No Way Out (2004)

The 2004 No Way Out was the sixth

No Way Out grossed over US$450,000 ticket sales from an attendance of approximately 11,000 and received 350,000 pay-per-view buys, and was instrumental in helping WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $11.9 million compared to the previous year. Like the event, the DVD received favorable reviews.

Production

Background

The event consisted of eight

After winning a 15-man Royal Rumble match on the January 29 episode of SmackDown!, Eddie Guerrero earned the right to challenge for the WWE Championship at No Way Out against the champion Brock Lesnar in a singles match.^[3][4] Outside the storyline with Guerrero, Lesnar was involved in a staged rivalry with Goldberg, a member of the Raw brand. The feud between Lesnar and Goldberg began at the Royal Rumble. Lesnar interfered in the Royal Rumble match attacking Goldberg, which caused Goldberg to be eliminated from the match.^[5][6] On January 26 and January 29 Goldberg and Lesnar conducted promos on respective episodes of Raw and SmackDown!, in which they insulted each other.^[7][8] On the February 2 episode of Raw, Sheriff Steve Austin gave Goldberg the option of attending No Way Out by giving him a front-row ticket.^[9][10] On the February 5 episode of SmackDown!, the storyline between Guerrero and Lesnar was enhanced when they began a brawl after an in-ring interview segment.^[11][12]

On the February 5 episode of SmackDown!, General manager Paul Heyman scheduled a triple threat match between Big Show, Kurt Angle and John Cena for No Way Out.^[11][12] The winner of that match would face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX for the title.^[11][12] The rivalry continued to develop on the February 12 episode of SmackDown!, when Angle was scheduled to team with Guerrero to face Big Show and Lesnar, but was found unconscious backstage. Cena then replaced Angle in the match and defeated Big Show and Lesnar with Guerrero.^[13][14]

In February,

Before the event began and aired live on pay-per-view, Tajiri, Sakoda and Akio defeated Último Dragón, Billy Kidman, and Paul London in a 6-Man Tag Team Match on Sunday Night Heat.^[15]

Preliminary matches

After Sunday Night Heat, the pay-per-view began with a

This altercation was followed by a match between Hardcore Holly and Rhyno. Before the match began, Holly and Rhyno brawled on the entrance ramp, before they entered the ring. Once there, Holly executed a superplex, though, as they recuperated, Rhyno delivered a Gore that caused Holly to roll out of the ring. Afterwards, Holly delivered an Alabama slam for the pinfall.^[17][21]

In the fifth match Rey Mysterio (managed by

The following match was the triple threat match between Big Show, John Cena and Kurt Angle, with the winner facing the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX. For the duration of the match, The Big Show, who stood at 7 feet 2 inches (2.18 m) and weighed 500 pounds (230 kg), used his body size to his advantage as he squashed, or easily and quickly performed moves on, Cena and Angle. Thereafter, Cena delivered an FU, while Angle threw Big Show out of the ring with an Angle Slam. Angle then applied an ankle lock on Cena, forcing him to submit. As a result, Angle won a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX.^[19][21]

Main event match

The main event featured Brock Lesnar defending the WWE Championship against Eddie Guerrero. Lesnar used his size advantage over Guerrero throughout the match. As Lesnar attempted an F-5, he knocked down the referee. Lesnar then attempted to take advantage of the referee's state, as he went to retrieve the WWE title belt to hit Guerrero. Meanwhile, Goldberg came down into the ring and delivered a spear to Lesnar. As Goldberg retreated, Guerrero countered Lesnar's second F5 into a DDT on the title belt while the referee regained consciousness. Guerrero kicked the belt out of the ring to prevent the referee from seeing it and performed his Frog splash to pin Lesnar and win the WWE Championship from him.^[22][23]

Reception

The

At WrestleMania XX, Eddie Guerrero defeated Kurt Angle via pinfall and retained the WWE Championship.^[28] John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), portraying a new character after the semi-retirement of his tag team partner Faarooq,^[29][30] challenged Guerrero for the WWE Championship and defeated him at The Great American Bash to win the title.^[31] Guerrero failed to recapture the title from JBL in a steel cage match on the July 15 episode of SmackDown!.^[32][33] After Guerrero's death in November 2005, WWE held tribute shows on Raw and SmackDown! During these programs, No Way Out was the main highlight of Guerrero's career, as it was where he won his only world championship.^[34][35] John Cena began a rivalry with Big Show over his WWE United States Championship^[36] and, at WrestleMania, Cena defeated Big Show to win the title.^[28][37] Goldberg and Lesnar continued their rivalry, leading to a match promoted at WrestleMania, in which Goldberg defeated Lesnar.^[28][38] After their match, Goldberg and Lesnar left the company,^[34] although Lesnar would make his return in April 2012 and Goldberg made his return in October 2016.

Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero's storyline over the WWE Cruiserweight Championship also continued, culminating in a battle royal match at WrestleMania XX involving other wrestlers. Guerrero last eliminated Mysterio to retain his title in this match.^[28][34] After the Draft Lottery, a mock sports draft lottery in which wrestlers switched programs, Rico was drafted to SmackDown!, while Shelton Benjamin was drafted to Raw, in the process splitting up The World's Greatest Tag Team. Afterward, Charlie Haas and Rico won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty on the April 22 episode of SmackDown!.^[39][40]

Results

References