Welcome to the final PPV before Wrestlemania! Tonight, there will be no escape for the WWE Superstars. Whether it be in a steel cage, an Elimination Chamber, or in the Hell in A Cell, winners must be decided and bodies will be battered.
But how did we get to this point? How were #1 Contenders chosen? Simply put, there was a lot of battles fought over the past few weeks and everyone had to earn their spots.
There were tournaments set up to find out who would face both tag team champions.
For the Raw side, the first round matches were as such:
Epico/Primo vs United Kingdom (Regal & McIntyre) - UK
Zig/Swag vs Motor City Machine Guns (Shelley & Sabin) - MCMG
Team Awesome (Miz & Hawkins) vs Jimmy Boom (Kofi & R-Truth) - Team Awesome
Then the second round:
UK vs MCMG - MCMG
Team Awesome (BYE)
Team Awesome prevailed over the Motor City Machine Guns in the finals. Many might question if they really deserve the title shot seeing as how they only defeated two teams and received a bye. Nonetheless they take on Michael McGillicutty and Mason Ryan for the titles.
Now for the Smackdown side, the first round:
Sin Cara/Yoshi Tatsu vs Gabriel/Kidd - Cara/Tatsu
The Usos vs Primetime Players (Young/O'Neil) - Usos
Kings of Wrestling (Cesaro/Ohno) vs Los Guerreros - KOW
Hall of Pain (Henry/Zeke) vs Kozlov/Ryback - Hall of Pain
Next, the second round:
Campeones de México (Sin Cara and King Thunder; Sin Cara ditches Yoshi Tatsu for new partner, King Thunder.) vs Usos - Usos
*KOW vs Hall of Pain - KOW
*Mark Henry was injured after the match. It is unknown when he will return.
Finally, the Usos defeated the Kings of Wrestling and are set to face Beer Money, the tag team champions, in a Steel Cage.
For each of the other titles, 5 competitors were to be added to join the champions in 6-Man bouts.
Five one-on-one matchups decided contenders.
Here is the tournaments for each of the titles:
IC Championship #1 Contenders
The Miz vs Drew McIntyre - Miz
Zack Ryder vs Shelton Benjamin - Ryder
Rob van Dam vs Dolph Ziggler - Ziggler
Christian vs Ric Flair - Christian
Jeff Hardy vs Bully Ray - Bully Ray
And so, the returning Bully Ray and RVD as well as The Miz, former champ Christian, and Zack Ryder meet Dean Ambrose in the Hell in A Cell for the title.
US Championship - #1 Contenders
MVP vs Damien Sandow - Sandow
Chavo Guerrero vs John Morrison - Chavo
Antonio Cesaro vs Matt Hardy - Cesaro
Santino vs Austin Aries - Aries
*Seth Rollins vs Kassius Ohno - Ohno
* It should be noted that Damien Sandow attacked Rollins before his match with Ohno. The two confronted one another after Sandow's match. The attack led to a win for Ohno and he also tried to injure Rollins but Evan Bourne returned to make the save. One has to wonder whether a rivalry has begun or if there was already something brewing we didn't know about. We do know the two crossed paths during their time down in FCW.
With that, we have 4 fresh new faces plus a proven vet joining the US title fray in an Elimination Chamber.
World Heavyweight Championship - #1 Contenders
Kevin Nash vs Kane - Kane
Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle - Eddie
The Rock vs Undertaker (15-Min Ironman) - Taker (8-0 pinfalls)
Randy Orton vs Batista (2/3 Falls) - Orton
Cody Rhodes vs Wade Barrett (2/3 Falls) - Barrett
Daniel Bryan has some serious competition heading into NWO. Four former world champions and one hungry to get his first will enter in the Hell in A Cell with DBry, who won the vacant title at Royal Rumble inside an Eliminaton Chamber.
WWE Championship - #1 Contenders
Chris Jericho vs Alberto Del Rio (Submission) - Jericho
John Cena vs HBK (2/3 Falls) - Cena
Chris Benoit vs AJ Styles - Styles
Edge vs Big Show - Show
Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar (2/3 Falls) - Lesnar
Lastly, AJ Styles finds himself left out in a group of men who have held WWE gold and fought in such structures as the ones that encapsulate these Superstars tonight.
That's our preview for No Way Out. It should be a great show and will serve as the ultimate proving ground for our champions. There's no escape; the champs are on lockdown and must put it all on the line. Who will leave as champion?
Time to find out.