411 PPV Preview: The Road To No Way Out 2008

Warning: This column contains spoilers from this evening’s SmackDown show.

Chavo Chase A Championship Chance: On the December 18th edition of ECW on Sci-Fi, CM Punk won a champion vs. champion match against MVP (via DQ) and was celebrating in the ring when he was attacked from behind by Chavo Guerrero who was returning after being put on the shelf by Rey Mysterio (or getting caught up in the steroid scandal, whatever). Guerrero hit Punk with three vertical suplexes before putting the exclamation point on the beating with a Frog Splash.

After a Christmas break, Guerrero and Punk went one-on-one on the New Years Day edition of ECW, with the stipulation being that if Chavo wins, he gets a title shot against Punk. However, after some good action, Punk got the win via count out. The two met again the next week with the same stipulation, but Punk once again got the victory, this time by disqualification when Chavo brought the ECW gold into the ring. Punk hit Guerrero with a Go2Sleep after the match, just for fun.

The following week, World Champion Edge showed up on SmackDown and invited CM Punk to the Cutting Edge. The pair went back and forth on the microphone until Chavo went out to challenge Punk to a third match, which Punk accepted. Chavo then tossed Punk shoulder-first into the ringpost with a little help from Edge. During the match, Edge was on guest commentary and took advantage of a convenient situation and nailed Punk in the back of the head with the title belt, behind the referee’s back. This led to Punk being counted out and Chavo got the title shot.

A New Era of Extreme: With the new alliance of Edge and Chavo going strong, and the duo having the backing of both SmackDown’s and ECW’s General Managers, the deck was stacked against Punk in the title match on the January 22nd episode of ECW. To make things worse, the match was made No DQ and Edge was at ringside. Punk fought hard and seemed to have the match won when he hit Guerrero with the Go2Sleep, but Edge slid into the ring and hit Punk with a Spear, allowing Chavo to pick up the gold and end the reign of Punk.

Punk’s Revenge: From there, CM Punk would seek revenge against the new champion. This started with Punk interrupting Chavo’s Championship Fiesta. Punk disguised himself as one of the members of Chavo’s Mariachi band and drilled Chavo with a guitar shot, knocking the champ out cold. The two would then meet again a week later in a unique Gulf of Mexico match. It was Extreme Rules and the only way to win was to toss your opponent into the Gulf of Mexico. The two brawled throughout the building and outside where Punk would ultimately hit Chavo with a Go2Sleep that sent him flying into the freezing waters. On the 12th of February, Punk had a “tune-up” match against Mark Henry of all people and escaped with a DQ victory. Guerrero tried to get involved but took yet another Go2Sleep as the show went off the air.

The Match: Punk has all the momentum going into this match but this may cause him to be over confident heading into the match. Guerrero has worked mostly ground-based since his return and has frequently looked to target a particular limb of Punk in their matches in the past. Seeing as Chavo did not fair too well in a brawl with Punk, attacking a body part may be Chavo’s best hope. The lower back seems a good target as that would stop Punk from hoisting Chavo up for the Go2Sleep that Chavo has fallen prey too numerous times in recent weeks. Punk is also liable to make mistakes and Chavo being the veteran, should look to capitalize. Punk will look to hit hard and hit fast, his unique offence looking to keep Chavo reeling. Punk is always just a Go2Sleep away from regaining the title. Let’s not forget that several of their matches in the past have ended with a disqualification or count out and this time Chavo has champions’ advantage and would retain should such a situation arise yet again.

Outcome: Wrestling booking 101: the guy with all the momentum going in generally does not get the win in the big match. Don’t believe me? Ask Jeff Hardy.

The Ultimatum: After a six month absence, Ric Flair returned to WWE programming on the November 26 edition of RAW to announce that he would “never retire”. Mr. McMahon retaliated by announcing that the next match Flair lost would result in a forced retirement. Later that night, Flair got a win over WWE Champion Randy Orton following a low blow and roll-up to keep his career alive. He then went on to defeat Triple H by DQ on the New Year’s Eve edition of Raw and William Regal by submission a week later. Ric Flair would then be challenged by MVP who was looking to make a name for himself. The two met at Royal Rumble and Flair once again got the win by submission, forcing Porter to tap out to the Figure 4 Leg lock.

Mr. Kennedy would come out on Raw a night later (January 28) and defeat Brian Kendrick, then he claimed that he asked not to be put in Raw’s Elimination Chamber because he wanted to be the one to end Flair’s career and he would do it at No Way Out. Flair came out onto the stage simply to wish Kennedy luck.

