raven for the title at 4:20. About as good as a four minute match with three title changes can be, I guess. ½*

WWF Intercontinental Title Fatal Four-Way Match: Chris Jericho v Eddie Guerrero v X-Pac v Chris Benoit: First fall wins. Benoit and X-Pac immediately spill out to the floor to give Guerrero and Jericho the ring, and Chris wins a criss cross with a flapjack. He knocks Eddie into the corner for some chops, and drops him into the turnbuckle with a badly mistimed alleyoop. Benoit comes in to break up a cover, and works with Guerrero to stomp the champ into the corner. They take turns chopping him, but Jericho fires back with spinheel kicks - only for X-Pac to cut him off with a spinkick of his own. Benoit and Guerrero punish him for getting involved, and Benoit slaps on the Crossface - Jericho breaking it up. He dumps Benoit to the outside to give Eddie and X-Pac the ring, and Guerrero quickly creams him with a Frogsplash - Jericho breaking up the count. Benoit is on his heels with a short-clothesline to knock him out of the ring, and Benoit snap suplexes X-Pac for two. X-Pac fires back with a spinheel kick, but the bronco buster is broken up with a missile dropkick from Jericho. Benoit immediately capitalizes with a bridging German on Jericho for two, but Eddie breaks up the count. Sayonara alliance. Eddie ranas him as Jericho snap suplexes X-Pac on the floor, and Guerrero goes for the kill with a side suplex on Benoit for two. Brainbuster sets up the Frogsplash, but Benoit superplexes him down. That leaves both guys looking up at the lights, so Jericho and X-Pac sneak in - each covering a man for two. Cute. Jericho grabs Benoit with a butterfly backbreaker for two, and a cradle gets two, so Benoit takes his head off with a lariat. Well, that'll learn him. German suplex gets two, but another is countered into a victory roll, and Jericho immediately shifts it into the Walls. Eddie runs in to break it up, but Jericho grabs him in the hold! Enter X-Pac, but Jericho lets off to put HIM in it. Crowd is just losing it here, and rightly so - that was a well booked sequence. Justin Credible runs down to distract Jericho into letting off, and Benoit capitalizes by grabbing the champ with a dragon suplex for two. Credible and X-Pac pull Benoit out to the floor to get rid of him, and X-Pac rushes in to break up a springboard moonsault, and X-Factor Jericho for two - saved by a recovering Benoit. Crossface, but Eddie breaks it up with an inverted somersault necksnap, so Benoit side suplexes him, and hits a flying headbutt. X-Pac clobbers him before he can cover, but Jericho sneaks up and cradles X-Pac for the pin at 12:16. Non-stop action, and certainly exciting, though four-ways have never really been my cup of tea. This is a damn good one for the match type, though, with tons of creative spots, and crowd heat. ** ½

Trish Stratus v Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley: Stephanie spears her down for some slapping, and cracks her with a short-clothesline as she tries to escape. Another, and we get some hairpulling. Out to the floor, Trish manages to toss a charging Stephanie over the rail, but gets punched as she tries to follow-up, and McMahon dives off the rail with a clothesline. Trish manages to snap her neck across the top rope on the way back in, and Trish has got a serious wedgie going on - which she's dealing with about as quickly as 1980s Ric Flair might. Bulldog gets two, and a DDT for two. She goes up, but Stephanie slams her off the top, in an awkward spot where it almost looked like Trish was executing a move. Back out to the floor, Stephanie smacks her into the announce table a few times, and grabs a conveniently place pitcher of water to toss onto her. And I guess Trish just got her hair did, because she seriously freaks out over it, and beats Steph back in. Rana, but McMahon counters with a powerbomb for two, then pulls down Trish's shorts for a spanking. She tries to rip her top off for good measure, but gets too cocky, and Trish manages a facebuster. William Regal comes down to do a weird bit where he helps Trish and then helps Stephanie, so Trish slaps him. That earns her a neckbreaker, and McMahon gets the pin off of it at 8:28. Sloppy at points, but it was entertaining, well paced, and delivered what the crowd wanted. *

