WWE No Way Out - Quick Match Results

[MadDog]

- Cruiserweight Title: Gregory Helms pinned Super Crazy to retain
- John Bradshaw Layfield def. Bobby Lashley
- Non Title: Matt Hardy and Tatanka def. MNM
- United States Title: Chris Benoit def. Booker T to win the title
- Number One Contender: Randy Orton def. Rey Mysterio
- World Heavyweight Title: Kurt Angle def. The Undertaker to retain

[Maniac]

Who the hell is Bobby Lashley?

[Anthony Ammo]

- Cruiserweight Title: Gregory Helms pinned Super Crazy to retain
This was a fun ten minute opener. Most of the guys looked good, but Psychosis continues to look really off.

- John Bradshaw Layfield def. Bobby Lashley
I'm a big mark for segments where pandemonium breaks out and then turns into a match somehow. Finlay grabs Krystal brings her into the ring, Lashley comes out to save her, brawls with Finlay and then JBL takes advantage of the situation... and his match is immediately started. It felt like something Paul Heyman would book for OVW. I thought all of that was a lot of fun, and unlike many others I liked the actual match. The finish, again, was Finlay being brilliant. He grabbed Tony Chimmel, threw him in the ring, it distracted the ref, and he knocked outh Lashley with the "HEY EVERYONE, IF YOU DON'T GET IT YET... I'M IRISH" stick.

Batista's surprise appearance ruled. He's not going to be back for a while yet, but this appearance popped the crowd, it helped the show feel more important, and it reminded people that Batista will always be looming in the background no matter who the champ is, looking for his shot on his return. It also reinforced how important the title is.

- Non Title: Matt Hardy and Tatanka def. MNM
Well, Tatanka was getting gassed fairly fast and was very slow to climb the ropes... but aside from that the match was actually fine. The crowd clearly didn't give a shit about Tatanka.

- United States Title: Chris Benoit def. Booker T to win the title
Good match, but I didn't get to pay much attention because I was bullshitting with my friend who just showed up for the PPV (he caught up with the rest on the replay). I have a bad feeling that Booker dropping the title means that he will be jobbing to the fucking Boogeyman at Mania.

- Number One Contender: Randy Orton def. Rey Mysterio
Well, we all knew this was going to happen. I didn't really dig the match but like the previous match I didn't get to watch very closely. There were a couple really bad moments, like Orton "stomping" Mysterio's hand and clearly missing by... a lot... on a closeup. He also seemed to take a back bump when he was supposed to take a DDT on a Mysterio counter and it looked really awkward. If it wasn't a mistake and I was just looking at it wrong it was still a very strange and ugly spot.

I can't believe Vicki Guerrero plays along with this shit (she did some backstage stuff with Mysterio before and after his match). Maybe she feels like she can't deny McMahon because they are doing things to help her family? Or maybe she actually is cool with all this? I don't know, but her inclusion makes this all even more fucked up.

Anyway, Rey was all upset, and they did a very cool shot of him walking down a hall towards a bright light while pounding the wall. And I know it looks that way when I write it, but it wasn't supposed to look like "walking into the light" to get to heaven or anything like that... at least, I doubt it. I get the feeling that they MIGHT do a 3-way at Mania because of this scene, as well as Randy's words to Mysterio post match (along the lines of "I'm going to the main event of Wrestlemania... where are you going?")

- World Heavyweight Title: Kurt Angle def. The Undertaker to retain
I was able to watch this much more closely on the replay and it was a very good match, although I thought the "confusion" at the end of the match sort of killed the ending.

Angle's music should have hit right after the three-count. It was clear to anybody with half a brain that Angle had pinned Taker. Tazz looked like an idiot when he had to act like it didn't make sense to him just because Undertaker had Angle in a submission.

I'm also bothered when people hold out in the ankle lock a long time... I realize that most finishing submissions in wrestling would actually finish a guy in about five seconds, but it specifically bothers me when a guy holds out in the ankle lock too long. After just a couple of seconds their ankle should be broken. If they are going to get out of the hold it should be very quickly.

Overall, I thought it was a good PPV.

[Indy]

Didn't Taker break the grapevined ankle lock? That was pretty much the only garunteed finishing move in WWE (don't they call it a Limit Break in Japan?), it would've been cool if it was a move Angle busted out every now and then when he was struggling to beat someone. Shame to lose it to someone like Undertaker.

[Maniac]

I just watched Angle/UT and it was actually pretty good. I wasn't really paying attention for the first 1/3, and UT really didn't impress me (not surprising), but the match built up really well and Angle did a fucking A+ job on the leg throughout the entire thing. Awesome ending too including the tombstone sequence and the final roll-up. Like Anthony said, though, it was so blatantly obvious Angle had won. Tazz shouldn't have had to act confused.