John: Welcome to the World's Greatest No Way Out Preview where the usual suspects will analyze, in some cases overanalyze, the latest PPV offering from the WWF. As is the case every month, it is written by "the distant cousin of Mideon" drqshadow and John "It's true, it's true, I WAS named after a toilet" C. This is the twelfth time I have previewed a WWF event (third time with drq) and after taking a look at this card I think it is the best one I have ever previewed. Last month's Royal Rumble was very good but a lot of the wrestlers were used as part of the 30 man Rumble instead of matches so their talent was not used as well as it could be. Now that the WWF has brought in the Radicals their chances of producing good matches from top to bottom have gone way up. Some people have e-mailed me saying that this could be their best PPV of the year and I find that a little absurd just cause this is only the second month of the year. Keep in mind that this month's PPV tends to be of little historical value as compared to the big WrestleMania show as the next PPV but I think that trend is about to change. The good news is that if the WWF is going to put on PPV's like this one every month then I guarantee there will be a lot of happy wrestling fans out there. I wonder, could every match on this card be better than the best match at Superbrawl? Believe it or not I think it could happen although the Funk/Flair match was decent so I doubt it. Anyway, this is quite different than last week's Superbrawl preview eh llama man?

drq: Quite, toilet man. The differences between this card and the WCW joke of a PPV run much deeper than just good booking, a strong card or even the talent involved therein. Probably the WWF's greatest advantage over the Turner lackeys is their morale. Following the now-infamous 10 man tag event on Raw, the team atmosphere and all around good spirit in the locker room was said to have reached an all-time high. Where a Buff Bagwell or Konnan would moan about working house shows over in Atlanta, Vince is actually turning workers away from his tours... because everybody wants to work! They say when you enjoy what you're doing, you can't help but give it your all... I can say it's true, both with the majority of my writing and with my design work. Putting it bluntly, the WWF is sitting on the verge of a renaissance. It's no longer all about the cash flow (though I wouldn't be so deluded as to claim that's not an important factor), it's about improving the overall product and, overall, enjoying yourself. The fans can tell if the workers don't give a shit, and it drags down the entire atmosphere of the show.. effectively killing all the heat. To put it simply, I'd be surprised if that Flair/Funk encounter topped any match on this card (barring an exceptional last second add-on match, featuring my good cousin Mideon vs. Viscera) because of that very reason.

John: I am sure a lot of people reading this expect a lot of jokes out of me but to be honest I really like this card and it's hard to make fun of something you like. From top to bottom this is definitely the best PPV the WWF has offered on paper since Summerslam '98 and that's not counting the Royal Rumble from last month because the Rumble is a unique sort of PPV. The WWF roster has not been this good for a while and I am still amazed that they are able to produce such good shows without Steve Austin cause he has been the best main eventer in the business for nearly three years now. The potential for ****+ matches on this card is pretty high with three of those matches having a VERY GOOD chance of breaking that mark. There are two or three matches that could disappoint but I have a feeling that they will be just fine due to excellent storylines and workers who bust their ass every time they are in a ring. With a roster as deep as the current WWF one it will push all the wrestlers to put on a good performance cause if they don't somebody else will be there to snatch that position up. At the time of this writing the WWF only had announced seven matches which is spectacular news because it will give each match at least 10 minutes meaning they will be able to deliver high caliber matches. They could be adding some other matches like Tazz vs. Prince Albert, Crash vs. Hardcore or Headcheese vs. The Acolytes, Essa Rios vs. somebody (I am really reaching aren't I?) but for now they only have seven matches advertised therefore that is all we will be previewing. In my mind though, seven matches on one PPV is a good thing and I would love to see it happen more often.

drq:That's also a good point, John. In the day and age of crash tv, short attention spans and pokemon-induced seizures, a card with just 7 matches (and even 8, including that Mideon/Viscera instant classic) is completely out of the question. Surprisingly enough, the WWF fans seem almost ready to accept it, and the longer matches it will certainly contain. Sure, he could stick that middle finger high and send out the Rock or HHH for a 20 minute promo, but I'm willing to trust Vince for the moment. He knows how high the interest has boiled for this one, both on the internet and amongst the general public and I doubt he'll drop the ball now. Barring a program a half an hour short (as was the case with the stupendous KOTR 99), this could tear down that wall and tack up the new rules for the WWF.. just in time for Wrestlemania.

