HBK, Cena vs. Undertaker, Batista
At No Way Out, Undertaker learned that the age-old saying still rings true: payback is a b*tch. The Animal dished out a cold serving of revenge to the Deadman, demolishing him with a vicious spinebuster and leaving him for dead (pardon the pun) as Team Raw capitalized and took home the victory.
It was a collection of champions in Los Angeles as four World Champions (including two reigning) shared a ring at the same time in the biggest tag team main event in No Way Out history. The fans looked forward to this matchup for weeks, and it showed as the capacity crowd blew the roof off the Staples Center in support of their favorite Superstars.
Coming into the contest, nobody knew how the teams would co-exist. With the respective duos set to face each other in just over a month in the main events of WrestleMania, there was more than just pride on the line. For most of the match, the duos worked as cohesive units, performing smooth double teams and covering each other's backs at every turn.
At one point late in the match, Team SmackDown appeared poised to finish off the Raw duo. Undertaker and Batista delivered stereo signature maneuvers, punishing their opponents with a Chokeslam/Spinebuster combination that left their opponents prone to defeat in the middle of the ring. Seconds later though, Batista stunned the Staples Center crowd, lifting and dropping his partner and WrestleMania foe to the mat with a crushing Spinebuster. The Animal promptly exited the ring, leaving his partners lifeless carcas to the Raw's proverbial wolves.
Seizing the opportunity, Cena and Michaels picked up the scraps and put the finishing touches on the Phenom. Sweet Chin Music from HBK propelled Undertaker into the waiting arms of the WWE Champ, who followed with an F-U and a pin for the win. As No Way Out went off the air, Batista rolled back in the ring and stood over his fallen WrestleMania challenger.
Bobby Lashley showed his extreme side at No Way Out. After being taken to the limits by Mr. Kennedy in his ECW World Title defense, Lashley gave Kennedy a taste of his own medicine. The hard-hitting Extremist battered the cocky loudmouth repeatedly with a steel chair, prompting the referee to call for the disqualification. While Mr. Kennedy may have won the match, Lashley's message was clear: don't mess with the champ.
Bobby Lahley vs. Kennedy (ECW World Title Match)
In the inter-promotional match made by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, Mr. Kennedy entered with a game plan. The challenger targeted Lashley's leg, looking to ground the beast and take away the foundation that has propelled him to pure and total domination.
However, Lashley continually showed the resiliency that made him a champion and repelled Kennedy's efforts to the verge of victory. In a moment of desperation and utter frustration, the loudmouth went to the outside to retreive a chair. Little did Kennedy know that just a few moments later, he would be the victim of the very weapon he brought into play.
Lashley picked up the chair and unleashed his extreme temper. The ECW Champion brutalized Kennedy, crushing the SmackDown Superstar with the steel implement, leaving the referee with no choice but to call for the disqualification.
Paul London, Brian Kendrick vs. Deuce, Domino (WWE Tag Team Title Match)
Paul London & Brian Kendrick were able to finally defeat Deuce & Domino, ending a string of frustrating losses against the men from the Other Side of the Tracks for the WWE Tag Team Championship at No Way Out. After losing in non-title action two weeks in a row on SmackDown, and in singles competition this past week (Deuce defeated Kendrick), the high-flying team of London & Kendrick found a way to neutralize the power attack of the challengers.
Deuce & Domino appeared on their very first pay-per-view hoping to leave Staples Center with gold, but were unable to end the incredible reign of the champions.
London & Kendrick showed once again why they are the WWE Tag Team Champions, winning when the match mattered most. With their fast-paced chemistry, London & Kendrick handed Deuce & Domino their first loss in WWE.
Just when it looked as if everyone’s favorite redneck, Jimmy Wang Yang had finally struck gold at No Way Out, surprise entrant Chavo Guerrero RSVP’d late to the Cruiserweight Open and snared the title.
Cruiserweight Open
Defending champion Gregory Helms was the surprise participant in a Cruiserweight Open when he won the gold more than one year ago. Tonight, Chavo pulled a page out of Helms’ book to claim his sixth Cruiserweight Championship reign.
