WWE No Way Out (February 2009)

 

Original Airdate: February 15, 2009

From Seattle, Washington; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler (RAW); Jim Ross and Tazz (Smackdown); Todd Grisham and Matt Striker (ECW)

Opening WWE Title Elimination Chamber Match: Edge v Triple H v Undertaker v Jeff Hardy v Big Show v Vladimir Kozlov: Edge and Hardy start, and Jeff blitzes him, but runs into a big boot coming out of the ropes. That gives Edge a two count, and he pounds on Hardy in the corner, while stopping to mock Big Show once in a while. Well, why not? Jeff fights him off and hits a seated dropkick, and it sounds like there's some crazy sound sweetening going on here. The crowd sounds like they're constantly roaring, but the body language doesn't match. Jeff with a Twist of Fate, but the Swanton Bomb misses. That allows Edge to try a spear, but Hardy counters with a cradle for the pin at 3:02! Well, that was unexpected. All the other workers laugh at Edge from inside their pods, and the champion is in shock as he's forced out of the chamber, realizing that his title reign is doomed, even if the next champion hasn't been crowned yet. Kozlov is next in, and he immediately takes Jeff into the corner for a pounding, then chucks him into the side of the cage. Fallaway slam gets him two, so he unloads headbutts, and hits another fallaway slam for two. Two minutes in, and it feels like he's already running out of moves. Backbreaker gets two, so Kozlov grounds him in a waistlock, but Hardy fights free, so Kozlov shoulderblocks him back down to cut off any comeback. Undertaker looks bored as fuck in his pod, and I can't blame him. Kozlov tries a running powerslam, but Jeff sends him into the corner to block, and hits a slingshot seated dropkick for two. Whisper in the Wind connects, as Show enters the match. I never thought I'd be so happy to see that guy come into a match, but Hardy/Kozlov one-on-one is not something I need to see any more of, thanks. Show pounds on Jeff to set up some trapping headbutts from Kozlov, and they take turns casually beating on Hardy while staring each other down. Nice to see Jeff has come full circle, back to being a jobber after reaching the world title. Finally Kozlov charges him to engage, and they slug it out. That was a really poor looking slugfest. Anyway, Show wins it, but misses a charge in the corner, and Kozlov pounds him until HHH enters the match. He comes in with a kneeling facebuster on Show, and a high knee on Kozlov, running wild. He tries to Pedigree Kozlov on the platform, but Show saves (why?), and beats HHH into the corner. Sidewalk slam gets Show two, but Hunter blocks the Chokeslam, so Show just press-slams him instead, as the crowd chants for Undertaker. I'm guessing because he's the last guy left, and his entrance means this is almost over. I'd chant for that two, shit. Show sends HHH into the cage, and then avalanches him against it, so Hardy tries to dive at him, but ends up getting sandwiched against HHH. Show then tries to avalanche them both, but ends up hitting the cage, and Jeff teams with Hunter for a tandem suplex on Kozlov. Jeff with a Whisper on HHH as Undertaker comes into the match, and he unloads on anything that moves. Undertaker dominates the field for a while, until Kozlov is able to attack, and he manages to pound him into the corner for a ten-punch. Uh oh. And, indeed, Last Ride kills him off at 23:00. Unfortunately for Undertaker, the celebrating is short lived, as Show grabs him for a Chokeslam right away. He backdrops HHH out onto the platform next, then chucks Jeff at him for good measure, as Ross goes into overkill mode. I love him as a commentator, and he gets actual passion over as well as anyone in history, but when he sounds forced, he's one of the worst. Jeff ends up on top of a pod, so Show follows, but Undertaker superplexes him off. That allows HHH to hit Show with a Pedigree, and Hardy dives off the pod with a Swanton on Show - HHH covering Show at 26:13. Jeff tries a Whisper on Undertaker, but misses, so HHH pounds 'Taker into the corner himself. That backfires when Undertaker turns the tables, and a cross corner whip sees Hunter flip out to the platform. That looked great. Undertaker stays on Hardy with a ropewalk forearm, but HHH shakes the ropes, and Undertaker gets crotched. Jeff capitalizes by springboarding off of Undertaker for a dive at HHH, but Undertaker recovers, and grabs Jeff with a Tombstone at 28:32. Undertaker pounds HHH into the corner, but misses a corner big boot, and HHH sends him into the cage. Hunter tries a dive, but lands in a chokeslam for two, so Undertaker delivers a snake-eyes, but the running big boot is countered with a spinebuster for two. Pedigree on the platform, but Undertaker counters with a catapult into the cage. Tombstone reversal sequence ends in Undertaker hitting it, but HHH gets a foot onto the bottom rope at two! Undertaker tries to stay on him, but HHH is ready with a Pedigree for two! Slugfest is won by Undertaker, but HHH reverses a cross corner whip. He follows in for a ten-punch, so of course Undertaker counters to the Last Ride, but Hunter is ready with his own counter to the Pedigree at 35:59. This got better towards the end, but they didn't need thirty six minutes to tell this story, and the first two-thirds were pretty dull. ** ¼