John:I think we've done enough rambling for now so sit back and enjoy the World's Greatest No Way Out Preview. Here she blows...

If you would like to mail us you can do so by clicking below. All mail is welcome even from those people who think the Big Show's chokeslam signal is impressive.

John: I have heard about the Hardy split that DRQ mentioned but I doubt it will happen yet, I think they are the team the WWF is banking on in 2000 therefore they are going to 'Mania. I am sure some people out there are saying "not this match again" but if they are out there then I have yet to speak to any of them. A lot of times wrestling promotions book the same feuds over and over and often times it just gets worse and worse (see: Nash vs. Sid) but in this case a match like this is another gem. The best thing about this matchup is that there are definitely more matches in the future of these four men. People talk about getting over with their mic work or with a good gimmick but lets be honest here, these teams just go out there and wrestle which they do magnificently I might add. You know they are all great workers, their spots are among the best in the business and the pop they get from the crowd is very good so there is no doubt in my mind that this will be a good match. I doubt it will be as good as the ladder match just cause there is no gimmick involved here but I think it has a very good chance of reaching ****+ level especially if they are given 10-15 minutes to work with. As for a prediction, I have to go with the Hardys just cause Edge & Christian are ready for singles right now while the Hardys have a very hot feud with the Dudleys that will probably continue. At No Mercy it was definitely the match of the night but on this card it may be second or third best. This is a match I am looking forward to a lot and if it does open the PPV I am sure the crowd will stay hot for the entire night. Save the title shot till 'Mania cause the Hardys deserve the gold and they deserve it at the biggest PPV of the year. Winners: The Hardys

John: This is one of those matches that I don't particularly enjoy just because they are both heel teams even though the Outlaws act like faces 95% of the time. The introduction on the mic is obviously sucking up to the crowd but when you climb the apron to signal to the crowd THAT is sucking up to the people. Like I said in my column on Wednesday, I would like to see the Outlaws leave DX and be faces cause they are just plain horrible as heels right now. Anyway, I was shocked when the Dudleys became the #1 contenders cause I thought it would be the Hardys but I guess the WWF wanted to reward the Duds for all their hard work. They came into the WWF in September and have evolved into the best heel tag team the WWF has seen since the days of Owen and Bulldog. Since I don't say nice things about Billy Gunn often I will take this opportunity to say that the Fameasser he did on Smackdown on the table to Buh Buh was very impressive. I have said all along that Gunn is a great athlete but he just never impresses me on a consistent basis in the ring. I have to go with the Dudleys just cause they are doing a great job right now and I see no reason why they do not deserve the belts. However, the Outlaws are the more popular team so I can understand why the WWF would keep the belts on them heading into WrestleMania. All signs point to a win for the Dudleys but if the Outlaws retain the belts I wouldn't be too surprised. Winners: The Dudley Boyz

