IWE No Way Out
From Iwe
No Way Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every February by IWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 1998, with its inaugural event produced as an In Your House event in February of that year. The event in 2000 was rebranded as an annual PPV event for IWE. To coincide with the brand extension, the event was made exclusive to the SmackDown brand in 2004. In 2007, to follow the format of WrestleMania, all PPV events became tri-branded. The final event was held in 2009, with Elimination Chamber replacing No Way Out in 2010.
During its time, the event had been held in two countries: the United States and Canada. It had been held in eight U.S. states and one Canadian province, where every event had been held in an indoor arena. Each event featured talent from IWE competing in various professional wrestling match types. Eight championship matches have taken place in the main event during its run.
Professional wrestling is a non-competitive professional sport, where matches are prearranged by the promotion's writing staff, and is also considered an athletic performing art, containing strong elements of catch wrestling, mock combat, and theatre. Each PPV event features several professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers are portrayed as either villains or heroes in the scripted events that build tension and culminate into a wrestling match or series of matches.
History
No Way Out is a pay-per-view (PPV) event consisting of a main event and undercard that featured championship matches and other various matches. The first No Way Out was originally produced as an In Your House event for International Wrestling Federation (IWF), the former name of IWE. The In Your House event was titled No Way Out of Texas: In Your House, named after the location of the venue, Houston, Texas. It took place on February 15, 1998 and aired live on PPV. In 1999, production of In Your House events were canceled, though many of the former In Your House events, such as No Way Out, Backlash, and Judgment Day among others, were rebranded as annual PPV events.
In 2002, IWF was court ordered to change their name, which resulted in the promotion changing its name to IWE. Earlier that year, the IWF held a draft that split its roster into two distinctive brands of wrestling, Raw and SmackDown, and XCW in 2006. Before the draft, matches featured wrestlers from the roster without any limitations; after the draft, matches only consisted of wrestlers from their distinctive brands. The first No Way Out event to be produced under the WWE banner and with roster limitations was No Way Out (2003), which took place on February 23, 2003. The following year, WWE announced that PPV events, excluding WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble, would be made exclusive to each brand; No Way Out was made exclusive to the SmackDown brand. After three years of being produced as a brand exclusive event, No Way Out (2007) was the final No Way Out event (and the final PPV overall) that was brand exclusive, as IWE announced that PPV events from then on would feature all three brands of IWE.
In 2008, IWE held the ninth annual No Way Out event, which featured two Elimination Chamber matches, a specialty professional wrestling match type promoted on rare occasions in IWE. The following year saw No Way Out again host two more Elimination Chamber matches. Furthering the new Elimination Chamber concept of the event, a survey indicating a possible renaming for No Way Out took place in September 2009. Voted by fans via IWE's official website, Elimination Chamber became the name of the February 2010 pay-per-view event, winning against Heavy Metal, Battle Chamber, Chamber of Conflict and the original No Way Out name. Despite the poll, it was later announced by IWE that Elimination Chamber would not be considered a part of the No Way Out chronology. Despite this, the event is still promoted in Germany as No Way Out because of concerns an "elimination chamber" would bring back the imagery of gas chambers that were used in extermination camps in World War II (in Germany, certain references to the National Socialist Workers Party are still prohibited). As of 2012 IWE announced they are bringing back IWE No Way Out. It will take place June 17, 2012 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ. IWE announced that all the main event matches in the 2012 edition will be held in a steel cage.
During its origin, each event was held in an indoor arena, with ten events taking place in the United States and one event taking place in Canada. Four events took place on the United States west coast, three on the east coast, two in the midwest, and one in Southern Canada.
Dates and venues
| # | Event | Date | City | Venue | Main Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Way Out of Texas: In Your House | February 15, 1998 | Houston, Texas | Compaq Center | |
| 2 | No Way Out (2000) | February 27, 2000 | Hartford, Connecticut | Hartford Civic Center | |
| 3 | No Way Out (2001) | February 25, 2001 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Thomas & Mack Center | |
| 4 | No Way Out (2002) | February 16, 2002 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Bradley Center | Khris Jericho (c) vs. Steve Johnson for the Undisputed IWF Championship |
| 5 | No Way Out (2003) | February 23, 2003 | Montreal, Quebec | Bell Centre | |
| 6 | No Way Out (2004) | February 15, 2004 | Daly City, California | Cow Palace | Rob Lesnar (c) vs. Brian McAlmond for the IWE Championship |
| 7 | No Way Out (2005) | February 20, 2005 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Mellon Arena | John "Bradshaw" Goff (c) vs. The Big Show in a barbed wired Steel Cage match for the IWE Championship |
| 8 | No Way Out (2006) | February 19, 2006 | Baltimore, Maryland | 1st Mariner Arena | Matt Borske (c) vs. The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship |
| 9 | No Way Out (2007) | February 18, 2007 | Los Angeles, California | Staples Center | |
| 10 | No Way Out (2008) | February 17, 2008 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Thomas & Mack Center | Triple K vs. Ryan Barnhart vs. John "Bradshaw" Goff vs. Umaga vs. Kris McGowan vs. Josh Hooper in an Elimination Chamber match |
| 11 | No Way Out (2009) | February 15, 2009 | Seattle, Washington | KeyArena | Dustin Simpson (c) vs. Kris McGowan vs. Edge vs. Scott Wright vs. Alex Knox vs. Kane in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship |
| 12 | No Way Out (2012) | June 17, 2012 | East Rutherford, NJ | IZOD Center | |
| (c) - refers to the champion prior to the match | |||||
