No Way Out 2008 Recap

ECW Title: Champ Chavo Guerrero vs. CM Punk - The crowd turned on CM Punk when he imitated Chavo’s shimmy and three amigos move that are a part of his tribute to his late uncle, Eddie Guerrero. Chavo blocked Punk’s attempted huracanrana off the top rope and hit the frog splash to get the win. Winner: CM Punk

- The announcers state that Vickie Guerrero is at home tonight because of the injuries she suffered on Friday night when Rey Mysterio accidentally hit her. Mike Adamle interviews Rey and they talk about the torn biceps muscle he suffered. Boxing star Floyd Mayweather Jr. joins Rey and wishes him luck tonight.

SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match: The Undertaker vs. Batista vs. Finlay vs. Great Khali vs. MVP vs Big Daddy V - This match features a four-minute interval between the pods opening. The match starts with the Undertaker and Batista. Big Daddy V was let out of his pod and was pinned by Batista after he received a DDT on the steel floor by the Undertaker. A few seconds later, the Great Khali was allowed out of his pod. The Great Khali tapped out to the Undertaker’s still unnamed submission maneuver. Finlay entered the match and was followed into the ring four minutes later by MVP. MVP used his medallion and chain to bloody the Undertaker, but the dead man gave MVP a reverse choke slam off the top of a pod which allowed Finlay to pin MVP. Hornswoggle appeared from under the steel and gave Finlay the shillelagh. It didn’t help him though because the Undertaker gave Finlay the choke slam onto the steel floor and scored the pin. After a back and forth battle between the two men, the Undertaker was able to hit the tombstone piledriver on Batista to get the win. As a result of this match, the Undertaker will meet the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XXIV. Winner: The Undertaker

- Edge and the Edgheads are in the back. Edge tells them that they have to step up tonight because Vickie Guerrero, the GM of SmackDown, isn’t there tonight. Interim SmackDown GM, Teddy Long enters the room and informs them that the Edgeheads are banned from ringside tonight.

- Footage from Ashley and Maria’s trip to the Playboy mansion is shown. Hugh Hefner tries to talk her into posing for his magazine. Tomorrow night, Maria will have to choose between appearing in the magazine or being with Santino Marella.

Ric Flair's Career on the Line: Ric Flair vs. Mr. Kennedy - Flair entered this match with his leg taped heavily due to the injury he sustained at the hands of MVP. Kennedy dominated this match by working on Flair’s bad leg. However, the 16-time World Champion will live to fight another day because he made Kennedy submit to the figure-four leg lock. Winner: Ric Flair

- Vince McMahon mocks Finlay while he is in the medical room. He taunts him by telling him about the beating he has prepared for Hornswoggle tomorrow night.

World Heavyweight Championship: Champion Edge vs. Rey Mysterio - Rey entered the ring with a legitimately torn right biceps muscle. Rey hit the 619 but was unable to capitalize on it due to his injury. Rey tried a move off the middle rope but was caught in mid-air by the spear. Edge made the pin. While Rey was getting medical attention, Winner: Edge

- The Big Show came out to the ring after being away from the WWE for over a year. He has lost 108 pounds. After talking ot the crowd for a few minutes, he sees Rey being attended to at ringside and goes on the attack. He then taunted Floyd Mayweather, who was sitting in the front row. As he was about to give Rey the choke slam, Floyd and his huge entourage entered the ring. Big Show shoved Mayweather and then went on his knees to give him a free shot. Mayweather hit him with a few punches to the face that bloodied the Big Show. Mayweather and his entourage ran away with the Big Show following him through the crowd. He was stopped from chasing Mayweather by Shane McMahon and was escorted to the back with a blood coming out of his mouth and nose.

WWE Championship: Champion Randy Orton vs. John Cena - After Orton escaped from the STFU, Orton went outside the ring and claimed that he had a knee injury. He demanded that the referee count him out. When Cena went outside the ring, Orton popped right up and gave him the RKO. Cena got back into the ring at the count of nine. Orton then slapped the referee in the face to purposely get himself disqualified so he could retain the title. Winner: John Cena by DQ

RAW Elimination Chamber Match: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy vs. JBL vs. Umaga - The match starts with Michaels against Jericho. Umaga got into the match and delivered a double Samoan Drop to his opponents. JBL is the next man to enter the match and he is followed into the ring four minutes later by Triple H. Jericho pinned JBL after hitting driving JBL’s chin into his knees. After being eliminated, JBL got two steel chairs and reentered the cage. JBL whacked everyone in the head with a chair except for Hardy, who was still in his pod. After Hardy entered the match, everyone hit a big move on Umaga. Jericho pinned Umaga after he was hit by a swanton bomb off the top of a pod by Hardy. Michaels then hit Jericho with the sweet chin music and Hardy made the pin. Triple H then gave Michaels the pedigree and made the pin. Triple H won the match a few minutes later when he gave Jeff Hardy the pedigree on a steel chair that JBL introduced to the match. As a result, Triple H earned the right to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXIV. Winner: Triple H

What does this event mean for the future?
They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That doesn’t hold true for this event. Everything that happened in Vegas tonight will be felt in Orlando in six weeks.
The big news to come out of this show is the involvement of Floyd Mayweather Jr. For those that don’t know who he is, the undefeated boxer is regarded by many to be the best pound-or-pound boxer in the business. This is the angle that will get the mainstream to care about and talk about wrestling over the next few weeks.
On the SmackDown side of things, Edge will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against the Undertaker. The men have fought at WrestleMania 21 times and neither man has been pinned or forced to submit.
As far as RAW goes, Triple H earned the right to face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. Due to the controversial ending of the WWE Championship match tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised to see John Cena added to the match at WrestleMania XXIV.

Overall Thoughts
For the second month in a row, the WWE was able to shock fans that purchased their PPV events. No one expected to see the Big Show and Mayweather angle happen. It is moments like that I love as a wrestling fan.
As far as the rest of the show, every match ranged from good to fantastic. The second elimination chamber match was the match of the night and despite the controversial ending, the WWE Championship match was fun and was much better than any of the previous matches Orton and Cena had last year.

Match Results

• ECW Title: Champion Chavo Guerrero beat CM Punk
  
• Elimination Chamber: The Undertaker beat Batista, Finlay, MVP, Big Daddy V, and the Great Khali to earn a World Heavyweight Championship Match at WrestleMania XXIV
  
• Flair’s Career on the Line: Ric Flair beat Mr. Kennedy
  
• World Heavyweight Championship: Champion Edge beat Rey Mysterio
  
• WWE Championship: John Cena beat Champion Randy Orton by DQ
  
• Elimination Chamber: Triple H beat Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, Umaga, and JBL to earn a WWE Championship Match at WrestleMania XXIV

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