Much like the Royal Rumble, I don't know how much a long intro is really necessary. For most wrestling fans, No Way Out 2004 contains the most beloved and iconic match they've ever witnessed. After almost two decades in the business, surviving serious addiction issues, chaotic and harmful booking in multiple promotions, and a straight-up firing from the biggest wrestling company in the world, Eddie Guerrero finally reaches the mountaintop on this night. After Chris Benoit, the Royal Rumble winner, elected to jump ship to Raw, the WWE Championship picture has been left wide open, and Eddie, as unlikely a main event star in the WWE as had ever been seen to this point, has now elevated to take his rightful spot as the face of the blue brand. Win or lose, just the prospect of Eddie mixing it up in a pay-per-view main event with Brock Lesnar would be enough to get most fans to pay up, but to their credit, the WWE went above and beyond with Eddie on this night to create several beloved moments that will stand the test of time.
- No Way Out 2004 comes to you from the renowned Cow Palace, technically located in Daly City, California, although ignores this fact and just calls it San Francisco, which in fairness is probably where most of the country thinks it actually is. This is a SmackDown-branded show, so Michael Cole and Tazz are on the call.
- The night opens with a promo from Torrie Wilson and Sable, where they thrill the crowd with some innuendo, before we go to a handicap match for the WWE tag team titles, as Rikishi and Scotty Too Hotty defend against the Basham Brothers and Shaniqua. This match is built on drawing heat for Shaniqua, as the black dominatrix stops a Worm from Scotty with a clothesline, and narrowly avoids taking a Stinkface. The booking continues to build anticipation for Shaniqua getting hers, as Doug and Danny save her from a Banzai Drop by spiking Rikishi with a dual powerbomb, and when Shaniqua finally takes a bump off a Samoan Drop, it's met with a decent pop. The Banzai Drop follows, as Rikishi and Scotty retain. All things considered, this was about as good as it could ever be. Shaniqua's limitations were hid well, Rikishi and Scotty's Attitude Era-esque act was still over, and even though Doug and Danny did drag it down when they were in control, they didn't lose the crowd, which is impressive considering how boring they are.
- Jamie Noble and Nidia have gotten a lot of airtime in the cruiserweight division over the past year and a half, with their romance going through several twists and turns, with Jamie inheriting a fortune before Nidia was blinded by Tajiri, and the couple finally fell apart in the aftermath of Jamie's loss at the Rumble. Nidia's sight has recovered, and to get revenge on Jamie for his manipulation while she was blinded, their match here at No Way Out has the added stipulation that Jamie must be blindfolded. Noble ends up wearing more of a hood than a blindfold in this match (thank goodness it wasn't the same type of flimsy hoods that TNA used for Lockdown 2007), and with that massive disadvantage, it's no surprise that Jamie gets run in circles by his ex-girlfriend here. Nidia obviously can work, her dropkick and bulldog in this match were both well executed, but this is a comedy affair, and their shtick didn't do much to win over the crowd or me. Nidia pulls down Jamie's pants, and mocks humping him in the air, but Noble gets his revenge by cheating, yanking off his hood with Nidia on the top rope, biel tossing her off and forcing her to tap to a guillotine choke.
- The World's Greatest Tag Team and the APA scrap in the second and final tag match of the night up next, a psychologically-sound match where Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas pick apart Bradshaw and Faarooq. They've already done damage to Bradshaw's right arm, the one he uses for the Clothesline From Hell, in the lead up to this match, and Faarooq suffers a similar fate with some vicious offense on his left arm. Shelton and Charlie are really great at working a limb, and even though the crowd doesn't produce much noise while they're in control, the folks watching are woken back up by Bradshaw's tremendous hot tag. It includes a hellacious big boot, eat your heart out, Test, and a ring-shaking powerbomb to Benjamin, which Haas has to break up. Bradshaw keeps rolling with a Last Call (middle rope fallaway powerslam) to Benjamin, which gets a big pop, and he follows it right up with a Clothesline From Hell to Haas. But Benjamin is still the legal man, and Bradshaw is distracted by the pain from his arm, allowing Shelton to strike with a superkick for the win. This wasn't the most exciting tag match you'll ever see, but it was a huge improvement from the previous two matches. I loved Benjamin and Haas' offense, even if it was a bit slow at times, and I really can't say enough good things about that Bradshaw hot tag, he's one of the best out there when he gets rolling.