On Friday Night SmackDown on Feb 1, Flair had a Royal Rumble rematch with MVP and once again, Flair was victorious, this time by DQ. MVP then continued to assault Flair after the match, wrapping Flair’s leg around the ringpost before smashing his knee between the post and steel steps. This led to Mr. Kennedy coming out on Raw the next week following a victory over Super Crazy to tell Flair that he would give him the chance to back out of their match. Flair answered the call on the Feb 11 edition of Raw and refused to forfeit the match. The two exchanged words until Kennedy attacked Flar’s knee with a low dropkick.

The Match: Kennedy’s strategy here is pretty obvious – target the knee. The knee is clearly Flair’s weak point, which is pretty ironic considering Flair’s normal game plan would see him go for the knee in order to set up the Figure 4 leg lock. Of course the difference between Flair’s knees and Kennedy’s knees is that Flair’s knees have been brutalized before the match starts and thus Kennedy has a huge advantage going in. But of course, Flair has a huge experience edge whereas Kennedy has very few huge wins in his career and most would argue that this could be his biggest.

The Outcome: Nature Boy wins it and goes on to Mania, which has been the plan all along. The only real question here is how Flair wins. I can’t see him getting a submission win over Kennedy who has been on a role, so I’m thinking that we’ll be in for a DQ or maybe a roll-up win here.

SmackDown’s First Chamber: On the Feb 1 episode of SmackDown, one-night-only General Manager booked an Elimination Chamber match for No Way Out and named these six superstars as the participants. Later on that night, MVP lost to Ric Flair by DQ, Finlay won a tag match with Hornswoggle against Deuce and Domino while Big Daddy V teamed with Mark Henry to face Undertaker and Kane in a tag match. The Brothers of Destruction were victorious. Also that night, Batista rightly pointed out that he was the only man in the match with past experience of the Elimination Chamber.

The following week, all 6 men came to the ring and claimed that they would win in the Chamber match. Undertaker was the last man to enter the ring, and V, Khali and MVP all backed off. A six man tag team match was announced that pitted Finlay, Taker and Batista against MVP, Khali and Big Daddy V. The match was thrown out when things broke down and Undertaker gave MVP a chokeslam. The show went off the air with Finlay Batista and Undertaker staring each other down.

On the final show before No Way Out, Batista defeated MVP with the Batista Bomb, Undertaker beat Big Daddy V with a chokeslam and Finlay toppled Great Khali following a shillelagh shot.

The Match: In a match like this, stamina may well be an important factor and for that reason alone, I do not see Big Daddy V or Great Khali going the distance. MVP is a massive underdog also and would have to pick his spots. He has no experience in such a huge match and doesn’t have the size advantage of Khali or V. Finlay loves to fight and he will have to do that here if he wants to earn a title shot. While the wild unpredictable nature of this match may be right down his alley, Finlay is in there with several much bigger men and will have to stay on top if he wants to survive. Undertaker has the experience edge here and is one of the favourites, being a tremendous all-rounder and great brawler. This kind of match is right up his street. Batista is the only man with experience in this match and that will help him. He excels in these sorts of environments but has probably never faced such a daunting task in his career.

The Outcome: This will come down to Batista and Undertaker and in all likelihood, Taker will win it and go on to WrestleMania. The good news is Batista and Taker will have the chance to finally settle their score as their last match was tainted by Edge interference. Edge/Undertaker has been the plan for a long time now and I see no reason why McMahonagement will have changed anything at this point. What is for sure is that Taker and Batista will have to deliver big time to keep this match entertaining.

Royal Rumble: Mysterio earned himself a World Championship shot against Edge on the first SmackDown of 2008 by winning a Beat the Clock tournament. With a little help from Undertaker and Batista, Mysterio pinned Edge in the shortest amount of time to earn the match at the Rumble. At the Rumble, Mysterio seemed to have the match in the bag when he set Edge up for the 619, but Edge’s lover and SmackDown General Manager climbed up onto the ring apron and took the full force of the move. Rey tried a springboard senton onto Edge, but the champ hit Rey with a spear in mid-air and covered to retain the title.

The Rematch and The Apology: On the Feb 1 edition of SmackDown, Teddy Long filled in as General Manager as Vicky Guerrero could not be there due to injuries sustained at the Rumble. Long announced that Mysterio would get a rematch against Edge at No Way Out with the title on the line. Edge came out to protest but the match was made. Later that night, Mysterio teamed up with CM Punk in a winning effort against Chavo Guerrero and Edge.

Next week, Vicky Guerrero returned in a special edition of the Cutting Edge. Edge called out Rey to apologize to Guerrero. When he came out, Vicky never allowed him to get a word him and slapped him repeatedly. Edge then blindsided Rey but Mysterio came back and sent Edge to the floor. Rey hit a springboard senton from the apron onto Edge onto the announce table. Mysterio returned to the ring and very insincerely apologized to Guerrero before leaving.

