No Way Out Preview

Editor's note: Appologies for the latesness of this post. We had some connectivity issues the last 48 hours. Andrew Gray actually submitted this piece yesterday.

For this week’s column, I’ve decided to preview this Sunday’s No Way Out pay per view - it’ll allow me to comment on the current programs, predict winners/losers and the quality of the matches, and predict some of the matches for the year’s biggest event, WrestleMania 24. In other words, expect me to go off on a lot of tangents.

As of Friday afternoon on wwe.com, the card for No Way Out is as follows . . .

Randy Orton vs. John Cena - WWE Championship
This match should have been saved for the Raw main event at WrestleMania and Jeff Hardy should have been given another PPV shot at the title for 2 reasons:

1. Hardy is the most popular wrestler on Raw at the moment

2. The Rumble stipulation states that the winner gets a title shot AT WRESTLEMANIA! That’s part of what makes the Rumble match so special - it’s not like a regular No. 1 contender’s match. But now it pretty much is.

With that being said, Orton and Cena have cut some decent promos on each other leading up to the match, and the match itself should be passable. But then again, the story basically writes itself: Orton is the hottest heel on Raw and Cena is hell-bent on recapturing the belt he never truly lost. Even the fed couldn’t screw this up right? Well . . . it would be nice for Cena to show a little weakness every once and awhile, especially coming off a major surgery. Must he always be Superman? Why not play off his injury and make it seem like he’s less than 100% going into the PPV? It would have been the perfect time to put some doubt in the minds of fans. Having him overpower the “World’s Strongest Man” in an arm-wrestling contest was overkill. I can’t think of a time during Cena’s reign where I ever thought he was going to drop the strap - and then he never actually did.

As far as the result goes, I see a screwjob finish that will have Orton retain the title while still having Cena in the title picture come WrestleMania (Cena can’t lose clean, remember?).

Edge vs Rey Mysterio - World Heavyweight Championship

Mysterio suffered a biceps injury at a house show in Chile, which could potentially put this match in jeopardy. But word is, the match is still on. Unfortunately for the fed, it doesn’t seem like there’s too many viable replacements anyways - Rey only got another shot at the title because there was no one else. Undertaker? They’re saving the Edge-Taker match for WrestleMania. Batista? Technically, he’s not allowed another shot at Edge; besides, it’s “been there, done that” as far as another Edge-Batista match is concerned. Plus, Batista sucks (just had to throw that in there). Finlay? He’s got Hornswoggle and Vinnie Mac to deal with right now. Kane is the most likely replacement to face Edge if Rey can’t go - he’s not doing too much these days.

Even if this match is a throw-away, their match at the Rumble was good, and this one will be too. Rey doesn’t get much love from Tha O Show, but I’ll give credit where credit is due. He consistently has entertaining matches; he’s arguably the 2nd most popular wrestler on Smackdown (behind Taker); and he sells a lot of merch. And unlike Cena, he gets mostly favourable responses from the crowd (except for at MSG and at the One Night Stand PPVs - but those old-school ECW fans also thought the Mike Awesome-Masato Tanaka matches were “awesome,” so clearly they don’t know what they’re talking about). Essentially, Rey deserves the spotlight - but getting 2 shots at the Heavyweight Title after losing clean to Edge’s finisher at the Rumble is a little much.

Raw Elimination Chamber Match
I’m assuming this match will occur after Smackdown’s offering, which likely means the crowd will be dead for this match and the workers will have to put themselves through hell to get a reaction. But then again, the Smackdown boys could be told to scale back on the major bumps or the match could be cut short. Either way, the idea of having two EC matches on the same card is dumb, but that’s been discussed aplenty on Tha O Show, so I don’t need to discuss it further here.

I see Triple H going over - you know he has to get in on the WrestleMania main event money after missing out last year. It would be interesting to see Hardy win, as the
response is clearly still there for him as a main event player, but it’s not going to happen. Hardy will likely end up in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match in Orlando - and if so, that would make 3 consecutive PPVs where he doesn’t defend the Intercontinental title. I’d forgotten he was the champ until this past week - he doesn’t even carry the belt with him to the ring half the time. Here’s an idea: put the belt back on Uma(n)ga and build him up as the monster-heel champ again. And while we’re at it, bring back Armando Estrada as his manager and make Tommy Dreamer the GM of ECW. Done and done.

