Like I said, at No Way Out, all three world champions will walk inside the Elimination Chamber and defend their straps against five pre-selected challengers. And that applies to World Heavyweight Champion Big Show as well. The night after the Royal Rumble, wearing his commemorative hat and T-shirt, Shawn Michaels was on cloud nine, just like how he makes the girls feel in his song. How could he not be? He had just overcome 29 other men in a battle royal to win a world championship match of his choice at WrestleMania 2000. After two years of coming oh-so-close, Michaels had finaly broken through the glass ceiling and was now two months from realizing his dream. Michaels stated how he will make his decision: He will wait until Decision Day instead of choosing too early because he will be able to select wisely from the three men who walk out of the Elimination Chamber on February 27 champions. Just then, a disgruntled Batista (who asked RAW GM Coachman to come on the show) came out. He was extremely upset because he firmly believed the Royal Rumble was his. Here is how the exchange went:

BATISTA: Sorry to ruin your fun, HBK. By the looks of it, it appears you're having fun just being the Royal Rumble winner.

MICHAELS: Well, paparazzi admiring you, new parking space, free trip to DisneyLand, guaranteed world title shot at WrestleMania, so, yeah, these past 24 hours have been good to me. (laughter)

BATISTA: Yeah, you're a comedian. A grade-A jokester. The problem with that is, I wouldn't be laughing right now if I were you.

MICHAELS: And why not?

BATISTA: Because I've been doing some digging into the WWE rulebook, and apparently, a Superstar can challenge a win or loss if he wants to.

MICHAELS: So you're telling me you lost a battle royal that everyone could see and you want to challenge that?

BATISTA: Exactly. I pulled some strings, and tonight, you're facing me. (crowd cheers) And if I win, I get your world title match at WrestleMania.

MICHAELS: Well, I really don't give a damn, because I beat you last night and I could do it again!

BATISTA: Trust me. It won't happen. But if you do win, I'll give you some advice. You better choose early, because if you make the decision too late, there's no way to reverse it. And you can watch your chance to go to WrestleMania blow up in your face.

Later that night, Michaels beat Batista after wiggling out of a Batista Bomb and hitting Sweet Chin Music. After the match, Batista hit Michaels with a Batista Bomb, and then said, "I'm telling you, Shawn. You make the wrong decision, and it'll be a cold day in Hell on April 2." Batista then smirked and left. Michaels was shown in a backstage segment, on the phone. It was apparent that he was talking to ECW General Manager Armando Estrada, but for unknown reasons. "So you can't make that work? This could be big for your brand and WrestleMania. You sure your mind is made up? OK. You still want me to come in the future? Well, unlike you, I can make that work. Bye, Armando." Michaels then sighed and left. "You think that Michaels was talking to Estrada about, you know, the whole Royal Rumble thing?," Lawler said. "Well, I've known Shawn for years and there aren't many things that rattle the man, but it looks like Batista has really gotten him to rethink his strategy," Ross said. Four days later on SmackDown!, Theodore Long (filling in for a sick "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) handled the General Manager duties, and announced the men who will be a part of the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber at No Way Out in six weeks: Champion Big Show, Rob Van Dam, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, and two unannounced spots. Apparently, the participants were selected by Austin. The fifth spot reportedly was deadlocked between Batista and Christian, while the sixth spot was promised to someone else. That explains why Batista and Christian just can't be in the match together. Michaels also arranged a special appearance with Long earlier in the week. Fortunately, his Bible reading with his family and other churchgoers was moved to Wednesday. Just when Long was about to explain the situation with the sixth man, Batista came out. "As far as I'm concerned, you should hand me that spot now," he smugly stated. Long announced he can't do that because it wouldn't be fair to Christian, and him and Austin had been going over the pros and cons of having each man qualify for the past couple days. Batista said that Austin was so incompetent, he gave favors to other wrestlers who clearly don't deserve it. He also demanded to know the identity of the man who might ruin his chances of winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Long said that when Batista sees the man, he'll realize why Austin gave him the spot without hesitation. "Oh...oh, God...They think I'm cute...I know I'm sexy." That's what was heard throughout the arena. Batista couldn't believe it as he removed his shades. The crowd was also surprised (well, it was taped so how could we know?) even Michael Cole and Tazz. "You've gotta be kidding me! That's Shawn Michaels!," Cole said. "Has Austin lost his mind?," Tazz said. Probably. "Are you serious! Are you (bleep) serious! This bastard isn't even on SmackDown! And he won the damn Royal Rumble! He's getting TWO title shots?," said a frustrated Batista. Michaels explained it all. After what Batista said on RAW Monday, Michaels, after a very long time, realized Batista was right. He had to make the most of his WrestleMania title shot by planning ahead. If he wastes time, his WrestleMania will be very bad. So Michaels decided to cash in his title opportunity at No Way Out. He asked Coachman if he could join the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber as the top-secret mystery opponent, but Coachman stated he already had someone in mind. Extremely disappointed, HBK soon realized thare's more than one Elimination Chamber. So he asked Estrada if he could join the ECW Championship Elimination Chamber (and do what he failed to do last year) but Estrada claimed he had already picked his six guys. On a side note, Michaels was able to book a future appearance on ECW. Running out of options, Michaels asked Austin for a spot in the SmackDown! Chamber. Fortunately, the field was being filled out when Michaels called, so he was given the opportunity. Had Michaels not called, the Chamber would've looked like this: Champion Big Show, Rob Van Dam, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Batista, and Christian. As for the now-sixth spot, Long decided to have Batista face Christian in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match, with the winner going to Hartford. To make sure a match of this importance would be fair and clean (one of the reasons why Austin and Long strayed away from making a match for so long) a no-interference rule was put in. Any Superstar who violates that rule will have their contract terminated. It was the right thing to do. In a 32-minute match that involved dramatic near-falls and several counters (including six consecutive counters, breaking a 19-year record in WWE for most consecutive counters in a match) Batista won when Christian's failed attempt at an Alabama Slam turned into a Batista Bomb. Michaels then came out and hit Sweet Chin Music on "The Animal" to end the show.

