The rivalry between Steve Austin and Triple H had dominated WWE programming for the better part of four months by the time No Way Out emanated from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. With Austin primed for a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania X-7, there was no better time to blowoff the program than the February pay-per-view extravaganza. In a 3 Stages of Hell match, the industry icons waged war in a first fall wrestling match, second fall street fight and, after tying things up with one win apiece, a steel cage match decider. For 45-plus minutes, the two pros captivated fans with an enthralling piece of epic storytelling that concluded with Triple H scoring the upset win over the Texas Rattlesnake. And that wasn't even the show's main event. The Rock chased the glory of championship gold once again, battling Kurt Angle in the evening's marquee bout. Even with the questionable decision to book interference from Big Show, the performers delivered the third four star-plus match of the night, the others being the aforementioned Austin-HHH war and a fatal four-way match for the Intercontinental Championship pitting champion Chris Jericho against the talented trio of X-Pac, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Stephanie McMahon and Trish Stratus exceeded all expectations with a wild, chaotic wrestling match won by the Billion Dollar Princess, rounding out what was one of the truly special cards of the entire Attitude Era.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