John: The premier David vs. Goliath story took place at Badd Blood '97 when HBK beat the Undertaker and although this one is good it is not near that level. When these two fought at Survivor Series the match was decent and when they had the cage match at Armageddon it reached the *** level. This time around I am not sure what to expect cause Kane has been inconsistent in his performances lately. X-Pac is the model of consistency in the WWF and he has been for nearly two years now so you know you will get a good performance out of him. The problem I have is the "No Holds Barred" stipulation that means that there is a very good chance that somebody is going to interfere here. There are lots of rumors floating around saying that Kane may turn heel so he can work a program with Rocky after WM2000 and that X-Pac may go face so that he can have a feud with HHH. My personal feelings on that are that it is a good thing cause I have always been a Kane mark and I know that he is far better as a heel then he is as a face. X-Pac also performs better as a heel so I would like him to stay the way he is although he is good either way so it wouldn't be bad to see him turn too. I doubt a turn will happen here though just cause they usually save the big turns for WrestleMania (see: Kane and Triple H last year), which is something I definitely agree with. I honestly do not know who is going to win this one but I would like to see X-Pac win it cause a win over Kane at a PPV would do wonders for his career. I hope this is the last PPV match between these two because, quite frankly, it has lost the heat it once possessed therefore it should end sooner rather than later. Winner: X-Pac

John: I want to start out by saying that the Malenko high knee to the face leading to a Saturn Tiger Suplex was a very slick move on Smackdown. I am a big mark for the Tiger Suplex and it is definitely a move I would like to see more of in the big two. I was so happy when the WWF booked this match but I became ecstatic once they gave Rikishi a bad ankle to work with. By doing that they have made sure that the fat man with the big ass will be in the ring for a short period of time, probably the very end of the match for the hot tag. I think the Radicals will be ecstatic about wrestling on their first WWF PPV as well as wrestling in front of what should be a very hot crowd. In terms of workrate Benoit is God (as you all know), Malenko is magnificent, Saturn is excellent while Too Cool are both very good in the ring with Taylor being a little better than Christopher. Throw in the fact that the crowd is VERY HOT during a Too Cool match and you have yourself a match that is more than capable of reaching the ****+ level. The experience that Too Cool will gain from working with Benoit and Malenko will help them out tremendously in the long run cause nobody is as consistent in the ring as those two are. This one should go at least 15 minutes with Too Cool taking a beating for most of the match and Rikishi coming in with the hot tag in the final two minutes. Picking a winner for this one is tough but I have to go with The Radicals just because this is their first PPV and they need to win here in order to get over even more with WWF fans. The most likely scenario has Benoit getting the pin on one of the members of Too Cool after my man Eddy G. uses some heelish tactics for the win. Congratulations to Chris Benoit on the arrival of his new baby boy who just happens to have the same name as my son: Daniel! Seeing your baby for the first time is the greatest feeling in the world and I am sure Chris and Nancy are on top of the world right now. Hmmm, maybe I could do a parenting column? Nah, I don't think so. Winners: Benoit, Saturn & Malenko

John: Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike the 9th wonder of plastic surgery? This is definitely a match I am looking forward because it has easily been the best IC title feud the WWF has seen in quite some time. Jericho has done everything possible to make the IC belt credible after some horrible people like Godfather, Goldust and Chyna held the belt. I have been a big mark for Jericho's work for about eight years now and I am a little upset in his performances lately. He has been great on the mic, he always is, but his performances in the ring have been lacking the usual Jericho fire that I am used to seeing. I think it has to do with the fact that he is a face now and as a face you have to work a different style than you do as a heel. I am happy that Chris is more successful now than he has ever been but I enjoy him more as a heel. I do think he is finding his old workrate cause he did have a good match against Jeff Hardy on Heat last week and he did a good job in the Smackdown main event this week too. I am not saying he sucks or anything, I just think he has been better and once he adapts to working as a face full time he will improve in the ring too because he is Chris Jericho and he is that damn good.