- Goldberg has been given a front row ticket to attend No Way Out by Sherriff Steve Austin, and decides that now is the time to turn up, entering the arena flanked by security guards to a loud pop. Paul Heyman turns up to warn him about staying in his seat, but Goldberg quickly hops the railing after Brock Lesnar enters and wants to throw down. Goldberg wins the brawl, planting Lesnar with a Jackhammer to another sizeable pop, before being arrested and removed from the arena. Hardcore Holly, still sort of hanging around the title picture, makes his entrance and Lesnar bails. I really enjoy how these characters and stories all weave together, as we get to see Heyman and Lesnar briefly interact, Goldberg got some shine, and Holly was also there.
- Speaking of ole Hardcore, he hangs around for a match with Rhyno, which is an offshoot from Holly's time targeting Lesnar, as Heyman aligned with Rhyno, his former employee in ECW, to help protect Brock. Holly and Rhyno proceed to have an absolute stinker, working a painfully slow match which is filled with way more submission holds for two men more associated with intense, hardcore brawling. I have no clue why this wasn't just a Street Fight or No DQ match, there was nothing else like that on the card, these really needed to have the ability to take some shortcuts, because they simply weren't interesting when trying to wrestle each other. During Rhyno's work on Holly's midsection, Michael Cole gets so bored of the match that he throws to the Spanish announce team, as Hugo Savinovich and Carlos Cabrera call a solid 30 to 40 seconds of the contest completely on their own. No disrespect to those guys, but no one in the US was going to buy this show to listen to the Spanish language announcers, this is an effing trainwreck. Both men do win the crowd back somewhat when they start trading big moves down the stretch, where Holly is sent to the floor after taking a Gore, before reversing an Irish whip to nail an Alabama Slam for the win.
- Business really starts to pick up from here, as before we get to the final three matches on the card, the crowd goes nuts when The Undertaker's gong sounds over the PA system. A graphic pops up to promise that in 28 days (that's the length of time until WrestleMania), "the dead will rise again". There's a real palpable sense of excitement surrounding the return of The Undertaker at the moment, with fans eager to see him finally ditch his biker phase, and it looks like they'll get their wish.
- The crowd is now red hot for the Cruiserweight Championship match, as Rey Mysterio defends against Chavo Guerrero, yet another offshoot match of a different feud, as Rey is standing up for Eddie after a vicious backstage attack by Chavo. It's hard for me to review this match without just listing cool moves, of which there are plenty, as Chavo and Rey have unreal chemistry and seamlessly transition from one exciting spot to another. Both men have managers who have involvement in this match, with Chavo's father, Chavo Sr., getting knocked out by Rey's buddy, boxer Jorge Paez, who then gets ejected. Rey's offense is as innovative and enthralling as ever, with highlights including an awe-inspiring spingboard plancha, a "Superman" spot where he bridges through Chavo and gets a roll up, and a couple stiff shots to the head, with a high-impact facebuster and a DDT off the apron. Chavo is efficient and brutal as he attacks Rey's midsection, hitting a cool inverted suplex, a Gory Special, and the highlight of the match, a perfectly executed top rope gutbuster. That final move was a staple of the various matches these two men had against each other, and it always looked great. My jaw was left on the floor after Chavo managed to roll through Rey's springboard seated senton into a half Boston Crab, my goodness that was great, and the crowd popped huge for it, as well as Rey getting the bottom rope to force a break. Unfortunately, we don't get a clean finish, as Chavo Sr. finally recovers from Paez's right hand, shoving Rey off the top rope, and Chavo Jr. gets a roll up to steal the gold. That half Crab really should've been the finish, Chavo could've used a decisive win after getting trounced by Eddie at the Rumble, but the ending didn't ruin this fabulous match for me.