On the Feb 15 edition of SmackDown, Edge proposed to Vicky Guerrero who said “yes”. Mysterio interrupted and was again attacked by Edge. Mysterio came back with a 619 and tried a seated senton, but Edge moved and Mysterio inadvertently took out Guerrero once again.

The Match: This match may not even go ahead as Mysterio suffered an injury this past Wednesday night at a live show in Chile. If it does, Edge will obviously attack the injured right arm while Mysterio will once again be a massive underdog.

The Outcome: This one is as close to a certainty as you can get, even more so now we’ve learnt of Mysterio’s injury. Edge retains and goes to Mania.

Return of the Chamber: On the January 28th edition of Raw, William Regal announced that six men would fight for a chance to go to WrestleMania in an Elimination Chamber match. That night, DX reunited for one night only to take on Umaga and Snitsky. DX were victorious and Snitsky took the pin fall. Later that night, Randy Orton and JBL beat Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho in tag team action.

The next week saw Snitsky, Umaga and JBL team up to face Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho. Hardy got the pin for his team after a Swanton Bomb on Snitsky. Also that night, JBL said that he had paid off Umaga to help him on the way to No Way Out and in the Chamber match.

On Feb 11, Chris Jericho battled JBL and got the win with the Codebreaker. Umaga then made his way down to ringside and hit Jericho with the Samoan Spike, then hit JBL with the same move. The main event that night saw Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels put on a hell of a match. Hardy got another win, pinning Shawn after a Swanton. That night, Triple H cut a video promo stating he would win in the Chamber match on Sunday.

Hardy on a role: Jeff Hardy is arguably on the hottest streak of his life right now and it all started on December 17 when he beat Triple H at Armageddon. This win earned him a title shot at Royal Rumble. Hardy pinned Orton in the build up to the match, and also beat Umaga in a Steel Cage on January 6 following a Whisper in the Wind from the top of the 15-foot structure. The next week, Hardy vowed to take Orton out and did just that, hitting him with a Swanton Bomb from Raw’s entrance structure. However at Royal Rumble, Hardy fell prey to a RKO and his title hopes were dashed.

But since then Hardy has rebounded. He got the pin for his team during the aforementioned six-man tag team match two weeks ago and then beat Shawn Michaels in a tremendous match last Monday. None of the participants in the Chamber has as much momentum as Jeff Hardy does.

Bad Blood: Ever since JBL returned to in-ring competition, he and Chris Jericho have been engaged in a war of their own. It started at Armageddon when JBL cost Jericho the WWE title in a match with Randy Orton. Jericho sought revenge and goaded JBL into coming out of retirement. JBL took Jericho out on an episode of Raw by choking him with some television cables and attempting to hang Jericho from a lighting rig. JBL would proceed to address Jericho’s children and call Jericho a coward.

The two met at Royal Rumble in a brutal and bloody fight. Jericho lost by DQ after he drilled JBL with a chair shot. He then got himself some revenge by choking JBL with the same television cables JBL had used three weeks before hand. JBL then got a pin on Jericho in a tag match the next night on Raw. On the Feb 11 edition of Raw, the two went one on one again and this time Jericho pinned Layfield following the Codebreaker.

The Match: This has all the makings of a classic. JBL and Jericho will continue their feud while Hardy will provide a ton of high spots and innovative offense. Michaels will look to pick his spots and hit Sweet Chin Music at any time. Of course an important factor in these matches is order of entry. We know a guy like HBK could go the distance, but can a fairly unproven commodity like Umaga out last these five veterans? Jeff Hardy has always been an underdog but is riding a huge wave of momentum. Triple H and Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels have all been in three of these matches and thus have a big advantage and may be the favourites.

The Outcome: This one will probably come down to Hardy and Triple H. While Hardy is on a role, Triple H is the King of Kings and is going to Mania. Still, I’m sure we’re getting a great match here.

The Last Man Standing Match That Never Was: John Cena and Randy Orton waged a war that lasted several months in the summer of 2007. Their battle would continue to escalate and become more personal when Orton attacked Cena’s father during an episode of Raw. The two were set to meet at No Mercy in October for the WWE Championship in a Last Man Standing match. However, following a win over Mr. Kennedy, Cena was attacked by Orton. Orton threw Cena to the floor and tossed him onto the announce table where he proceeded to deliver a RKO to the champ. This injury would put Cena on the shelf for an estimated 12 months and thus he was forced to forfeit the WWE Championship. At No Mercy, Vince McMahon awarded Orton the title. Orton would go on to lose the gold to Triple H that night, but would regain it later in the night in a Last Man Standing match against The Game. Orton would go on to fend off challenges from numerous opponents and still held the gold going into the Royal Rumble.

