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| Available at Amazon.com |
In one of the wildest cities in America, WWE would present one of the wildest nights in its history. On February 17, 2008, World Wrestling Entertainment brought No Way Out into the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The night would be marked by three championship matches although they wouldn’t be the main reason fans would tune in. It wouldn’t be the escalating feud between Randy Orton and a returning John Cena even though that match would be a spectacle. It wasn’t the conniving Edge defending his title against the Biggest Little Man, Rey Mysterio although this would be a test of sheer will. Not even Chavo Guerrero going up against CM Punk for the ECW belt would make the fans’ emotions run high even though those two competitors would put on a show like no other.
No, there were two much bigger matches on a much grander scale at No Way Out that would make fans watch without blinking.
For the first time in history, two Elimination Chamber matches would be held on the same night. Due to John Cena cashing in his Royal Rumble victory incentive early, there would need to be an opponent for whomever the WWE champion would be come WrestleMania. So an Elimination Chamber match was to be held with six of the top superstars from Raw to determine a number one contender.
Since a Raw superstar won the Royal Rumble match, then there would need to be a way to determine the number one contender for the Heavyweight Title which would be defended at WrestleMania. Needless to say, but the answer to this dilemma was simple. Another Elimination Chamber match. Now six of the greatest superstars from SmackDown would step into the giant structure and try to emerge as the victor. With miles of steel around them and any hope for escape being nonexistent; it really would be No…Way…Out!
~ ECW Championship Match: Chavo Guerrero (c) Vs. CM Punk – Going back to Chavo’s chase for the ECW Title before taking it from Punk; these two have had a great number of matches with one another. I think there was one point where they wrestled each other three weeks in a row on ECW’s Tuesday night program. They put on some fantastic matches, but you can only watch one match so often in such a short amount of time before it just gets old. Still, Punk and Chavo know how to work well together and put on some really great action. With a lot of reversals and some extremely close near falls, these two deliver again.
~ SmackDown Elimination Chamber: Batista Vs. Great Khali Vs. Big Daddy V Vs. MVP Vs. Finlay Vs. Undertaker – The first of the two huge matches and it certainly did not disappoint. There is a great assortment of different characters and talents in this match that it makes for a good showing. The sheer strength of Batista. Undertaker has his immense history and brooding leading him on. Great Khali and Big Daddy V’s sheer size can intimidate anyone. MVP is a rising star that can hold his own any day and against all comers. Finlay is a straight-up brawler that would beat up his own mother if she got in his way.
Four men will start in closed in chambers around the ring while two will begin inside the ring. At timed intervals, the caged superstars will enter at random and be eliminated one by one. The last man standing would emerge as the victor and go on to face whoever held the World Heavyweight Title by WrestleMania. There is just no way of getting through this match without sheer violence, insane amounts of big shots, and surely some blood. These men give it their all and leave nothing left lying on the table. There are truly some awesome sequences and great hits involved in this match so it must be seen.
~ Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair Vs. Mr. Kennedy – Weeks ago, Vince McMahon gave Ric Flair the ultimatum of win or retire. Since then, every single time the legend has stepped into the ring, his career has been on the line. Mr. Kennedy wanted nothing more then to be the person who retired the sixteen time world champ. Mr. Kennedy is by leaps and bounds above all others right now, my favorite wrestling personality. He is cocky and knows he is good, but he has the talent to prove it in the ring and on the mic. This is sort of a dream match for me and it certainly does not disappoint.
~ World Heavyweight Championship Match: Edge (c) Vs. Rey Mysterio – This is a very short match between these two but it isn’t surprising considering that Mysterio was fighting with a torn bicep. I don’t like Rey Rey, but he impressed me by even being in this match at all. It isn’t much, but it still isn’t bad.
~ WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton (c) Vs. John Cena – Here is the match that bothers me most. John Cena cashing in his opportunity here completely made the result of the Royal Rumble pointless and a waste. This match ended up being quite good and is enjoyable to watch, but then the cheap ending really gets a love/hate feeling from me. I hate the way it ended, but didn’t mind the overall outcome of it due to who lost here. The thing that pisses me off most is that the next night on Raw, the match was rendered totally pointless making that two PPVs in a row in which John Cena has destroyed the main event and meaning behind it all.
~ Raw Elimination Chamber: Triple H Vs. Jeff Hardy Vs. Shawn Michaels Vs. Chris Jericho Vs. JBL Vs. Umaga – The second of the two huge matches as the chamber would be lowered around the ring for a second time. Unlike the first match which saw only a few guys in the ring at a time, this chamber match was a little slow moving at first and picked up the pace once all the wrestlers had exited their chambers. Some of the greatest names in wrestling were involved in this match and it is awesome seeing them all face off against one another. Even though the first Elimination Chamber was a bit longer, this was by far the superior match.
The event is shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and it’s the same story with every WWE DVD that comes my way and that is almost perfection. WWE has surely gotten better in their production values and it shows here.
The event is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and all sounds well on this front too. Crowd noise, pyro explosions, and entrance themes surround you through all speakers while the commentary is prominent through the center speaker.
Shawn Michaels Congratulates Ric Flair – HBK and Flair congratulate one another on their matches this evening. HBK on Flair’s victory and Flair on HBK’s pure performance out there. Even though Shawn would have liked the victory, he says that he is “sure he’ll find something to do at WrestleMania.” This is of course a little prelude to the match that would be Ric Flair Vs. Shawn Michaels.
Trailers – The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H: The King Of Kings – There Is Only One
Man oh man, this is one hell of an event. No Way Out had a lot of expectations with the three huge championship matches and the even bigger Elimination Chamber matches. All expectations were surely met and the only match that wasn’t really up to par with the rest of the card is the Edge/Mysterio match, but that is understood due to Mysterio’s injury. Both Chamber matches were just incredibly awesome and really delivered in every aspect of them. The Flair/Kennedy match was just as good as I had hoped for and everything just made this entire event worthwhile. Perhaps WWE knew how good this event was and that is why they didn’t even include jack in the special features. Not even a match from Raw or anything like they usually do. Pathetic. Still, I recommend this DVD to any wrestling fans because the event itself is pure goodness.
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WWE Home Video presents No Way Out 2008. Featuring: Randy Orton, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Undertaker, MVP, JBL, Umaga, Triple H, Batista, Mr. Kennedy, and many more. Running time: 180 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: March 25, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
About Danny Cox
