Kevin’s Random Reviews: WWE No Way Out 2009

WWE No Way Out 2009
February 15th, 2009 | KeyArena in Seattle, Washington | Attendance: 11,200

Coming off a Royal Rumble victory, Randy Orton began feuding with the McMahon family on the road to WrestleMania. It led to a cheesy rivalry with Triple H, but along the way we got to see Shane McMahon fire off some of the worst punches ever. They wrestle for the first time ever on this show, which also features two Elimination Chamber matches. This marks the final February No Way Out and the 11th overall. The show returned in June 2012.

The opening video package put the focus on Randy Orton/Shane McMahon, the JBL/Shawn Michaels angle and then shifted to the Elimination Chamber matches. Jim Ross and Tazz, Todd Grisham and Matt Striker, and Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler were all on commentary.

WWE Championship Elimination Chamber: Edge (c) vs. Big Show vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H vs. The Undertaker vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Jeff Hardy and Edge started off. This was during that era where they wrestled constantly, including at the previous month’s Royal Rumble. Vickie Guerrero made this Jeff’s WWE Title rematch, that wench. Jeff started hot, but Edge wore him down in the opening minute. They countered each other’s finishers until Jeff hit the Twist of Fate. Edge avoided the Swanton Bomb, but had his Spear attempt countered into a small package, getting eliminated at 3:04! That was wild. It had never been done before in a Chamber and worked perfectly for their characters and history. It also added intrigue, as a new champion was guaranteed. Everyone sold their reactions perfectly. Kozlov came in next, to a chorus of boos. He spent the next few minutes manhandling Jeff. It made sense, but that didn’t stop it from being dull. Jeff got in a hope spot as Big Show joined the fray. Jeff took a beating, leading to Vince’s wet dreams as Kozlov and Show duked it out. Triple H entered next and took down the big men with his signature offense. Show turned it around, allowing him and Kozlov to work over the faces. Undertaker entered and shit got real. He hit everything moving. With everyone down, Kozlov beat on Taker but had ten corner punches countered into the Last Ride, sending him packing in 22:59. Show took over as the dominant guy now, until Taker hit a huge superplex on him. HHH followed with a Pedigree and Jeff finished him with a Swanton off a pod at 26:13. It was down to the three biggest faces on Smackdown. It didn’t last long though, as Taker put Jeff away with a Tombstone at 28:30. The fans soaked in this moment, as this was before their back-to-back Mania matches. Taker was first to get a big near fall on a chokeslam. They battled for Tombstone position, which Taker won, but HHH got his foot on the bottom rope to survive. A good series of counters led to HHH winning his 13th World Title with the Pedigree in 35:57. Great Chamber match, despite having a guy like Kozlov. The portion of him and Show working over Jeff was dull, but almost everything else was great. The Edge surprise early and the exchange between HHH and Taker was top notch. [****¼]

Backstage, Edge complained to Vickie about the match. She shouted that he lost on his own, before apologizing. Edge was left at a loss.

No Holds Barred: Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon
Early 2009 Orton was one of my favorite incarnations of his career (Legend Killer and Randy Wyatt are probably at the top). Unfortunately, Shane made him look like a bitch shortly before this and then he lost a shit match with HHH at Mania. Orton got a pre-match promo from the back to send basic threats to Shane. It was rather pointless. This didn’t start as aggressively as you’d expect, but Shane still made Orton look like a punk with his phantom punches. Orton used an exposed turnbuckle, while Shane whipped him with a kendo stick. Shane set up for his big elbow, but Legacy ran in to jump him. Shane fought them off and hit Cody with the Coast to Coast dropkick. He missed the elbow through the table, putting Randy back in control. Shane survived a superplex through a table and laid into Orton with a chair. He went for his own Punt, but Orton hit the RKOOUTTANOWHERE to win at 18:15. Who thought that needed to be nearly 20 minutes? It didn’t have nearly the intensity something like that needed and Orton (and Legacy by extension) looked weak against a non-wrestler. I usually enjoy Shane stuff, but with Orton on the way to Mania, he should’ve owned this. [**½]