I see Umaga and Y2J joining Hardy in MITB, and maybe JBL too, but he doesn’t seem to fit the ladder match mold. And if internet rumours are true (and they always are), Shawn Michaels will be facing off with the Nature Boy at WrestleMania. Here’s hoping this particular rumour is true - at this point, no one in the WWE could have a better match with Flair than HBK.

Smackdown Elimination Chamber Match
There isn’t much more to say about this match that I haven’t said already. I expect it to be the shorter of the 2 EC matches, and I expect Taker to win. This will set up what should be a really good main event at WrestleMania. Edge will play the cowardly heel in the weeks leading up to Mania to perfection and both will go all-out in the match itself. Undertaker is unbeaten at the big show and Edge’s only loss came with last year’s MITB - the story writes itself, and they’re two of the best workers in the fed.

As for the other competitors: Finlay will end up in a No Disqualification Match with McMahon in the Citrus Bowl. It should be great too. Sure, it won’t be a technical classic, but watching Finlay be stiff with Vince for 15 minutes will be a lot of fun. And hopefully, Matt Hardy returns to face MVP at Mania for the U.S. title to blow-off the feud that started months and months ago. As for the others, I don’t care enough to predict where they’ll be on the card in Orlando. But let me re-state something that Dan-e-o said weeks ago on the radio show: Mark Henry and Big Daddy V should be a permanent part of the tag team division. Neither man deserves to be in the main event picture.

Chavo Guerrero vs. C.M. Punk - ECW Championship
The token ECW PPV match should be a good one - only we’ve seen it for the past 100 straight weeks on Sci-fi (or not seen it). But it’s not like fans are buying WWE PPVs for the ECW match anyways. And not that it’s saying much, but this feud has been the lone bright spot on ECW, and the Gulf of Mexico match from 2 weeks ago was good, if only because it was different. I predict Punk will win back the strap for a few reasons:

1. this feud can’t possibly continue and I don’t see the fed having Chavo in their long-term plans as champion.

2. there are more heels with which Punk can work on ECW than there are faces for Chavo.

I think this will lead to a Punk-Benjamin match at WrestleMania, which will certainly please many smarks out there. But I must say, I’m in the minority as far as opinions on Benjamin are concerned - granted, he’s a great athlete (as J.R. made sure to point out in every match Benjamin had on Raw), but he lacks psychology and character, and his promos are bland. But hey- even Fatty could be No. 1 contender for the ECW title once he gets his training done, so I guess Benjamin isn’t a bad option.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Ric Flair - Career Threatening Match
From my very first column, I’ve made it clear that Kennedy isn’t my favourite wrestler. But he is improving - his promos have seemed more from the heart (ie, less scripted) and his ring work has improved too (that tends to happen when you work with HBK). It would make sense for Flair to give Kennedy the rub and put him over; Kennedy could say for months, even years, that he was the man to retire Ric Flair. But we all know this retirement storyline is heading for a climax at WrestleMania, hopefully in a match with HBK. Kennedy, on the other hand, will probably be in the running to repeat as winner of MITB. The Nature Boy will win clean with the figure four - if MVP can lose clean, then so can Kennedy.

**Bonus prediction: Big Show returns in an EC match by coming through the bottom of the ring like he did at the February PPV in 1999, in the steel cage match between Stone Cold and Vince McMahon. Just a hunch.

To recap, here are my prediction for No Way Out:

• Orton retains the WWE Championship via DQ.
• Edge retains the World Heavyweight Championship via pinfall.
• Triple H wins the Raw Elimination Chamber Match via pinfall.
• Undertaker wins the Smackdown Elimination Chamber Match via pinfall.
• C.M. Punk wins the ECW Championship via pinfall.
• Ric Flair survives to fight another day via submission.

And here’s my prediction for some of the matches at WrestleMania 24:
• Edge vs. Undertaker - World Heavyweight Championship
• Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. Triple H - WWE Championship
• Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair - Career Threatening Match
• Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Jeff Hardy, Y2J, Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero
• Finlay vs. Vince McMahon - No Disqualification
• MVP vs. Matt Hardy - U.S. Championship
• C.M. Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin - ECW Championship
• Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes vs. Santino Marella and Carlito - Tag Team Championships
*notable omissions: Batista, JBL, Kane, Big Daddy V and Mark Henry - perhaps a returning Big Show will face JBL or Batista, depending on which EC match he interferes.

As always, O-sters, I encourage your feedback, including your own predictions on Sunday’s show as well as your predictions on matches for WrestleMania 24.

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