No Way Out (2000)

The main feud going into No Way Out was between Triple H and Mick Foley over the WWF Championship. Triple H defeated his (then storyline) father-in-law Vince McMahon at Armageddon in a No Holds Barred match after Stephanie McMahon, whom Triple H had drugged and married her against her will earlier in the year, betrayed her father and began siding with Triple H. This led to the beginning of what was referred to as the McMahon-Helmsley Era, as Vince suddenly departed the company after the match. Stephanie's brother Shane, who was also prominently involved in the feud, left as well, leaving Stephanie and, by proxy, Triple H in charge of the WWF. Immediately the two began to attempt to take out their rivals with the help of a reunited D-Generation X, leading to a pole match between Foley, who was then wrestling as Mankind, and The Rock where the first man to grab a pink slip hanging from the pole would keep his job. Mankind lost, and therefore was fired.

On the January 3, 2000 edition of Raw Is War, Triple H defeated The Big Show to regain the WWF Championship he had lost to him at Survivor Series the prior November. Later that evening, Foley came from the crowd to assist The Rock in a handicap match against DX to prevent him from getting fired. One week later, Mankind was reinstated and wrestled with The Rock and The Acolytes against all four members of DX; Triple H emerged victorious by pinning Mankind after a brutal attack ending with a Pedigree.

It had been announced on Raw that Triple H would defend his title at the Royal Rumble against Mankind, but on the edition of SmackDown! that followed Mankind announced that he was not ready to face Triple H. However, he had a substitute ready and announced him as Cactus Jack, who had not been seen in the WWF since shortly after WrestleMania XIV. The two would face off in a Street Fight, which Triple H won. 2 weeks later on Raw Is War, Triple H would grant Cactus another chance at the title at No Way Out in a match of his choosing; Cactus chose Hell in a Cell and agreed to retire if he lost the match.

Another feud heading into No Way Out was between The Rock and The Big Show. Shortly after losing his WWF Championship to Triple H, Big Show turned on The Rock by abandoning him in multiple tag team matches over the course of January. The rivalry intensified at the Royal Rumble, where they were the final two entrants remaining. Big Show went to throw The Rock out of the ring, but before he could do so The Rock countered by trying to toss Big Show over the top rope. Both men went over, but The Rock was able to pull himself back into the ring and was declared the winner, which entitled him to a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania 2000.

What the fans did not see on the live broadcast, however, was an unintended accident that the writers decided to incorporate into the story. The sequence where Big Show was to be eliminated with The Rock using his momentum against him was the scripted finish to the match. However, Rock’s own momentum caused him to land with both of his feet touching the floor before he pulled himself back into the ring.

Therefore, Big Show claimed on the episode of Raw the night after the pay-per-view that Rock had touched the floor first and thus he should have been declared the winner of the match. Triple H asked for proof and promised Show a match with Rick if he could show the incident. Big Show obliged, and produced a video shot from the side of the ring where the elimination took place that clearly showed Rock touching the floor before Big Show did. Therefore, a match was signed for No Way Out with the winner getting the WrestleMania title match against the winner of the Triple H-Cactus Jack match.

After Sunday Night Heat, the pay-per-view began with a singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship with champion Chris Jericho facing Kurt Angle, the reigning European Champion. Both Angle and Jericho wrestled inconclusively in the beginning, including an attempt by Jericho to force Angle to submit by applying the Walls of Jericho, but Angle grabbed the ropes surrounding the ring, which forced Jericho to break the hold. While the referee Tim White was (kayfabe) unconscious, Jericho attempted to hit Angle with a Lionsault, but was hit in the face with the Intercontinental Championship belt. Angle then covered Jericho for the pinfall, winning the Intercontinental Championship to become a double champion. Following the match, referees White and Hebner argued over the conclusion.[4][5]

Kurt Angle faced Chris Jericho for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

The following bout was a tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where the champions, the New Age Outlaws (the Road Dogg and Billy Gunn), defended their titles against the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley). Throughout the match, both teams performed many offensive maneuvers, though The Dudley Boyz were able to gain the upper hand when Bubba Ray struck Billy Gunn with a lead pipe on the outside of the ring and did the 3D on Road Dogg inside the ring. Bubba Ray then covered Road Dogg to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for his team.[4][6]

