No Way Out 2007 Review

• Chris Benoit and The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) defeated Montel Vontavious Porter and MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (w/Melina) (14:19)
o Benoit forced Mercury to submit with the Crippler Crossface.
o ***


• Chavo Guerrero won a Cruiserweight Open to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (15:49)
o Scotty 2 Hotty pinned Daivari after a Worm (1:44)
o Gregory Helms (c) pinned Scotty after a Double knee facebreaker (3:44)
o Helms pinned Funaki after rolling through a Crossbody by Funaki (4:11)
o Helms pinned Shannon Moore after a Double knee facebreaker (6:12)
o Jimmy Wang Yang pinned Helms with a Hurricanrana (8:02)
o Yang pinned Jamie Noble after a Moonsault (11:46)
o Chavo Guerrero pinned Yang after a Frog Splash (15:49)
o **


• Finlay and The Little Bastard defeated The Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman in a Mixed Tag Team match (6:45)
o Finlay pinned Little Boogeyman after hitting him with a Shillelagh.
o DUD

• Kane defeated King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) (12:58)
o Kane pinned Booker after a Chokeslam.
o *

• Paul London and Brian Kendrick defeated Deuce 'N Domino (w/Cherry) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship (8:06)
o Kendrick pinned Deuce with a Victory Roll.
o **1/2

• Mr. Kennedy defeated ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley by disqualification (15:25)
o Lashley was disqualified after he hit Kennedy with a steel chair. Lashley retained the title.
o *1/2


• John Cena and Shawn Michaels defeated Batista and The Undertaker (22:09)
o Cena pinned Undertaker after a Spinebuster from Batista, Sweet Chin Music from Michaels, and a FU from Cena.
o ****
So, uh...this was certainly better than I remember it. I used to have a problem with how little this match meant and the fact that it main evented a PPV, not only that, but THE PPV before Mania. I never really looked at how big the match felt when it comes to star power. I mean, you got to see some big time dream matches here. Taker and Shawn got to scuffle one more time after the epic end to the Rumble 3 weeks prior. We got Cena/Taker which could very well main event Mania next year. Add in Batista/HBK, which is the least interesting scenario of the match with Shawn vs. a big guy he's never faced before, and Shawn vs. a big guy is always money in the bank. Final scenario was Batista and Cena, which was huge because this was the first time outside of the end to the 2005 Rumble that these guys were in a match together. Their career paths at this point were almost identical, so this was pretty much the definition of a dream match. Of course they start it off, in the building where both won their first title on the same night no less against each other. It only build from there as we get a great mix of these guys getting the chance to finally work one another. Watching Shawn and Taker work here gave me goosebumps with what happened a little over two years later at XXV.

You know who plays face in peril as Shawn meets with the power of Taker and Big Dave. They both gorilla press him like a sack of ham and cheese sandwiches. You know it's leading to Cena getting the hot tag, but instead of a finishing sequence like you'd expect, the match goes on...The first off a few AWESOME touches takes place as Batista is about to murder Cena with his Powerbomb, but then Shawn makes the save by clipping Dave's leg. The weeks leading up to this had been about Shawn having Cena's back as opposed to Super Kicking him when he turned around. Shawn showed he had him here. And THEN it becomes all about winning and proving who is the real main event of Mania (which is what the stip of the match should have been, imo. Would have made the match extremely important.) as Shawn starts to get pissed. Like coke head Shawn pissed. Even better than Shawn's heeling up is Cena's heeling up as he cheap shots Batista on the outside. That's the face of the fucking company people, and he's kicking fan favorite David Batista right in the face behind the ref's back. Then Shawn tags him in and starts flipping the fuckin' fuck out demanding that Cena beat the shit out of Batista. Now Batista is the face in peril.

Batista gets a great hope spot but ends up in the wrong corner and meets Shawn, who is more than happy to oblige to Batista leaving his face wide open. Taker is watching all of this. When Batista ends up in the STFU, Taker just watches...and watches....and watches some more. He wants Batista to PROVE that he belongs in the main event. He eventually saves him as Batista held out as long as he could. Shawn is not happy as he crotch chops in Taker's general direction. MISTAKE. Taker makes the hot tag and kills bitches dead. Batista and Taker are too much for the Raw team and both guys call for their finisher, but Batista gets major payback on Taker for chokelsmming him on the night Taker picked which title he wanted to challenge for. New douchebag John Cena and reemerged douchebag Shawn Michaels pick up the scraps and put an end to a fabulous tag match, especially by WWE standards. I thought this was actually better than the NYR DX/Rated RKO tag that gets so much praise. A worthy lead into Wrestlemania.