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No Way Out (2004)
Encyclopedia
No Way Out was a professional wrestling
pay-per-view
(PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE), which took place on February 15, 2004 at the Cow Palace
in Daly City, California
. It was the sixth event produced under the No Way Out
name and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand
.
During the main event, Eddie Guerrero
defeated WWE Champion
Brock Lesnar
to win the title. Two bouts were featured on the undercard
; the first was a Triple Threat match, where the winner would earn the right to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XX
; in the match, Kurt Angle
defeated The Big Show
and John Cena
. The second bout was a singles match, in which Chavo Guerrero
defeated Rey Mysterio. At No Way Out 2004, Chavo's uncle, Eddie Guerrero, won his sole World Championship before his death in 2005.
No Way Out grossed over $
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.
After winning a 15-man battle royal
(a match in which participants are eliminated until one person remains as the winner) on the January 29, 2004 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 standard wrestling match, also known as a singles match. Outside the storyline
with Guerrero, Lesnar was involved in a staged rivalry
with Goldberg
, a member of the Raw program. The feud between Lesnar and Goldberg began at the Royal Rumble
, WWE's previous pay-per-view event which featured both brands. Lesnar interfered in the Royal Rumble match, a 30-man battle royal, attacking and eliminating Goldberg from the match. On the week of January 26, 2004, Lesnar and Goldberg conducted promotional in-ring segments on respective episodes of Raw and SmackDown!, in which they insulted each other. The following week on an episode of Raw, as a result of the rivalry extending between the two programs, General Manager Steve Austin
gave Goldberg the option of attending No Way Out by giving him a front-row ticket. That Thursday on SmackDown!, the storyline between Guerrero and Lesnar was enhanced when they began a brawl after an in-ring interview segment.
The SmackDown General Manager, Paul Heyman
, announced during the February 5, 2004 episode of SmackDown! that a Triple Threat match, a standard wrestling match involving three wrestlers, would take place at No Way Out involving The Big Show
, Kurt Angle
, and John Cena
. The winner of that match would earn the right to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX
for the title. The rivalry continued to develop the following week, when Angle was scheduled to team with Guerrero to face The Big Show and Lesnar, though the latter was portrayed as being unconscious backstage. Cena then replaced Angle in the match and defeated the opposition with Guerrero.
In February 2004, WWE Cruiserweight Champion
Rey Mysterio produced "Crossing Borders", which was No Way Out's official theme song. In this storyline, Chavo Guerrero
became jealous of the attention Mysterio garnered as a result of recording the song. Therefore, Heyman promoted a match between the two at No Way Out for the WWE Cruiserweight title during the February 5, 2004 episode of SmackDown!. The following week on SmackDown!, Mysterio was accompanied by Jorge Páez
, a professional boxer
and childhood friend of Mysterio who was featured in his "Crossing Borders" music video
, to his match against Tajiri
. Mysterio defeated Tajiri, though he was scripted to be attacked by Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Sr. after the match until Paez intervened and assisted Mysterio.
on pay-per-view, an episode of Sunday Night Heat
, one of WWE's secondary television programs, was taped live. In a six-person tag team match, the team of Tajiri, Sakoda
, and Akio
defeated Último Dragón, Billy Kidman, and Paul London
.
After Sunday Night Heat, the pay-per-view began with a handicap match - a tag team match in which a team of two wrestlers face a team of three. WWE Tag Team Champions Rikishi
and Scotty 2 Hotty defended their titles against the Basham Brothers
(Doug
and Danny Basham) and Shaniqua
. During the match Hotty attempted to hit Shaniqua, who was lying on her back, with a slap over her chest, but Shaniqua countered by hitting him with her forearm. The challengers had the advantage until Hotty hit both Basham brothers with his forearm, causing them to flip over the top ring rope and into ringside. Afterwards, Rikishi lifted Shaniqua over his shoulders before falling backwards in a Samoan drop. Rikishi then covered Shaniqua to pin her, a move that allowed Rikishi and Hotty to retain their championships. Next was a singles blindfold match, in which Jamie Noble
was blindfolded as he faced his storyline girlfriend Nidia
. Nidia would take advantage of Noble's inability to see by performing antics that caused him to fall. Eventually, Noble was able to apply the guillotine choke on Nidia. Noble won the match after he forced her to submit with this move.
