No Way Out

Card Information:
 Held in: GUND ARENA
Location: OHIO, UNITED STATES
          on February 2005 at 7:30pm

Matt Hardy pinned Taka Michinoku with the Twist of Fate in 0:10:50.
Rating: **** 1/4
(Matt Hardy won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.)
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In an excellent opener, Matt Hardy picked up the controversial victory to once
again become Cruiserweight Champion.


Scott Steiner pinned Goldberg after a side suplex in 0:06:11.
Scott Steiner suffered a back injury. He will be out for approximately 3 cards.
Rating: *** 1/2
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In a surprise result, Scott Steiner was able to defeat Goldberg.  However, Big
Poppa Pump was clearly injured during the match, which will result in him 
taking some time off.


William Regal and Steven Richards defeated Val Venis and Lance Storm when Stevie
 pinned Venis with the Stevie-T in 0:22:14.
Rating: *** 1/2
(William Regal and Steven Richards won the WWE Tag Team Championship.)
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After a hard fought contest, we had our second title change of the night, as
Steven Richards and William Regal became the tag champs.  Lance Storm was
visibly upset over the loss.


Edge defeated Kurt Angle via pinfall in 0:05:39.
Rating: *** 1/4
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Edge sneaked yet another victory over Angle, but managed to get away from the
ring before the clearly angry Olympian could launch another revenge attack.


Booker T pinned Triple H with the Harlem Side Kick in 0:15:09.
Rating: *** 1/4
(Booker T retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship.)
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Against the odds, Booker T was able to retain the Intercontinental Title, thus
leaving one very pissed-off Game in his wake.


Interview:
HBK's last chance...
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Shawn Michaels has some last minute comments for Randy Orton.


[WWE Title Shot Tournament - Final]: No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Randy Orton pinned Shawn Michaels with the RKO in 0:11:09.
Rating: ****
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There was no disputing it this time, Orton cleanly beat Michaels to end HBK's
Wrestlemania dream.


The Undertaker pinned The Big Show after a small package in 0:24:31.
Rating: *** 1/4
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A hard fought and brutal battle.  Where raw power failed, wrestling prevailed,
as the Undertaker resorted to a small package to finally beat the Big Show.


Interview:
Target nWo
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Shane McMahon shows extreme confidence, as he prepares to go one on one with
the leader of the nWo, Hollywood Hogan.


No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Shane McMahon pinned Hollywood Hogan with the Shane-O-Mac Terminator in 0:12:22
.
Rating: *** 1/4
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Never giving up, and never surrendering, Shane O Mac did the impossible and
defeated Hollywood Hogan.  Could the end of the nWo truly be near?


First Blood No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Steve Austin defeated Kane in 0:04:54.
Rating: ***
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It wasn't short, it wasn't pretty, but by god, Austin won the match.


Interview:
Benoit's dream...
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Chris Benoit gives a last statement to Brock Lesnar prior to the ladder match.


No-Countout-No-DQ-Ladder Match:
Chris Benoit defeated Brock Lesnar in 0:18:13.
Rating: **** 1/4
(Chris Benoit won the WWE Championship.)
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Showing the true heart of a champion, Chris Benoit regained the WWE title in
a hard-fought ladder match against Brock Lesnar.



Card rating: *** 1/2


Match observations: 

In a pretty darn good PPV, three championships changed hands, and the nWo was
rocked to its very foundation.  Chris Benoit recaptured the WWE title from
Brock Lesnar, and WWE Commissioner Shane McMahon defeated the group's leader
Hollywood Hogan in a surprisingly good brawl.  Shane has promised to reveal
his plan to rid WWE of the nWo by Wrestlemania tomorrow night on Raw, so it
should be very interesting to find out what that is.

Another nWo defeat came as the Big Show was defeated by the Undertaker.  It
wasn't perhaps the most convincinb of victories for the Dead Man, but a win is
a win, whichever way you look at it.  

While Scott Steiner did get a shock victory for the nWo over Goldberg, it was
at a price, as Big Poppa Pump picked up a back injury when he collided with
the referee.  Goldberg was hoping to get at Randy Orton at Wrestlemania, but
tonight's loss, and the fact that Orton is now scheduled to wrestle Benoit in
the main event for the WWE Title has put paid to this.

Orton's victory, the one shining moment for the nWo, was also a major moment
of disappointment for Shawn Michaels, as HBK failed in his bid to reach the
Wrestlemania main event, despite a long, hard-fought journey.  There can be
no arguments though, as Orton's victory was completely clean.

So now we enter the final stretch on the Road to Wrestlemania, with Randy Orton
versus Chris Benoit as our headlining match.  More matches will follow in the
days and weeks to come, as we count down to the biggest date on the calendar.

Next Show: Raw