No Way Out 1998
Jim Ross announced at the top of RAW that the show's General Manager Jonathan Coachman has made another WWE Championship match between champion Randy Orton and John Cena. This, however, is a Last Chance Match. If Orton wins, Cena can no longer compete for the title as long as Orton is holding it. But if anyone interferes on Orton's behalf (i.e., The Undertaker), then he will be stripped of the belt and it will be awarded to Cena. This was the show's main event. Although the Oakland crowd was a bit less enthusiastic for the match than the people in San Jose one night ago at the Royal Rumble, neither man was bothered by it and put on an entertaining 30-minute spectacle. The effects of their 2-out-of-3 Falls Match less than 24 hours before did not strain either man one bit. In fact, this was the real match between the two. Orton delivered three RKO's during the match, and Cena kicked out of each one. The Chain Gang Soldier locked in the STFU four times in the bout, and The Legend Killer reached the ropes over and over again. Cena then hit the FU, but didn't make the pin attempt out of exhaustion. Orton got up first, and The Undertaker showed up again to help him, but not in the way you think. The Phenom delivered a Big Boot square to Orton's jaw, and the bell rung. The Viper had won by disqualification due to outside interference, and retained the WWE Championship. As "Burn In My Light" played in The Arena in Oakland, Undertaker picked up Orton and winked as the two exchanged malicious smiles. Not only did The Deadman beat the system, but Orton kept the richest prize in sports-entertainment and RKO'ed John Cena out of his life for who knows how long? After Undertaker and The Legend Killer left, Cena sat in the corner with a desponded look on his face. The word of the day for the past two months now is "screwed" for The Chain Gang Soldier. But then something happened. A big ball of rage, frustration, and disappointment set in. Cena snapped. He exposed every turnbuckle in that ring, plus the canvas itself. He then destroyed the announce table. He beat up a cameraman. Then The Chain Gang Soldier brought a lifeless timekeeper to the ring, where he FU'ed him into next week(He came back the next Tuesday). Then Cena took three fans(obviously plants) wearing "We Hate Cena" T-shirts and attacked all of them. He delivered three consecutive FU's to those fans. And if that wasn't enough, he put one of them in the STFU. "Cena!" chants were heard all over the arena as The Chain Gang Soldier saluted with an outpour of emotion and passion as RAW went off the air. The next week, Undertaker emerged with a challenge for Cena. He said at No Way Out, there would be an 8-man tag-team match and would be captaining one team, while The Chain Gang Soldier would spearhead the other. The Phenom then introduced his three teammates:Orton, Royal Rumble winner "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and the "War Machine" Rhyno. Later that night, Cena accepted Undertaker's challenge, but had no one flanking him. The Deadman stated that a 4-on-1 handicap match is just as fine, but The Chain Gang Soldier would be eaten for dinner. That's when Cena introduced his three teammates:World Heavyweight Champion and best friend Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Edge, who Undertaker turned on at Armageddon just one month ago. The two teams brawled in a show-closing segment. Next week, Coachman arranged four one-on-one matches for each Superstar:Edge vs. Rhyno, Michaels vs. Piper, HHH vs. Orton, and Cena vs. 'Taker. Rhyno beat Edge after The War Machine countered the Rated-R Superstar's Spear into a Gore. Michaels beat Piper after Piper climbed off the top rope when HBK hit Sweet Chin Music in mid-air. Orton beat HHH after RKO'ing The Game on the outside, getting a countout victory. Cena vs. 'Taker ended prematurely when the two-minute bout was interrupted by The Deadman's team members, attacking The Chain Gang Soldier and awarding the victory to him by disqualification. It was a 4-on-1 assault until Cena's team members came. But they were outnumbered and beaten down too. One of the final images before No Way Out was Undertaker's team standing proud and tall over Cena's team, beaten and incapacitated.