411’s Instant Analysis: WWE No Way Out

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 02.18.2008

WWE delivers a good PPV with a BIG surprise!

We are on the Road To WrestleMania and this pay-per-view determines several of the match ups that we will see at the Granddaddy of ‘em All including the two world title matches. When you compare the card with last year's, there's an astounding difference – last year's show was entirely filler whereas this year, the title matches will be decided and careers may be ended. I had high expectations going in, so let's see how the show turned out.

ECW Championship Match
Chavo Guerrero vs. CM Punk
Match Result: Chavo Guerrero retains the title via pin fall following a Frog Splash
Match Length: 7:25
Match Analysis: It's worth pointing out that the video package we got for this match was well done and a nice touch. Even though this bout is opening the show, the video made the match and the title seem pretty important which always helps. Punk was very over and the crowd were into him, which always helps. The match started off with a good pace, which is important to keep the crowd involved. Considering the number of times they've worked together recently, one would think that the two have pretty good chemistry but at times, things got sloppy and the match didn't have much flow. However, they more than made up for it by working in some innovative spots and stuff we don't see in the E everyday. Chavo countering the GTS into a hurricanrana was particularly sweet. Some weird shit went down as Punk was booed for trying Eddie's Three Amigos and soon after that there were a few "Chavo" chants from the Vegas crowd. The match was done soon after when Guerrero got a clean pin following a frog splash and the crowd popped pretty good for Guerrero. I didn't think Chavo would lose but I also didn't think he'd win cleanly. I feel bad for Punk because he'd been on such a role. Still, the match was OK if a little short. I think the two could have a great match if they were given pretty good time to tear shit up in the ring.
Match Rating: **1/4

Elimination Chamber Match
Batista vs. Finlay vs. MVP vs. The Great Khali vs. Big Daddy V vs. Undertaker
Match Result: Undertaker wins, last eliminating Batista by pin fall after a Tombstone
Match Length: 29:34
Match Analysis: This was an interesting choice to go on second but with such a stacked card I suppose it's not too much of a surprise. Just a quick question, but what the fuck is Finlay doing coming out to Hornswoggle's music? That is bullshit. However, starting with Batista and Undertaker was absolutely the right decision and actually made the match seem important. Their feud has been amazing and this was the right way to start this match. Side note: Undertaker's entrance was so long my screensaver came up. Batista and Taker started off really strongly and brought the steel into play early. There was a funny moment as the officials didn't think to, y'know, LOCK THE DAMN DOOR, and Taker fell out of the chamber. An unexpected backwards fall onto concrete could have been a lot worse than it was so whoever neglected to secure the door should think themselves lucky. Batista and Taker took a beating from V but eliminated him pretty quickly, and then we got the same with Khali which is pretty much how I expected things to go. Khali tapping to the gogoplata was a pretty cool visual but at this point I'm thinking why these guys are even in the match other than to make up the numbers. Finlay comes out of the camber and didn't even get the initial offence that Khali and V did. Taker took another finisher and survived. It's so obvious that the whole purpose of the match is to make Taker and Batista look like complete badasses and then put Taker over, but it's being done at the expense of four other guys, which isn't always necessary. At least Finlay and MVP didn't look quite as bad as Khali and V. I don't know, maybe I'm being overly critical of this match but it just screamed predictability the whole way through and no one wanted to go out of their way in the booking of the match to make it seem like anyone else had a chance. Still, the match had its moments as MVP took a tremendous bump from the top of the pod and Hornswoggle managing to sneak in to give Finlay the shillelagh was a tremendous touch. As we've come to expect from Batista and Taker, they gave us a hell of a show and the ending was pretty tremendous. As we all expected, Taker is going on to WrestleMania to put his streak on the line against Edge.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Career Threatening Match
Ric Flair vs. Mr. Kennedy
Match Result: Ric Flair defeats Mr. Kennedy by submission using the Figure 4
Match Length: 7:18
Match Analysis: Not even Kennedy's pre-match promo skills could convince me that he actually had a shot ending the legendary career of the even more legendary Nature Boy. The match was as predictable as its ending with Ken Kennedy working over the knee of Flair which had been injured several times in recent weeks. Kennedy busted out the Figure 4 around the ring post, one of my favourite spots of all time. I do think that the match suffered from the fact that the crowd was practically dead the whole way through which is at least partially due to them all knowing that Flair would live to fight another day. I can't give the match too much praise because it was very much standard Flair and Kennedy wasn't even as good as he usually is which is a shame. However, it wasn't bad, just tremendously unspectacular.
Match Rating: **

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge vs. Rey Mysterio
Match Result: Edge defeats Mysterio by pin fall following a Spear
Match Length: 5:30
Match Analysis: Let's start off by saying that having T'Lo band the Edgeheads from ringside before the match was a good move because they interfered at Royal Rumble at Long would also want a little bit of revenge for the way that he has been treated by the Rated R Rmy in recent weeks. And credit where credit's due, Rey could have quite easily backed out of this match due to his injury but he gutted it out here and put on a show when others wouldn't have bothered. That's dedication for you, folks.

