IWE No Way Out
From Iwe
| IWE No Way Out | ||
| No Way Out logo in 2012 | ||
| Information | ||
| Created by | Vince Matteson | |
| Promotion(s) | IWE | |
| Brand(s) | Raw (2003; 2008–2009) SmackDown (2003–2009) XCW (2008–2009) | |
| First event | No Way Out of Texas: In Your House | |
| Last event | No Way Out (2012) | |
| Signature match types | Elimination Chamber match | |
IWE No Way Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced by IWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 1998 as an In Your House event in February of that year and in 2000 was made an annual pay-per-view event for IWE. After the brand extension, the event was made exclusive to the SmackDown brand in 2004, being produced every February. In April 2007, following IWE WrestleMania 23, brand-exclusive pay-per-view events ceased being held, with the last of which being the SmackDown-exclusive No Way Out 2007. After the event included two Elimination Chamber matches in 2008 and 2009, No Way Out was replaced by IWE Elimination Chamber the following year. The name was revived for the June 2012 pay-per-view event.
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
| SmackDown-branded event |
| # | Event | Date | City | Venue | Main Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Way Out of Texas: In Your House | February 15, 1998 | Houston, Texas | Compaq Center | Steve Johnson, Owen Heart, Cactus Jack, and Chainsaw Charlie vs. Triple K, David Roope, and the New Age Outlaws (Billy Morgan and Road Dogg) in a submission match |
| 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 | Dustin Simpson and Ryan Barnhart vs. Batista and The Undertaker |
| 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 | Dustin Simpson vs. Big Show in a Steel Cage match. If Big Show loses, John Laurinitis would be fired. If Dustin Simpson loses, he would be fired. |
| (c) - refers to the champion prior to the match | |||||
