No Way Out 2002: The nWo Arrives, and the WWF Starts Looking Very Different

Tag Team Turmoil is a very WWF way to open a pay-per-view: six teams, sixteen minutes, enough entrances to make the match feel like it has its own commute. The format keeps the action moving because every elimination resets the chemistry before the previous pairing can overstay its welcome. The Hardys do the heaviest lifting, surviving Christian and Storm and then the Dudleys before Billy and Chuck finally remove them. That leaves the APA to enter last and mow through Billy and Chuck with the Clothesline from Hell. The finish is not subtle, but it gives WrestleMania a clear tag-title challenger and makes the opener feel useful rather than decorative.

RVD and Goldust are an oddly perfect midcard pairing because one wrestles like gravity is optional and the other wrestles like every camera shot deserves its own dramatic pause. Goldust slows Van Dam down with compact offense and nearly steals the match after RVD misses the Five Star Frog Splash, but the pace never gets stuck. Van Dam keeps creating space with kicks and rolling offense until Goldust's attempts to control him become increasingly desperate. The closing sequence is clean and satisfying: RVD breaks free, hits the Five Star Frog Splash and gets the pin. Nothing about the match changes company history, but it is one of the night's easiest segments to simply enjoy.

The tag title match is short, competent and mostly memorable for how quickly Test manages to turn a winning position into an argument with the referee. Booker and Test use the obvious size advantage to control stretches, while Spike plays the vulnerable champion and Tazz waits for the opening that can turn the match instantly. Test appears to have the fall on Tazz, but the referee catches him using the ropes and waves it off. Instead of recovering, Test protests long enough for Tazz to trap him in the Tazzmission and force the submission. It is a perfectly functional defense, though the champions never feel like the centerpiece of the division.

Regal and Edge take a gimmick that sounds like somebody lost a bet with Vince Russo and turn it into a respectable championship match. The pole gives both men a visible objective, but Regal's real character advantage is that everybody assumes he has another pair of brass knuckles somewhere anyway. Edge eventually knocks the hanging set to the floor and seems to have removed the weapon from the equation after hitting the Spear. Naturally, Regal produces a second pair from his tights, blasts Edge and retains. It is shameless heel logic, but the cheating is so perfectly aligned with Regal's character that the ridiculous stipulation ends up feeling almost reasonable.

Rock and Undertaker work the night's strongest standard singles match because the feud already has enough hostility to make every shortcut feel earned. Undertaker controls through size and intimidation, while Rock keeps forcing the pace back toward counters and sudden bursts of offense. The referee bump opens the door for the expected chaos: Undertaker grabs the lead pipe from his motorcycle, Ric Flair appears, Vince McMahon creates another distraction, and the ring gradually becomes less a wrestling match than a traffic intersection. Flair ultimately hits Undertaker with the pipe, allowing Rock to land the Rock Bottom for the pin. The interference is heavy, but it successfully launches Undertaker toward Flair for WrestleMania.

Angle and Triple H are asked to wrestle a serious WrestleMania-stakes match while Stephanie McMahon spends fourteen minutes behaving like the world's least neutral traffic cop. The wrestling underneath the soap opera is strong: Angle attacks the leg and hunts the Ankle Lock, Triple H keeps creating power counters, and both men generate believable near-finishes. The officiating chaos repeatedly interrupts the rhythm. Stephanie gets knocked down, Tim White replaces her, Stephanie returns, White gets attacked, and eventually Angle uses a chair before hitting the Angle Slam for the pin. The result briefly gives Angle Triple H's WrestleMania title shot, though Raw reverses the direction almost immediately.

Jericho and Austin have a strong championship match that becomes historically secondary the instant the nWo walks into the finish. Austin starts with the urgency of a man trying to erase the Vengeance loss, dragging Jericho through the entrance area and repeatedly forcing the champion into survival mode. Jericho uses the belt, referee bumps and the Walls of Jericho to stay alive, while Austin eventually gets his own submission and Stunner moments without a referee available to make them decisive. Then Hogan, Hall and Nash interfere, Scott Hall hits Austin with a Stunner, and Jericho steals the pin. The post-match spray-painting is the real ending, making the championship result feel like the opening scene of the nWo story.