Michaels' decision stunned WWE and the entire wrestling world, to mixed reviews. This started raising questions as to whether the Royal Rumble winner was actually choosing his own title match, or the creative team was doing it for them. Once reported that the creative team had plans for all three scenarios and that Michaels found the SmackDown! one the most entertaining so he picked that route, all the focus shifted to HBK. Ring Posts' Kevin Eck reported in his SmackDown! review, "I really think WWE is throwing us all for a loop. No matter who the WWE Champion is after No Way Out, they'll be standing across the ring from Michaels on April 2." This indicates that Michaels was planning to challlenge for the WWE Championship, but the company saw that as too predictable and decided to put a few wrinkles in as red herrings. To this day, we still don't know what happened, but both WWE and Michaels were equally blamed. WWE was blamed for possibly dropping the ball on a great storyline, while Michaels was blamed for endorsing it and for costing Christian a main-event opportunity. HBK responded to the negative comments on Twitter the next Monday:

SHAWN MICHAELS

#HeartBreakKid

A shame how childish people are acting...I made a certain decision and I stand by it...Watch, you may end up looking like a fool at the end of all this...On April 2, HBK will have the WHC. Plain and simple. As for Christian, I spoke with him and he acted very mature, unlike the rest of you. Christian's day in the Sun is coming sooner than you think.