The third contest was a tag team match, in which The World's Greatest Tag Team
(Shelton Benjamin
and Charlie Haas
) faced the APA
(Bradshaw
and Faarooq
). At one point, Bradshaw performed a high-impact forearm "Clothesline from Hell" attack on Haas. Benjamin then hit Bradshaw with a superkick and pinned him to gain the win for his team. After the match, Goldberg was seen arriving at the arena and being escorted to his seat by arena security. In the ring, General Manager Paul Heyman gave a promotional in-ring segment on how SmackDown! was the better program over Raw. Lesnar would come down to the ring to promote his match and to insult Goldberg. As part of the storyline, Goldberg immediately jumped over the barricade into the ring, where Lesnar performed a spear, a running shoulder block to Goldberg's stomach; however he recuperated and lifted Lesnar vertically in the air before slamming him down to perform the Jackhammer. Goldberg was then escorted out of the arena by security. This altercation was followed by a singles match between Hardcore Holly
and Rhyno
. Before the match began, Holly and Rhyno were scripted to brawl on the entrance ramp, before they entered the ring. Once there, Holly slammed Rhyno off the top rope with a superplex, though, as they recuperated, Rhyno hit Holly with a spear that caused Holly to roll out of the ring. Afterwards, Holly lifted Rhyno by his legs over his shoulders before throwing him down with an Alabama slam; Holly covered Rhyno for a pinfall.
The fifth match featured the WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio (managed by Jorge Paez), defending against Chavo Guerrero (managed by his father Chavo Guerrero, Sr.) During the fight, Mysterio performed a 619 on Guerrero (at the time positioned on the second ring rope) and hit him in the face with both legs while using the ropes for leverage, leading to an attack by Paez on Guerrero, Sr. As determined by the storyline, the referee ordered Paez backstage. Both fighters wrestled inconclusively until Mysterio hit a second 619. During the second sequence of the move, Guerrero grabbed Mysterio's legs and achieved a position with his shoulders spread so as to win both a pinfall and the WWE Cruiserweight title.
The following match was the Triple Threat between The Big Show, John Cena, and Kurt Angle fighting for the opportunity to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX. For the duration of the match, The Big Show, who stood at 7 in 0 in (2.13 m) and weighed 500 pounds (226.8 kg), used his body size to his advantage as he squashed, or easily and quickly performed moves on, Cena and Angle. Thereafter, Cena lifted The Big Show over his shoulders and threw him down to execute the FU, while Angle lifted The Big Show by the side to throw him out of the ring. Angle then applied an ankle lock on Cena, forcing him to submit. As a result, Angle won a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX.
The main event was a singles match in which WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defended his title against Eddie Guerrero. Lesnar did not show any effect from the Jackhammer Goldberg performed on him earlier in the event; similar to the prior match, Lesnar used his size advantage over Guerrero throughout the match. Late in the match Lesnar went to hit his finisher, the F-5, but as he swung Guerrero's legs out he hit referee
Brian Hebner and knocked him down. After Lesnar saw the referee was down he went outside the ring to grab his WWE Championship belt. As Lesnar got back into the ring and was taunting Guerrero Goldberg returned to the ring and speared the champion. This allowed Guerrero enough time to recover and crawl over to Lesnar, and he rolled the champion over. Hebner stirred and saw Guerrero's pin attempt, but Lesnar kicked out before the referee could count to three. Hebner then took some more time to recover and Guerrero picked up Lesnar's belt which was still in the ring. The challenger waited for the champion to get up then swung the belt at his head. Lesnar ducked and kicked Guerrero in the stomach, causing him to drop the belt. Lesnar then lifted Guerrero onto his shoulders and prepared to hit a second F-5, but Guerrero countered with a tornado DDT which drove Lesnar headfirst into the title belt. 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.