The Night That Shocked The World: Royal Rumble 2008 was a pay-per-view that wrestling fans may never forget as it provided one of the most unexpected returns in the history of the company. But before we get to that, let’s talk about the undercard. Jeff Hardy challenged Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in an exhilarating match-up that saw Hardy come within inches of capturing the WWE title, but Orton countered the Twist of Fate into a RKO to retain the championship and solidify his spot in the main event of the next pay-per-view, No Way Out.

Then it was time for the Royal Rumble itself, the match that would determine who would go on to wrestle in the main event of WrestleMania 24. While the favourite, Triple H, dominated the remaining participants, the clock ticked down and the thirtieth man was none other than John Cena. Cena was returning following a devastating pectoral injury that was meant to keep him out for many more months and yet here he was, fighting for a chance to go to Mania.

From there, the outcome was inevitable. Cena was on fire and tossed several men in quick succession including the monstrous Mark Henry. Cena made it to the final three men – Triple H and Batista stood in his way. Batista was soon tossed by The Game before Cena and Triple H exchanged moves until both were physically spent. Triple H attempted a Pedigree but Cena reversed it into a FU, and Cena dumped Triple H over the top rope. The show ended with Cena pointing to the Mania logo in the rafters, signifying that he would go to Mania, but the following night changed everything.

Cena’s Return: The Aftermath: As it was Randy Orton who had put John Cena on the shelf in the first place, Cena did not want to wait until WrestleMania to get his hands on Orton and get a shot at what he thoughts was his WWE Championship. On the January 28th edition of Raw, Cena opened the show and challenged Orton to a match for that night, with the title on the line. After some verbal sparring, Orton declined but said he would wrestle Cena at No Way Out instead. Cena, ever the observationist, noticed that that “still leaves tonight” and promised he would “come get some” before the night was out.

In the main event that night, Orton had some unfinished business to settle in a tag team match. He and John Bradshaw Layfield teamed up against the enigmatic duo of Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho. Before the match, Orton and Layfield agreed that should Cena cause a problem, they would take him out together. Jericho and Hardy looked to have the match won when Y2J locked JBL in the Walls of Jericho, but Orton snuck in and delivered a RKO to Jericho, allowing JBL to get the three count. Cena made his way down to ringside and JBL promptly left Orton standing in the ring. Cena and Orton brawled but Cena quickly went for the FU and hit, leaving Orton lying in the middle of the ring.

Sending Messages: The next week, Orton and Cena met in the ring to sign the contract for their No Way Out match. Orton wanted to ensure Cena could not back out of the match, should he get re-injured before the event. Both men signed before Mark Henry hit the ring to try and take out Cena, but the distraction led to Cena falling prey to a RKO from an opportunistic Orton.

Later that night, Cena and Henry met in arm wrestling contest where Henry vowed to rip Cena’s shoulder out of its socket. Cena was on the verge of victory when Orton tried a sneak attack, but Cena fought him off and then delivered a highly impressive FU to the 400+ pound Mark Henry.

The following week, February 11, Cena and Henry went one-on-one again, only this time it was a straight-up wrestling match. Orton was at ringside and provided guest commentary. Cena made short work of Henry, forcing him to submit to the STFU. Cena then went out to the floor and told Orton that he was 100% and stronger than ever. Cena told Orton that come Sunday, there would be no way out.

The Match: John Cena and Randy Orton have met on a couple of occasions before, most notably last years Summerslam where the two had a phenomenal match. After several near falls and dozens of counters, Cena recovered from a RKO and hit a FU for the win that night. While Orton has been on the role of his life recently, Cena has not had a match go longer than five minutes in nearly four months and may have a little ring rust, which could affect the outcome of the match, in terms of quality and winner. However, Cena is very capable and the two have shown tremendous chemistry in the past, and thus we should expect something great from these two. Orton will look to hit the RKO at any opportunity and could get the win at any moment, which is where Cena’s lack of ring time in recent months may prove to be a problem. Cena will have to be resilient as always and look to wear Orton down before nailing the final blow – a FU or the STFU. Cena is also riding on a huge wave of momentum following his return and Orton has yet to find a way to stop it, so one has to agree that Cena has that advantage heading into the match.

The Outcome: John Cena is the guy WWE wants in their main event of WrestleMania, so the only question is whether we get a multi-man match at Mania or Cena defending against the Chamber winner. While I think certain higher-ups in the WWE want Cena/Trips II, the smart move would be to hold off on any title switch until Mania and thus Orton retains here via shenanigans setting up a triple threat bout at WrestleMania. With that said, John Cena generally doesn’t lose with the title on the line – after all, he never lost the gold in the first place. At No Way Out, we will find out whether Orton was always just a placeholder until Cena came back.