No Way Out (2008)

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No Way Out (2008)
Details
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand (s)	RAW SmackDown! ECW
Date	February 17, 2008
Venue	Thomas & Mack Center[1]
City	Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance	15,120[2]
Pay-per-view chronology
Royal Rumble (2008)	No Way Out (2008)	WrestleMania XXIV
No Way Out chronology
No Way Out (2007)	No Way Out (2008)	TBD

No Way Out (2008) was the ninth annual No Way Out professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on February 17, 2008 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[1][3] The official theme song was "Fake It" by Seether.^[4]

The event was a joint-promotion pay-per-view, featuring performers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands.

The main event and main match on the Raw brand was an Elimination Chamber match between Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Umaga, Jeff Hardy and John 'Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. Triple H won the match by pinning Hardy last after executing a Pedigree onto a steel chair.^[5] The predominant match on the SmackDown brand was for the World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and Rey Mysterio. Edge won the match by pinfall after spearing Mysterio in mid-air.^[6] The primary match on the ECW brand was Chavo Guerrero versus CM Punk for the ECW Championship, which Guerrero won after performing a Frog splash. The main matches on the undercard included Randy Orton versus John Cena for the WWE Championship and an Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.^[7][8]

Contents 1 Report 1.1 Background 1.2 Event 1.3 Aftermath 2 Results 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Report

[edit] Background

Heading into the event, the main feud on the RAW brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. At January's Royal Rumble match, Cena made a surprise return to to as he went onto win the Royal Rumble match entering as the thirtieth participant to earn a title shot at WrestleMania XXIV.^[9][10] The following night on Raw, instead of waiting until WrestleMania, Cena cashed in his title shot against Orton for the WWE Championship at No Way Out.^[11]

The main feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Rey Mysterio and Edge over the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won a Beat the Clock Challenge on the January 4 edition of SmackDown!, defeating Edge with 90 seconds to go, to earn a title shot at Royal Rumble.^[12] Edge retained the title after his (kayfabe) lover, SmackDown! General Manager Vickie Guerrero, interfered by receiving an attack for Edge by Mysterio. This distracted Mysterio and allowed Edge to capitalize, and retain his title.^[13] On the February 1 edition of SmackDown!, Theodore Long, who was acting as the General Manager because of the "injured" Guerrero, assigned a rematch between the two at No Way Out.^[14] Mysterio was injured at a live event overseas on February 17, but still chose to compete in his match.^[15]

The main feud on the ECW brand was between CM Punk and Chavo Guerrero for Guerrero's ECW Championship. On the January 22 edition of ECW, Guerrero defeated Punk to win the title with the help of Edge.^[16] The following week on ECW, while Guerrero was celebrating his victory, Punk, dressed as a mexican guitarist, hit Guerrero with his guitar.^[17] On the February 5 edition of ECW, Punk demanded a rematch against Guerrero for the title. Guerrero accepted the challenge for No Way Out. On the same night, ECW General Manager Armando Estrada arranged the first ever Gulf of Mexico match, in which Punk defeated Guerrero.^[18]

Other matches on the RAW brand included an Elimination Chamber match, where the winner would receive a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania,^[19] and a "Career Threatening" match between Mr. Kennedy and Ric Flair, where Flair would be forced to retire from wrestling should he lose.^[20] The other match on the SmackDown! brand was another Elimination Chamber match, where the winner will receive a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania.^[21]

[edit] Event

Before the event aired on pay-per-view, Kane defeated Shelton Benjamin by pinfall, after delivering a chokeslam.^[22] The first match that aired was the ECW Championship match between CM Punk and the champion, Chavo Guerrero. In the beginning, the two wrestlers exchanged control of the match until late into the match, where Punk kicked Guerrero's head, causing him to fall from the ring apron to the outside.^[23] Back in the ring, Punk set Guerrero up for a Hurracarana from the top turnbuckle, but Guerrero countered the attempt by holding the ropes, causing Punk to fall to the ring mat. Guerrero immediately hit a Frog splash, and pinned pinned Punk to retain his title.^[23][24]

The next match was the SmackDown!/ECW Elimination Chamber match between The Undertaker, Batista, Big Daddy V (w/Matt Striker), Finlay, The Great Khali (w/Ranjin Singh) and Montel Vontavious Porter. Batista and The Undertaker were selected to start the match. The Undertaker gained control of the match early after tossing Batista over the top rope onto the chamber's steel surface. In the ring, both men were knocked down by hitting a big boot to each other. The third entrant, Big Daddy V, then entered, and dominated both The Undertaker and Batista for some time, until Batista hit him with a Spinebuster, and The Undertaker hit a DDT onto the steel floor of the chamber. Batista capitalised and pinned Big Daddy V to eliminate him. The fourth entrant was The Great Khali, who also dominated upon entering, but was eliminated when he submitted to The Undertaker's Gogoplata submission hold.