At WrestleMania XX, WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated challenger Kurt Angle via pinfall and retained his title. John "Bradshaw" Layfield
was scripted at the time to portray a new character after the APA broke up and Faarooq announced his semi-retirement. A storyline was then created in which Layfield challenged Guerrero for the WWE title; at The Great American Bash
, Layfield defeated Guerrero to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. Guerrero failed to recapture the title from Layfield in a steel cage match, a match where the ring was enclosed in a steel cage, on the July 15, 2004 episode of SmackDown!. 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. Eventually, John Cena was scripted into a rivalry with The Big Show over his WWE United States Championship
. At WrestleMania XX, Cena defeated the Big Show to win the WWE United States title. Goldberg and Lesnar continued their rivalry, leading to a match promoted at WrestleMania XX, in which Goldberg defeated Lesnar. After their match, Goldberg and Lesnar were released from the company.
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. 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, Haas and Rico were written into a storyline that led to them winning the WWE Tag Team Championship from Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty on the April 22, 2004 episode of SmackDown!.
arena usually can accommodate 13,000, but the capacity was reduced for No Way Out 2004. This event grossed over $
450,000 from an approximate attendance of 11,000 which was the maximum allowed. It also received 350,000 pay-per-view buys. No Way Out helped World Wrestling Entertainment earn $43.7 million in revenue from pay-per-view events versus $31.8 million the previous year; Linda McMahon
, then CEO
of WWE, confirmed this statement on June 21, 2004 in a quarterly financial report. Canadian Online Explorer
's professional wrestling section described the event as "Smackdown! us our money's worth last night but they also set up what's probably going to be the best match at Wrestlemania." Kevin Sowers from PWTorch described the main event between Eddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar as "one to remember for a long time." The event was released on DVD
on March 16, 2004. After its release, the DVD received a rating of 8.5 out of 10 points by IGN
.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
(PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE), which took place on February 15, 2004 at the Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
in Daly City, California
Daly City, California
Daly City is the largest city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with a 2010 population of 101,123. Located immediately south of San Francisco, it is named in honor of businessman and landowner John Daly.-History:...
. It was the sixth event produced under the No Way Out
WWE No Way Out
No Way Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every February by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 1998, with its inaugural event produced as an In Your House event in February of that year. The event in 2000 was rebranded...
name and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
.
During the main event, Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...
defeated WWE Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...
to win the title. Two bouts were featured on the undercard
Card (sports)
In sports, a card comprises a listing of the matches taking place in a title-match combat-sport event. Organizers divide overall cards into a main-event match and the undercard, which encompasses the rest of the matches. One can also further subdivide the undercard into midcard and lower card,...
; the first was a Triple Threat match, where the winner would earn the right to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX was the twentieth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 14, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York....
; in the match, Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
defeated The Big Show
Paul Wight
Paul Donald Wight, Jr. , better known by his ring name, Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand....
and John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
. The second bout was a singles match, in which Chavo Guerrero
Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero IV also known as Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr., is a third generation Mexican-American professional wrestler and member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family who was well known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling...
defeated Rey Mysterio. At No Way Out 2004, Chavo's uncle, Eddie Guerrero, won his sole World Championship before his death in 2005.
No Way Out grossed over $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
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.
Background
Battle royal (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner...
(a match in which participants are eliminated until one person remains as the winner) on the January 29, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...
earned the right to challenge for the WWE Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
at No Way Out against the champion, Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...
in a standard wrestling match, also known as a singles match. Outside the storyline
Narrative thread
A narrative thread, or plot thread , refers to particular elements and techniques of writing to center the story in the action or experience of characters rather than to relate a matter in a dry 'All knowing' sort of narration...
with Guerrero, Lesnar was involved in a staged rivalry
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
with Goldberg
Bill Goldberg
Goldberg earned a scholarship to play for the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team where he served as a defensive tackle. He was taken in the 11th round, with the 302nd overall selection, in the 1990 NFL Draft....
