No Way Out (2012)

No Way Out (also known as No Escape in Germany, since No Way Out was used as the substitute title for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view over concerns regarding The Holocaust imagery of the title)[2] was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the WWE promotion, which took place on June 17, 2012 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The show was the twelfth and final No Way Out event and the first one since 2009.

No Way Out
Promotional poster featuring AJ Lee and Daniel Bryan
Promotion	WWE
Date	June 17, 2012
City	East Rutherford, New Jersey
Venue	Izod Center
Attendance	10,001[1]
Buy rate	194,000
Tagline(s)	Yes! Yes! Yes!
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Over the Limit Next → Money in the Bank
No Way Out chronology
← Previous 2009 Next → Final

Nine matches were on the card. The event received 194,000 buys, up from last year's Capitol Punishment pay-per-view of 170,000,[3] but down on the No Way Out 2009 figure of 272,000 buys.[4]

Storylines

The professional wrestling matches at No Way Out featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown.[5][6]

The main event of the pay-per-view involves John Cena and Big Show. On the May 14 edition of Raw, the general manager of Raw and SmackDown John Laurinaitis fired Big Show for making fun of his voice. At Over the Limit, just before John Cena would defeat Laurinaitis, Big Show turned heel and used his WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction) finisher to incapacitate Cena, allowing Laurinaitis to pin Cena and keep his job as General Manager of Raw and SmackDown. The next night on Raw, Laurinaitis revealed that he gave Big Show back his job, complete with an ironclad contract with a bonus on the condition that he would take out Cena as Show was exempt from the "no interference" stipulation for the match. Show stated that he only helped Laurinaitis when he didn't receive any sympathy from the other Superstars, and because of his ironclad contract, started attacking every superstar on the WWE roster in revenge. Laurinaitis would soon book a match between Cena and Big Show inside a steel cage for the pay-per-view. On the June 11 edition of Raw, Mr. McMahon returned to evaluate Laurinaitis's job, but was interrupted by the Big Show, at which point Mr. McMahon announced that if Big Show lost, Laurinaitis would be fired, at which point the Big Show knocked out Mr. McMahon with the WMD after Cena ducked. On the June 15 episode of SmackDown, Laurinaitis announced the stipulation if Cena lost, he would be fired, at which point Cena knocked Laurinaitis out.

The main event of SmackDown was originally Sheamus defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio. Following a successful title defense by Sheamus against Del Rio, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho at Over the Limit, Del Rio, Orton and Kane competed in a triple threat match on the May 25 edition of SmackDown to earn a title match against Sheamus at No Way Out, which Del Rio won. However, Del Rio was pulled from the match following a concussion during the June 8 episode of SmackDown.[7] On the June 11 edition of Raw, Dolph Ziggler defeated Christian, Jack Swagger and The Great Khali in a fatal-four way elimination match to become the new number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The main event of Raw involved the WWE Champion CM Punk defending his title in a Triple Threat match against Daniel Bryan and Kane. On the May 18 edition of SmackDown, Punk was put in a match against Kane, where Bryan was in commentary observing the match. Bryan would run interference by attacking Kane with a steel chair and making it look like Punk did it, causing Kane to attack Punk with the chair. On the May 21 edition of Raw, Bryan, who demanded a rematch due to Punk tapping out moments after scoring the pin during their WWE Championship match at Over the Limit, was facing off against Kane, set up by Punk in which the situation nearly reversed itself. Afterwards, Kane would start attacking both indiscriminately after being a pawn in each of their plans. On the June 1 episode of SmackDown, which involved Punk defending the WWE Championship against Kane, Bryan would interfere in the match, attacking both once more, only for Kane to chokeslam both Bryan and Punk. Afterwards, John Laurinaitis came out to announce a triple threat match involving Punk, Bryan and Kane for the WWE Championship at No Way Out.

Event

Other on-screen personnel

Role:	Name:
English Commentators	Michael Cole
	Jerry Lawler
	Booker T
Spanish Commentators	Carlos Cabrera
	Marcelo Rodriguez
Backstage interviewer	Matt Striker
Ring announcers	Lilian Garcia
	Justin Roberts
Referees	Mike Chioda
	Charles Robinson
	John Cone
	Scott Armstrong
	Chad Patton

Pre-show

The pre-show featured Brodus Clay defeating David Otunga by countout.

Preliminary matches

The event opened with Sheamus defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Dolph Ziggler. In the end, Ziggler applied a Sleeper Hold but Sheamus countered into White Noise on Ziggler. Sheamus executed a Brogue Kick on Ziggler to retain the title.

Next, United States Champion Santino Marella faced Ricardo Rodriguez in a Tuxedo match. Marella won by stripping Rodriguez down to his underwear.

After that, Christian defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes. The match ended when Rhodes attempted a Beautiful Disaster Kick but Christian avoided and executed a Spear on Rhodes to retain the title.

In the fourth match, The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) faced Primo & Epico, The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso), and Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel in a Fatal 4-Way Tag team match to determine the #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship. Young executed a Gut Check on Primo for the victory.

Next, Layla defended the WWE Divas Championship against Beth Phoenix. Layla executed a Neckbreaker on Phoenix for the victory.

After that, Sin Cara faced Hunico. Sin Cara executed a Tilt-A-Whirl Headscissors Takedown on Hunico for the victory.

In the seventh match, CM Punk defended the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan and Kane. During the match, Bryan applied the Yes Lock on Punk but Punk escaped the hold and executed a GTS on Bryan. Punk pinned Bryan but Kane pulled Bryan out of the ring, voiding the pinfall. Kane attempted a Chokeslam on Punk but Punk countered into a DDT on Kane for a near-fall. Punk executed a Diving Elbow Drop on Kane for a near-fall. Kane executed a Chokeslam on Punk for a near-fall. The match ended when Kane accidentally collided with AJ Lee, allowing Punk to execute the GTS on Kane to retain the title.

In the penultimate match, Ryback faced Dan Delaney and Rob Grimes in a Handicap match. Ryback executed a Shell Shocked on Delaney and Grimes simultaneously for the victory.

Main event

In the main event, John Cena faced Big Show inside a Steel Cage. The stipulation of the match was that if Big Show won, John Laurinaitis would fire Cena, but if Cena won, Mr. McMahon would fire Laurinaitis. Big Show dominated the match in the early going, stopping Cena from escaping multiple times. Cena nearly escaped through the door, but Laurinaitis pushed Mr. McMahon into the door, which struck Cena. Show then executed a Chokeslam on Cena for a near-fall. Show then inadvertently attacked the referee with a WMD after Cena ducked. Show then executed a second WMD on Cena and attempted to walk out the door, but was stopped by Brodus Clay, wielding a steel chair. Show then attempted to climb out over the top, but numerous superstars from Zack Ryder to Kofi Kingston tried to knock Show off the top of the cage. Kingston succeeded, temporarily stopping Show. Cena tried to escape through the door, but Show stopped him. Cena then executed an Attitude Adjustment on Show and climbed to the top of the cage, but was stopped by Laurinaitis, wielding his crutches. Clay restrained Laurinaitis, allowing Cena to climb out of the cage for the win before Show could drag himself through the door. McMahon then fired Laurinaitis and Cena put Laurinaitis through the Spanish announcers' table with an Attitude Adjustment as the event ended.

Reception

The event received 194,000 buys, up from last year's Capitol Punishment pay-per-view of 170,000.[8]

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1^P	Brodus Clay (with Cameron and Naomi) defeated David Otunga by countout	Singles match[9]	05:43[10]
2	Sheamus (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero)	Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship	15:10[10]
3	Santino Marella defeated Ricardo Rodriguez	Tuxedo match	04:25[10]
4	Christian (c) defeated Cody Rhodes	Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship	11:30[10]
5	The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) (with A.W.) defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd, Primo and Epico (with Rosa Mendes) and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso),	Fatal-four way tag team match to determine #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship[11]	09:30[10]
6	Layla (c) defeated Beth Phoenix	Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship	06:57[10]
7	Sin Cara defeated Hunico	Singles match	05:48[10]
8	CM Punk (c) defeated Daniel Bryan and Kane	Triple threat match for the WWE Championship[12]	18:17[10]
9	Ryback defeated Dan Delaney and Rob Grymes	Handicap match	01:38[10]
10	John Cena (with Mr. McMahon) defeated Big Show (with John Laurinaitis) by escaping the cage	Steel cage match Since Cena won, Laurinaitis was fired. Had Big Show won, Cena would have been fired.[13]	24:43[10]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match P – indicates the match took place on the pre-show

References

1. "Attendance for 6/18 No Way Out PPV in New Jersey". Wrestleview.com. 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
2. Caldwell, James (2012-05-26). "Next WWE PPV given different title int'lly". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
3. "WWE Reports 2012 Second Quarter Results" (PDF) (Press release). WWE. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 18, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
4. "WWE Reports 2009 First Quarter Results" (PDF). World Wrestling Entertainment. 2009-05-07. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2009-05-07. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
5. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
6. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
7. "Concussion wipes out Alberto Del Rio for No Way Out". WWE. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
8. "WWE Reports 2012 Second Quarter Results" (PDF) (Press release). WWE. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 18, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
9. Murphy, Ryan (June 17, 2012). "Brodus Clay def. David Otunga". WWE. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
10. Caldwell, James (2012-06-17). "PWTorch.com - CALDWELL'S WWE NO WAY OUT PPV REPORT 6/17: Ongoing 'virtual time' coverage of live PPV - Cena vs. Show, potential 'firings,' who will A.J. choose?". pwtorch.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
11. Medalis, Kara A. (June 17, 2012). "The Prime Time Players won a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match". WWE. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
12. "WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane – Triple Threat Match". WWE. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
13. "John Cena vs. Big Show – Steel Cage Match". WWE. Retrieved 2012-05-12.

External links

• Official No Way Out website