No Way Out

Sunday, February 18th in Los Angeles, CA

– The WWE promo hits. A video package then airs highlighting tonight’s main event featuring World Heavyweight Champion Batista & The Undertaker vs. WWE Champion John Cena & Shawn Michaels. The package ends saying tonight, the road to WrestleMania 23 continues.
– A graphic opening then hits welcoming us to No Way Out. We go live to Los Angeles where a series of pyro goes off in the arena. A shot of the crowd is shown as Michael Cole welcomes us to the sold out Staples Center. JBL says tonight is the biggest main event in Smackdown history. Cole tries to pass it onto the Spanish Announce Team, but JBL says this is America and we speak English. They do it anyways and the Spanish Announce Team welcomes us to the show.
– MVP is on his way out to the ring to start the show off.

– WWE U.S. Champion Chris Benoit & The Hardys defeated MNM & MVP. JBL really enjoyed Melina’s entrance tonight. Crowd was hot for Benoit and The Hardys. Mercury is still wearing a face mask following the effects from the December PPV. Benoit took out MVP with some quick offense including a quick snap suplex. Benoit & The Hardys kept up the pace until MNM got involved. Nitro took out Jeff Hardy on the outside on the ring barricade and then applied a headlock on Jeff back in the ring. MNM continued to double team Jeff each time he attempted a comeback. Jeff eventually tagged in Matt and Matt took out MNM. Fans are very behind The Hardys. Benoit hit a double-german suplex on MNM and Nitro landed very awkwardly. The finish saw Benoit counter a Snapshot attempt by MNM and then apply the Crossface on Mercury and Mercury quickly tapped out.

– Backstage, Kristal was with Vickie Guerrero. Vickie said it was good to be back and that she is going to do something important this Friday on Smackdown.
– Backstage, Finlay argued with The Little Bastard. Little Bastard was scared to face Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman tonight. Finlay hugs Little Bastard and then throws him in a trash can. The Little Boogeyman turned out to be inside of that and scared Little Bastard away.

– Chavo Guerrero become the NEW WWE Cruiserweight Champion in the Cruiserweight Open. Scotty 2 Hotty and Daivari started off the match. As soon as a competitor is eliminated, the next star will enter the match. Daivari was eliminated by Scotty following a Worm. Next out is WWE Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms. Scotty 2 Hotty was eliminated by Helms after a knee to the face on the ground. Out next was Funaki. Funaki was quickly rolled up and eliminated by Helms. Out next was Shannon Moore. Moore was eliminated by Helms following another knee to the face. Out next was Jimmy Wang Yang. Maybe a shock or not here – Gregory Helms was eliminated next by Yang following a quick rollup. Helms was furious and we will get to see a new Cruiserweight Champion crowned tonight. Out next was Jamie Noble. Noble was eliminated next when Yang hit a moonsault to get the pinfall. Last one out is Chavo Guerrero, although Yang had thought he had won the open and become the new champion. Chavo hit the Three Amigos on Yang. The finish saw Yang miss a spinning moonsault and then connect with a Frog Splash to get the win to become the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

– A promo for WrestleMania 23 airs.
– Backstage, Kristal was with WWE Champion John Cena. He said he wasn’t concerned about any tension between himself and Shawn Michaels tonight.

– Finlay & The Little Bastard defeated The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman. Little Bastard was still scared to come out for the match. Pretty funny moment saw Finlay take out Little Boogeyman with a big boot. Little Boogeyman responded with a small package on Finlay, but Finlay kicked out. Finlay threw Little Boogeyman out of the ring and Little Bastard pulled him under the ring. Little Bastard made a save for Finlay when Boogeyman tossed Little Boogeyman on Finlay. The finish saw Boogeyman go after Little Bastard, allowing Finlay to take out Little Boogeyman with the Shillelagh to get the win.

– A promo for Monday Night Raw aired.
– Backstage, Kristal was with Shawn Michaels. Michaels said he couldn’t trust Cena and that the only person he could trust was Triple H.

– Kane defeated King Booker. Michael Cole isn’t sounding too good as his voice is about gone just an hour into the PPV. In the early going of the match, Kane was the one getting in a majority of the offense on King Booker. Kane attempted a chokeslam, but Booker got out of it. Booker then sent Kane into the ring steps on the outside. Kane and Booker took each other out when both attempted a double-clothesline. Continued back and forth action between Kane and Booker. Booker blocked yet another chokeslam try by Kane. Big side slam by Kane on Booker. The finish saw Sharmell distract Kane and Booker hit a kick to Kane’s face. Kane then caught Booker with a chokeslam and got the pinfall.

– A promo for the new D-Generation X DVD is shown.
– Backstage, Kristal was with World Heavyweight Champion Batista. Batista talked about tonight’s main event when he teams with The Undertaker. Footage was also shown of Undertaker giving Batista a chokeslam recently. He said he wasn’t intimidated by Undertaker, Shawn Michaels or John Cena.