, a member of the Raw program. The feud between Lesnar and Goldberg began at the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (2004)
Royal Rumble was the seventeenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on January 25, 2004 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, WWE's previous pay-per-view event which featured both brands. Lesnar interfered in the Royal Rumble match, a 30-man battle royal, attacking and eliminating Goldberg from the match. On the week of January 26, 2004, Lesnar and Goldberg conducted promotional in-ring segments on respective episodes of Raw and SmackDown!, in which they insulted each other. The following week on an episode of Raw, as a result of the rivalry extending between the two programs, General Manager Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
gave Goldberg the option of attending No Way Out by giving him a front-row ticket. That Thursday on SmackDown!, the storyline between Guerrero and Lesnar was enhanced when they began a brawl after an in-ring interview segment.
The SmackDown General Manager, Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....
, announced during the February 5, 2004 episode of SmackDown! that a Triple Threat match, a standard wrestling match involving three wrestlers, would take place at No Way Out involving The Big Show
Paul Wight
Paul Donald Wight, Jr. , better known by his ring name, Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand....
, Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
, and John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
. The winner of that match would earn the right to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX was the twentieth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 14, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York....
for the title. The rivalry continued to develop the following week, when Angle was scheduled to team with Guerrero to face The Big Show and Lesnar, though the latter was portrayed as being unconscious backstage. Cena then replaced Angle in the match and defeated the opposition with Guerrero.
In February 2004, WWE Cruiserweight Champion
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
Rey Mysterio produced "Crossing Borders", which was No Way Out's official theme song. In this storyline, Chavo Guerrero
Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero IV also known as Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr., is a third generation Mexican-American professional wrestler and member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family who was well known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling...
became jealous of the attention Mysterio garnered as a result of recording the song. Therefore, Heyman promoted a match between the two at No Way Out for the WWE Cruiserweight title during the February 5, 2004 episode of SmackDown!. The following week on SmackDown!, Mysterio was accompanied by Jorge Páez
Jorge Paez
Jorge Adolfo Febles Páez is a Mexican boxer, actor and circus performer. Páez is the former WBO and IBF Featherweight champion. Paez is nicknamed " El Maromero", in honor of the acts he performs at the circus. Paez has been a circus performer in his northwest Mexico hometown since he was very young...
, a professional boxer
Professional Boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided among the fighters and promoters as determined by contract...
and childhood friend of Mysterio who was featured in his "Crossing Borders" music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, to his match against Tajiri
Yoshihiro Tajiri
, is a Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently competing in SMASH as TAJIRI.-Early years :...
. Mysterio defeated Tajiri, though he was scripted to be attacked by Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Sr. after the match until Paez intervened and assisted Mysterio.
Event
Before the event began and aired liveLive television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
on pay-per-view, an episode of Sunday Night Heat
WWE HEAT
WWE Heat was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
, one of WWE's secondary television programs, was taped live. In a six-person tag team match, the team of Tajiri, Sakoda
Ryan Sakoda
Ryan Sakoda is a Japanese American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment and current work for Ultimate Pro Wrestling as a part-time trainer for the wrestlers, as well as working in the independents as Ryan Sakoda.-Professional wrestling...
, and Akio
James Yun
James Carson Yun is an American professional wrestler and actor, best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Jimmy Wang Yang, in World Championship Wrestling as one-third of the Jung Dragons as Yang, and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and the independent circuit...
defeated Último Dragón, Billy Kidman, and Paul London
Paul London
Paul Michael London is an American professional wrestler best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment ....
.
Preliminary matches
Solofa Fatu
Solofa F. Fatu, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Rikishi.-The Samoan Swat Team:...
and Scotty 2 Hotty defended their titles against the Basham Brothers
Basham Brothers
The Basham Brothers, Doug and Danny , are a professional wrestling tag team, who formerly worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment .-History:...
