Welcome to Sports Throwback Thursday! In today’s Sports Throwback Thursday, I’m going to take it back to the 2007 WWE No Way Out.
In my opinion, 2007 was the last good year of the Ruthless Aggression Era. Also, it was the beginning where I began to start slowly stop watching wrestling on a consistent basis. I still watch wrestling to this day, but I’m not obsessed with it like I once was. Anyways, here are some of my reviews of No Way Out matches.
Six-Man Tag Team Match
The Hardy Boyz and Chris Benoit took on MNM and Montel Vontavious Porter (with Melina). The Hardys are one of my all-time favorite tag team in wrestling history. I love their chemistry and athleticism. MVP has incredible charisma and personality. The match was solid, but the lasf minutes of the match was intense. Chris Benoit made this match very intense with his in-ring technically. Chris Benoit did a double German Suplex on Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro. Benoit made Mercury tap out with the Crippler Crossface. I give this match a B-. The last three minutes of the match was very good.
Cruiserweight Open for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Gregory Helms, whom dropped the superhero gimmick (The Hurricane) in 2005, won the Cruiserweight Championship in early 2006, and held it for over a year, becoming the longest reigning Cruiserweight Champion and the longest reigning champion of any kind in SmackDown history. In this match, he eliminated Scotty 2 Hotty, Funaki, and Shannon Moore. Helms got eliminated by Jimmy Wang Yang.
After eliminating Jamie Noble, Jimmy Wang Yang thought he had the match won, until Chavo’s music start playing. Chavo Guerrero won the Cruiserweight championship after hitting Jimmy Wang Yang with the frog splash. I give this Cruiserweight match a C.
Booker T vs. Kane
During this time, Booker T was known as ”King Booker,” but I’ll stick to calling him Booker T. The match between Booker T and Kane could’ve been better. 10 years prior, it would’ve been great because they were at the peaks of their careers. Kane defeated Booker T after delivering the chokeslam. One of the things that I liked about this match is JBL’s commentary. His expression towards Kane was comical. I give this match a C.
Batista and The Undertaker vs. John Cena and Shawn Michaels
The main event was a tag team match between Batista and The Undertaker (from SmackDown!) and John Cena and Shawn Michaels (from Raw). Cena and Michaels were going to wrestle one another for Wrestlemania 23, but would they co-exist in this match? It’s the same scenario for Batista and Taker. They are going to face each other at Wrestlemania 23 for the World Heavyweight title. In this match, both sides would have to work as a team. Batista and Taker had momentum of the match, until Batista turned on Undertaker by performing a Spinebuster on him and exited the ring. Why? Batista didn’t forget when Taker chokeslammed him after Taker chose to challenge Batista for the title. Cena and Michaels won the match after Cena pinned Undertaker following an FU. I give this match a B.
After No Way Out, The Undertaker continued his feud with Batista over the World Heavyweight Championship. At WrestleMania 23, he pinned Batista to win the title. Shawn Michaels, however, was unable to win the WWE Championship, as he lost to John Cena at WrestleMania 23.
The 2007 event was the ninth event in the No Way Out chronology and was held on February 18 at Staples Center (now called crypto.com) in Los Angeles, California.