The Dudley Boyz faced the New Age Outlaws for the WWF Tag Team Championship

The third contest was Viscera versus Mark Henry in a standard match. Henry started the match and managed to bring Viscera down, but then Viscera retaliated with a spinning heel kick and got the advantage. Viscera crashed Henry against the ladders on the outside and performed a Samoan drop and belly to belly suplex, until Mae Young interfered on behalf of Henry. Viscera pulled her down to the mat and tried to splash her, but Henry countered with a spear and scoop powerslammed him. He then pinned Viscera for the win.[4][5]

The next match was a tag team match where Edge and Christian faced the Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy), who were escorted by Terri Runnels. Prior to the match, Terri had (kayfabe) hired the Acolytes Protection Agency (Bradshaw and Faarooq) as protection, and they were at ringside throughout the match. Both teams attempted to gain the advantage throughout the contest, and Edge and Christian ultimately gained it when Terri turned on the Hardy Boyz, pushing Jeff off the top rope as he attempted his finisher called the Swanton Bomb. As Matt questioned her, Terri slapped him and Christian struck Matt from behind and pinned him for the win. Following his loss, the Hardy Boyz attempted to pull Terri into the ring, but the APA attacked them.[4][7]

The fifth contest was a standard match between Tazz and The Big Boss Man. Soon after the match began, Tazz applied the Tazzmission to Boss Man in an attempt to make him submit, but Prince Albert interfered and attacked Tazz, causing a disqualification. As Tazz was the one attacked, the victory was given to him. Following the match, Prince Albert and Boss Man assaulted Tazz in the ring.[4][5]

The next match was X-Pac, escorted by Tori, versus Kane, escorted by Paul Bearer, in a No Holds Barred match. X-Pac and Kane wrestled extensively on the entrance ramp including X-Pac throwing Kane into a steel cage, and Paul Bearer interfered often, attacking X-Pac. X-Pac gave Kane an X-Factor but he recovered. Kane then chokeslammed X-Pac followed by a tombstone piledriver to Tori. The match ended when X-Pac dropkicked the steel ring steps into Kane's face and covered him for a pin.[4][7]

The seventh match on the card was a six man tag team match where Too Cool (Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Grand Master Sexay) faced The Radicalz (Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn). Both teams performed many offensive maneuvers throughout the match, but Too Cool gained the upper hand when Rikishi delivered a Banzai Drop to Malenko. This was followed by a cover for the pin.[4][5]

Triple H, who defended his title against Cactus Jack in a Hell in a Cell match.

The featured bout on the undercard was The Big Show versus The Rock for a championship match at WrestleMania 2000. During the match, referee Tim White was knocked out, and upon recovering he was involved in a fight with fellow referee Earl Hebner, causing referee White to not count the pin when the Big Show covered the Rock, while Shane McMahon came down to ringside. The Rock then delivered the Rock Bottom, one of his finishing maneuvers, and was attempting to perform the People's Elbow on his fallen opponent, when McMahon hit the Rock with a steel chair. The Big Show then covered the Rock and got a pin.[4][7]

The main event was a Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship, in which WWF Champion Triple H defended his championship against Cactus Jack, with the added stipulation that if Jack lost he would have to retire from professional wrestling. The match began inside a structure of metal surrounding the ring and ringside area. Throughout the match, many weapons were employed, such as steel chairs and a 2x4 with barbed wire wrapped around it (the 2x4 was also set on fire later in the match). When the ring steps were repeatedly thrown against the wall of the cell, it tore open and Cactus Jack jumped through it to the outside of the cage. The men fought first on the announcers' table with Jack piledriving Triple H on it, and later both men wrestled on the top of the cage. While on top of the cell, Cactus Jack attempted a Piledriver, but the move was reversed and Triple H backdropped him onto the cell roof. The move broke the cell roof and Cactus Jack fell through to the mat below, buckling the surface of the ring. After Jack stood up again, Triple H performed the Pedigree on him. He then covered Cactus Jack for a successful pin to win the match.[4][8]