WWE No Way Out 2008 Review

As WrestleMania returns to Orlando here in 2017, let's take a step back to 2008 where WrestleMania made its first appearance to the beautiful city. However, the road to WrestleMania XXIV took a screeching halt in Las Vegas for No Way Out. Two Elimination Chamber matches that put the main events of WrestleMania in a whirlwind.

Match 1: ECW Championship - Chavo Guerrero (c) vs. CM Punk
I can easily recall watching these guys wrestle each other every week on ECW. Despite all the hate, I personally thought that they had some good matches and moments like CM Punk bashing Chavo Guerrero over the head with a guitar or Punk tossing Chavo into the Gulf of Mexico. Punk gets another shot at the gold here in the opening match. Only problem with this match was that it was basically a carbon copy of the other 50 matches they had already. Could there just not have been an added stipulation to this? Crowd tried to get into it since it was the opener but to no real avail. Chavo hits his Frog Splash to secure the win in a fairly short match.
Winner: Chavo Guerrero
Rating: **1/4

Match 2: Elimination Chamber - MVP vs. Big Daddy V vs. The Great Khali vs. Finlay vs. Batista vs. The Undertaker
I can clearly remember people groaning over this when the participants were made for this. Just makes you realize to never come to a full assessment of something before it actually happens because they blew all expectations out of the water. They started the match off with the two big stars in Batista and The Undertaker as both Big Daddy V and The Great Khali were unloaded next. However, Big Daddy V and Khali were both quickly eliminated as the final four came down to best four guys in the match. I like how they had both Big Daddy V and Khali in the match to create some sort of ambiance to differ from the Raw Elimination Chamber and I like how their eliminations came fast. Allows us to really place our emphasis on the guys who could really kick this match up a notch. One thing I will also say about this match, the eliminations were perfect. The Undertaker hitting a Chokeslam to MVP off the top of the pod and delivering another one to Finlay on the steel grate made me cringe. Finally, Undertaker delivering a Tombstone to Batista after flipping it from the outside into the ring was a great ending. Fantastic Chamber match to set up Undertaker's match against Edge at WrestleMania. While it started a bit slow in the beginning, it definitely picked up and quickly became an intense match that had me on the edge. No pun intended.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ****1/2

Match 3: Career Threatening - Mr. Kennedy vs. Ric Flair
After watching an interview weeks ago with Mr. Kennedy, he mentioned how he was in a good spot on SmackDown before being fed to the sharks as he was later drafted to Monday Night Raw. This was different from Ric Flair's match against MVP at Royal Rumble. MVP looked more dominant and had a spot during the match where he thought he had won so the finish did not make MVP look too weak in spite of the loss. Here, Kennedy got in some offense but Flair ultimately came back and locked in a Figure Four fairly quickly to win the match. Could we have not gotten a finish that would see Flair win by a low blow or an eye rake? Did Flair really have to win so cleanly and easily like that?
Winner: Ric Flair
Rating: *3/4

Match 4: World Heavyweight Championship - Edge (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
One of 2008's more underrated feuds came in the start of the year between Edge and Rey Mysterio. It truly planted the seeds for Edge's incredible run on SmackDown for the rest of the year and it certainly does not get the respect it deserves. After a great showing at the Royal Rumble PPV, they have their return match here. Unfortunately, Mysterio was nursing an injury and it limited him in this match. Edge quickly won the match by hitting a Spear as Mysterio was coming down from the top rope. They really did the best they could with Mysterio's injury and it came off pretty damn good considering the circumstances. It really is a testament to the chemistry these two veterans have with each other. Afterwards, The Big Show makes his return and begins toying with Mysterio before touting that he will be a champion once again. Mysterio's friend in Floyd Mayweather comes to his rescue as he stares down Show! Finally, Show gets on his knee and takes punches to his face. Blood starts pouring down Show's face as Mayweather and his crew booked it out. Still got chills watching Mayweather land those nasty shots to Big Show's face. What a spectacle that segment was. Sure, it took away pretty much everything around the match but since Mysterio wasn't going anywhere with his injury, it was a nice way for Show to insert himself back as a heel. The sight of Big Show trampling Mayweather's team was something else and it felt as genuine and authentic as it could. Perfect way for them to set up their money match at WrestleMania.
Winner: Edge
Rating: **

Match 5: WWE Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena
As much as I really dislike watching these guys wrestle against each other since we've seen it over a billion times, I really think the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV should have just been between these two. But that's just my opinion, feel free to disagree. Fortunately here, a match between these two was still relatively fresh and the crowd was very much into the action. Randy Orton does a good job of focusing on John Cena's pectoral injury before Cena finally makes his comeback. However, Orton smacks the referee in his face and intentionally disqualifies himself. Didn't see that coming. Cena then beats the hell out of Orton afterwards. Maybe it's simply because I've seen these two wrestle against each other so many times but I just can't go over *** for this. It was good for what it was and the crowd was electric, it also helped set up the main event for WrestleMania. It accomplished its main goal and that's really all you expect from this match.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***

Match 6: Elimination Chamber - Triple H vs. Umaga vs. JBL vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
This may be one of the most stacked Elimination Chambers of all time. Good call to have Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels start the match, set the pace early on with Umaga coming in afterwards to wreck havoc. As brutal as the first Chamber match was, they really did bring out all the stops for this one. The eliminations were nicely done and all made sense. Loved how Jericho eliminated his rival in JBL before JBL came back into the ring and smashed everyone's brains in with a steel chair. And don't forget about Umaga running through Jericho and breaking a pod in the process. The crowd was eating this up. Jeff Hardy, who entered in last, eliminated Umaga with a sweet Swanton Bomb off one of the pods. Michaels was eventually eliminated by Triple H and it came down to Hardy and The Game. They had an incredible exchange to close out the match with Hardy desperately doing everything in his power to win, that includes a low blow. However, Triple H countered a Twist of Fate onto a steel chair and drilled Hardy with a Pedigree for the win. In a perfect world, Hardy wins this match and wins the championship at WrestleMania since he was white hot. Or plan b, have Hardy win the Money in the Bank match and cash in the same night. Of course, that's barring his suspension and again, that's in a perfect world. Regardless, Triple H was also hot during this time and a spot in the main event at WrestleMania wasn't a bad choice. Incredible match with a heart-racing finish. Besides, Hardy would eventually get his moment later in the year.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: ****3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Add in the segment with Floyd Mayweather punching The Big Show's nose in along with two incredible Elimination Chamber matches, this PPV more than delivered. Sure, the other matches themselves did not necessarily set the world on fire, but the story development heading into WrestleMania was absolutely fantastic. In the end, that really is the whole point of this PPV. WrestleMania XXIV really started to look good after this.
Rating: 8/10