The fifth entrant was Finlay, who gained the advantage over Batista by tossing him into the steel chains of the chamber, and over The Undertaker by delivering a Celtic Cross to him. Finlay also slammed The Undertaker's head into the "bullet-proof" glass of the one of the pods, breaking it. The sixth entrant, MVP, was attacked by The Undertaker when his pod was opened. MVP used a steel chain as a weapon on the other three competitors, until he climbed to the top of a pod. The Undertaker followed and delivered a chokeslam to MVP from the top of the pod into the ring. Finlay pinned MVP and eliminated him. Later, Hornswoggle passed a shillelagh to Finlay from under the ring, which he used on both Batista and The Undertaker. He was soon eliminated by The Undertaker who pinned him after a chokeslam from inside the ring onto the steel floor of the chamber. The final two men were Batista and The Undertaker, and Batista gained advantage after delivering a Batista Bomb and tossing The Undertaker into the chamber's steel chains. The Undertaker however, retaliated and delivered a Tombstone piledriver for the successful pinfall, winning the match and earning a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV.^[8][23]

The third match was a "Career threatening" match between Ric Flair and Mr. Kennedy. In this match, had Flair lost, he would have had to retire from professional wrestling. Throughout the match Kennedy worked on Flair's injured leg, but in the end, Flair was able to trip Kennedy into a Figure four leglock, forcing Kennedy to submit. Thus, Flair won the match and avoided retirement.^[23][25]

The next match was a World Heavyweight Championship match between Rey Mysterio and the champion, Edge. Throughout the match, Edge worked on Mysterio's injured bicep, which affected Mysterio's offense. Mysterio, however, was able to retaliate as he hit a Tornado DDT on Edge for an unsuccessful pinfall attempt. Later in the match, Mysterio hit Edge with a 619, but failed to capitalize due to his bicep. He then tried to hit Edge with a Springboard Splash, but Edge speared Mysterio in mid-air, and pinned him to retain the title.^[6][23] After the match, The Big Show made a surprise return to the company, where he cut a promo on his recent weight loss (over 108 pounds) and future plans of becoming a champion again. After doing so, The Big Show began to taunt professional boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who was in attendance and Mysterio's close friend. As The Big Show threatened to give Mysterio a chokeslam, Mayweather entered the ring to confront The Big Show. The Big Show then got on his knees to allow Mayweather to punch him, which Mayweather did with a combination of punches, which caused The Big Show to bleed from the nose and mouth. Mayweather and his crew fled the ring, and then through the crowd, where Shane McMahon stopped The Big Show from chasing them.^[23][26]

The next match was for the WWE Championship between John Cena and the champion, Randy Orton. At the beginning, both men controlled the match by their turn, until late into the match, Orton started targeting Cena's surgically-repaired right pectoral muscle. Later, Orton feigned an injury outside the ring and ordered the referee Mike Chioda to count him out. When Cena came to check Orton's "injury", Orton delivered an RKO to Cena outside the ring. Orton got back in the ring and the referee started to count Cena out. Cena got back into the ring on a nine-count, but Orton purposely slapped the referee in the face and got himself disqualified. As a result, Orton lost the match but retained the title. After the match, Cena delivered an FU to Orton, and applied the STFU.^[7][27]

The final match was between Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Umaga in the second Elimination Chamber match. The first two superstars to start the match were Jericho and Michaels. They fought each other until Umaga entered, and dominated. Some of the highlights were Umaga performing a double Samoan Drop on Jericho and Michaels, and later, hitting his Samoan Wrecking Ball to Jericho into one of the pods' "bullet-proof" glass. The next superstar to enter the match was JBL, who dominated the other three competitors for some time until he got eliminated by Jericho after a Codebreaker. After his elimination, JBL brought two steel chairs into the chamber to attack Jericho, Michaels and Umaga before leaving.

