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No Way Out reaction, analysis and where WWE is headed next. Plus How did Kimbo Slice fair in his fight against Tank Abbott? and a whole lot more!

WWE No Way Out PPV Results/Analysis
Sunday February 17th, 2008
Live from Las Vegas, NV

by Gary Cantrell

I will say that I am pleasantly surprised by the way this show has turned out. In the midst of bland and boring shows that we had been subject to in 2007, like the Rumble this show has been a breath of fresh air. This show was stacked with 2 Elimination Chamber matches which delivered and were booked very well. Lets run through the matches...

Match 1:

ECW Championship - Chavo Guerrero vs. CM Punk

This was probably the only match that I was slightly dissapointed with. I don't think it was a very strong opener and I still don't like the ECW title being thrown out there as a first match. Chavo picks up the win in about 8 minutes. Surprisingly Chavo was being cheered by some of the fans, but that could have been because CM Punk got booed by the fans for mocking one of Chavo's dances. I don't have a big problem with Chavo retaining, he's still fresh as a champion and they should continue to work with him.

Match 2:

Smackdown Elimination Chamber for World Heavyweight Championship title shot at Wrestlemania XXIV - The Undertaker vs. Batista vs. MVP vs. The Great Khali vs. Big Daddy V vs. Finlay

We started off with The Undertaker and Batista. Anytime you have these 2 in the ring its always going to be a good fight as The Undertaker brings out the best in Batista (which isn't easy to do). At the 5 minute mark, Big Daddy V entereded the ring and attacked Batista. He proceeded to dominate for a while followed by the Babyface comeback by The Undertaker and Batista. Batista eliminates Big Daddy V. The Great Khali is the next guy in to try and dominate. He controls the match momentarily before being placed into the Triangle choke by The Undertaker. This is definietly the MMA influence coming out of him, and its a fine suit for him as its something new to his repitore. The Great Khali taps out shortly thereafter. Batista and The Undertaker return to action against each other for a few short minutes before Finlay entered. He got himself some nice offense before having his share of a beating from both The Undertaker and Batista.

MVP joined the match at the 20 minute mark and was greeted by the deadman with a vicious attack that left him on the ground inside of his pod. The other 3 guys continued the action and MVP made his way back up and proceeded to take his chain off and beat each of the 3 guys up with it. MVP made his way back to The Undertaker and was chased up to the top of the pod and choked him off of the cage. MVP crashed to the mat and was covered by Finlay. We were treated to our favorite little friend Hornswaggle who passed the Shillelagh to Finlay. Finlay busted Batista over the head with it and then went for The Undertaker. He tries to smash the Shillelagh over his head and gets a chokeslam followed by a pin for his troubles. We're back to The Undertaker and Batista. Fans are undoubtely behind The Undertaker as they cheer every punch he throws meanwhile booing Batista's every punch. More brawling followed by Batista getting caught with a tombstone and being pinned. Clearly the right finish. The Undertaker and Edge should have a fantastic showing at Wrestlemania.

Match 3:

Career Threatening Match - Ric Flair vs Ken Kennedy

This match was pretty short and had a surprisingly clean finish with Ric Flair picking up the win. I was surprised to see that in the sense that WWE will go out of their way to protect both men from a booking standpoint. The match overall was pretty decent and ended nicely with a Figure Four. It will be interesting to see whom they place in Flair's way next headed to Mania.

Match 4:

World Heavyweight Championship - Edge Vs. Rey Mysterio

Another short match, but not too shocking considering they had 2 Chamber matches on the show. It really played up on Rey being the underdog, and probably had alot to do with Rey's injury while overseas. The ending resembled the Rumble encounter between these two as Edge catches Rey in midair for a spear followed by a pin for the win in 7 minutes. It was fine for what it was, and made complete booking sense. I'm interested to see how they build up the Edge/Taker match for Mania.

As Mysterio tries to make his way up to leave ringside, The Big Show's music plays to everyone's surprise. Wow, Paul looks very good as he's lost over a hundred pounds. Good for him. He comes out with smiles and says "Guess whos back", he goes on to say how great it feels to be back in the WWE. He said that he lost over a hundred pounds, and is ready to be a champion again. His facial expressions show his frustration with Rey on the outside, almost in a "Are you trying to steal my thunder" type way. He charges out to the ring and grabs Rey by the neck and throws him in the ring.

With his hands wrapped around his neck firmly he looks to Floyd Mayweather (WBC Welterweight Champion, who was seen on camera greeting Mysterio earlier on in the show) who was sitting in the front row. He asked Mayweather if he wanted to do something about it. Mayweather was being held back by his entourage. Show lifted up Mysterio and Mayweather charged to the ring. Show dropped Mysterio and Mayweather got up closer before being held back. Show pushed back Mayweather and then in heelish like fashion got on his knees practically begging to be hit. Mayweather threw about 3 thunderous shots to Show's face busting him open. Mayweather and his entourage charged out of the ring and over the barricade. Show chased after and was stopped by Shane McMahon who kept asking him what he was thinking. The two made their way up the stage and left.

