WWE No Way Out (June 2012)

 

Original Airdate: June 17, 2012

From East Rutherford, New Jersey; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler

Opening World Heavyweight Title Match: Sheamus v Dolph Ziggler: Sheamus knocks him around early on, and a slingshot shoulderblock gets the champion two. He knocks Dolph to the apron for a smash into the post, but Ziggler reverses, and uses a jumping DDT for two on the way back into the ring. Ziggler works a lengthy chinlock from there, and a rocker dropper gets him two. Sheamus goes up top, but Dolph brings him down with a sitout facebuster for two, but Sheamus makes a comeback. The Brogue kick connects, and the champ retains at 15:08. I couldn’t make a connection with the material. *

Tuxedo Match: Santino Marella v Ricardo Rodriguez: Speaking of material I have no connection with. Nothing to this, as Santino just dominates, and strips a win at 4:24. DUD

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Christian v Cody Rhodes: Christian dominates with speed early on, and he puts Cody on the outside for a baseball slide. He tries a plancha, but Cody dodges, and Christian ends up eating the floor. Cody snaps his arm across the top rope for two on the way back in, and the challenger works the part. Christian tries crotching him on the post to come back, but Cody sends him into the steel instead, and the challenger keeps control with a short-knee, and a release gourdbuster for two. Christian manages a drop-toehold across the middle rope, and he snaps Cody’s neck across the top ahead of a flying bodypress, but Rhodes rolls through for two. Christian tries a springboard, but Cody blocks, only to get caught with a rana off the top for two. Rhodes snaps the arm for two, and that allows him a whiplash for two. Christian comes back with an inverted DDT, but Cody bails before the champ can finish him. Back in, Christian tries a sunset flip, but Cody counters with a cradle for two. Christian drops him with a killswitch for two, but a flying frogsplash hits the knees. That allows Rhodes a springboard roundhouse kick, but Christian ducks. That triggers a reversal sequence, ending in Christian sticking a spear for three at 11:31. As usual in this period, Christian delivers. ** ½ 

#1 Contender's Fatal Four-Way Match: The Usos v Primo and Epico v Titus O'Neil and Darren Young v Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel: First fall wins this one. Full disclosure, I hate this match style, I don’t really care about anyone in this, and the stakes are really low, so don’t expect a lot as far as play-by-play goes. And, on that note, Young hits Primo with a gutbuster at 9:28. ½*

WWE Divas Title Match: Layla v Beth Phoenix: Beth knocks her around to start, and Layla just kind of takes it, as the announcers talk about random topics from 2004. Layla steals her headband and mocks the challenger, leading to a chase, and ending in Layla delivering a facebuster. Layla with a seated dropkick for two, but Beth nails her, and holds a backbreaker submission. Layla escapes, so Beth tries grabbing her arms, but Layla kicks off the ropes for two. An Oklahoma roll gets another two, and Layla uses a springboard bodypress for two. Beth wins a criss cross with a tilt-a-whirl front-powerslam for two, but a press-slam gets countered into a DDT for two. She adds a neckbreaker from there, and that’s enough at 6:51. ¾*

Sin Cara v Hunico: The match is presented with a yellow light, for whatever reason. Hunico manages a dropkick early on, and he grabs a hammerlock, but Sin dumps him to the outside. Tope, but Hunico blocks, and uses a slingshot somersault senton for two on the way back in. Into the corner for chops, and Hunico uses a slingshot seated dropkick for two. Chinlock goes nowhere, so he tries a gory special, but Cara escapes. Hunico responds with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, and it’s back to the chinlock. Sin escapes, so Hunico slams him for two, and goes back to the hold again. Hunico with a sitout powerbomb for two, but Cara comes back with a headscissors, then a flying version. Cara with a series of strikes, and another headscissors puts it away at 5:47. They were trying, but this fell flat. It’s never a good sign when the match is under six minutes long, but feels like it was over ten. *

