The Mt. Rushmore of WWE No Way Out Main Events

Greetings, all.

Since it’s WrestleMania season, I thought we’d go over the biggest matches in the history of the PPV No Way Out, when it served as a warm-up to WrestleMania. Every year it seemed that there was always something big and memorable happening at this show. I know that WrestleMania is the big draw, but for me, I often found myself being more stoked for the PPVs that came before & after.

As always, I wanna hear what you cats think. Now, remember, the difference with the Mt. Rushmore series is that it’s not simply the “best”, but what would best represent whatever topic is chosen. So, a match could be awful, but if it had a lot of historical and influential aspects to it, then it would certainly make it. Otherwise, yeah, you would have seen Shawn vs Jericho’s ladder match over Bret & Shawn’s in my Ladder Match article.

Alright, let’s get it.

EDDIE GUERRERO VS BROCK LESNAR

Why It’s On The Mountain: Well, first off it’s an awesome match, further proof that Brock is arguably the most underrated big-man of all time. Second, it was a huge, genuine, emotional, and feel-good moment that was completely organic. These are the types of things that the WWE often tries to produce, and it just can’t happen. For something like this to have the impact that it did, the staying-power, the legacy, you have to have Eddie royaly fucking up, getting fired, getting sober, starting at the bottom, reinventing himself, and busting his ass until his ship finally came in. There’s so much to be learned by knowing the back story to this match.

Brock Lesnar [C] vs Eddie Guerero – WWE Championship Match – No Way Out, 2004
Haha, man, Eddie’s got some Rick Rude levels of bacne going on from the juice. Brock talks a gang of shit in this match, which is rather out of character, but something he definitely should have done more. Brock just clubbers him to start, with Eddie getting a few, a very few, shots in before Brock decides no more and puts him down again. Brock hurts his knee, giving Eddie something to exploit. Shit gets a bit slow in the middle, with an excessive amount of rest holds. Once Goldberg shows up and hits the spear on Lesnar, the crowd loses their fucking mind. That match sure could have been something had they not left, because the people wanted it. Brock is just so damn awesome in this match, screaming “DIE! EDDIE! DIE!” and just crushing him any time he tries to secure some momentum. They did a great job with Goldberg not being the reason Lesnar lost, but also giving Lesnar enough room for him to say that is in fact why he lost. Subtle stuff, and I love it. Eddie wins after reversing the F5 into a Tornado DDT, followed by the Frogsplash, and a monstrous pop. Eddie truly was a people’s champion.
Eddie wins the strap and the match with the Frogsplash at 30:07 | ****3/4

CM PUNK VS DANIEL BRYAN VS KANE

Why It’s On The Mountain: Because this was the final No Way Out in it’s February slot, and it’s an incredible match that features 2 people in the main event that most of us thought we’d never, ever see. Kane has never been one for match quality, however when he’s working with other talented workers, Kane is more than capable of carrying his own weight, and serving as a strong fixture in these types of matches.

CM Punk [C] vs Daniel Bryan vs Kane – WWE Championship – No Way Out 2012
Man, this match just starts off awesome, with Punk & Bryan having Breaking Bad levels of chemistry, and Kane serving as a perfect heavy. It’s hard to mention the pieces worth it, because I’d be describing this whole match. They never stop. At one point D-Bry hits a diving head-butt from the top, and immediately tries to pin Punk. I mention this, because he didn’t do that stupid, over-exaggerated selling that Benoit did every time he did it. I absolutely hated that. This match never takes a break, with everything ridiculously fluid and on point. It’s a hell of a match, and easily a lost gem. The end comes when Kane accidentally runs into AJ, as she was part of the love square, or triangle at this point, either or, he runs into her then runs into a GTS for the pin. I can’t say enough good things about this, awesome fucking match.
CM Punk wins with the GTS at 18:17 | ****1/2

TRIPLE H VS CACTUS JACK

Why It’s On The Mountain: Triple H & Mick had a hell of a feud going on at the start of 2000. They first had their 5 star classic at the Royal Rumble, and when it came time for them to settle it once and for all at No Way Out, there was no better choice than a Hell in a Cell match. The match lived up to the hype and became another classic, while also serving as Mick’s swan song. Sure, he had the WM 2000 match, but nobody really considers that part of canon in terms of the first stage of his career.

