Tuesday, February 20, 2007

WWE No Way Out Review

18th February 2007

The ladder match has been pulled but the build for the main event has been great. I’m not expecting the best show in the world but I expect something big from the main event.

Chris Benoit & The Hardys vs MVP & MNM

I guess if you’re promised a PPV payoff it’s unfair to go back on it so the Hardys and MNM meet again in six man action. Good guys run wild early on until Jeff gets cut off and the heels get the heat. Nitro and Mercury are really good and MVP isn’t too bad given his lack of experience. Eventually Jeff gets the tag to Matt (this won’t be the hot tag as Benoit is the comeback king) and just as he starts his comeback he gets cut off. Another heat segment followed a hot tag to Benoit. Benoit goes crazy hitting a double german on Mercury and Nitro, Cole (who seems to be loosing his voice) screams he has never seen the spot despite calling the mania three way from last year where Angle, Rey and Orton did the same spot. Matt hits the twist of fate on Mercury and Jeff follows it with a swanton followed by a headbutt from Benoit for two as MVP breaks it up. Crossface on MVP broken up by Mercury who gets one of his own for his trouble for the tap out. A very good opener for the show. They seem to be going with MVP and Benoit for mania and I expect the Hardys/MNM feud to culminate in ladder match.

Vickie Guerrero tells Krystal she has an opportunity coming her way straight from words memorised earlier in the day.

Cruiserweight Open

The rules are simple, two guys start, you win, you continue. Raw’s Scotty Too Hotty is out first and Daviari will join him to open the battle. After a couple of minutes of Daivari offence Scotty hits the worm and gets the victory. The cruiserweight champ is out next and pins Scotty straight away with a his new weird looking finisher. Funaki charges the ring but gets booted in the face by Helms and after some good offence hits a cross body but the rule of being able to role through and always get a three count works for Helms as he continues in the gauntlet. Shannon Moore is out next who I haven’t seen for yonks and does a cool hurricarana spot on the outside but Helms pins him with the new finisher again. It’s Smackdown’s resident redneck next who after a brief battle manages to roll up Helms for the pin. We have a new cruiserweight champion ladies and gentlemen. Before leaving Helms hits the eye of the hurricane on Yang allowing Jamie Noble to go to work on him. Noble takes Yang up for a superplex whilst shouting “what’s my name” to which ONE fan replies “Jamie Noble” ( I know it’s not that funny written down) but Yang manages to push him off and hit a moonsault for the three. “Here is you winner and new… Ooooh Chavo!” I guess Chavo is a surprise entrant (I’m sure he was announced in the week) and he goes straight to work on Yang. Chavo hits the three amigos and Cole screams about it being disrespectful, JBL argues that he can do what he wants considering he’s a Guerrero as they invented the three amigos and camel clutch. Chavo goes up for the frog splash to which Cole says Eddie invented that so Chavo shouldn’t be doing it, he missed the frog splash and Yang climbs the turnbuckle for a moonsault but misses allowing Chavo to hit the frog splash to the back to win the match and the title. The whole match was pretty good (at least as good as a match of this style can be) but I have to say I was surprised that Helms lost. I guess with Vickie’s “opportunity” the two things are linked. Definitely a disappointing way for Helms to loose his belt though.

John Cena cuts a promo saying he’s going to work alongside Shawn tonight and worry about Wrestlemania later.

Finlay & Little Bastard vs Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman

Match of the year potential in this one. Boogeyman beats on Finlay and tags in his mini who jumps on Finlay but little bastard comes in and distracts big Boogey. This allows to Finaly to kick little Boogey in the face. We then see Finlay apply hold to the mini. This is awesome! Remember when Finlay beat up the whole junior division on Smackdown? That was great. Little Bastard runs away and Boogeyman chases him allowing Finlay to use the shelleleigh to pick up the pin on the mini Boogey. Finlay’s performance and the fact he had no problem beating up the little guy in this match means it gets a thumbs up from me.

Shawn Michaels cuts a promo and tells us he has Cena’s back.

Kane vs King Booker

This is god damn boring. Kane wins clean with the chokeslam.

Batista cuts the worst of the three promos saying he’s not scared of anything.

WWE Tag Team Championship: Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Deuce & Domino

Deuce and Domino get the heat on London forever and it’s pretty boring. Eventually London gets the hot tag to Spanky who after a mediocre come back hits rolls up one of the heels after they try the doomsday device for the win.

ECW Championship: Bobby Lashley vs Ken Kennedy

Kennedy cuts a horrible generic heel promo but is interrupted by Lashley who said something I didn’t catch then hits Lashley with the weakest punch ever. Lashley makes hi entrance but gets cut off by Kennedy on the ramp straight away. A brief bit of brawling in the aisle is followed by your usual boring Kennedy offence. Lashley eventually gets a comeback but Kennedy tries to hit him with a chair behinds the refs back. After connecting Lashley grabs it and hits Kennedy for the DQ. Why have a match of this length if this is all that’s going to happen? Where’s this going? Boring, boring match.

Diva Talent Search

I’m still searching.

Shawn Michaels & John Cena vs Batista & Undertaker

All four guys tag in and out early on until Smackdown get the heat on Raw. Shawn Michaels is absolutely awesome as the babyface being beaten on. Batista actually looks pretty good, in the same way he looks good when he’s in their with Finlay; he’s in there with someone good. Shawn teases the tag forever and finally gets it and Cena runs wild. He teases the FU on Dave but Taker’s boot ensures it doesn’t happen. Dave teases the Batista Bomb on Cena but a HBK shop block stops that one. This allows Raw to get the heat. God damn Shawn Michaels is an awesome heel (funny that isn’t it) and even Cena does a little stomp on the apron to get some heel heat. Dave gets the tag to Taker and a huge comeback ensues. Taker has both Cena and Shawn prime for a chokeslam but tosses Shawn to Dave for a spinebuster. Taker and Dave pose but Batista nails Taker with a spinebuster! Dave leaves the ring and a superkick into an FU allow the Raw main event to win. Post match Dave stands over Taker’s body with the title in hand. This was a really good match mainly thanks to the awesome Shawn Michaels, but the twist played out really well.

Overall four of the matches turned out to be good and the main event was really good so I’d say this is a definite thumbs up show. I don’t know if Batista is going full fledged heel but this was a great move. I was waiting for Shawn to kick Cena in the chin but it was the other team that disintegrated. Great booking for a decent show.

6.5/10

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