The match itself was pretty good when you consider that they had to work around the injury while at the same time, put all the focus on it if you know what I mean. They only went 5 minutes or so which just goes to show how badly Rey must have been hurting. Edge would have won anyway so there's no point dragging out a long match if one of the competitors is in no ring shape. Edge goes to Mania now to face Undertaker and gets some pretty good heat from this match leading to the big show. And as I finish that sentence, guess who's music hits…
Match Rating:*3/4

Big Show's Return
Well I didn't see this one coming, at least not at that time. He did look in really great shape and I can't wait to see him mixing it up in the squared circle again. He said he'd be a champion again, whether it be on Raw, SmackDown or ECW, and then we got the assault on Rey that lead to Floyd Mayweather jumping the rail to make the save. This seemed like a really big deal and I loved it, as did the Vegas crowd judging by their response. The size difference was ridiculous and then we get Mayweather busting Big Show the fuck open. Mayweather runs for the hills and we get a Shane O Mac appearance. If Shane and Show are going to be together permanently, then I'm ecstatic. This segment was absolutely tremendous and Big Show's boxing training may come in handy come WrestleMania, I think.

WWE Championship Match
Randy Orton vs. John Cena
Match Result: John Cena wins by DQ, Orton retains the championship
Match Length: 15:56
Match Analysis: Orton and Cena put on one hell of a match way back in August at Summerslam and they went out and tried to repeat that here tonight and they didn't do a bad job. I thought that early parts of the match were too slow and almost too deliberate but as the match progressed and Orton regained control I thought that they settled down and had a really good match. They had the crowd going once again with the duelling chants and whenever Cena got on offence the atmosphere was electric. The match progressed and it went to the floor and I actually thought that they were going for a cheap double count out to take us to the Mania main event but they both slid into the ring. From there the match really picked up and got great. They brought out the big moves and worked some really good sequences. Cena showed that hey, he actually can wrestle and Orton more than held his own. I loved how Orton trying to get the win by any means necessary and then we got the DQ finish which I'm sure Larry will hate. But, it made perfect sense and it's going to get us to where we want to be and that's a triple threat match at WrestleMania.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Elimination Chamber Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. JBL vs. Umaga vs. Triple H
Match Result: Triple H wins, last eliminating Jeff Hardy by pin fall following a Pedigree
Match Length: 24:00
Match Analysis: The beginning of this match was the polar opposite of the beginning of the earlier Chamber match – Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho renewed their five year old feud and put on some tremendous wrestling, something that would be few and far between in most chamber matches. This set a tremendous president for the rest of the match that was pretty phenomenal in its own right.

Umaga came in and things would only get better from there as he dominated his two smaller opponents and hit the swankest Samoan drop I've ever seen – a double Samoan drop~! And he's not even Samoan! Oh, wait. Damn. And then I marked the fuck out for the Walls/Crossface combo. I didn't think I'd ever see that again for obvious reasons so you can imagine how cool it was to see that again. JBL then hit the ring and all four men involved did their stuff, it was good and they worked some nice spots out on the steel with the heels dominating, Jericho and Michaels took some pretty nasty bumps in order to keep the crowd entertained because it was obvious that they were waiting for Hardy or Trips.

Speaking of which, Triple H came in a shit got real~! The crowd came unglued and the action came thick and fast which is the way it should in this kind of environment with the talent involved. Jericho soon got the first elimination on JBL who then got him some revenge with some vintage JBL chair shots which was awesome. Hardy entered last and the pace quickens~! Hardy even got to out whit a double-teaming DX. Umaga got to look ridiculously dominant while Jericho and Michaels simply continued to survive so everyone involved was looking good. Then, as I predicting in the Payload a few weeks ago we got the ASSALANCHE through the plexi-glass right before it took 4 men to eliminate Umaga including a Swanton from the top of a pod.

Eliminations came thick and fast as Jericho fell to Sweet Chin Music and Michaels took a Pedigree and we were down to the two men who should it was always going to come down to – Hardy and The Game. I'm really trying to think of something negative to say about this match but I just can't fond anything. It was pure awesome from start to finish and I loved everything about it. I was about to bitch and moan about Hardy looking weak, not lasting long against The Game but then he kicked out of the Pedigree, so there goes that argument. While I loved the 2002 and 2005 Chamber matches, this one just about surpasses them both and is now officially the Chamber's defining match. All 6 men busted their asses and we got one hell of a match out of it.
Match Rating: ****1/2

Final Thoughts
Match of the Night: Raw's Elimination Chamber ****1/2
Trash of the Night: World Heavyweight Championship, even though they did as well as could ever be expected of them. *3/4
Final Analysis: The show has its flaws, no doubt. It was predictable and some of the matches may not have delivered to some expectations. But if you ignore the 5 minute world title match, because that couldn't be helped, and you actually have a very good show here. The Chamber match (the second one) and the Big Show's return really put the show over the top and makes it that much more memorable. And now with the way Mania is shaping up, things are only going to get better.
Verdict: 8.0/10