Triple H [C] vs Cactus Jack – Hell in a Cell for the WWE Championship – No Way Out 2000
Mick gets the momentum first, but it’s not for long. Triple H is the first to really start bringing the goods, including a spot I love where Triple H put the steel stairs on Mick’s head, then beat the shit out of it with a chair. They brawl all over the cell, Foley bouncing like a pinball at times. Triple H is the first to bleed, from probably the only catapult I’ve ever liked. Eventually there’s a hole in the cage, and they brawl among the tables, with Foley going through one after falling off half of the cage,. They work their way up to the top at some point, and actually pull off a few moves. Once up there, Foley sets fire to the barbwire 2×4. He tries to piledrive Triple H on top of it, but he’s sent crashing through the cage and through the ring for his efforts. An amazing looking spot. They have a great fucking moment once Triple H gets down there, and he has this look on his face like “Yeah, if this were anyone else, they’d be dead, but he isn’t, is he? IS HE? FUCK”. It’s fantastic. He then Pedigrees Foley and pins him, as JR screams with true emotion “KICK OUT, CACTUS! KICK OUT!”. This was a hell of a match, almost on the level of their street fight from Royal Rumble. This was the perfect match for the first stage of his career to go out on.
Triple H wins with the Pedigree at 23:57 | ****3/4

TRIPLE H VS STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN

Why It’s On The Mountain: It’s placed here for a number of reasons, first of them being it’s just an incredible match. These guys went the distance, and didn’t disappoint for a second. Also, this was the first time we’d ever seen anything like this in the WWE, and it was a pretty brilliant concept. Especially for a feud with this type of heat between the two. So rarely does a blood feud actually have a match that can match the vitriol.

Triple H vs Stone Cold Steve Austin – 3 Stages of Hell – No Way Out 2001
Austin gets his run first, and works Triple H’s left arm, who returns the favor by working Austin’s neck. Which, I gotta say, is real fucking brave. Work or no work, I wouldn’t let ANYONE go after my neck. Someone has a sign that reads “Kick his ass, C-Bass” and that’s just awesome. Stone Cold wins the first fall after catching Triple H with a Stunner. He then drags Hunter outside as the Street Fight aspect begins. After brawling on the outside, he takes Triple H back into the ring, where he bends a chair by hitting HHH 12 times with it, and it was all over, which I thought was a nice touch. They have a great brawl, and at one point Triple H pulls the sledge out from under neath the announce table, and King asks JR “Did you put that there?! Did you put that there?!” and I thought that was hilarious. Hunter wins the 2nd fall by cracking Steve with the sledge hammer and a Pedigree. Once the cage is lowered, HHH grabs the barbwire 2×4, and grates it against Stone Cold’s head. Soon after, Steve returns the favor, but it’s funny because if Triple H’s grating with the 2×4 was a 5 out of 10, Austin was like a 15 out of 10. The ending is a bit hokey, but understood. They both hit finishers, but only get a 2&3/4 count. They each go for a weapon, both connect at the same time, but Triple H falls ontop of Austin, and gets the 3 count. This was a hell of a match, and one of the all-time greats of the Attitude Era. Triple H would later repeat it with Shawn at Armageddon 2002 to lesser fan-fare. But this bad-boy, is all aces.
Triple H wins with 2 out of 3 falls at 39:26 | ****3/4

Thanks for reading, buckshots, and for no reason, here’s my favorite Stephanie McMahon moment….

Any questions, comments, drunk-ramblings, feel free to send them my way, I always dig hearing from you, the beautiful people.
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