PPV REVIEW: WWF No Way Out 2000

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Event poster
February 27, 2000,
Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut.

The first time the World Wrestling Federation held No Way Out back in 1998, the company had tacked on the words "Out of Texas" to stop people thinking of the initials NWO and thus their biggest competition, World Championship Wrestling.

Two years down the line, having pulled themselves back from the brink of non-existence thanks to their game-changing Attitude Era, the WWF were so far ahead of their competition that they no longer needed to bother worrying about such things.

Instead, they came to us live from their own back yard in Hartford, Connecticut as the Road to Wrestlemania 2000 brought us to No Way Out 2000.

Here's what went down.





Cactus Jack has one goal left

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Jim Ross and Jerry 'The King' Lawler called all the action
Our show tonight began with an engrossing video package in which Cactus Jack told us that after winning countless championships and being involved in countless wars, there was only one thing he hadn't done in his career:

Main event Wrestlemania.

Now, there was only one thing standing in his way:

World Wrestling Federation Champion, Triple H.

If Foley could beat Hunter inside Hell in a Cell tonight, he would become our new champion and go on to defend the title at 'Mania.

Shortly after, as we cut to the arena, announcers Jerry 'The King' Lawler and Jim Ross told us that if Cactus Jack lost, however, his career would be over.

On that ominous note, it was on to our opening contest

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho (W/ Chyna) vs. WWF European Champion Kurt Angle

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Kurt Angle battled Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship
I've said that Chyna was "with" Chris Jericho here, but Jericho didn' even acknowledge her once. This despite the fact that Ross and Lawler told us the two were now friends.

Once bitter rivals, they'd apparently developed a mutual respect for each other after Y2J beat The Ninth Wonder of the World for the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble 2000. Chyna was still super popular, however, so she got a separate entrance to come down and watch this match from ringside.

Speaking of super popular, now-babyface Chris Jericho was incredibly over with the Hartford crowd and received the kind of ovation usually reserved for the likes of Stone Cold and The Rock.

Prior to the bell, he took to the mic to lambast his challenger, Kurt Angle, though not before Angle went into heat-seeking mode by cutting a promo on the local sports team.

Once the two locked up, it developed into the best match Angle and Jericho could have had at this stage in their respective careers.

That's not to say it was the best match they'd ever be capable of having, but Angle was still only a few months into his WWF run after debuting at the 1999 Survivor Series and was still finding his feet. Jericho, meanwhile, had gotten off to a rocky start in the company but was gradually adjusting to the WWF style.

Put together though, the two did delivery an entertaining opening contest with plenty of exciting back-and-forth action.

Towards the finish, Kurt Angle began growing frustrated that he couldn't put Jericho away and first tried to blast him with the European title.

When that failed, he went to the outside to try again with the Intercontinental Championship, only to be confronted by Chyna.

This gave Jericho the opportunity to attack Angle from behind, though this inadvertently knocked The Olympic Gold Medalist into Chyna, who took a nasty spill into the ring steps.

Jericho didn't seem to give two sh*ts about his so-called friend. He completely ignored her and took the fight back to the ring, where he attempted to bring things to an end with a Lionsault. As he came into landing, however, Angle blasted him in the face with the European Championship, a move unnoticed by referee Tim White who had been tending to Chyna on the outside the whole time.

Angle made the cover, White returned to the ring and this one was over.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Intercontinental Champion: Kurt Angle

Post-match, our new Eurocontinental Champion celebrated with his new goal as senior official Earl Hebner came down to try and talk sense into Tim White about the finish. White though was having none of it, and simply stormed off, exasperated.

Thou shalt not mess with The Dudley Boyz

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Michael Cole interviewed The Dudley Boys
Out in the back, Michael Cole reminded The Dudley Boyz that they had been given a tag team title shot against the New Age Outlaws.

D-Von Dudley refuted this, claiming that they hadn't been given anything, but rather had taken what they deserved, just as they would take the titles in our next match.

For his part, Bubba Ray promised that he and D-Von had two words for the champions...3D.

Technically that's one number and a letter, but ah well.

World Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Championship
WWF Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn) vs. The Dudley Boyz (D-Von & Bubba-Ray Dudley)

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - The New Age Outlaws defended the WWF Tag Team title against The Dudley Boys
Unlike some New Age Outlaws matches which dragged on forever so that Road Dogg could play face-in-peril for half a century, this one was kept short and sweet and was all the better for it.

The D-O-Double-G still received his regular ass kicking, and the crowd still popped big time when he made the inevitable hot tag to Billy Gunn but the whole thing didn't last long at all.

Instead, after a couple of minutes of relatively entertaining action, Bubba Ray took out Billy Gunn on the outside with a lead pipe then returned to the ring to help D-Von hit a 3D on Road Dogg.

A three count later, this one was over.
Your Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boyz

Out in the back, Kurt Angle celebrated his victory with fans over at the concession stand, giving JR an excuse to once again remind us that The Olympic Gold Medalist had only won by blasting his opponent in the face with a title belt.