Triple H entered the match next. Soon, every superstar hit their finishing moves on Umaga, with Jericho hitting the Codebreaker, Michaels hitting the Sweet Chin Music, Triple H hitting the Pedigree,and Hardy hitting the Swanton Bomb from the top of a pod. Jericho took advantage and pinned Umaga to eliminate him. Hardy then eliminated Jericho after a superkick from Michaels. Later, Triple H eliminated Michaels after hitting a Pedigree, following a Twist of Fate from Hardy. The final two men were Triple H and Hardy. They battled for about ten minutes until Triple H delivered a Pedigree on Hardy, but failed to score the pinfall. Triple H tried to use a steel chair but Hardy retaliated, and attempted to deliver a Twist of Fate. Triple H countered the attempt by pushing Hardy into the steel chair. Finally, Triple H delivered a Pedigree to Hardy onto the steel chair and pinned him to win the match, earning a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania.^[5][27]

[edit] Aftermath

The night following No Way Out, John Cena demanded a rematch for the WWE Championship. General Manager William Regal made a non-title match for later that night between Orton and Cena, where if Cena won, he would be included in the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV. Triple H was assigned to be the guest referee. Cena won the match after delivering an FU to Orton, thus changing the match at WrestleMania to a Triple Threat match. After the match, Triple H delivered a Pedigree to both Orton and Cena.^[28] At WrestleMania, Orton defeated both Cena and Triple H to retain the WWE title.^[29]

Also on this episode of Raw, The Big Show challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. to a match, which Mayweather accepted.^[30] The match was announced the following week to be scheduled for WrestleMania. The two met at WrestleMania, in which Mayweather went onto defeat Big Show.^[31]

The feud between Rey Mysterio and Edge ended when, on the February 22 edition of SmackDown!, Mysterio said that he needed surgery, and would be out of action for seven weeks. Edge then entered a feud with The Undertaker, as to Undertaker being the number one contender for Edge's World Heavyweight Championship. Edge and Undertaker met in a World title match at WrestleMania, in which Undertaker defeated Edge to capture the World title.^[32]

On the February 25 edition of Raw, 2008 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee Ric Flair challenged Shawn Michaels to a match at WrestleMania.^[33] Michaels accepted after some reluctance, knowing that due to a previous announcement from WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon the next match Flair loses would result in a forced retirement for Flair.^[33][34] Flair also said that "it would be an honor for him to retire at the hands of Shawn Michaels."^[33] At WrestleMania, Michaels defeated Flair in the stipulation that if Flair lost, he would have to retire.^[35]

CM Punk would once again become the Number One Contender for the ECW Championship by defeating Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke in a Triple-Threat match on ECW. The next week, on the March 4 edition of ECW, Punk fought Guerrero for the title, but lost the match.^[36] Guerrero, however, would go on to lose the ECW title to Kane in just 8 seconds at WrestleMania 24.^[37]

[edit] Results

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

• Dark match: Kane defeated Shelton Benjamin^[22]
  • Kane pinned Benjamin after a chokeslam.
• Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk to retain the ECW Championship (7:06)^[24][38][39]
  • Guerrero pinned Punk after a Frog Splash.
• The Undertaker defeated Batista, The Great Khali (w/Ranjin Singh), Finlay, Montel Vontavious Porter and Big Daddy V (w/Matt Striker) in an Elimination Chamber match (29:28)^[8][38][39]
  • As a result of winning, The Undertaker received a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV.

Elimination #	Wrestler	Entrance	Eliminated by	Elimination Move	Time
1	Big Daddy V	3	Batista	DDT on the steel floor from Undertaker	9:07
2	The Great Khali	4	Undertaker	Gogoplata	12:38
3	Montel Vontavious Porter	6	Finlay	Chokeslam off the top of a pod into the ring from Undertaker	22:31
4	Finlay	5	Undertaker	Chokeslam on the steel floor	24:11
5	Batista	2	Undertaker	Tombstone Piledriver	29:28
WINNER	The Undertaker	1

• Ric Flair defeated Mr. Kennedy in a Career Threatening Match (7:13)^[25][38][39]
  • Flair forced Kennedy to submit with the Figure Four Leglock.
  • If Flair had lost the match, he would have had to retire from wrestling.
• Edge defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (5:27)^[6][38][39]
  • Edge pinned Mysterio after a spear in mid air.
• John Cena defeated WWE Champion Randy Orton by disqualification (15:51)^[7][38][39]
  • Orton was disqualified after slapping the referee. As a result, Orton retained the title.
• Triple H defeated Umaga, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Jeff Hardy in an Elimination Chamber match (23:54)^[5][39]
  • As a result of winning, Triple H received a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV.

Elimination #	Wrestler	Entrance	Eliminated by	Elimination Move	Time
1	JBL	4	Chris Jericho	Codebreaker	13:44
2	Umaga	3	Chris Jericho	Sweet Chin Music from Michaels, Codebreaker from Jericho, Pedigree from Triple H and Swanton Bomb from the top of a pod from Hardy	19:45
3	Chris Jericho	1	Jeff Hardy	Sweet Chin Music from Michaels	19:57
4	Shawn Michaels	2	Triple H	Twist of Fate from Hardy and Pedigree from Triple H	20:25
5	Jeff Hardy	6	Triple H	Pedigree onto steel chair	23:54
WINNER	Triple H	5

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official No Way Out Homepage