Falls Count Anywhere EXTRA:
No Way Out LIVE

02-17-04

Garcia was there LIVE! eh.

Honestly, I haven't seen the Pay Per View version yet, but I can say that live, it was mostly a fantastic experience. There were a few exceptions, but all in all, it may have been the best second half of any PPV in years.

First, it was a total sell-out. I don't think I've ever been to a show at the Cow Palace that was this sold out. Every seat, even the upper corners, seemed to be sold. This level of sell out led to a major problem getting the crowd in. They started letting folks in at 3:30. Now, it was raining, so a lot of people weren't getting into line until around 4 when the rain let up. Even with the rain, there were probably 5,000 waiting in line already when the rush started, and by the 4:30, there must have been ten thousand people. This led to a huge queue that went all the way back to where the trucks were parked, and then snaked back and forth in switchbacks.

At bell time, we were still about a quarter mile from the building. We missed the first match, which was Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty beating The Bashems and Shaniqua, and got in right before Nidia, and her lusciousness, took on Jamie Noble.

Blind Man's Bluff.

Nidia vs. Noble, a blindfold match, was awful, but they did some fun comedy. It worked like these matches always do: the heel takes a peak behind the ref's back and then hits a move to get the win. The finish was Noble using the sweet seated Dragon Sleeper on Nidia after tossing her off of the top rope. Terrible.

Goldberg came out through the crowd to a huge pop and loud chants. He took a seat at ringside, and then Paul Heyman came out from the back and ordered Goldberg to stay in his seat. Brock Lesnar came out and started calling Goldberg a coward. Goldberg jumped the rail, came into the ring and Brock attacked him. Brock went for the F5, but Goldberg got away, then used the jackhammer. Heyman flipped out and called security to arrest him. They put Bill into handcuffs and took him to the back. This was a very hot segment.

The APA wrestled The World's Greatest Tag Team in a match that had a little continuity from this week's SmackDown where Bradshaw's arm was hurt. They did some fun back and forth stuff, but it really wasn't very good. Benjamin and Haas have been really good of late and they should continue to improve if they have faith and give them a real Tag Team Title team. At this point, the show wasn't good, but with the Cow Palace so full, and the audience so receptive, it was still a good time.

In a match I wasn't expecting, Rhyno took on Hardcore Holly. It worked for the most part, but the crowd was only halfway into it. Rhyno did an awesome spinebuster that got a nice reaction from the crowd. The match moved pretty well, and was easily the best so far, but it wasn't the type of match that could make a show. Hardcore looked really good and Rhyno has been one of my favorites since he was a player in ECW.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero. I was excited about this one from the start, and adding Jorge "Tin Tin" Paez and Chavo Sr. to the mix meant that there was going to be some fun. The two of them did some fun opening stuff, especially with Chavo being such a great heel. There was a guy behind us who was constantly chanting and yelling for Chavo. I joined him quite a few times. There were a couple of smart marks in front of me who kept saying that Chavo "got no chance in hell."

How quaint.

No chance in hell.

The match was great, with Rey doing all the Rey stuff, hitting two separate 619s and Chavo selling and doing a lot of heel work. Paez hit Chavo Sr, knocking him out for a good deal of the match, and he was sent to the back. The match worked really well. Chavito kept hitting roll-throughs into half-crabs for near submissions. The section around me loved this match, and I thought it was great. After about twenty minutes, Rey looked to have the match won, but Chavo Sr. interfered. Chavo got a roll-up for the pin and is the new Cruiserweight Champ.

After the match, Chavos did a great interview talking about winning the title and saying that Eddy would never win the title 'cause he was an addict. They've been doing this a lot lately. They've telegraphed that Benoit would win the Rumble and that Eddy would win the belt by having someone cut an anti-Benoit and an anti-Eddy promo before the big match.

Kurt Angle and John Cena and The Big Show were in the ring together, and they had a fine match. Not as good as the Chavo vs. Rey match, but really good in a very different way. Cena's rap to open the match was great, and to prove it, my companions betrayed emotion. Gennie was laughing and Joker smiled, which is as much emotion as my dear friend will ever show. They did all sorts of pairing off to open, with Angle and Big Show going at it followed by Cena against Big Show and then Cena vs. Angle. It was a nice touch, especially when Cena was leaning on the ropes, looking interested but far from wanting to get into the fray. Cena gets a really big pop for giving The Big Show the FU. It was very impressive to watch Cena lift him into position. Angle hits the Angle Slam and Big Show hit his chokeslams. Good sequence.

The match continues along very nicely until Angle tosses Big Show out, and Cena goes for the FU, but Angle turns it into the Anglelock and gets the win. This was a really good match, which was only held back by the three-way format.

The main event was a classic World Title Match. It was a very strong match from both men, worked in the style that the WWE wants its guys to go for now, and perfectly paced. Eddy started by working Brock's legs, which is a great storyline. Brock got offense and he did that awesome delayed Fisherman's Suplex. This is what's great about Brock: he can legitimately do these great power moves, which any moron can do, but he knows when to do them to get the most impact out of them in the context of the match. Eddy caught the STF going for a submission in the middle of the ring and the crowd really bought into it and was going nuts. The WWE is starting to get submissions over nicely, which is going to help when they slow down the pace of matches even more.

"Khaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Eddy was doing all sorts of submissions, many of which worked the crowds, and some of which haven't been built to the crowd yet, so they didn't know what was going on. The overall effect on the crowd was solid and my section was constantly cheering. Eddy misses a Frog Splash and bounces off the mat about a foot. Brock picks him up for the F5, but he ends up knocking down the ref. He gets the pin, but no ref to count it.

After bit, Goldberg comes out with the remnants of handcuffs on his wrists. He gets a really loud pop when he gives the spear to Lesnar. Eddy stirs and goes to cover Lesnar while the crowd is giving a really loud Eddy chant. Eddy covers and the ref comes to life a bit, the crowd counts along "One, two…" and the crowd says three, but Brock kicks out. Eddy grabs the title and goes to nail Brock with it, but Brock blocks the belt shot, and picks up Eddy for the F5. Eddy turned the F5 into a Swinging DDT, supposedly on the belt and got the pin.

The crowd went absolutely wild. I've been in some loud pops before, but this one was so huge I can't think of any other that comes close. It's amazing that the pop that Eddy got was so big, but then again, the place was packed to the rafters. Great match, great moment.

Chris Garcia