(Doug
Doug Basham
This article is about the wrestler, for the talk show host see Doug Basham Lyle Douglas "Doug" Basham, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment between 2002 and 2007, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name...
and Danny Basham) and Shaniqua
Linda Miles
Linda M. Miles is an American former professional wrestler and manager. She worked under the ring name Shaniqua for World Wrestling Entertainment's SmackDown! brand between 2002 and 2004. Miles was one of two female winners from WWE Tough Enough season two.-Basketball:Miles was a member of the...
. During the match Hotty attempted to hit Shaniqua, who was lying on her back, with a slap over her chest, but Shaniqua countered by hitting him with her forearm. The challengers had the advantage until Hotty hit both Basham brothers with his forearm, causing them to flip over the top ring rope and into ringside. Afterwards, Rikishi lifted Shaniqua over his shoulders before falling backwards in a Samoan drop. Rikishi then covered Shaniqua to pin her, a move that allowed Rikishi and Hotty to retain their championships. Next was a singles blindfold match, in which Jamie Noble
Jamie Noble
James Howard Gibson better known by his WWE ring name Jamie Noble, is an American former professional wrestler currently working for WWE as a trainer. He is best known for his work from 2002 to 2009 when a severe back injury forced him to retire from competition...
was blindfolded as he faced his storyline girlfriend Nidia
Nidia Guenard
Nidia Guenard better known simply Nidia is a former professional wrestler who worked for World Wrestling Entertainment...
. Nidia would take advantage of Noble's inability to see by performing antics that caused him to fall. Eventually, Noble was able to apply the guillotine choke on Nidia. Noble won the match after he forced her to submit with this move.
The third contest was a tag team match, in which The World's Greatest Tag Team
The World's Greatest Tag Team
The World's Greatest Tag Team is the professional wrestling tag team of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, who currently perform as Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team. Originally formed in World Wrestling Entertainment , they started out captained by Kurt Angle, during which time they were known as...
(Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin
Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted...
and Charlie Haas
Charlie Haas
Charles "Charlie" Doyle Haas II is an American professional wrestler and former collegiate amateur wrestler. He competes on the independent circuit, and is signed to Ring of Honor , where he is one-half of the reigning ROH World Tag Team Champions with Shelton Benjamin...
) faced the APA
Acolytes Protection Agency
The Acolytes Protection Agency , was a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Bradshaw and Faarooq. They wrestled for the American promotion World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment between October 1998 and March 2004....
(Bradshaw
John Layfield
John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News...
and Faarooq
Ron Simmons
Ronald "Ron" Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He is recognised as being the first Black world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling and the first of only two African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,...
). At one point, Bradshaw performed a high-impact forearm "Clothesline from Hell" attack on Haas. Benjamin then hit Bradshaw with a superkick and pinned him to gain the win for his team. After the match, Goldberg was seen arriving at the arena and being escorted to his seat by arena security. In the ring, General Manager Paul Heyman gave a promotional in-ring segment on how SmackDown! was the better program over Raw. Lesnar would come down to the ring to promote his match and to insult Goldberg. As part of the storyline, Goldberg immediately jumped over the barricade into the ring, where Lesnar performed a spear, a running shoulder block to Goldberg's stomach; however he recuperated and lifted Lesnar vertically in the air before slamming him down to perform the Jackhammer. Goldberg was then escorted out of the arena by security. This altercation was followed by a singles match between Hardcore Holly
Bob Holly
Robert "Bob" Howard better known by his ring name Bob "Hardcore" Holly, is a American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with World Wrestling Entertainment ....
and Rhyno
Terry Gerin
Terrance "Terry" Gerin is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name Rhino . He is best known for his career in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
. Before the match began, Holly and Rhyno were scripted to brawl on the entrance ramp, before they entered the ring. Once there, Holly slammed Rhyno off the top rope with a superplex, though, as they recuperated, Rhyno hit Holly with a spear that caused Holly to roll out of the ring. Afterwards, Holly lifted Rhyno by his legs over his shoulders before throwing him down with an Alabama slam; Holly covered Rhyno for a pinfall.