– Paul London & Brian Kendrick retained the WWE Tag Team Titles against Deuce & Domino. Lots of back and forth action between both tag teams. Deuce and Domino appeared to have the advantage for a majority of the match. London finally made a hot tag to Kendrick (which looked awkward as Deuce & Domino didn’t really sell this spot very well) to even things up. The finish saw Domino miss a spot off the top rope, allowing Kendrick to roll up Deuce to get the pinfall to retain the tag titles. Wasn’t as good as past London & Kendrick tag title defenses.

– Backstage, Kristal was with Mr. Kennedy. He called Lashley a phoney wannabe, just like the crowd in Los Angeles. Kennedy said he has already beaten Lashley and will do it again to become the new ECW Champion. Lashley then showed up and took out Kennedy.

– Mr. Kennedy defeated Bobby Lashley via DQ; Lashley retains ECW Title. Bobby Lashley jumped Mr. Kennedy when Kennedy was on his way to the ring. Lashley threw Kennedy into the ring to get the match started. Live crowd in Los Angeles is fairly quiet at the moment. Later on in the match, Lashley got Kennedy up in a torture rack, but Kennedy broke that up with a rake to the eyes. Kennedy applied a reverse figure four leg lock on Lashley. When Lashley broke it up, Kennedy kept the offense going by nailing Lashley with some punches and kicks on the ground. Kennedy took out Lashley with a DDT. Fans are not enjoying this match at all at the moment. JBL tried to cover saying the fans were booing because Lashley was being taken out by Kennedy. Lashley came back with a big T-Bone Suplex on Lashley. Lashley followed that up with a torture rack into a big backbreaker on Kennedy. The finish saw Kennedy bump the referee and then leave to get a steel chair. Kennedy brought the chair into the ring, but Lashley got it and took out Kennedy with it. The referee called for the bell to give us a DQ finish. While those are never fun to have for a paying Pay Per View audience, it at least didn’t completely kill the Kennedy character. After the match, Lashley goes nuts and takes out Kennedy with numerous steel chair shots. WWE agents and staff surrounded Lashley to get him to stop. Kennedy was out.

– Rey Mysterio returns to Smackdown this Friday.
– The trailer for “The Condemned” starring Steve Austin was shown.

– Michael Cole was shown in the crowd with actor Vinnie Jones, who stars in “The Condemned.” Jones said he is the star of the movie, not Austin. He added that he kicked Austin’s ass.

– Diva Talent Invitational: The Miz is handling hosting duties tonight. It kicks off with another “Kelly’s Expose” featuring Kelly Kelly, Layla and Brooke. Jillian Hall was the next one out. Hall said she wrote her own song and starts to warm up. She starts to sing band and Kelly, Layla and Brooke laugh at her. The Miz stops Jillian from continuing. Jillian said she has more talent than the ECW girls. Ariel, Candice and Maria all came out nextk. Candice went after Jillian and a big catfight breaks out. Ashley then came out and they dropped her Playboy cover over the entrance area. Ashley then took off her top and revealed two Playboy logos painted over her boobs. The Miz declared Ashley the winner of the invitational.

– A video package airs hyping tonight’s main event featuring World Heavyweight Champion Batista & The Undertaker vs. WWE Champion John Cena & Shawn Michaels.

– WWE Champion John Cena & Shawn Michaels defeated World Heavyweight Champion Batista & The Undertaker. The match kicked off with Batista and John Cena. It was all Batista early on with a big vertical suplex. Cena was able to dodge an attack in the corner and then tag in HBK. Batista went after HBK in the corner, positioning him across the top and hitting a big kick to the gut. Undertaker got the tag and walked across the top rope and connected with a big shot to HBK. Cena got the tag and Undertaker took him out with a big knee in the corner. Cena responded with a big superplex on Undertaker. However, Undertaker was not phased and got right up after this spot. Undertaker then sent HBK over the top rope and Batista sent Michaels into the steel steps on the outside. Later in the match, Cena got some very quick offense in on Batista. Undertaker went after Cena, but Sent sent him over the top rope. Cena hit the five knuckle shuffle on Batista and was getting booed very loudly. Cena attempted an FU on Batista, but Undertaker broke it up. Batista went for a Batista Bomb on Cena, but HBK struck the legs of Batista to break it up. Both teams are working together and the announcers continue to put that over. Cena applied a sleeper on Batista, who was now busted open at this point. Cena then got an STFU on Batista and Batista refused to tap out. The fans in L.A. are still booing Cena. Undertaker breaks up the STFU. HBK hit a flying elbow off the top on Batista, but missed a Sweet Chin Music attempt. Undertaker then gave Cena a chokeslam. Batista then hit a Batista Bomb on Undertaker! The finish then saw Michaels give Undertaker some Sweet Chin Music and Cena hit Undertaker with an FU to get the pinfall. After the match, Batista’s music hit and he stood over The Undertaker holding up the World Heavyweight Title. The PPV went off the air with Undertaker sitting up and staring down Batista.

Source: Adam Martin, Wrestleview.com