WWE No Way Out 2012 Results; Hits and Misses

By Ryan Drew

WWE celebrates Father's Day this year by presenting its live pay per view, WWE No Way Out 2012. Tonight's event is headlined by a giant steel cage match between former friends John Cena and the Big Show. If Big Show wins, John Cena gets fired. But if Cena wins, John Laurinaitis gets fired from his job as General Manager of WWE Raw. Here are the results from WWE No Way Out 2012, along with the hits and misses from the event.

Hit - Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler begins the match with one armed push-ups. Sheamus starts off by going for a quick Brough Kick, but Ziggler rolls out of the ring. The athletic Dolph tries to outwrestle Sheamus, but the Irishman is able to counter with an elbow and a headlock takedown. The two take the fight outside rather shortly, and Sheamus utilizes the ringside canvas to crack Ziggler's head against. Ziggler turns the tide by locking Sheamus's arm around the ring post and pulling on it. It was a bit hard to catch on pay per view. The "Show-off" Dolph Ziggler does a headstand as he grabs a chinlock on Sheamus, which was unique. Sheamus makes a slight comeback and Ziggler grabs a sleeper hold. Sheamus dumps Ziggler over the top rope. Ziggler sidesteps Sheamus and is able to land a legdrop across his head. Crowd starts a "let's go Ziggler" chant, though Lawler tries averting it. Ziggler then lands a top rope face buster, which got a tremendous reaction from the live fans. Sheamus squeaks out the win a stellar opening contest.

Miss - Santino Marella vs. Ricardo Rodriguez

The Tuxedo Match is up next. In order to win this bout, you have to disrobe your opponent of his tuxedo. The two guys commence by ripping off pieces of each other's suit. Santino and Ricardo then do a bullfighter spot, which isn't just ridiculous, but makes Ricardo seems dumber than Wile W. Coyote. A large "boring" chant emerges, but doesn't last long. I've seen a few Tuxedoes Matches, but in this day and age, it seems to have overtly sexual overtones. Marella wins a match that frankly, should've never been booked.

Hit - Cody Rhodes vs. Christian

The match springs off with some composed wrestling and Christian charging three consecutive shoulder tackles. Rhodes goes to the outside and is hit with a sliding dropkick from Christian. Rhodes starts to work over Christian's left arm. Cody continues the pressure by locking in a short arm scissor, which is a maneuver viewers don't get to glance often. Christian comes back with a high cross body from the top, but Rhodes is able to reverse the pin. Christian hammers back and gets Cody to the second rope where he is able to deliver a smooth Frankensteiner from the middle rope. Christian amasses a Killswitch finisher for a close near fall. Christian follows it up by going to the top.Cody counters the frog splash by raising his knees. Christian hits the spear for the pin. The match was average in some places, but picked up towards the end.

Hit - Primo and Epico vs. Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel vs. Primetime Players vs. The Usos

The Usos and Primetime Players start the match off, with The Usos hitting some damaging cops to the chest of their opponents. Epico tags himself in. Gabriel gets tagged in, and he and one of the Uso's start wrestling, but it looked so bizarre I thought I was watching Dancing with the Stars. Epico and Primo hit a nice dropkick on Justin Gabriel. Tag made to Tyson Kidd, who quickly debarks a bevy of high impact moves, including a dropkick and flying neckbreaker. All the guys get to the floor, and Kidd and Epico follow up with a hurricanrana to the outside. A bit of a slow motion move, but impressive nonetheless. It's nice to see the WWE given tag team wrestling a chance to shine, but there are way too many guys in this bout. It's confusing. The Primetime Players get the win. But it was still an entertaining affair.

Miss - Triple H Promo

Triple H comes out for a promo on Brock Lesnar. The announcers claimed the crowd was going crazy, but if they were, it didn't come through on television. Triple H challenges Brock Lesnar to a match at Summerslam. I didn't think the promo was arrant, and thankfully it didn't last long. That being said, I don't care for in-ring promos on pay per views. It could have been saved for WWE Raw.