No Holds Barred Match: Randy Orton v Shane McMahon: Shane tries to pepper him with punches in the early going, but that only serves to piss Randy off, and he pounds McMahon into the corner. Shane hangs in, however, and manages to send Orton to the outside with another series of jabs, and this time runs into him with a baseball slide. Geez, how much baby oil did Randy put on tonight? His spill beat BP to the punch by over a full year! Shane grabs some weapons, but that allows Orton recovery time, and he takes control on the way into the ring. Randy with a side suplex, and maybe that wasn't crowd sweetening earlier, because they're not doing it now. So maybe the crowd really was that hot for Vladimir Kozlov? What a country! Randy works him over in dull fashion, until Shane manages to get his hands onto a kendo stick, and he fights him off. I like how the announcers are talking about how personal this is for Shane since Randy put hands on Vince McMahon... as if Shane hasn't had a bunch of very public wars with Vince himself. To the outside, Shane busts Randy open with a TV monitor (looked hardway there, ouch), and he sprawls Randy out on an announce table for a dive, but the Legacy show up to cut him off. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase pound on McMahon, but a miscommunication spot allows Shane to fight them off, and he hits Cody with the Coast to Coast. He turns his attention back to a still sprawled out Orton for the flying elbowdrop through the table, but of course Randy has recovered enough by now (it's been, like, five minutes), and McMahon ends up crashing through it himself. Orton with the rope-hung DDT for two on the way back in, so he sets up a table in the ring, and puts Shane through it with a vertical superplex for two. Randy puts the boots to him, and a kneedrop gets him two. Punt, but Shane manages to block with a spear, and he grabs a chair to tee off on Orton with. He destroys Randy's leg with the weapon, and you have to wonder where the Legacy is? I mean, yeah, Shane took them out earlier, but that was, like, ten minutes ago. Do they only have enough charge for one run-in per night? Earn your money, goons! McMahon goes for the kill, but Randy is ready with an RKO at 18:16. Another one that felt like it went on for too long. The bumps were good, it just felt like they took forever between moves, with lots of dead zones. * ¼

ECW Title Match: Jack Swagger v Finlay: Finlay's music is... something. I'll also never get over how much taller Swagger seemed to become just by jumping to AEW. Finlay takes him down for a half-crab right away, and he works the leg in the corner, but Jack fights him off with a shoulderbreaker for two. He cranks on a wristlock, but Finlay counters a slam with an inverted DDT across the knee for two. Finlay with a cradle for one, so Swagger pounds him into the corner for a superplex, but the challenger blocks. Finlay with a short-clothesline, and a 2^nd rope bodypress gets him two. Sit-down splash gets two, so Finlay tries a fireman's carry, but Jack blocks, and powers into a gutwrench powerbomb at 7:59. This was ugly. DUD

John Bradshaw Layfield v Shawn Michaels: If Shawn wins, he is released from his employment contract with JBL, but if Bradshaw wins, Shawn becomes a permanent employee. Layfield tries to bully him around at the bell, but Shawn gets all fired up, and sends John to the outside following a flurry of fists. Michaels follows for more abuse on the floor, and Orton's baby oil spill is still a hazard out there. Inside, Shawn hooks a backslide for two, but walks into a shoulderblock, and JBL delivers an elbowdrop for two. Bodyslam, but Shawn clips the knee to block, and he takes it to the mat with a figure four, but Layfield has the ropes. Shawn lets off and dives back on with a crippler crossface, but Bradshaw rolls into a cradle for two. Shawn responds with a chop into the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Michaels takes a bump over the top. Layfield brings him back in for a series of elbowdrops for two, and a short-clothesline gets two. Bradshaw unloads in the corner, and he works a bearhug, but Michaels escapes, and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Cross corner whip, but Layfield reverses, and Shawn flips around in the corner. JBL tries a superplex, but Shawn blocks, and dives with a flying elbowdrop - only for Layfield to dodge. Clothesline from Hell gets two, so Bradshaw gives him a second one, this time knocking Michaels to the outside. Layfield leaves him there to take the count, and Shawn does a great job timing his roll in, perfectly teasing the countout to nine. Layfield just chucks him right back over the top anyway, however, and this time follows to taunt Shawn's wife at ringside, but she decks him. That fires up Michaels for a comeback, and the jumping forearm leads to a Thesz-press into mounted punches. Bodyslam sets up a flying elbowdrop, and the Superkick puts it away at 13:20. These two had a great, engaging angle, but the match itself was a major disappointment. I mean, they under delivered big time here. I'm not really sure what happened, either, since Shawn was in good form during this period, and Bradshaw could generally be counted on to hang in with a good worker. The whole structure of the match felt wrong too, as Shawn should have been bumping all over the place for him, and instead Layfield is using elbowdrops and bearhugs and such. Apparently this was penciled in for WrestleMania at one point, but thankfully that didn't happen. *