- Tonight's main event will determine whom will enter WrestleMania 20 as the WWE Champion, but with Chris Benoit on Raw, SmackDown also needs to find a new number one contender, which they plan to do in a triple threat match between Kurt Angle, John Cena, and The Big Show. This match follows the formula that I know a lot of fans hate, with the three men mostly splitting into a series of singles matches, even starting with a sequence where Angle, Cena, and Show wrestled each other individually, with the third man just standing there, doing nothing. It's an odd sight, but thankfully, it doesn't last too long, and we get some entertaining action as Angle and Cena try to whittle down the giant. After a few minutes of Show tossing his weight around, Angle and Cena finally turn the tide after a missile dropkick from the former and an FU from the latter, very impressive considering Cena's knee is still messed up after his ugly elimination at the Rumble, with his right leg currently covered up by a massive brace. The three men trade one big move after another down the stretch, with a couple chokeslams by Show, a slick counter of an FU into the Ankle Lock by Angle, and a Five Knuckle Shuffle from Cena. In the end, it's Cena bad knee that allows Angle to get to WrestleMania, taking out the leg with a chop block and forcing Cena to tap to the Ankle Lock. This was a really solid triple threat match, not on the same tier as the Vengeance 2003 main event, but still great, especially considering that one of the three competitors was basically on one leg.
- Main event time, as Eddie Guerrero battles Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship in front of an incredibly partisan crowd, who desperately hope that a title change will be on the cards. Eddie's entrance features a famous crowd shot where his name is spelled out in block red letters, so simple as a sign goes but utterly iconic. Eddie and Brock are going long on this night, with a final bell time totaling over half an hour, and I thought both men did a fabulous job filling that time. Brock is at peak form on this night, cycling through his best offense, with huge suplexes and damaging knee strikes, while Eddie fights through the awesome power of the champion to keep up a relentless attack on the leg. Both men really never let up the intensity for the first 15-20 minutes, and have a couple great sequences, including one where Brock nearly takes Eddie's head off with a heck of a clothesline, and a little while later, Guerrero demonstrates his mat wrestling skill with a leg grapevine that turns into an STF. Eddie gets a Figure Four in later, but despite how much damage he's done to the leg, Brock just keeps pressing forward. Both men finally start to slow down inside of the final ten minutes, with Brock controlling Eddie on the canvas, applying a gutwrench hold, and for a brief moment here, this match started to lose my interest, but they quickly get it back as they finally get to the highest drama. Three Amigos from Eddie, but the Frog Splash misses, and the fairytale story seems to go up in smoke, as Brock looks to end it with the F-5. Eddie, though, gets a lucky or created break, I'm not which is correct in kayfabe, as his foot catches the ref on the way down, leaving no one to make the three count. With the official down, massive Goldberg chants fill the arena, and the man himself enters to cut Lesnar in half with a vicious Spear. The booking plays around with the crowd a little bit more after this, as Lesnar kicks out of the following cover by Guerrero, who again misses the fatal blow when he can't hit Brock with the WWE title belt. Once again, it seems like Eddie has missed his chance, as again he's in position for the F-5, but at the last second, the challenger counters into a DDT on the gold, and the crowd erupts. The noise crescendos as Eddie scales to the top rope, and delivers the most famous Frog Splash in wrestling history, as at long last, we have a new WWE Champion. This was everything it needed to be, an intense brawl that gave way to pure emotion, heartbreak, and joy, in a way that's difficult to for me to even explain with words. Even over 17 years later, this still stirred my soul, and the scenes that followed were pure bliss.
- I'm absolutely certain that ever single person inside the Cow Palace was screaming their lungs out as Eddie celebrated, it sure sounded that way, and we get another in a series of iconic images as Eddie climbs atop the turnbuckle, bearing the title and a California state flag, I've never been prouder of my time spent living on the West Coast than I was at that moment. Michael Cole sees us out with a few of his finest commentary lines, proclaiming that he had chills and goosebumps, and that Eddie will no longer be known as an addict, but as champion, and you're goddamn right, Michael.
9/10
2004 Average: 8.33
There's a saying that started to gain relevance in the wrestling world earlier in this year, thanks to explosion-related chicanery outside of the WWE, which is attributed to legendary wordsmith Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon: "the only thing they remember, is the finish". I may not say this often, or at all, but Vince is right on the money there. That being said, even the most beloved title change in WWE history wasn't quite enough to save No Way Out, though it was enough to bump it up from an average show into a great one. Much like the Rumble, what most will remember of it is the ending, and while Eddie versus Brock was a classic, there's more than just that to enjoy here. The final three matches all had their moments, and the build to WrestleMania between Goldberg and Lesnar was exciting, if you can ignore what came next in their feud.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: WrestleMania 20, where beloved stars and best friends Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero each feature in two classic world title matches. See you soon.
- Henry
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