Sunday, February 15, 2009

2/15/09 No Way Out

Here we go with my guests Tom and Red again, as we rate WWE No Way Out!

Triple H vs. The Undertaker vs. The Big Show vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (Elimination Chamber Match; for WWE Title):
S2X: ****1/4 (Just an epic Elimination Chamber match. Edge's early elimination shocked me. The last three people in the match were the best three you could have had. The HHH/Taker one-on-one encounter was amazing.)

Tom: ****1/4 (Nothing wrong with this match at all. In fact, this was one of the best Elimination Chamber matches.)

Red: ****1/4 (The Edge eclimination was a nice surprise. Big Show had a few nice spots. Kozlov didn't kill the match. Jeff was awesome as usual. The Triple H/Undertaker confrontation was excellent, with a great Tombstone near the end. Very nice Elimination Chamber.)

Average rating: ****1/4

Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon (No Holds Barred Match):
S2X: ***1/4 (Shane delivered his usual sick spots. Orton's bleeding and great selling on the ankle injury was top-notch. Very solid finish.)

Tom: ***1/2 (A good old-fashioned 1970s/80s territory brawl.)

Red: ***1/2 (Good spots. Orton took a sick and legit shot from the TV monitor. Legacy's involvement was limited enough to work well. But the match didn't excite me as much as I thought it would.)

Average rating: ***1/2

Jack Swagger vs. Finlay (ECW Title):
S2X: *1/2 (Just an average match. Hornswoggle's involvement was very questionable, but it appears to be part of something bigger, I think.)

Tom: DUD

Red: **1/2 (The match was really good for what it was, it needed more time however. The end sequence didn't really make much sense though. It may all become clearer on Tuesday however.)

Average rating: *1/2

Shawn Michaels vs. JBL (All or Nothing Match):
S2X: **1/2 (Good false finishes with HBK coming back twice from the Clothesline from Hell. Good storyline buildup. Having Rebecca at ringside added more intensity to the match.)

Tom: **** (The match speaks for itself.)

Red: **3/4 (Pretty average match, but the emotions were riding high and you could sense it. It's hard to not like an HBK match.)

Average rating: ***

Edge vs. John Cena vs. Mike Knox vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (RAW Elimination Chamber Match; for World Heavyweight Title):
S2X: ****1/4 (The guys that were predictably not going to win the match, like Knox and Kane, were eliminated first, although it was nice of WWE to let them get in a good amount of offense. Edge attacking Kofi before the match pulled a good double-benefit because Kofi was likely not winning the title anyway and Edge played his part about staying pissed after exiting the Smackdown Chamber match early. Cena surprisingly only stayed in less than two minutes, and it was a great combination to eliminate him. Rey and Edge provided great drama, with Rey coming close to winning several times. Although there were more false finishes for both HHH and Taker, this one had more consistent action.)

Tom: ****1/2 (ANOTHER great Elimination Chamber match. Great card tonight.)

Red: ****1/2 (The match centered around three of WWE's most talented wrestlers. Rey, Jericho, and Edge. Cena, Knox, and Kane all made the other three look strong as hell and everything just clicked. This was the best Elimination Chamber to date by the WWE, and Edge winning was a great surprise.)

Average rating: ****1/2

Overall rating:
S2X: ***3/4 (Just a tremendous PPV. I'm extremely happy WWE went with quality over quantity. If only the ECW Title match got a little more exciting, it would have been four stars in my book.)

Tom: **** (Excellent PPV. Unexpected endings resulting in many questions to be answered before WrestleMania.)

Red: **** (Awesome event centered around great wrestling. Easily will be a contender for PPV of the year.)

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