Starting off with two of SmackDown’s top cruiserweights, once one competitor was eliminated, another would enter the gauntlet-style battle until there was just one man left standing.
The ex-longest reigning champion in all of sports-entertainment, Helms would fend off the challenges of Scotty 2 Hotty, Funaki and Shannon Moore. The well-paved road, however, would get severely rocky for the champion as Jimmy Wang Yang pinned Helms in the middle of the ring.
Enduring a devastating assault from an irate Helms, Yang survived what seemed to be all challengers in the competition but the announcement of Yang as champion was interrupted by the familiar music of Chavo Guerrero. The veteran Chavo capitalized on the weakened Yang and delivered a Frog Splash to become the new Cruiserweight Champion.
“[Helms] might be the longest reigning Cruiserweight Champion of all time, but I’m one of the best Cruiserweight Champions ever,” proclaimed the new champion. “There have been three Guerreros that have held this title and every one of us is better than Gregory Helms. I would love to face him any time, any place, anywhere.”
Kane vs. King Booker
The mind games between Kane and King Booker came to a royal halt at No Way Out as The Big Red Monster chokeslammed his majesty into the deepest, darkest depths of hell.
At the Royal Rumble, an eliminated King Booker re-entered the 30-man Rumble Match and, in turn, eliminated the man who tossed him: Kane. Since then, The Big Red Machine has cast a sinister shadow over Booker’s SmackDown kingdom. For weeks, Booker has escaped Kane’s clutches, but tonight, the two former World Champions collided one-on-one.
The star of See No Evil promised that there would be No Way Out for Booker live on pay-per-view and despite the best efforts of the King (and a frightened Queen), Kane set the Staples Center afire and left Los Angeles victorious.
After his defeat, SmackDown’s royalty shared some very honest words with WWE.com of Kane’s “tainted” victory.
“Kane did a lot of illegal things in the middle of the ring tonight that were overlooked by a frightened referee,” King Booker said. “I’m the King and Ruler of this kingdom and as for this match, this loss… I will go to court and I will get this expunged from my royal record.”
Diva Talent Invitational
In the first-ever Diva Talent Invitational, The Sexiest Women on Television were supposed to display their hidden talents for WWE fans. After ECW’s Extreme Exposé strutted their stuff at Staples Center, SmackDown’s Jillian made her way to the ring.
Dissatisfied with the crowd reaction to her “singing”, Jillian lashed out at the other Divas, claiming they had no talent. That brought the Divas out en masse, and the Diva Talent Invitational became a cat fight between the SmackDown, Raw and ECW Divas.
As the Divas battled in the ring, SmackDown’s Ashley, the future Playboy magazine cover girl, entered the arena and shocked WWE fans by revealing her chest, adorned with Playboy Bunny body paint. The Miz declared what WWE fans and the other Divas already knew, that Ashley was the winner of the Diva Talent Invitational, in stunning fashion.
One person in the sold-out Staples Center was unhappy with the decision to name Ashley winner, and that was Jillian. “That was so unfair, she didn’t even do anything. Look at me, I prepared my whole life for this and all she does is walk out there and take off her clothes. That is not talent.”
As has been the case lately on SmackDown, Jillian is out of tune with WWE fans.
(Mixed Tag Team Contest) Boogeyman, Little Boogeyman vs. Finlay, Little Bastard
In a Mixed Tag Team contest SmackDown announcer JBL could only describe as a crazy horror movie—“and not a very good one”—Irish eyes were smiling on Finlay & Little Bastard in Los Angeles’ sold-out Staples Center Sunday night. More important, the Fighting Irishmen’s victory over Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman at No Way Out was certainly anything but a short-sighted win for the fearful Little Bastard.
For the first time anywhere, the belligerent leprechaun made himself heard as he nervously followed Finlay around before the match. He also made it clear that, unlike Finlay, he didn’t love to fight—at least when it came to the Boogeymen who terrorized him on SmackDown over the past several weeks. Finlay tried instilling courage in his Guinness pint-sized partner, but all he did was push Little Bastard into a huge confession: “Little people are scary!” Not even the Fighting Irishman could resist supporting the little guy with a big hug…before violently hurling him into a tiny dumpster so he could prepare for the match without further distractions.
