WWE No Way Out (February 2007)

Original Airdate: February 18, 2007

From Los Angeles, California; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield

Opening Six-Man Tag Team Match: Chris Benoit and The Hardy Boyz v Montel Vontavious Porter and MNM: The Hardy's take turns working over Joey Mercury to start, but he fights Matt Hardy off long enough to tag Johnny Nitro. The heels triple up on Matt, but MVP misses an elbowdrop, and Benoit gets the tag - cracking Porter with chops in the corner. Porter desperately tries to tag, but his partners want no part of the Crippler, and Chris delivers a snap suplex for two. Tag to Jeff Hardy, but he fails to cut the ring in half, and Nitro tags back in. He hammers Hardy with mounted punches, but runs into the leg-feed corkscrew kick, and Jeff adds a sling blade. Nitro bails, so Jeff chases - but it's a trap, and he runs into a cheap shot from Joey on the outside. Back in, the heels cut the ring in half on Jeff, but he fights off a side superplex from Nitro, and dives with the Whisper in the Wind to allow the tag to Matt. Matt goes to work on both halves of MNM, and the Side Effect gets two on Johnny. That draws Porter in with a side suplex, however, and the heels take over again on Matt. They cut the ring in half, but Matt fights off Joey long enough to get the tag to Benoit. Chris comes in hot, and suplexes Joey onto MVP, then hits both members of MNM with a double-German suplex! In come the Hardy's, and a Swanton Bomb sets up a flying headbutt from Benoit on Mercury, but Porter saves at two, and Roseanne Barr the door! I totally thought that was the finish, and it probably should have been. Porter comes in with Benoit's US title belt, but Chris counters a swing with it into the Crippler Crossface, so MNM save. I bought that as the finish, too. MNM try the Snapshot on Benoit, but Matt knocks Nitro out of the ring to prevent it - allowing Chris to get Joey in the Crossface to finish for real at 14:19. Technically just fine, but I didn't find it at all engaging until the fun final bit, with all of the false finishes. I'm really sick of seeing Hardy's/MNM, though. **

WWE Cruiserweight Title Gauntlet Match: Gregory Helms v Chavo Guerrero v Scotty 2 Hotty v Daivari v Funaki v Shannon Moore v Jimmy Wang Yang v Jamie Noble: This match is like a reunion from the dying days of WCW. Daivari starts with Scotty, and quickly stomps him down. Corner whip gets a series of two counts (off of a corner whip, really?), and an elbowdrop gets two. Daivari with some mounted punches, but a stinger splash misses, and Scotty hits a one-handed bulldog to set up the Worm at 1:40. Man, that spot doesn't quite play the same without the massive fan response, like in 2000. Helms (the defending champion) is in next, and he hits Scotty with a catapult under the bottom rope for two, and he slaps on a butterfly hold to ground the challenger. Scotty escapes, and manages a side suplex, but an attempt at the Worm is blocked before he even gets it off the ground, and Helms finishes with a kneeling facebuster at 3:43. Funaki is next, and he dives with a flying bodypress, but Helms rolls through at 4:11. Shannon Moore is next, and what the fuck is he wearing? He hits Helms with a headscissors on the outside, and he tries a bodypress on the way in, but gets caught in a swinging backbreaker for two. Moore tries a somersault cradle for two, and a 2^nd rope flying somersault neckbreaker is worth two. He goes up again, but this time Helms brings him down with a trapping superplex, and the kneeling facebuster ends Moore's night at 6:11. Yang is next in, and he quickly hits a standing moonsault for two, then delivers a ten-punch in the corner. Oklahoma roll gets two, and a Russian legsweep is shifted into an octopus hold on the mat, then shifted into a cradle for two. Flying moonsault press misses, however, and Gregory drills him with a clothesline. He goes for the kill, but Jimmy counters with a rana into a cradle at 8:01! Though Helms is the champion, that doesn't change the title, though. He kills Yang on the way out, and Noble capitalizes with a few pinfall attempts on the way in. Clothesline gets two, and a neckbreaker is worth two. Bodyslam sets up a legdrop, and Jamie slaps on a cobra clutch, but Yang fights free - only to miss a corner charge, and get rolled up for two. Noble with a sleeper, but Yang counters with a stunner to escape, and an inverted atomic drop sets up a pair of clotheslines. Spinkick gets two, but Jamie blocks a vertical suplex, and a reverse leg lariat gets two. He takes Jimmy up for a superplex, but Yang counters with a gourdbuster off the top, and a flying moonsault press finishes at 11:46. The referee thinks that's it, and the ring announcer is even ready to announce Yang as the new champion, but Chavo still has a turn. Guerrero hits the worn down Yang with a saito suplex, but a clothesline misses, and Jimmy throws a spinheel kick at him. Guerrero tries charging, but gets backdropped over the top, and Yang dives after him with a wild flying clothesline! He goes some serious hang time on that one! Back in for a missile dropkick, but Chavo dodges, and delivers the three-alarm rolling vertical suplex. To the top to finish, but Yang stops the effort with a rana off the top for two. Jimmy goes up for another moonsault, but Guerrero crotches him on the top turnbuckle (in a nice bump), but Yang blocks a superplex down. He dives with a corkscrew moonsault, but Guerrero dodges, and the flying frogsplash wins him the gold at 15:49. I'm not usually a big fan of gauntlet matches, but this was pretty entertaining - especially the second half of it. ** ¼

Mixed Tag Team Match: Finlay and Little Bastard v Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman: Please just be quick. Finlay and Boogeyman start, and they actually do a reversal sequence. Where do they think they are right now? To the outside, Boogeyman sends him into the barricade, and inside, he hits a big boot. Powerslam connects, and Little Boogey comes in with a few seated senton splashes. Bastard comes in to deal with him, but then Finlay remembers that he's literally FEET taller than Little Boogey, and just casually boots him down. He works Little Boogey over, but Big Boogey eventually comes in, and starts throwing clotheslines. Catapult into the turnbuckle and an avalanche hit, and Boogeyman slams Little Boogey onto Finlay for two. Bastard breaks up the count, so Big Boogey terrorizes him with worms, but that leaves Little Boogey alone - Finlay nailing him with the whappin' stick at 6:46. To quote the announcers, "what the hell are we watching?" -*

Booker T v Kane: I never thought I'd be so happy to see Kane. Booker tries to evade him to start, but gets trapped in the corner, and pounded on. Kane takes a break from all the punching to work a headvice, but Booker manages to escape, so Kane drops him with a backbreaker. Kane pounds the back with knees, and throws a big boot, followed by a clothesline over the top. He follows out, but Booker sends him into the steps a couple of times to shake Kane off, and he plants a missile dropkick on the Big Red Machine for two on the way back in. Booker grounds him in an overhead wristlock, but Kane slugs free. He tries diving with a flying clothesline, but Booker knocks him out of the air with the Harlem Sidekick, and a savate kick follows for two. Jumping forearm gets two, and Booker unloads some mounted punches, but a vertical suplex is reversed. Booker recovers first, and throws a superkick, but it only gets two. Axekick, but Kane dodges, and sends Booker back flipping to the mat with a clothesline. That leaves both men looking up at the lights, and they stagger to their feet for a slugfest - controlled by Kane. He corners Booker for a ten-punch, and a corner whip is followed in with a clothesline. Sidewalk slam connects, as does a flying clothesline, and it's chokeslam time! Sharmell hops up onto the apron to distract him, however, and Booker is able to capitalize with the Harlem Sidekick. Axekick looks to finish, but Kane counters with the chokeslam at 12:40. Pretty dull stuff here. ¾*

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Paul London and Brian Kendrick v Deuce 'n Domino: They should have brought these challengers back for Great Balls of Fire. London and Domino start, and they literally have a slap fight. Over to Kendrick, and he dodges a charge, then hits Domino with an overhead armdrag. Back to Paul for a flying double-stomp to the arm, but he gets caught in the wrong corner, and pounded. Deuce tags in with a backbreaker for two, and a short-clothesline is worth two. The challengers cut the ring in half on London, but I'm more impressed at how well their t-shirts are staying tucked into their jeans than anything else. They must have had them pinned from inside, because there's no way otherwise. London manages to fight off a double team to get the hot tag to Brian, and Kendrick hooks Deuce in a sunset backslide for two, but runs into a clothesline. The challengers go for the kill with an electric chair/flying clothesline combo, but Brian counters Deuce into a victory roll to retain at 8:08. I've seen worse. **