This could be HUGE! Its one of the hotshot angles that WWE needs, and is shaping up to be very compelling. Mayweather will undoubtedly bring media attention and possibly huge PPV buys like his match against De La Hoya did. (approx. 2.4 million)

Match 5:

WWE Championship - Randy Orton vs. John Cena

Despite what some will say about either man, Cena and Orton have a great chemistry in the ring and it showed in this particular match up. The crowd was very split as the Men cheered on Orton and the Women/Children screamed loudly for their guy Cena. Lots of the "Lets Go Orton/Lets Go Cena" chants. Even some "Cena Sucks" chants broke out. I'm surprised WWE didn't edit those out of the broadcast. These two put forth a decent effort in front of the hot split crowd. Orton had 2 great heel showings here, first on the outside of the ring as he played to his knee telling the ref that he was injured and asked to be counted out. Cena came over and was attacked by Orton. The second great heel part came as Orton slapped the ref out of nowhere to get himself DQ'ed. I liked this cheap finish more than others seeing as how it came out of nowhere. I felt that it was executed well and it was a good way for Orton to grab more heat.

As I stated above though, I'm very surprised by Cena's DQ win. I would imagine they will somehow pencil him in for Mania. He does have a movie shoot coming up soon so they may not wanna put him in a huge program, but I would think that they aren't going to waste him either. It will be interesting to see what they do.

Match 6:

RAW Elimination Chamber for WWE Championship shot at Wrestlemania XXIV - Triple H vs. Chris Jericho vs. Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy vs. John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Shawn Michaels

The match opened up with Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels, which was a nice way to start things off. The two put on a good showing before Umaga was released into the ring. Similar to the Smackdown Match, the babyfaces are put into jeopardy and were met with a double samoan drop. The move was incredible and even got a bit of a pop from the crowd. After a few moments Jericho made his way up and put Umaga in the Walls of Jericho. Shawn Michaels added a crossface on Umaga for good measure. Midway through the hold, JBL made his way into the ring and went right after Jericho. Meanwhile Umaga and Shawn were going at it with Shawn getting busted open.

Hunter entered next and went right for Umaga and JBL. He then went for Jericho but was met with a Clothesline from Hell by JBL. Jericho capitalized on JBL by nailing a codebreaker and pinned JBL. JBL very upset by his elimination left the chamber but wasnt done yet as he re-entered the chamber with a round of chairshots for the combatants. Guess we gotta get the obligatory unprotected chairshots to the head somewhere in the show.. Way to go WWE!

Hardy who received many chants before even entering the ring, made his way as the final entrant. He took his shots on each guy left. Umaga and Jericho went at it which saw both men go through the glass in one of the pods. Umaga tried to nail Jericho again but was met with a Superkick from Michaels, a Codebreaker from Jericho, a Pedigree from Hunter, and a Swanton from Hardy followed by a pin to get eliminated. We're down to Hardy, Jericho, Michaels, and Hunter. Its about 10:50 est at this time and its clear that the show is running behind and they must rush things and get to the finish.

Jericho gets caught with a Superkick by Michaels and gets eliminated. Hunter catches Michaels with a Pedigree and Michaels is eliminated and we are now down to two.. Hunter and Hardy. The crowd is firmly behind Jeff as he shows some heavy aggression (something we haven't seen from him) and busts Hunter open. Hardy goes to the top of a pod, leaps off and misses. Hunter throws him back in the ring and sets up a Pedigree which is reversed by Hardy who drops Hunter and goes for the Swanton. He misses and is caught in the Pedigree mid ring. Hardy kicks out much to the surprise of everyone. Hunter frustrated by now goes for a chair and lays it down in the ring. Hes trying to set Hardy up and gets hit by a low blow and Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate. Hunter reverses and nails the Pedigree to Hardy on top of the chair and pins Hardy for the win in about 25 minutes.

What an ending! Booked very strongly and executed very very well. You gotta wonder though when WWE is going to wake up and smell the coffee with Hardy. He was way more over than Triple H in this match, but thats just how it goes when your in bed with the bosses daughter. We'll just have to wait and see where they will go from here.

Overall, very solid show. 8 out of a 10 without question. It definitely delivered on almost every level. I take 2 points away, 1 for the opener and 1 for Jeff's loss. You gotta wonder how long he will be overlooked. The two Chamber matches were booked extremely well and the Show/Mayweather angle is shaping up to be HUGE!

Quick Results:

Chavo def. CM Punk
The Undertaker wins Smackdown Chamber
Flair def. Kennedy by Submission
Edge def. Mysterio
Cena by DQ over Orton
Triple H wins RAW Chamber

A look at how WrestleMania XXIV is shaping up based on Tonight's results:

The Undertaker vs. Edge (World Heavyweight Championship)
Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather (Possible Boxing Match?)
Randy Orton vs. Triple H (WWE Championship)

Valentines Day edition of The Shoot! We'll recap Against All Odds and preview the No Way Out PPV as well as all the news, plus a whole lot more!

ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness stops by to chat, RAW analysis and more.

Royal Rumble aftermath featuring the return of John Cena. Early No Way Out preview as well as UFC 81 preview featuring Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir