WWE No Way Out (February 2008)

Original Airdate: February 17, 2008

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (RAW), Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman (Smackdown), Joey Styles and Tazz (ECW)

Opening ECW Title Match: Chavo Guerrero v CM Punk: Chavo with the ECW belt looks more 'right' than most of the champions under the WWE revival. Probably because he looks the most like the guys who actually held the belt in the original ECW. Guerrero tries slapping him across the chops at the bell, which earns him a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Punk tries going up, but gets knocked to the floor instead, and Chavo levels him with a European uppercut for two. Somersault senton splash gets two, and a saito suplex leads to Guerrero grounding him in a bodyscissors. Punk escapes and hits a catapult into the corner, and a powerslam gets him two. GTS, but Chavo counters with a rana, and delivers a tornado DDT for two. Punk fires back with an enzuigiri for two, and he taunts the champion by using a rolling vertical suplex on him. Bulldog follows for two, but Chavo blocks the GTS again, so Punk dumps him to the outside. Back in, Punk tries a rana off the top, but Chavo blocks, and hits a flying frogsplash to retain at 7:16. Yeah, so when does this Punk guy start getting good? Because, I've gotta be honest, I'm not getting the hype so far. **

#1 Contender's Elimination Chamber Match: Montel Vontavious Porter v Undertaker v Batista v Great Khali v Finlay v Big Daddy V: Winner gets a World Heavyweight title match at WrestleMania. The entrances for these things take forever. Undertaker and Batista start, and immediately get to slugging it out. Batista gets the better of it in the corner, but gets thrown over the top onto the platform, where Undertaker uses the cage to abuse him. Back in, Batista fires off a clothesline for two, but Undertaker shoots back with a big boot, and chokes him in the corner. 'Taker stomping down guys in the corner is a good thing to fall asleep to. Batista slugs his way into hitting a backelbow for two, but both guys throw a big boot at the same time during a criss cross, and both are left down as Big Daddy V enters the match. Dude is truly offensive to look at. I seriously feel like I need a support group to deal with the trauma. He knocks both guys around, and a casual headbutt knocks Undertaker out to the floor through the chamber wall. I'm going to assume that someone forgot to secure something there, because if that was an actual planned spot, it would rank as one of the worst in history. Luckily, 'Taker doesn't break his neck going down the steps. At least this time nearly killing Undertaker wouldn't have been Big Daddy's fault for once. I'd hate to see that mask from '95 make a comeback. Anyway, Batista DDT's Daddy on the platform at 9:08, before the WWE's insurance premiums skyrocket. He covers 'Taker as well, but only gets two, as Khali enters. Khali chokeslams 'Taker for two, and Batista gets one as well, for two. He grabs Batista in a headvice, but a mulekick breaks, and Batista spears him. 'Taker then puts Khali in Hell's Gate, and he's done at 12:36. Hey, the right two guys went out first. With Khali done, Undertaker turns back to Batista, hammering on him against the cage for two. In my memory failing me, or were pinfalls on the platform not allowed in earlier versions of this match? Finlay is next in, but gets destroyed by Undertaker. He manages to dodge a corner big boot to buy enough time for the Celtic Cross, but it only gets two, and Batista catapults Finlay into the chamber wall. Undertaker and Batista knock each other out, allowing Finlay to recover, and he tosses 'Taker over the top onto the platform, then rams him into the cage out there for two. Finlay rams him through one of the pods, in a planned spot that also looked terrible. Remember when putting someone through one of those required actual force? 'Taker barely touched it! Batista punishes Finlay with a muscle buster for two, as the buzzer goes to bring MVP into the match. Undertaker waits right at his pod, however, and beats Porter down inside of it before he can even get out! Unfortunately for 'Taker, he gets attacked by Batista, and the still fresh MVP takes everyone down. He chokes Finlay with his necklace, and uses it as knux to beat Undertaker bloody with for two. Montel keeps hammering, but 'Taker won't quit coming, and MVP wisely tries to run away. Of course, they're in a chamber, so his options are limited. He climbs onto a pod, but 'Taker chokeslams him off, and Finlay scores a pinfall off of it at 22:31. Undertaker tries diving at Finlay with a flying elbowdrop, but misses, allowing Hornswoggle to pop up in a small crevice between the ring and the platform to mass Finlay the whappin' stick! He manages to bust Batista open with it, but 'Taker chokeslams him on the platform, and Finlay's finished at 24:13. Anyone watching this not guess that Undertaker/Batista would be the last two? Still the right call, predictable or not. Both guys slug it out, won by the Animal with a powerbomb for two. He makes the dumb mistake of trying a ten-punch, and takes the Last Ride, since of course. How many times has that happened not only to everyone else, but to Batista himself? I'm all about persistence, but give it up, man! And, as usual, any Undertaker match featuring that spot past 2001 automatically suffers a point deduction. Tombstone, but Batista tosses him over the top to block, and rams 'Taker into the cage out there. Again, but this time 'Taker back flips over the top rope while being held by Batista, and carries him over with him for the Tombstone at 29:28! That was one hell of a move! I'd say that even earns back all the points the stupid Last Ride spot lost it! **

Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair v Mr. Kennedy: Kennedy tries taunting him to start, but quickly pays the price. They feel each other out, with Ric throwing those chops like there's no tomorrow, but Kennedy dropkicks his taped up knee to take control. He puts Ric in a half-crab, but Flair makes the ropes, so Kennedy starts bashing the leg into the apron and post. Ring post figure four follows (and a shitty looking one at that), then a standard figure four, but Ric makes the ropes. Kennedy responds with rolling fireman's carry slam for two, but Ric blocks a second one by clipping the leg. Figure Four, but Kennedy shoves him into the corner to block, and tries a leveraged schoolboy, but gets caught by the referee at two. That allows Flair a kneebreaker, but the Figure Four is countered with a small package for two. Third try is the charm for Ric, however, and Kennedy taps at 7:14. Paint by numbers stuff, but Ric looked like he was falling apart physically, so that wasn't really surprising. *

World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge v Rey Mysterio: Rey avoids getting cornered, and hits a headscissors, then shoves Edge into the corner for a ten-punch. Edge responds by blasting the little dude with a big boot, and Mysterio wisely bails to regroup. The crowd is booing the shit out of Rey here, which is odd. Edge nails him with a baseball slide, then tosses him into the steps. That's inconsiderate. Dude clearly wanted his space. Back in, Edge wrenches the shoulder, but misses a baseball slide while Rey is in a tree of woe, and the champion crotches himself on the post. That allows Mysterio a flying moonsault press for two, and a tornado DDT is worth two. 619 hits, but Rey aggravates his shoulder in the process, and gets speared at 5:28. This was really short and underwhelming. Afterwards, Big Show comes out to smack Rey around, which draws Floyd Mayweather Jr out of the crowd to save his fellow short stuff. That leads to a crazy altercation between them, with Mayweather popping him in the jaw, and Show chasing him through the crowd. * 1/4

WWE Title Match: Randy Orton v John Cena: Cena is supposed to get a shot at WrestleMania (since he won the Rumble), but asked to have the match here instead, and got it. Cena hooks an inside cradle for two out of the initial lockup, which is something you don't see too often in modern matches. He then uses a waistlock to take Orton down for two, so Randy resorts to slugging his challenger down, and stomping. Hey, whatever works. Corner whip gets reversed, allowing Cena a one-handed bulldog for two, and a backelbow sets up an elbowdrop for two. Orton goes back to punching him to turn the tide, but gloats, and gets schoolboyed for two. Randy cuts him off with a clothesline for two, and uses John-boy as a punching bag, until Cena falls out of the ring like Jack Dempsey. John manages to snap his throat across the top rope, however, and he dives back in with a flying rocker dropper for two. 3-point stance hits an elbow, and Orton starts unloading with rights again, then chokes the challenger down. Cena tries fighting back with the FU, but Orton uses an uppercut to block, and starts garvin stomping. Hearing the announcers refer to it as 'getting FU'd on' is funny. Randy misses a kneedrop, but John blows his shot at a comeback by missing an avalanche, and Orton grinds on a headlock. Cena escapes, and has better luck with another comeback attempt, delivering the Five Knuckle Shuffle this time. FU, but Orton slips free, and bails. John chases him onto the ramp for a slugfest, but that's literally Randy's favorite thing tonight, and Cena can't get control. Both guys back off in order to beat the count back in, then get right back to slugging it out in the comfort of the ring! Orton wins with an inverted headlock backbreaker for two, but a superplex gets blocked, and John goes flying with another rocker dropper - only to miss this time. That allows Randy to set up the RKO, but Cena counters into the STFU! He has is locked on, but Randy gets the ropes to break, and he bails to buy time. He begs the referee to count him out (pretending he's too hurt to continue), but Cena isn't falling for it - allowing Orton to trap him in an RKO on the floor when John advances on him. Randy quickly rolls back in, and Cena is nearly counted out, but narrowly beats it. Great dramatic spot there. Orton is shocked, so he decides to slap the referee to force a DQ rather than deal with Cena, and that's that at 15:49. Cheap finish aside, I actually liked this a lot more than their usual matches. This one was actually engaging, and had interesting psychology, with Randy getting increasingly desperate to save the title in any way he could. *** ¼