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Elimination Chamber Match: John Cena v Chris Jericho v Kane v Rey Mysterio v Mike Knox v Edge: Edge is a last minute replacement for Kofi Kingston, who he attacked prior to the bout, before simply stealing his pod. I like it! Chris and Rey start, and they trade off. Rey gets control and goes for the 619 early, but Jericho bails to the platform to avoid it, so Rey just dives at him out there instead. Inside, Mysterio unloads a ten-punch, but a cross corner charge misses, and Rey wipes out into the post. Solid bump there. Jericho capitalizes with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and he grabs a crossface chickenwing, but Rey fights free. Chris responds by backdropping him out to the platform, but an attempt to catapult him into the cage results in Mysterio Spiderman'ing up the side, and diving at Chris with a flying headscissors. The one time his superhero gear would have been a perfect fit, and he's not wearing it! Rey with a springboard for two on the way back inside, and a wheelbarrow bulldog connects, just as Kane enters the match. He big boots Mysterio down, and stops to go yell at Edge, which seems stupid since he's not a threat at the moment. Remember earlier when Edge did the same to Big Show? How did that work out for him? Jericho uses the opportunity to attack, but Kane fights him off, and then nails Rey with a seated dropkick for two. Seeing a guy as big as Kane hit a seated dropkick on a guy as small as Rey is pretty neat. Rey fights Kane off in the corner and tries a double 619, but Kane counters to a chokeslam, so Rey uses a headscissors to set him back up for the 619 - hitting it this time. Not for Chris, however, and Jericho hits Kane with the Codebreaker. That ends in Rey diving off of a pod with a flying seated senton, and Kane is done at 9:36. Fun sequence there. Knox is next in to protect our monster quota, and he barrels into both guys with big boots, then avalanches Rey in the corner. Kneedrop on Jericho gets two, and Knox dominates the field for a while, until Chris manages to rush him with a Codebreaker at 14:41. That was a really dull segment. Edge is next in, but Rey is so pissed at him that he doesn't even let him get out of the pod before attacking! Rey with a springboard flying bodypress, but a criss cross ends in Jericho sneaking over to clothesline Mysterio. Chris adds a side suplex on Rey, and a cross corner whip on Edge sets up the one-handed bulldog. Lionsault on Mysterio, but Rey lifts the knees to block, and Edge hits Jericho with the Edge-o-Matic for two. Spear for Rey, but he manages to sidestep it. 619, but Chris cuts it off by spearing Mysterio, and they end up doing a tower of doom spot out of the corner. Cena is last in, and he runs wild. Belly-to-belly suplex for Edge. Fisherman's suplex for Jericho. One-handed bulldog for Edge, and he adds a side suplex to set up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Jericho sneaks up with a Codebreaker to prevent the FU on Edge! That allows Rey to hit John with the 619, and Edge spears him for the quick elimination at 22:19! Well, I didn't see THAT one coming. Good shock booking there, as normally they'd put Cena in earlier if he wasn't going to the end. They're two for two with that tonight, and both involved Edge! Rey sets up a double 619, but only manages to hit Jericho. He tries the springboard follow-up, but Chris counters into the Walls - only for Rey to counter back with a victory cradle at 23:51! Another good sequence there, and the crowd is hot! Edge tries the spear to put it away quick, but Mysterio dodges, and cradles for two. Springboard bodypress gets two, and a reversal sequence ends in Rey hitting a roundhouse kick for two. Springboard moonsault press, but Edge catches him, so Mysterio turns it into a tornado DDT for two. Rey goes up, but Edge knocks him off to the platform. He goes for a powerbomb out there, but Mysterio counters with a facebuster, and he hits an inverted 619. Rey tries a charge, but Edge violently alley-oops him into a pod to block, and the spear puts it away at 29:45! It was obvious Edge was winning as soon as he was allowed to participate, but it was still a great ride getting there. The Knox portion was complete death, but I liked it better than the opener, especially after Edge entered the match. ***

BUExperience: With the twists and turns this was probably a fairly fun show to watch in the moment, and it’s not an unwatchable one now, but nothing on here really connects a decade later, and the quality of the matches isn’t there either.

DUD