WWE Title Triple Threat Match: CM Punk v Kane v Daniel Bryan: First fall wins it. Punk is over really big here. Kane uses his size to try and dominate early on, but the other two block a double chokeslam, and team up to beat Kane down with kicks. Things break down as they can’t decide who gets to make the cover off of it, and we get a slugfest, won by Punk. He backdrops Daniel over the top, but Kane nails Punk before he can add a tope. That gives Kane two, but Bryan recovers, and dumps Kane to the outside for a tope of his own. Punk then dives onto both with a double flying bodypress, and he rolls Bryan in to cover for two. Punk grounds him in a chinlock from there, but Daniel escapes, and everyone ends up on the outside again - Kane blocking dives to take control. Kane uses the post to work Punk’s ribs, and a baseball slide connects for two. Kane with a seated dropkick for two, but Punk escapes a bodyscissors - only to get hit with a running corner dropkick from a recovering Bryan. Bryan charges Kane next, but gets caught in a sidewalk slam for two. Daniel doesn’t slow down, however, and keeps sticking and moving until he manages to dump Kane to the outside. Punk comes at Daniel with chops, but Bryan throws a knee, and adds a series of four kneedrops for one. Bryan with a nice snap butterfly suplex, but a trip to the top ends in Punk blocking. He tries a superplex, but Kane is back, and prevents it. Punk and Kane slug it out, but Bryan dives with a double flying dropkick, getting a two count on Kane. Daniel hits both guys with the Yes kicks, but the big one on Punk gets countered with a schoolboy for two. Punk makes a comeback on Daniel, and a swinging neckbreaker on Kane gets the champion two. A powerslam on Daniel gets two, and a flying clothesline gets another two. Punk bodyslams Bryan to set up a flying elbowdrop for two, but Kane is back to block the GTS with a big boot on Punk for two. Kane with a corner clothesline, but a backdrop over the top lands Punk on the apron, and the champ dives with a flying elbowdrop, but Kane dodges. That allows Bryan to get to the top with a flying headbutt drop on Punk for two, and he gets the LeBell lock on, but Punk manages a cradle for two. GTS connects, but Kane pulls Bryan out of the ring so no cover can be made. That allows Kane a flying clothesline on the champion, but Punk counters a chokeslam with a DDT for two. Punk lands a flying elbowdrop for two, but Kane blocks the GTS, and throws a big boot. That allows him to deliver the chokeslam for two, but Punk blocks the tombstone by shoving Kane into AJ Lee, who is randomly on the apron. I guess to try and buy time for Bryan? We never find out, as Punk delivers the GTS on Kane at 18:13. Good match here, with lots of action, but coupled with actual logic and psychology. ***

Handicap Match: Ryback v Rob Grymes and Dan Delaney: Still doing the pay per view squashes for Ryback, I see. Ryback at 1:29. A squash, but an energetic one, at least. ¼*

Main Event: Cage Match: John Cena v Big Show: Show knocks him around early on, and does a really plodding job of doing so. After three minutes of Show doing nothing but clubbering, Cena throws a dropkick, and dashes for the door, but Show cuts him off. More slow pounding, as the crowd sits silently. After another four minutes of that, Cena finally lands something, and tries climbing out, but Show cuts him off. Show ends up crotched on the top rope, allowing Cena a jumping shoulderblock to knock the big man into the cage. That doesn’t last, however, as Show just clobbers him again, and goes back to plodding. A flying elbowdrop misses, and they fight for an escape through the door, but no one gets it. Cena with a jumping shoulderblock for two, but Show fires back with a chokeslam for two. Show seems to have an escape at hand, though, so a bunch of guys run out to block his path. Kofi Kingston ends up knocking Show off the top rope and back to the mat, and Cena climbs out at 19:21. The fact that it drew a massive pop is actually shocking to me, I figured everyone would be asleep. DUD

BUExperience: The triple threat match was good. The rest? Vaffanculo

DUD