ECW Championship: Jack Swagger (c) vs. Finlay w/ Hornswoggle
Ugh, remember when Finlay used Hornswoggle’s entrance theme? Christian had just made his WWE return and showed up in ECW, so there were chants for him to start this. Several boring chants as well, while Finlay worked the leg and Swagger went after the arm. Strike did his best on commentary to play up how good Swagger’s been since debuting. Finlay was in control until accidentally knocking his son off the apron. Swagger hit the gutwrench powerbomb and retained in 7:59. They tried some psychology stuff early, but forgot about it in the end, so it was pointless. The match was also boring.[*½]

John “Bradshaw” Layfield vs. Shawn Michaels
In between Shawn’s awesome feud with Chris Jericho and his incredible match with The Undertaker, there was this feud. If JBL wins, he gets HBK’s likeness and basically owns him, but if Shawn wins, he gets freedom. JBL told Shawn that one mistake could cost him. He tried baiting Shawn by handing him a chair, but Shawn had none of that. Though he was smart enough to avoid the obvious DQ, Shawn was aggressive in his quest for revenge. He did little things he usually doesn’t, like holding on until the count of four and nearly getting DQed. Shawn missed he big elbow and ate the Clothesline from Hell, but kicked out. A stunned JBL hit another, taunted Shawn’s wife in the front row and sent Shawn outside for a countout. The resilient HBK beat the count. JBL talked more smack to Shawn’s wife, who promptly slapped him. Shouldn’t that be a DQ? That fired up Shawn, who went into the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM inside, winning with Sweet Chin Music at 13:10. Good storytelling throughout, though JBL’s offense just wasn’t very interesting. Still, the story was engaging and made sense outside of the Rebecca slap spot. [**¾]

Chris Jericho got interviewed about the main event. He’s confident and said he’d win the World Heavyweight Title and bring Ric Flair out of retirement, just so he could beat him at WrestleMania.

World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber: John Cena (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Kofi Kingston Edge vs. Mike Knox vs. Rey Mysterio
Cena won the title at Survivor Series for no reason, cutting Jericho’s reign way too short. Kofi Kingston was set for his first shot at a World Title, but was attacked by Edge during his entrance. Edge gave him a con-chair-to on the steel steps and hopped in his pod, replacing him in the match. Don’t know why that legitimately counts, and poor Kofi, but it added some buzz to this. Jericho and an angry Rey (he tried going after Edge in the pod) started things off. They had a good exchange during this interval, highlighted by Rey taking a rough bump on the chamber. He scaled the chamber to counter a slingshot and came off with a rana shortly before Kane joined the fray. He dominated for the most part, until Rey hit a 619. Jericho followed with a Codebreaker and Rey came off the top of a pod with a rana, eliminating him quickly at 9:40. Mike Knox replaced him as the resident monster. He came in hot, looking like a smaller, shittier Braun Strowman. His momentum was stalled by a similar string of offense that Kane fell victim to and he was eliminated via Codebreaker at 14:42. Edge entered next to a huge mixed reaction. Things picked up, with the three men going back and forth and countering one another. We got a great sunset flip bomb/German suplex Tower of Doom spot. It’s one of the better ones I can recall. Cena finally entered and it was instantly FIVE MOVES OF DOOM time. Just as Cena set for the AA, he ate a Codebreaker. He landed in prime 619 position and felt that wrath, before another shocking elimination via Spear at 22:50. Rey set Jericho and Edge up for a double 619, but only Jericho got hit with it. He caught a senton into the Walls, but Rey rolled him up for three at 23:53. Down to Edge and Rey, Edge missed a Spear and got rolled up for two. The fans bit on that. Rey continued to pop the crowd with false finishes on several counters and hope spots. They fought outside, where Rey hit a 619 to the back of the head, but was then launched into the pod and broke it. Ouch. Edge finished him with a Spear inside at 29:46. The early portions weren’t great as Kane and Knox brought them down. It didn’t help that they used similar sequences in their portions. However, everything after Edge entered ruled, especially that finishing stretch. [****]

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

To get the bad out of the way, I liked almost nothing about Swagger/Finlay and thought Shane/Orton was quite disappointing. To be fair though, it was far from being a legitimately bad match. JBL/HBK told a good story, which helped it be better than I thought. The two Chamber matches were great and the surprise moments were an excellent addition. Edge and Cena getting quickly eliminated and Edge’s inclusion in the main event were great moments. Watching live, it also added a sense of uncertainty as both major titles were now on Smackdown. It was also a very easy watch.