Main event matches
The following match was the Triple Threat between The Big Show, John Cena, and Kurt Angle fighting for the opportunity to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX. For the duration of the match, The Big Show, who stood at 7 in 0 in (2.13 m) and weighed 500 pounds (226.8 kg), used his body size to his advantage as he squashed, or easily and quickly performed moves on, Cena and Angle. Thereafter, Cena lifted The Big Show over his shoulders and threw him down to execute the FU, while Angle lifted The Big Show by the side to throw him out of the ring. Angle then applied an ankle lock on Cena, forcing him to submit. As a result, Angle won a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX.
The main event was a singles match in which WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defended his title against Eddie Guerrero. Lesnar did not show any effect from the Jackhammer Goldberg performed on him earlier in the event; similar to the prior match, Lesnar used his size advantage over Guerrero throughout the match. Late in the match Lesnar went to hit his finisher, the F-5, but as he swung Guerrero's legs out he hit referee
Referee (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling referee is the official figure that makes sure that wrestling matches move smoothly in an attempt to maintain kayfabe. The referee also has the ultimate power in the ring...
Brian Hebner and knocked him down. After Lesnar saw the referee was down he went outside the ring to grab his WWE Championship belt. As Lesnar got back into the ring and was taunting Guerrero Goldberg returned to the ring and speared the champion. This allowed Guerrero enough time to recover and crawl over to Lesnar, and he rolled the champion over. Hebner stirred and saw Guerrero's pin attempt, but Lesnar kicked out before the referee could count to three. Hebner then took some more time to recover and Guerrero picked up Lesnar's belt which was still in the ring. The challenger waited for the champion to get up then swung the belt at his head. Lesnar ducked and kicked Guerrero in the stomach, causing him to drop the belt. Lesnar then lifted Guerrero onto his shoulders and prepared to hit a second F-5, but Guerrero countered with a tornado DDT which drove Lesnar headfirst into the title belt. 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.
Aftermath
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Michael Cole Michael Cole Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist.... |
| Tazz Tazz Peter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz... |
|
| Carlos Cabrera Carlos Cabrera Carlos Rodrigo Cabrera is a former newsman and currently employed with WWE, where he is one half of the company's Spanish announce team in which he is the play-by-play announcer. His longtime broadcast partner was the former Ecuadorian professional wrestler Hugo Savinovich, who was the color... (Spanish) |
|
| Hugo Savinovich Hugo Savinovich Hugo Savinovich is a former Ecuadorian professional wrestler, formerly employed with WWE, where he was one half of the Spanish announce team for the company's TV shows and pay-per-view events. He was a color commentator and partner of Carlos Cabrera and occasionally Marcelo Rodríguez. When he... (Spanish) |
|
| Interviewer | Josh Mathews |
| Ring Announcer | Tony Chimel Tony Chimel Anthony "Tony" Chimel is an American professional wrestling ring announcer, currently employed by WWE working as the ring announcer for SmackDown brand.-WWE :... |
| Referee | Tony Garea Anthony Garcia Anthony "Tony" Garcia is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tony Garea, who wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation , spending thirty-two of his thirty-five year career in the promotion... |
| Brian Hebner | |
| Jimmy Korderas Jim Korderas __FORCETOC__Demetrius Korderas , better known by his referee name, Jim "Jimmy" Korderas is a Canadian professional wrestling referee who worked for World Wrestling Entertainment for over 22 years.-Early career:... |
|
| Nick Patrick Nick Hamilton Joseph Nicholas "Nick" Patrick Hamilton Jr. , better known by his ring name Nick Patrick, is a professional wrestling referee. He is a former referee for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment... |
|
| Charles Robinson Charles Robinson (referee) Charles Shane Robinson is an American professional wrestling referee currently signed to WWE.- Beginnings and World Championship Wrestling :... |
|
At WrestleMania XX, WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated challenger Kurt Angle via pinfall and retained his title. John "Bradshaw" Layfield
John Layfield
John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News...
was scripted at the time to portray a new character after the APA broke up and Faarooq announced his semi-retirement. A storyline was then created in which Layfield challenged Guerrero for the WWE title; at The Great American Bash
The Great American Bash (2004)
The Great American Bash was the 1st Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event, and the first produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on June 27, 2004 at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia and was a SmackDown! brand-exclusive event...
