For 20 years, sandwiched between the two biggest Pay Per Views of the year, Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania, stands the February Pay Per View. From 2000 until 2009 (plus 1998), it was called No Way Out. From 2010 until 2014, it was called the Elimination Chamber. Last year and this year, its now called Fastlane. The February Pay Per View is a lot more interesting than the September Pay Per View because the writing team is still in its creative peak as they build the Road to Wrestlemania. Stakes are pretty high for a non-big four Pay Per View. A major theme involves the Royal Rumble winner putting his Wrestlemania title shot on the line, which happened at the 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2015 editions of the February Pay Per View (the Rumble winner was actually going for the championship at the 1997 and 2008 editions). Interestingly enough, only Shawn Michaels in 1996 and Roman Reigns in 2015 successfully defended their title shots, although Rock in 2000, Triple H in 2002 and Rey Mysterio in 2006 ended up in the Wrestlemania main event anyway. This year, the title shot at Wrestlemania is on the line again, as Brock Lesnar faces Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match to decide who goes on to face Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 32. On the eve of Fastlane, lets rank the previous 20 February WWE Pay Per Views from worst to best.
20. No Way Out (Of Texas) 1998
As great as the Attitude Era was, the Pay Per Views left a lot to be desired. Most of the good stuff happened on Raw while the WWF was in the midst of the Monday Night War with WCW. The wrestling quality was also pretty low, so on Pay Per View, where match quality matters more than on television, the poor wrestling quality is more noticeable. What really puts this show at the bottom of the list is the fact that Shawn Michaels no-showed the main event. It wasn't really his fault; he was gutting through a career-threatening back injury and could barely work the Wrestlemania 14 main event against Steve Austin. But still, the main event was supposed to be D-Generation X and the New Age Outlaws taking on their Wrestlemania opponents in an 8-man war, and Savio Vega was a poor replacement for HBK. Elsewhere, the show was notable for a mask vs. mask match with Kane vs. Vader, as Vader's face was supposed to be disfigured after Kane hit it with a wrench. Kane won, and Vader had to unmask, and his face was...the same as it ever was.