Main Event: #1 Contender's Elimination Chamber Match: Jeff Hardy v Triple H v Shawn Michaels v Chris Jericho v Umaga v John Bradshaw Layfield: Winner gets a WWE Title match at WrestleMania. Shawn and Chris start, and it's a chopfest almost right away. Shawn gets the better of it, but a pinfall reversal sequence ends in a stalemate. Jericho with a bridging northern lights suplex to trigger a second pinfall reversal sequence, this one won by Jericho with a clothesline. He adds a backbreaker, but runs into a jumping forearm, and Shawn bodyslams him to set up a flying elbowdrop - only to hit knees! Cool timing on that one. That allows Jericho a one-handed bulldog, but Michaels blocks the Walls, and tries a sharpshooter - only to have Jericho counter with a small package for two. Elbowdrop gets two, but a criss cross ends in both men looking up at the lights when they simultaneously try bodypresses, and Umaga enters the match to kill the fun. He tosses both guys around, and delivers a double Samoan drop! Umaga continues to dominate, but he misses a 2^nd rope flying headbutt on Jericho, allowing Michaels to dive at him with a flying elbowdrop! Chris then slaps the Walls on Umaga, with Shawn wrenching a crippler crossface at the same time, but Umaga won't tap. They keep him in the hold until Bradshaw enters the match, and he stupidly lets his personal beef with Jericho get in the way of finishing Umaga off. A self made millionaire would know better. JBL goes to work on Jericho, but eats a tornado DDT for two while trying a superplex, while a recovered Umaga destroys Michaels out on the platform - Shawn a bloody mess. HHH is next in, and he immediately saves Shawn from Umaga. Spinebusters and kneeling facebusters get passed around, and Bradshaw eats a DDT for two. He throws Umaga into one of the pods, but the distraction allows Jericho to bulldog him, and Bradshaw to hit the Clothesline from Wall Street. Unfortunately for JBL, Jericho then drills him with the Codebreaker, and he's done at 13:44. Unfortunately for Chris, Bradshaw is a sore loser, and he comes back in with a chair, destroying everyone. Well, everyone except Hardy, who is still safely in his pod. Everyone is still down as Jeff enters the match, and he capitalizes with stuff on everyone. He eats a superkick from Umaga though, and now it's Umaga's turn to go to town on everyone. Cool spot, as Umaga puts HHH in a tree of woe, and whips Michaels into him - with Shawn flipping over the buckles/Hunter upon impact. Umaga then puts Jericho through a pod, since these matches apparently have a quota for those spots that must be met. Umaga keeps going wild, so everyone gangs up on him, all hitting signature moves to set up a Swanton Bomb from Hardy off of a pod, and Jericho covers to send Umaga home at 19:44. Unfortunately for Chris, he stands up right into a Superkick from HBK, and Hardy pins him at 19:53. Jeff hits Shawn with the Twist of Fate, but HHH tosses Hardy onto the platform, and Pedigree's Michaels himself at 20:24. Jeff comes right at him, but gets tossed onto the platform again, and this time HHH follows to ram him into the cage, but gets reversed! Hardy capitalizes with a DDT on the platform, and he tosses HHH into the cage several times, then backdrops him back in. Swanton Bomb, but HHH moves, and delivers the Pedigree for two! This crowd is ready to see Jeff pull it off again tonight! HHH has other plans, however, and a Pedigree onto a chair finishes at 23:54. Fun stuff, with lots going on, and everyone working hard. Much better than the earlier Chamber match. *** ¼

BUExperience: Hey, not bad! Two strong matches on top, a fun angle with Show/Mayweather, and no stinkers make this worth checking out, but it’s not an especially enthusiastic recommendation, or anything.


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