ECW World Title Match: Bobby Lashley v Mr. Kennedy: Kennedy jumps the gun on his entrance so that he can attack Lashley from behind in the aisle, but Bobby fights him off. I can hear Jesse Ventura in my head, ranting about how this could have easily been prevented, since the champion should never have come out first to begin with. Bobby beats Kennedy all the way into the ring, and a hanging vertical suplex gets the champion two. Torture rack, so Kennedy goes to the eyes to block, and he charges Lashley with a big boot for two. Kennedy with an inverted figure four, but Bobby escapes, so Kennedy works a leglock instead. This has been horribly boring this far. Kennedy keeps working the leg, and he uses that weak point to cut a couple of comeback attempts off. Kennedy with a DDT for two, and a rolling fireman's carry slam sets up the Kenton Bomb, but Lashley lifts his knees to block. Slugfest goes Bobby's way, and he manages an exploder suplex, followed by a backdrop for two. Torture rack drop gets two, but he telegraphs another backdrop, and takes a swinging neckbreaker for two. Kennedy swipes at the knee again, and a contrived ref bump allows him to bring a chair into play. He uses it, but Bobby gets hold of it, and of course gets disqualified when the referee wakes up and sees him swinging it at 15:26. They spent all that time building up Kennedy working the leg, only to have Lashley completely forget about it by the end, and then do a cheap DQ finish. ¾*

Main Event: Batista and Undertaker v John Cena and Shawn Michaels: Shawn doing the DX entrance by himself, in 2007, comes off like those old workers your see doing their classic routines in front of two hundred people at a local high school gym. Batista and Cena start, and Batista dominates a slugfest with a rolling fireman's carry slam, then delivers a jackhammer for two. Charge in the corner misses (they timed that one poorly), and Shawn gets the tag. He comes in with chops on Batista, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and the Animal clobbers him with a forearm smash for two. Tag to Undertaker, and he pounds Shawn with short-shoulderblocks, then drops a leg across the shoulder. Ropewalk forearm hits, and Undertaker keeps working the arm in the corner, then switches up to straight punching Michaels. He hits elbow on a cross corner charge, however, and Michaels tries a ten-punch - only to get shoved off, and drilled with a big boot for two. Back to Batista, and he keeps the hurt on HBK's arm. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Shawn dodges, and John gets the tag. He comes in slugging, but runs into a backelbow, and 'Taker tags. He drops Cena into the corner with a turnbuckle smash, and a running kneesmash gets two. Ropewalk forearm, but John manages to knock him to a sitting position on the top turnbuckle, then brings him down with a vertical superplex! Tag to Shawn, and Michaels is on 'Taker with the jumping forearm, but he ends up in a chokehold when looking for a follow-up. 'Taker press-drops him over the top to the floor, where Batista is waiting with a snake-eyes into the steps, and Shawn is in trouble! Inside, Undertaker covers for two, and they corner Shawn in their side of town for some double teaming. They cut the ring in half on Michaels, but he manages to catch Batista with a DDT, and there's the tag to John! Cena hustles in with the Throwback, and a flying rocker dropper follows, but Undertaker breaks up a pin attempt. Cena fights him off with a jumping shoulderblock and a clothesline over the top, then turns his attention back to Batista for the Five Knuckle Shuffle! FU, but 'Taker is back in with a big boot to stop it, so Shawn knocks him to the outside for a dive - only to get caught, and posted! Back in the ring, Batista bodyslams Cena, but the Batista Bomb is stopped when Michaels clips the Animal's leg! The referee manages to restore order, leaving Shawn in the ring putting the boots to Batista. Over to Cena with an elbowdrop for two, as they take a turn at cutting the ring in half on Batista. Cena slaps on the STFU, but Undertaker comes in illegally to break it up, so John bodyslams Batista ahead of tagging Michaels to punctuate it with a well executed flying elbowdrop. Superkick looks to finish, but Batista ducks, and catches Shawn with a swinging scrapbuster. Both men make tags, and Roseanne Barr the door! Shawn takes a snake-eyes and a big boot, and John eats a jumping shoulderblock. Undertaker places them in opposite corners so he can run back and forth with clotheslines, then gives John a chokeslam - only for Batista to turn on him with a spinebuster before they can finish! If you're gonna turn on your partner, why not get the win first there? Or else, why not do it before getting beat up for twenty minutes? Anyway, the betrayal allows Shawn to Superkick 'Taker into an FU from Cena, and we're done at 22:12. This started off really strong, though it lost a lot of steam once it settled into the two heat segments, and I wasn’t wild about that finish. Still, I wasn't expecting a whole lot going in, and it certainly exceeded my expectations, and delivered as a main event. ***

BUExperience: Pretty much a throwaway show on the road to WrestleMania, without anything particularly good or significant going down.

DUD