Three Stages of Hell Match: Steve Austin v Triple H: So, basically, this is a 2/3 falls match, but with a different stipulation for each fall. Fall #1 is a standard match, fall #2 is a Street Fight, and if it goes to a tie, fall #3 is a Cage Match. Austin charges in for a slugfest right away, and dominates - knocking the Game into the corner for some mud hole treatment. Ten-punch count in the corner, so HHH tries an inverted atomic drop, but Austin lunges at him with a clothesline. Stunner, but Hunter grabs the top rope to block, so Steve tries a Thesz press, but gets dropped across the top rope. Pedigree, but Austin counters with a single-arm DDT, and they go out to the floor for Steve to abuse the arm with the ringpost. Back in, Hunter tries the Pedigree again, but the shoulder prevents it, and Austin wrenches his arm, then properly executes the Thesz press and a pointed elbowdrop for two. Spinebuster sets up a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop, but HHH lifts his boot to block, and delivers a pair of swinging neckbreakers. HHH goes to work on the neck, driving his knee into it on the mat - and continuing to sell the arm throughout. He follows up by wrapping the knee around the ringpost, which is more good psychology, since Austin's neck issues were well documented, and the guy has been wearing giant knee braces for years. Might as well be a bulls eye, but guys almost never used to go after it during the Attitude Era. HHH keeps firing off shots at the knee, and he slaps on a figure four. HHH uses the ropes, but Austin manages to reverse, so Hunter tries punishing him with a leglock, but a defiant Austin slugs free. He beats HHH into the corner for a series of turnbuckle smashes, and another Thesz press sets up another pointed elbowdrop for two. Stunner, but Hunter shoves him into the corner to block, and hits a neckbreaker for two. Rollup gets two, and Steve reverses it for two. Hunter tries a 2^nd rope axehandle, but Steve kicks him in the gut on the way down, and the Stunner scores the first fall at 12:20. Okay, so now it becomes a Street Fight, and Austin wastes no time taking advantage of the stipulation, tossing Triple H out of the ring, and vertical suplexing him on the ramp - twice! Austin starts throwing a bunch of chairs into the ring for his next trick, but Triple H takes the opportunity to escape into the crowd while he does. Steve follows and beats him on the steps amongst the fans, then drags him back into the ring to have his chair fun. He goes ballistic on him with it, WrestleMania X-7 style, and after he's worn out, hooks the leg for two. Back out, Austin goes for the ring bell, but HHH finds his barbwire covered 2x4, and busts Steve open with it. Helluva bladejob, too, as Austin channels himself at WrestleMania 13. Pedigree on the announce table, but Austin backdrops him to block - dropping him right through the Spanish table. Steve hits him with a can of beer and unloads some mounted punches, but Hunter gets hold of the bell, and smacks him with it on the way back in for two. Neckbreaker onto a chair gets two, and another neckbreaker gets another two count. Steve desperately tries a sleeper, but HHH quickly side suplexes him to escape - Austin landing right on the chair with his neck. That gets two, so HHH decides to Pedigree him on the chair to finish, but Austin again manages a backdrop to block - Hunter flying out over the top! Steve follows to bust him open with a chairshot, and he whacks him with the ring steps for good measure. Inside, Stunner time, but Hunter whacks him with his trusty sledgehammer to counter, then adds a Pedigree to tie the score at 28:09. Way too much dead space during this fall, plus, they both seemingly forgot all the knee/neck, arm/shoulder work from earlier, save for a few token spots where they suddenly remembered again. Okay, so now we get a Cage Match for the deciding fall. Hunter picks up where he left off by tossing Steve into the cage, and he rakes the barbed wire 2x4 across his face, so Austin desperately whacks him with a chair, then tosses Hunter into the cage, and uses the 2x4 on him. Nice symmetry there. Triple H desperately climbs the cage to try and escape, but Austin is on him, and they trade shots on the top rope - Hunter getting the best of it by crotching the Rattlesnake. He takes too long regrouping, however, and Steve slams him down off the top rope for two. Stunner, but HHH counters into the Pedigree - for two! HHH whacks him with a chair and goes for the Pedigree again, but Steve counters with a slingshot into the cage, and hits the Stunner for a dramatic two count. As they stagger to their feet, each grabs an object (2x4 for Austin, hammer for HHH), and end up knocking each other out - Hunter falling on top for the pin at 39:23. This match has gotten a lot of love over the years, and it's a good match, but it's far from flawless, and tends to be severely overrated. For one thing, it's way too long. For another, the psychology is spotty. It's good for what it is, but there's no way it's even close to the Match of the Year honors bestowed upon it by some observers. ** ½