Miss - Beth Phoenix vs. Layla

The WWE Divas Championship is on the line in this rematch. The two trade waistlocks to begin but then immediately go into more impactful moves, like a shoulder tackle by Beth. Layla does a dance to taunt Beth and the two run around the ring. I half expected WWE to play Benny Hill music. Beth gets the upper hand on Layla and stretches her with a double chicken wing. Layla managers to deliver a neckbreaker, Rick Ride style, for the pin. I don't know what it is, but so many of the Divas bout are so similar that they got lost among each other. If you've seen one, you've seen them all.

Miss - Hunico vs. Sin Cara

In another bout not promoted by WWE, Sin Cara meets Hunico in what should be a fun match. Sin Cara goes for a suicide dive and Hunico hits him with a boot. Hunico delivers a nice swinging dropkick. Hunico grounds Sin Cara, which limits the flashiness I was expecting to see. After getting beat up the entire match, Sin Cara dispenses a swinging head scissors into a slam. He finally gets the pin in a bout that almost put me to sleep. Another match that was more suitable for WWE Raw.

Hit - Kane vs. CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan

Don't let the vignette fool you, this match is actually for the World Heavyweight Championship. You wouldn't be able to tell because of the immense attention that AJ is getting in this bout. The three start by attacking one another, and the crowd chanting along with Daniel Bryan and CM Punk's kicks. Fast paced action sends Bryan over the top rope, but before Punk can take advantage, Kane gets back in the game. Daniel Bryan hits a suicide dive onto the "Big Red Machine." Apparently there is no count out stipulation in this triple threat, because they have been fighting on the outside for an inordinate amount of time. Kane settles into a leg scissor, as Bryan recoups on the outside. Daniel Bryan hits CM Punk with a running knee that was reminiscent of Dynamite Kid. Bryan is looking favorable tonight, landing a double flying dropkick to his antagonists. Kane and Punk then team up to secure a Doomsday Device onto Daniel Bryan. Punk is back in control. Punk goes to the top rope and lands one of his atrociously bad diving top rope elbows. I'm beginning to think he ruins that elbow on purpose, because it's so sloppy looking. Daniel Bryan locks in the Yes Lock, but Punk reverses it into a Go To Sleep. Kane takes Punk out so he cannot get the pin. Kane goes for a choke slam but Punk reverses it into a DDT. AJ makes her way to ringside, and gets knocked off the apron, allowing Punk to pick up the win over Kane. I'm not a fan of triple threat matches, but the three men worked well together. Slightly confusing at times because of so many bodies in the ring, but it was an average to above average bout.

Hit - Ryback vs. Two Jobbers

Time for another squash match for the man they call Ryback. Incredible backdrop by Ryback. He then delivers a viciously stiff splash from the second rope. As usual, he lifts the two men across his broad shoulders and gets the easy pin. A Ryback squash match is always fun.

Miss - John Cena vs. Big Show

Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis are at ringside for the bout. The match starts off the way you would expect...slowly. Show goes for the knock out punch early on, but hits the cage instead. Show works over Cena, with John staying on the sell. The commentators play up John Cena never giving up. Typical babyface hype. Cena finally mounts a small comeback, jumping and grabbing a bulldog. Cena tries to climb over the top of the cage, which I think is opposite of "never giving up." Big Show nervously walks across the top rope, and then hesitantly tries to hit a top rope elbow. Cena moves, and Show hits the mat. Laurinaitis and McMahon get involved, with McMahon getting slammed into the cage door by John Laurinaitis. This leads to a near fall by Big Show on Cena. Referee goes down during the mass hysteria. Show starts walking to the cage door, but Brodus Clay comes down and threatens him with a chair. Clay calls out Alex Riley and Santino Marella, as well as Zack Ryder. Show is able to fight them all off. Finally, Kofi Kingston climbs to the top of the cage and kicks Show off the top rope. Cena hits an Attitude Adjustment, and the crowd goes wild. John Cena lands on the ground and the ring bells rings. Cena defeats Big Show in an anti-climatic main event. The match wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't main event worthy. Slow, plodding and at times very boring.

WWE No Way Out was full of hits and misses. Overall, I'd say the pay per view event was a miss. The hits were good, but not enough to save the entire show. As has been typical, the WWE pay per view just seems like an extension of WWE Raw, except it costs 50 dollars. I imagine the buy rates will go down hill once WWE Raw goes to three hours on a permanent basis.