Ross and Lawler also reminded us that Viscera had recently hit a big splash on a 'pregnant' Mae Young, prompting Young's lover, Sexual Chocolate Mark Henry to attack Big Vis earlier on Heat.

Yes, that meant we'd have to sit through a Henry/Viscera match next.

Sexual Chocolate Mark Henry vs. Viscera

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Viscera faced Mark Henry
Fortunately, this one was kept even shorter than the previous match.

Viscera basically threw Mark Henry around like a rag doll -no easy feat in itself- and took him to the outside where he sent him crashing violently into the upturned ring steps twice.

Just when he was about to finish off The World's Strongest Man once and for all, however, Mae Young ran down.

Unsurprisingly, the old lady could do little except get pushed to the ground by the evil Viscera, but at least the distraction gave Henry time to recover.

He met Vis' with a shoulder tackle and a big bodyslam then got the fall.

The match wasn't quite as terrible as you think it might have been, though that's about the best I can say about it.
Your Winner: Mark Henry

Out in the back, Chris Jericho told Lilian Garcia that there was no tension between himself and Chyna since Chyna had nothing to do with the finish of his match. He did, however, still have a problem with 'Kirk Angel' and warned the new champion that if he didn't stop running around the arena celebrating he (Jericho) would make him stop.

Elsewhere in the arena, Billy Gunn sold the lead pipe to the shoulder attack from earlier by wincing in pain and telling EMTs that he couldn't lift his arm.

The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy w/ Terri) vs. Edge & Christian

Winner earns a tag team title shot at Wrestlemania

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Terri turned on The Hardy BoysBefore the match, the newly-rechristened Acolyte Protection Agency came down after being paid by Hardy Boyz manager Terri to protect her in case the Dudley Boyz tried to put her through another table.

The match then got underway and, while it wasn't the highlight of the Edge & Christian/Hardyz rivalry, it was still pretty good in its own right.

The longest match on the card so far, this one built up to a dramatic finale that looked to have Matt & Jeff go over. At the last minute, however, that dastardly little she-devil Terri pushed Jeff off the top rope and gave Matt a slap.

Seizing the advantage, Edge hit the Downward Spiral on Matt Hardy to win the match for his team.
Your Winners: Edge & Christian

Afterwards, Edge and Christian seemed more bewildered than pleased about Teri's betrayal of the Hardyz while Matt and Jeff themselves were, understandably, pretty pissed off.

The two went to confront their new former manager, only for Farooq & Bradshaw to earn their payday and kick some Hardy butt.

As it would turn out, Terri wasn't hiring protection against The Dudleyz at all, but against The Hardyz. That no-good sexy she-devil.

Out in the back, Christian told Michael Cole that while he knew he and Edge were going to win the match, he didn't expect to win it like that. Edge, meanwhile, didn't seem too concerned. He was just happy that he and Christian were heading to Wrestlemania to compete for the tag team titles.

The Big Show has a point

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Lillian Garcia interviewed The Big Show
Back at The Royal Rumble, The Rock had technically won the Rumble match by hanging on to the ropes when The Big Show tried to eliminate him, sending Show to the floor. However, a replay would show, quite clearly, that Rock's feet actually touched the floor first.

Big Show had rightly been claiming that this meant he was the real winner of the Rumble and thus should be challenging for the WWF title at 'Mania. Here, he once again proved his point to Lilian Garcia before vowing to beat The Rock one-on-one tonight and take what was rightfully his.

The Big Boss Man (w/ Prince Albert) vs. Tazz

After getting attacked by Big Boss Man and Prince Albert earlier on heat, Tazz stormed to the ring and tried to destroy Boss Man, but after about a minute, Albert ran in for the DQ.
This was barely even a match.
Your Winner via disqualification: Tazz

Post-match, Boss Man and Albert beat up on Tazz, but the Human Suplex Machine kept coming back for more until a gaggle of officials came in to break it up.

The post-match beat down lasted about three times longer than the match itself.

Meanwhile, out in the crowd, Kurt Angle had found a megaphone and was preaching to the crowd about how great he was.

No Holds Barred
X-Pac (w/ Torri) vs. Kane (w/ Paul Bearer)

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - X-Pac and Torri
A lot had changed since these two last met in a cage match back at Armageddon 1999. Torri had turned her back on Kane and was now X-Pac's girlfriend. Kane had gone mental and been institutionalised but Paul Bearer had busted him out and was now back by his son's side.

Tonight, Kane and X-Pac looked to settle their rivalry once and for all in a tremendously fun effort which proved to be the best thing on the show so far.

Featuring a hilarious bit in which Paul Bearer beat up X-Pac then chased Torri around the ring, the real highlights were simply the two combatants laying waste to each other however they could.

After a relatively short but hugely entertaining contest, Kane drilled Torri with a tombstone, got waffled in the face with the ring steps by X-Pac. 'Pac then kept the steps on Kane's chest as he covered him for the three count.
Your Winner: X-Pac

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Michael Cole interviews The Radicalz
Out in the back, recent WWF arrivals The Radicalz told Michael Cole that they weren't nervous about making their WWF PPV debut and that they would defeat their upcoming opponents, Too Cool and Rikishi.

