Several fans seem to be torn on whether No Way Out will deliver the goods. In the weeks leading up to this event, several top wrestlers have been suspended or injured, leaving the storylines and matches to be shaky. It’s like investing in the stock market; most don’t invest in things that are unstable. Not to mention, WWE hasn’t exactly brought their A-game with the booking of any show as of late. So, why should you bother to spend your hard earned dollars on a B rate ppv? Read on…

Consistently Good PPVs

For the past many years, the norm has been that only a handful out of the 13+ WWE ppvs are worth ordering. Last year, for example, I consider only four worth your time, and ever so more important, money; Money in the Bank, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and TLC. However, this year, we’ve been treated to a slew of good ppvs. Certainly none can be considered, “What the hell was I thinking? I’m never investing in this company again!” bad. Some of those ppvs haven’t exactly had strong cards, yet still delivered in match quality. Oh sure, their booking hasn’t been top notch, with a title match not maineventing any event this year, but still, quality over…umm, well, you get the point. Anyway, while I don’t see this nice trend ending any time soon, you should still take advantage of it while it lasts, for who knows when the company will fall into a complete rut once more. Not to mention, the last few weeks of RAW (excluding this week’s three hour special) and the past few several months of Smackdown, have been pretty hard to sit through. It would seem that the ppv sector is the most quality steady.

The Matches and The Wrestlers

It always seems we fans are clamoring to see the young talent being pushed. Well, this ppv has plenty of deserving, good, young talent  being featured. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, and Cody Rhodes, are all vying for championship to gold. I expect quite a bit of good, well-paced, technical wrestling, that will probably leave us wanting more.  On the other hand, we have John Cena vs. Big Show. Obviously, this will be a much slower match, most likely with Show dominating in the early going. As much as it pains me to say it, Big Show has been slightly less boring as of late. Not much, but enough to make me think his match against Cena can go either way this Sunday.
The Diva’s have also been featured slightly more prominently as of late; No Way Out is no exception. Beth Phoenix is getting her rematch against Layla for the Diva’s Championship. I can definitely see these two pulling out a better than average Diva’s match, just based on the couple of Diva’s ppv matches I’ve seen this year (which were better than I expected), and the idea that these two Diva’s veterans will be looking to impress and push the limitations that seemingly handicap the division. Or it could just be the normal, two minute, roll-up victory, match. There’s also the roles of AJ Lee and Vickie Guerrero. The previous has undoubtedly increased my interest in the Punk/Bryan/Kane match. I mean, I know Punk and Bryan can pull off amazing matches on a whim, and I wasn’t interested at all when Kane became involved. So now with AJ, and the multitude of options her character has, I feel some kind of storyline has been injected into this. Vickie can either help or hinder Dolph, either which would please me (he either wins the title, or she costs him the title and we get a build for him).
Oh yeah, and there will also be some comedy thrown in, via a Tuxedo match between Santino and Ricardo. If this doesn’t sell you on No Way Out, I don’t know what will!

The Storylines

Alright, so the storylines post ‘Mania haven’t been very strong, but now we’re headed into summer. Why is that important? Because WWE likes to do some major summer angle to attract fans out of their pools. Last year, we had the epic Punk promo, in 2010 we had the Nexus,…so on and so forth. If you miss a show, who knows what you might miss out on at this point, especially considering their “reported” new booking agenda. Apparently, now WWE execs want to book in a way that attracts the ppv audience, to the weekly programming. Horribly stupid idea (who spends money on a product that they don’t watch?), but for those who order ppvs, it does mean more bang for your buck.

Taking a closer look at the specific stories going into this show….We have a strange love square, involving a crazy chick, a big red monster, and two technical wizards. Who knows who AJ will go dow…umm, what will go down in this storyline next, and this match could be pivotal going forward. Then there’s the instant classic Rookie vs. Veteran matchup, between Cody Rhodes and Christian, who will be battling over the Intercontinental title. This feud has been one of only a child’s handful of reasons to watch Smackdown in  months. Finally, we have the “big one,” at least according to WWE; Big Show vs. John Cena. If the latter loses he’s fired. If the previous loses, Johnny Ace is fired. Nothing new here, as both performer’s jobs have been put on the chopping block countless times before. Vince will be at ringside, however, so surely something else will go down….we can only hope. HHH will also be showing up to talk cut a promo about something, we don’t know what exactly, but with any luck we’ll get some development in the Lesnar storyline. Hey, maybe those last two sentences will mesh together. Lesnar could attack Vince, unfortunately, the limited dates thing is a death nail. Perhaps, Frank Mir will show up, fein being buddy-buddy with Lesnar, take out Vince/HHH, only to turn on Lesnar later on. Or, Ken Shamrock shows up on Brock’s behalf. With RAW 1000 coming up, and legends returning, it could happen. See, the possibilities are endless.

The Poster

Oh come on! Look how original it is. Also, I do believe that this is Bryan’s first time to grace a ppv poster. And when was the last time a Diva was featured? It shows promise.

Thanks for Reading,

J.

@J712v2