WWE No Way Out 2006 PPV Results
Sudden Death WWE Cruiserweight Title Match (First Fall Wins Title): Gregory Helms © VS Scotty 2 Hotty VS Paul London VS Brian Kendrick VS Funaki VS Psicosis VS Super Crazy VS Nunzio VS Kid Kash
Just when you think the Cruiserweight Division is dead, they let the boys out and put on a GREAT showing here! And it didn’t hurt that they gave them a good story to work with here as Helms was a marked man throughout the match, but was still able to retain his title! Give me one of these every Smackdown PPV and I’ll be a happy man!
Match Rating: ***
Fit Finlay (Who’s in GREAT shape!) carries Crystal (who’s kinda cute) to the ring to pick a fight. Lashley comes out to make the save and they brawl as JBL comes out. JBL takes out Finlay as JBL gets in the ring and the next match is on!
Lashley VS John “Bradshaw” Leyfield with Jillian Hall
They should have made this a 3-way with Finlay!
Give JBL A LOT OF CREDIT here for carrying Lashley, and making this one of the best JBL matches in a while! JBL bumped his ass off for Lashley, and even got busted open the hard way from a botched suplex. You gotta know Lashley is doing something right when you get the fans chanting his name, I just think he needs to vary his offense a bit as doing the same move four time in a row could back fire on him like it did to Scott Steiner a while back. His urinage was a good change though, and probably a good alternate finisher to his Dominator.
I didn’t even mind the ending of the match when Finlay cost Lashley the win and JBL broke his winning streak, as it just builds for a future war between these two big brawlers. JBL getting the win here also helps get his heat back from that horrible loss to the Boogeyman at the Royal Rumble too.
Match Rating: ***
Batista is announced as a special guest, and he comes out to cut a promo saying he’s healed up and will be gunning for the title again soon. I can’t wait.
MNM with Melina VS Matt Hardy & Tatanka
I guess Tatanka as Matt’s mystery partner makes sense since Tatanka & MNM had some good exchanges in the Royal Rumble match last month before MNM eliminated Tatanka together.
This was a really solid non-title match and it was good to see Tatanka in action again, even if his offense was limited to just tomahawk chops and regular chops, but at least he hit his finisher and got the win, which is a good rub to get him back in the graces of the modern day fans. He really needs to vary his offense up a bit though.
The fans are still wild for Matt Hardy, and it’s good that he finally has something to do even if it is teaming with Tatanka in the tag title hunt. One of the good things I like about MNM is that they are allowed to get some good offense in despite their size and can bump their asses off when required.
Match Rating: *1/2
WWE US Title: Chris Benoit VS Booker T (C) with Sharmell
Booker T tried to fake getting out of the match at the beginning, but when the match finally got started we were given a one of Booker’s best matches ever in WWE! They built a really solid match from the beginning which got the crowd into it till the end when Benoit scored the win floating through from the Sharpshooter into the Crossface to end a GREAT back and forth match!
Match Rating: ****
Chris Benoit celebrates backstage and is congratulated by the Smackdown superstars, including Chavo Guerrero and Vicky Guerrero, widow of Eddie Guerrero. Benoit dedicates the match to the memory of Eddie, and tells Rey Mysterio he’ll be waiting to congratulate him after he gets past Randy Orton next.
WrestleMania Main Event Match: Randy Orton VS Rey Mysterio
This was another strong contest, and you might really hate the ending of the match, but it actually made SENSE since Orton baited Rey in and Rey fell for it! Heck, you could say he suckered Rey in weeks ago when Rey agreed to put his WrestleMania main even on the line tonight.
The match itself was also really good with Randy playing the arrogant heel overpowering the smaller Mysterio, but Rey got in his usual array of innovative offense to get the crowd riling behind him, and Orton even came up with a few innovative moves due to Mysterio’s size, most notably a really cool looking neckbreaker out of a powerbomb.
Match Rating: ***1/2
I’m not sure if it was the desired effect, but the crowd was genuinely stunned silent as Mysterio left the ring. He didn’t even get sympathy applause. Rey gets backstage and apologizes to Chavo and Vicky for blowing it. They console him and he walks past the other Smackdown superstars who were earlier congratulating Benoit, and they all keep silent as Rey makes his way to the locker room.
World Heavyweight Championship: Kurt Angle (C) VS the Undertaker
Am I the only one that thinks that looping the intro to Kurt Angle’s theme 3 times before it actually kicks off sounds more like the CD is skipping instead of it being a cool intro? And I would strongly disagree with Michael Cole on ‘Taker being the best “pure striker” in WWE just because he wears MMA gloves and does a few submissions he learned from watching UFC shows.
But with that said, THIS is the kind of competitive match I expect to see titles decided over! Both men worked their asses off to pull out one of the most memorable world title matches in recent history!
Good God, is there no move Angle can’t counter into an ankle lock?!? He did it out of the chokeslam, he did it out of the Last Ride, and he even did it out of the Tombstone! And give ‘Taker credit as he can really go when he’s motivated and has his big match game on!
Match Rating: ****3/4
Overall: This was easily the best wrestling PPV so far this year, even beating out TNA’s recent PPVs, which shows WWE can still put on a good wrestling product when they want to. This PPV is a rare gem in that it demonstrates how it's not the number of matches on the card, but the QUALITY of the matches on the card that matters most. This is the first MUST SEE PPV of the year, and something to definitely add to your PPV collection!
Labels: WWE