Steven Richards v Jerry Lawler: If Richards wins, Kat joins RTC. If Lawler wins, Kat gets to strip nude. Hmm, I wonder who they book to go over? Lawler destroys him in the early going, and bodyslam sets up a fistdrop - Richards bailing to the outside to regroup. Lawler follows, but a teased catfight between Ivory and Kat allows Richards to post him. Inside, Steven tries an avalanche, but Jerry sidesteps, and unloads a ten-punch. Richards fires back with a vertical suplex for two, and he grabs a chair, but Lawler gives him a half-hearted low blow, and a pair of DDTs. Ivory hops up onto the apron to prevent a count, so Lawler slams her - only to get accidentally clobbered with the Women's Title belt to give Richards the pin at 5:31. Didn't really work as a match, but well placed on the card as a cool down - which is fine. DUD

WWF Tag Team Title Triple Threat Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz v The Brothers of Destruction v Edge & Christian: Everyone brawls on the ramp before even getting to the ring, and Undertaker tosses D-Von Dudley off the stage in dramatic fashion. They turn their attention to E&C, and beat them down to ringside for some abuse - E&C bumping around for them like champs. The Brothers look to finish with a stereo powerbomb through a table, but the Boyz come back with chairs to stop the effort. Wassap Drop for Edge, but the Brothers cut D-Von off from getting the tables, and Christian gives Bubba Dudley an Impaler. The Brothers take E&C out with stereo powerslams followed by stereo flying clotheslines, and they go for the tables, but the Boyz cut them off. That gets them a pair of chokeslams, but before they can finish, Rikishi and Haku run in, and attack - allowing the Boyz to put Christian through a table with the Death Drop at 12:03. Meh. The usual multi-man tag junk they did every month in those days. I much prefer tag matches with actual tags, myself. I also didn't love that Undertaker and Kane pretty much squashed both (superior, established) teams from bell-to-bell, and only didn't get the titles because of outside interference. ¼*

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Kurt Angle v The Rock: Angle tries talking trash at the bell, but that, uh, doesn't go well for him. Rock with a few clotheslines and a Russian legsweep for two, but Kurt catches him with a drop-toehold as he comes off the ropes, and goes for the Anklelock, but Rock grabs the ropes before he can slap it on. Kurt with a nice belly-to-belly suplex, and he likes it so much, he adds another. Not to be outdone, Rock snaps off his own, and follows with a jumping clothesline to setup a Sharpshooter. Angle makes the ropes, but really, Rock's never learned to do that hold properly, and they should have just let him counter. Rocky drops him like a Samoan for two, but walks into a side suplex, and Kurt goes up, but the challenger dives into the ropes to crotch him, then superplexes him down for two. Rock Bottom, but Kurt manages to toss him over the top to block - Rock hurting his knee on the landing. Kurt quickly rolls him back in, but Rock surprises him with a swift DDT, as Big Show joins us. He Chokeslams the referee, Angle, and Rock, then leaves. Well, that was... something. Angle gets two out of the deal, and he slaps on the Anklelock, but Rock makes the ropes. Rock blocks a charge with a spinebuster, and adds the Peoples Elbow for two. As Rock argue the count, Angle removes the turnbuckle pad, and drives Rocky into it to setup an Olympic Slam for two. Rock tries slugging at him to mount a comeback, so Kurt fires off a cruel kick at the bad knee, but before he can capitalize, Rock dumps him into the exposed buckle. Rock Bottom gets... two. Crowd is in shock, but Rock simply adds another one for the real pin at 16:53. This was fine, and unlike the Stages match, it didn't overstay its welcome, but the interference from Show really hurt it, as it absolutely cut the match off at the knees, and while they were able to recover, it felt awkward and unnecessary - like if you were watching Mrs. Doubtfire, and suddenly in the middle of the movie, the old lady social worker comes in, beats Williams and his brother with a shovel (in a possible hate crime), then walks out. **

BUExperience: This one was very well received at the time, but unless you like the Three Stages of Hell match a lot more than I did (which, admittedly, many do), don’t bother – just skip ahead to WrestleMania X-7

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