Sporting a sling for his recent injury, Eddie Guerrero revealed a small lead pipe that he planned to use later.

Rikishi & Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Grandmaster Sexay) vs. The Radicalz (Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn w/ Eddie Guerrero)

Just a few weeks earlier, Chris Benoit had won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at WCW Souled Out 2000. At that same PPV, Dean Malenko had botched the ending of his final WCW PPV and Perry Saturn had enjoyed an entertaining match with Billy Kidman.

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - The Radicalz Head into Battle
Now, all three former members of Shane Douglas' Revolution stable were here with Eddie Guerrero on their first WWF PPV.

At first, it looked like Rikishi and Too Cool were just there to be warm bodies for the three ex-WCW stars to throw around in order to look impressive.

That's mainly because they did look very, very impressive. Yet this soon developed into much more than a one-sided squash match.

Instead, it was a fun back-and-forth battle that saw two different styles of wrestling combine to keep the crowd hot and this writer thoroughly entertained.

After twelve minutes of enjoyable action, Rikishi hit Dean Malenko with a Banzai Drop to ensure that The Radicalz lost their first PPV match.

Not that it seemed to matter. The group clearly shined here.
Your Winners: Rikishi & Too Cool

Post-match, an injured Rikishi tried to leave the ring, but Brian Christopher made the big guy put on the special sunglasses that always made him dance.

Miraculously, 'Kishi's injured leg healed up enough so that he could shake his big fat booty with Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty.

Meanwhile, out in the arena lobby, Eurocontinental Champion Kirk Angel was still celebrating his big victory with the fans.

Prior to the next contest, we got a video package recounting The Big Show's campaign to prove that he was the rightful winner of Royal Rumble 2000.

Winner Earns a Wrestlemania Title Shot
The Big Show vs. The Rock

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - The Big Show faced The Rock
This was about as close as you were ever going to get to a boring match involving The Rock.

For the most part, this was a basic Attitude Era brawl that was saved from being completely dull by the sheer popularity of The Great One. Fortunately, the match was pulled from the brink of mediocrity by a tremendously exciting finish.

After Earl Hebner got bumped, Big Show planted Rock with a clothesline that would have had The People's Champion down for the three count had there been an official there to count it.

Realising what was at stake, Tim White rushed down to do the honours but was pulled out of the ring by Earl Hebner.

On the outside, Hebner and White resumed their argument from earlier and actually came to blows as a returning Shane McMahon raced to ringside to a tremendous ovation from the live crowd.

The crowd quickly turned on McMahon, however, when he took a steel chair and blasted Rock in the face with it.

A three count later and The Big Show had reclaimed what was rightfully his in the first place.
Your Winner: The Big Show

Out in the back, Kurt Angle was seen walking to his car, humming Queen's We Are The Champions and still wearing his wrestling gear.

Before he could stop and think 'I probably should get dressed,' he was attacked by Chris Jericho and Chyna, who shoved him into the trunk of his car.

Finally, we got a video package for Cactus Jack vs. Triple H, and then it was onto the main event.

Hell in a Cell Match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Triple H (w/ Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. Cactus Jack

WWE / WWF No Way Out 2000 - Mick Foley faced Triple H inside Hell in a Cell
If Cactus Jack loses, his career is over

Mick Foley's Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998 may have been his career-defining moment, but this was arguably a much better match.

Building up from a basic brawl into an all-out war, both champ and challenger beat one another to a bloody pulp in a brutal, violent, and utterly captivating contest.

Inevitably, the two men ended up on the outside of the ring, where Cactus first tried to climb up the cage, only to be knocked down and sent crashing through an announce table.

Never one to stay down for long, he finally made it to the top of the cage where he set a barbed-wire-covered 2x4 on fire and smashed his opponent in the face with it.

Yet when he tried to piledrive The Game onto the evil weapon, the champion reversed it with a back body drop that sent Cactus up into the air, crashing through the cage and landing in the ring with such force that it broke the ring too.

It was a truly awesome, heart-stopping spot, but even that wasn't enough to put away the challenger.

With a never say die attitude, Cactus Jack climbed valiantly to his feet but succumbed to a pedigree and lost the match.
Your Winner and still WWF Champion: Triple H

Afterwards, a bloody and beaten Cactus Jack received a standing ovation as he refused medical treatment and walked slowly to the back as Jim Ross gave him an impassioned farewell.

It was an emotional moment and a fitting end to the career of Mick Foley.





Except, of course, that wasn't to be the end of Mick Foley's career. As we all know by now, he would be back in action just a few weeks later and would get his Wrestlemania payday moment after all.

Speaking of moments, No Way Out 2000 was full of memorable ones. From Angle becoming the Eurocontinental Champion to Terri's heel turn, The Radicalz looking awesome, Shane McMahon's return and that incredible main event, there was an awful lot to enjoy about this show.

So far, the World Wrestling Federation were having a great run of PPVs in the year 2000.



For other 2000 pro wrestling reviews see:
More WWE No Way Out reviews


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