, Layfield defeated Guerrero to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. Guerrero failed to recapture the title from Layfield in a steel cage match, a match where the ring was enclosed in a steel cage, on the July 15, 2004 episode of SmackDown!. 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. Eventually, John Cena was scripted into a rivalry with The Big Show over his WWE United States Championship
WWE United States Championship
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand....
. At WrestleMania XX, Cena defeated the Big Show to win the WWE United States title. Goldberg and Lesnar continued their rivalry, leading to a match promoted at WrestleMania XX, in which Goldberg defeated Lesnar. After their match, Goldberg and Lesnar were released from the company.
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. After the Draft Lottery
2004 WWE Draft Lottery
The 2004 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft Lottery took place at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on March 22, 2004. The draft took place live for two hours on WWE's flagship television program, Raw on Spike TV. Post-draft trades were announced on WWE's official website, WWE.com, until...
, a mock sports draft lottery
Draft (sports)
A draft is a process used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia and the Philippines to allocate certain players to sports teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players...
in which wrestlers switched programs, Rico
Rico Constantino
Americo Sebastiano Costantino is a retired American professional wrestler and wrestling manager of Italian origin. He is best known by his ring names Rico Costantino and Rico in World Wrestling Entertainment from 2001 to 2004...
was drafted to SmackDown!, while Shelton Benjamin was drafted to Raw, in the process splitting up The World's Greatest Tag Team. Afterward, Haas and Rico were written into a storyline that led to them winning the WWE Tag Team Championship from Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty on the April 22, 2004 episode of SmackDown!.
Reception
The Cow PalaceCow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
arena usually can accommodate 13,000, but the capacity was reduced for No Way Out 2004. This event grossed over $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
450,000 from an approximate attendance of 11,000 which was the maximum allowed. It also received 350,000 pay-per-view buys. No Way Out helped World Wrestling Entertainment earn $43.7 million in revenue from pay-per-view events versus $31.8 million the previous year; Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon
Linda Marie McMahon is an American professional wrestling magnate and politician. She is notable for her career developing WWE with her husband Vince McMahon. She was in the company from 1980 to 2009. During this time, WWE grew from a small regional business in New York to a large multinational...
, then CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of WWE, confirmed this statement on June 21, 2004 in a quarterly financial report. Canadian Online Explorer
Canadian Online Explorer
Canadian Online Explorer is a bilingual online news and information site from Canada.A subsidiary of Quebecor Media, Canoe.ca is a leading local and national interactive media provider of news, entertainment and services, helping to inform and connect Canadians...
's professional wrestling section described the event as "Smackdown! us our money's worth last night but they also set up what's probably going to be the best match at Wrestlemania." Kevin Sowers from PWTorch described the main event between Eddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar as "one to remember for a long time." The event was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on March 16, 2004. After its release, the DVD received a rating of 8.5 out of 10 points by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
.