Perhaps Finlay’s “tough love” was the right approach, though Little Bastard wouldn’t understand that right away. From the moment Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman made their epileptic-like gyrations toward the squared circle, the leprechaun hid not just in his corner, but beneath it. Finlay would deal with the one-and-a-half Boogeymen for much of the contest, though even he seemed unsure just how to handle his opponents’ extremely unorthodox style. The vast Staples Center crowd also sounded divided as to who to cheer for; all they wanted most was a confrontation of the littlest kind. And they finally got it when Little Bastard made his big stand against Little Boogeyman. He doffed his little hat, took off his tiny coat, rolled up his little shirt sleeves…and gave Finlay time to unload a massive boot across Little Boogey’s inchworm-eating mouth.
Boogeyman would soon rally against the Fighting Irishman, launching his itty-bitty buddy off the second rope and on top of Finlay’s sternum. But Little Bastard and his shillelagh made more than a little save by breaking up a sure pinfall. The leprechaun appeared to make a beeline for Belfast as Boogeyman chased him to the outside, though the chaos distracted the referee long enough for Finlay to crush the shillelagh across Little Boogeyman’s skull, creating an enormous impact that made the crowd cringe. A short three-count later, and the match was over.
Boogeyman would tend to Little Boogey with some worm food, his eyes widening with anger as the smiling Finlay departed from the ring. If you were to ask anyone in attendance at No Way Out, they’d tell you that this bitter rivalry shows no signs of stunted growth.
MNM, MVP vs. The Hardys, Chris Benoit
Since Joey Mercury’s nose was shattered by a ladder shot from The Hardys, the rivalry between the brother duo and MNM has grown increasingly personal, as Mercury has been on a crusade to disfigure Matt Hardy on SmackDown. Tonight, the latest chapter in the rivalry between two of the greatest teams in WWE ended without MNM completing its mission. The Hardys reigned supreme after Mercury tapped out to United States Champion Chris Benoit’s Crippler Crossface in a Six-Man Tag Team Match pitting “The Rabid Wolverine” and the brothers against MNM and MVP to kick off No Way Out.
“It turned out to be a really good night,” said Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy. “We couldn’t have had a better partner in Chris Benoit. It was really cool to go out there and team with a guy who’s had such a big influence on my career in Chris Benoit. … It was great to share a victory with him.”
The rivalry between Matt & Jeff Hardy and Mercury and Johnny Nitro started as a one-time dream matchup between the two teams at ECW’s December to Dismember, where the Hardys were victorious. But after Mercury suffered his horrific injury at Armageddon, MNM embarked on a personal war that stretched across the Raw and SmackDown brands and saw Matt Hardy suffer a dislocated jaw from a sneak attack by Mercury and Nitro.
But MNM couldn’t even get support from their hometown crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. MNM focused on isolating Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Nitro and Mercury did not want any part of Benoit, at one point refusing to accept MVP’s tag when he was reeling from his trademark knife edge chops. The crowd roared when Benoit double German-suplexed MNM, a feat SmackDown announcer Michael Cole said he had never seen before.
Mercury tapped out quickly when Benoit slapped on the Crossface across the protective guard covering his face, possibly indicating that he has not fully recovered from the injury.
Though the rivalry between MNM and The Hardys has raged for months, a new one may be brewing between Benoit and MVP. Before coming to SmackDown, Montel Vontavious Porter was touted by his agents as the “most talented free agent in the game.” And after a series of victories over Kane – and somehow managing to come back from severe burns suffered during an Inferno Match with The Big Red Monster – observers such as JBL called MVP “the future of the WWE.” When Benoit entered the ring tonight, MVP pointed to his U.S. Championship and could be seen saying he wanted an opportunity at the gold.
MVP – who is accustomed to having gold on his fingers outside the ring – has said he is a franchise player and already an all-time great. Does he want to add some U.S. Championship bling around his waist?
2007-02-25 12:45:54
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answer #9
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answered by **CRAZii 4 HBK** 3
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