Kurt Angle is a guy who has surprised a lot of people because he has become so good much sooner than expected. The same thing has happened with Rikishi and the WWF is doing a good job by pushing these two because if the people react to it then that is all that really matters. Angle is doing a marvelous job in gaining heel heat by continually pissing off fans using a pompous attitude while he acts like a nice guy the whole time. The only thing I would change about Angle is his finishing move but as I have said in the past, there are several ridiculous finishing holds in wrestling so it's not that much of a problem. There is a chance that Jericho drops his belt here but I hope he doesn't cause he has had a very successful reign proving that he should hold onto the belt at least until WrestleMania. This match should be very good reaching at least *** level but I would expect it to be higher with Angle delivering his best WWF match to date. If this feud ends now the WWF still has plenty of ways to go with both guys by putting Jericho in a feud with Benoit or X-Pac while Angle can defend the European title against guys like D'Lo (remember him?), Edge or Christian. I have to go with a Jericho win here but if he does drop the belt I won't be too upset cause I know a main event push is on the horizon for Y2J. Winner: Chris Jericho

John: People can badmouth the Rock all they want but this is easily the best feud the Big Show has been a part of in the WWF so give him some credit. In terms of star ratings this will probably be the lowest of all the matches but in terms of crowd approval this will probably end up being first. Is there any question about who is going to win this match? Does anybody actually believe that The Rock will not head to WrestleMania as the #1 contender for the belt? I think it's pretty obvious that the Rock wins here and heads to 'Mania where he will definitely walk away with the world title. Often times the WWF is unpredictable but when it comes to the WrestleMania main event it is pretty obvious as to what is going to happen. No doubts here, Rocky wins. Winner: The Rock

John: The first thing I want to mention is that Cactus Jack cut one of his best promos ever on Smackdown. It was one of those promos that separate legends from stars and believe me Mick Foley is undoubtedly a wrestling legend. I have not seen another wrestler that is as universally loved as Foley and he deserves every bit of praise. The man has done so much for the business whether it is losing cleanly to a guy like Val Venis or delivering the most memorable match ever at King of the Ring '98. Over the past month I have expressed my concern for the welfare of Foley because I know how banged up he is, I know what it's like being a father and I know how much he cares about his family. This is arguably the biggest match of his life and he has said he will pull out all the stops so who really knows what to expect from this one. I do expect this will reach ****+ because these two have pulled out matches at that level so many times before that it is a foregone conclusion by now. I also expect Mick to deliver the "Cactus Elbow" possibly off of the cage onto Triple H on the announce table. That would definitely be a cool spot but I am not sure it is worth it because the risk in such a move for both guys is pretty overwhelming. Their match at the Rumble was one of the best world title matches the WWF has ever seen and this one could definitely be at that level. While Triple H is not a great worker the effort he has in the ring more than makes up for what he lacks in natural ability. I am really looking forward to this one and I'm sure you can tell because I have talked about this one for a while. I absolutely loved the first two HIAC matches and I have a very good feeling that this one will reach the level of those two in terms of being memorable matches that wrestling fans will talk about forever. I think Cactus will walk away as champion and have his last match at WrestleMania. I also think Triple H will be in the WrestleMania main event even though a three way dance for the world title at 'Mania is not something I particularly like. Triple H is too good not to be in the main event at 'Mania and he deserves to be there cause he has done a great job carrying the WWF for about 6 months now. The scenarios here are endless and I'm sure I'll be bombarded with emails about this but for now my instincts tell me that Cactus walks away as the world champion. As long as Mick stays healthy nothing else seems to matter but one last title reign would be nice to see too. Winner: Cactus Jack

John: Phew, that was a long one wasn't it? There is nothing left for me to say other than I hope everybody watches No Way Out this Sunday because it is the first PPV in a long time that is actually worth the $30. Of course, I'll be watching on my cable box so I will definitely watch the even though it is going up against a new episode of the Simpsons. This was a lot of fun to write and I hope the WWF delivers more PPVs that are this good because it's the first time in a while that I was really excited about a WWF PPV and believe me that is a good thing. I never thought I would say that considering there is no Steve Austin and there is no T&A but they have proven to be a well oiled machine lately and I see no reason why this show will disappoint anybody. If you have any questions or comments about this preview feel free to mail us and we will do our best to reply to you as soon as possible. Have a great weekend and enjoy No Way Out cause the two of us definitely will.