Results
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tajiri Yoshihiro Tajiri , is a Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently competing in SMASH as TAJIRI.-Early years :... , Akio James Yun James Carson Yun is an American professional wrestler and actor, best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Jimmy Wang Yang, in World Championship Wrestling as one-third of the Jung Dragons as Yang, and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and the independent circuit... , and Sakoda Ryan Sakoda Ryan Sakoda is a Japanese American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment and current work for Ultimate Pro Wrestling as a part-time trainer for the wrestlers, as well as working in the independents as Ryan Sakoda.-Professional wrestling... defeated Billy Kidman, Paul London Paul London Paul Michael London is an American professional wrestler best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment .... , and Último Dragón |
6 Man Tag team Tag team Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name... match |
05:35 | |
| 1 | Rikishi Solofa Fatu Solofa F. Fatu, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Rikishi.-The Samoan Swat Team:... and Scotty 2 Hotty (c) defeated The Basham Brothers Basham Brothers The Basham Brothers, Doug and Danny , are a professional wrestling tag team, who formerly worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment .-History:... (Doug Doug Basham This article is about the wrestler, for the talk show host see Doug Basham Lyle Douglas "Doug" Basham, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment between 2002 and 2007, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name... and Danny) and Shaniqua Linda Miles Linda M. Miles is an American former professional wrestler and manager. She worked under the ring name Shaniqua for World Wrestling Entertainment's SmackDown! brand between 2002 and 2004. Miles was one of two female winners from WWE Tough Enough season two.-Basketball:Miles was a member of the... |
Intergender Intergender wrestling Intergender wrestling, also known as mixed wrestling is a type of professional wrestling match between a man and a woman, and may also refer to tag team matches with both men and women on each team.... two-on-three handicap match for the WWE Tag Team Championship WWE Tag Team Championship The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship... |
08:16 |
| 2 | Jamie Noble Jamie Noble James Howard Gibson better known by his WWE ring name Jamie Noble, is an American former professional wrestler currently working for WWE as a trainer. He is best known for his work from 2002 to 2009 when a severe back injury forced him to retire from competition... defeated Nidia Nidia Guenard Nidia Guenard better known simply Nidia is a former professional wrestler who worked for World Wrestling Entertainment... |
Blindfold match | 04:23 |
| 3 | The World's Greatest Tag Team The World's Greatest Tag Team The World's Greatest Tag Team is the professional wrestling tag team of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, who currently perform as Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team. Originally formed in World Wrestling Entertainment , they started out captained by Kurt Angle, during which time they were known as... (Shelton Benjamin Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted... and Charlie Haas Charlie Haas Charles "Charlie" Doyle Haas II is an American professional wrestler and former collegiate amateur wrestler. He competes on the independent circuit, and is signed to Ring of Honor , where he is one-half of the reigning ROH World Tag Team Champions with Shelton Benjamin... ) defeated The APA Acolytes Protection Agency The Acolytes Protection Agency , was a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Bradshaw and Faarooq. They wrestled for the American promotion World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment between October 1998 and March 2004.... (Bradshaw John Layfield John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News... and Faarooq Ron Simmons Ronald "Ron" Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He is recognised as being the first Black world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling and the first of only two African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,... ) |
Tag team match | 07:21 |
| 4 | Hardcore Holly Bob Holly Robert "Bob" Howard better known by his ring name Bob "Hardcore" Holly, is a American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with World Wrestling Entertainment .... defeated Rhyno Terry Gerin Terrance "Terry" Gerin is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name Rhino . He is best known for his career in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling... |
Singles match | 09:54 |
| 5 | Chavo Guerrero Chavo Guerrero, Jr. Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero IV also known as Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr., is a third generation Mexican-American professional wrestler and member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family who was well known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling... (with Chavo Guerrero, Sr.) defeated Rey Mysterio (c) (with Jorge Páez Jorge Paez Jorge Adolfo Febles Páez is a Mexican boxer, actor and circus performer. Páez is the former WBO and IBF Featherweight champion. Paez is nicknamed " El Maromero", in honor of the acts he performs at the circus. Paez has been a circus performer in his northwest Mexico hometown since he was very young... ) |
Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship WWE Cruiserweight Championship The World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs... |
17:21 |
| 6 | Kurt Angle Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion... defeated The Big Show and John Cena John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand.... |
Triple Threat match to determine the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963... at WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX was the twentieth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 14, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York.... |
12:18 |
| 7 | Eddie Guerrero Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions... defeated Brock Lesnar Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog... (c) |
Singles match for the WWE Championship WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963... |
30:07 |