Of course, this chapter isn't all about Michaels. The next SmackDown!, Batista opened the show and hoped to rally the band by signing a petition. A petition is a piece of paper asking for the people in charge to do something. And when you make a petition, you write your name and get several others around you to, because that shows a lot of people care about the problem. Batista's petition was to ban Michaels from the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber, because he believed that Michaels had a silver spoon put in his mouth the minute he won the Royal Rumble, and decided to trade that in for a chance to take hard-earned opportunities away from guys ON the show (indicating he recognizes Christian's talent). That's when the World Heavyweight Champion came out. Big Show told him to cut the act, stating that Batista just wants Michaels replaced with someone less talented to decrease the competition. Batista tried to squash that accusation, saying that he actually cares about the future of SmackDown!, unlike guys who haven't done anything with their titles. Show choked Batista, telling him he better repeat that. Sensing the tension, Austin booked Batista vs. Big Show for the main event. Inspired by Batista's petition, Austin made two stipulations: If Batista won, Michaels would be banned from the match. If Big Show won, Batista would be banned. The match started off slow, and then made its way outside of the ring. The two ended up brawling into the crowd, constantly nailing each other each time. That's when the bell rang. Neither man understood what was going on, but Austin explained it was a double count-out. So neither Batista nor Michaels get banned from the Elimination Chamber. Show, frustrated he couldn't send Batista out of the match, hit him with the KO Punch to end SmackDown! The next week (with Michaels in attendance) all six men were in action. Piper was facing Steamboat, Michaels was facing Van Dam, and in a no-interference, Last Man Standing Match, Batista faced Show. As you already know, Piper and Steamboat are two gifted performers, so they'll put together a high-quality match. These two are no strangers to each other. At WrestleMania last year, Piper, then the World Heavyweight Champion, faced Steamboat in a No-Count-Out, No-Disqualification Best 2-out-of-3 Falls Match. Piper won, 2-1. "In case anyone gives a crap, I held the World Title for one whole year, and I stomped on everybody in my path. This year, I walk into what's called an Elimination Chamber. But I'm not scared! The Chamber should be scared! Imagine what I can do in that thing! In three weeks, I get the World Heavyweight Championship back! And I lock up my ticket to WrestleMania!," Piper snarled. Piper later scored the victory when Steamboat missed the Thundering Wind Hammer (leaping buzzsaw kick) and Piper nailed the Brogue Kick. Piper then hit Forth Bridge (sitout powerbomb from the second turnbuckle) and pinned Steamboat. The match between Michaels and Van Dam was just as good as the first one. Van Dam couldn't finish Michaels even after two Van Daminators and a Five-Star Frog Splash. In the end, RVD went for a Van Terminator (which was taken by Shane McMahon to mock him during their 1997 feud; he has now popularized it as Coast-to-Coast, a dirty move which involves a garbage can) but went feet-first into the turnbuckle. Michaels tuned up the band and finished Van Dam with Sweet Chin Music. After the match, the two shook hands. In the main event, it looked like Big Show would win after he chokeslammed Batista on the announce table, which wasn't altered by Show for Batista's protection. Enraged, Kane arrived and continued his mugging of Big Show. At the Royal Rumble, Show defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Kane. The finish came when Kane went for a chokeslam, but Big Show overpowered him with a chokeslam of his own for the victory. After the match, Kane showed very little sportsmanship by attacking Show with a steel chair. Kane then chokeslammed and Tombstoned Big Show onto the chair. And it looks like Kane wasn't done yet. He continued the chair assault, and also threw Big Show into the barricade, destroying that part of it. Kane then knocked Big Show out by hitting him in the head with the chair. Kane then hit a chokeslam on Show in the ring. Austin ran down to stop Kane, but the damage was done. Despite the no-interference rule, Kane still ran away unscathed. Batista had gotten up at 6 and the count restarted. Big Show did not answer it, and Batista won. The next week, the six men were in an Over-the-Top Rope Battle Royal, with the winner entering last in the Chamber. Meanwhile, Austin dealt with Kane. He said he could have Kane suspended, fired, or even arrested, but all of those things would be too easy. Instead, Austin put Kane in as the last member of a Fatal-4-Way Elimination Match. The winner will receive a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity in the future. The other three men are Chris Jericho, Ezekiel Jackson, and Dean Ambrose. And if Kane loses, he'll be fired! In the end, it came down to Jericho and Kane. Kane hit a Tombstone on Jericho, but he kicked out. Jericho couldn't stop Kane from escaping the Walls of Jericho. In the end, Jericho tried for a Codebreaker, but Kane caught him and sent him crashing onto the canvas. Kane then hit a chokeslam and ended Jericho's night. After the match, Kane hit a second Tombstone on Jericho and said No Way Out will be a great night for him. Austin came out and stopped Kane dead in his tracks. To ensure the Elimination Chamber goes on without a hitch, Kane was banned from it! And if he is even seen on the premises, he'll be fired! Later that night, it came down to Michaels and Batista. HBK went for Sweet Chin Music, but Batista moved out of the way (unlike Orton) and sent Michaels out by his free leg to earn the #6 entry. The next week, all six men were part of a debate, which Cole moderated. Much like the RAW and ECW debates, this one had several interruptions. It all came down to the last question, which every competitor had to answer: Why do you think you're going to win on Sunday? Michaels answered first. "Because I have confidence and experience on my side. I went through hell in last year's Chamber match, and now I know what to do in this contest. This year, I finally won the Royal Rumble. I won because I had cracked the secret to success. And this year, I will win the Elimination Chamber and cast out the naysayers by winning my very first world title." Then Batista. "This year, I have all the tools on my side. I'm entering last, nothing fazes me, and I have been on a roll for weeks now. Everywhere I go, I make an impact. Last year at SummerSlam, I was this close to beating The Undertaker and winning my very first world championship (ECW Championship). I led a group called Fourtune for months and we terrorized WWE. At Armageddon, my crew cost Undertaker that very same title. I drew #30 in the Royal Rumble match and made it to the final four. And since then, nothing has touched me. The World Heavyweight Championship is so close I can taste it. And this Sunday, I will get to it and headline WrestleMania 2000. Because I'm the man, I'm the predator, and I'm the top of the food chain!" Big Show then answered the question. "Because my back is against the wall. Because I'm the World Heavyweight Champion, that instantly makes me a target. I have five guys coming after me in the most dangerous environment ever constructed. There's only a 1-in-6 chance I'll even win. But that's where I thrive. I excel in these situations with insurmountable odds. And on Sunday, I'm gonna take full advantage of the fact that I'm a giant. Sorry, boys, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to win on Sunday." Then Van Dam. "Because I was in ECW. (loud chants of "E-C-W!" "E-C-W!") And I went through some brutal crap. So if I can withstand flaming tables, being thrown into crowds, and climbing two cages at once, I can withstand the Elimination Chamber." RVD was heavily cheered. Then Piper. "I'm the most battle-tested. Last year, I lost the World Heavyweight Championship. And since then, I've waited months for this opportunity. Once I enter that match, I won't hold back. No retreat, no relent, no surrender. I will absolutely annihilate everybody in my path. WrestleMania is my destiny. That's why I'll freakin' win." And lastly, Steamboat. "Because I have the most to prove. Everybody is counting me out, being the afterthought has gotten annoying. When everybody least expects it, that's when I strike. At No Way Out, I will become the first-ever Asian-American world champion in WWE history!" That's when the six men went at it. The Chamber then lowered around them, just like on the last ECW before No Way Out last year. In two days, six of SmackDown!'s finest will put their careers on the line inside the Elimination Chamber. And they will never be the same again. But only one man can take solace in the fact that he left Hartford as World Heavyweight Champion and a spot at WrestleMania 2000. But who will it be? Will Big Show make life imitate art and show no mercy in his quest to retain the World Title? Will Shawn Michaels cast out the naysayers and become the third straight man to successfully cash in their world title opportunity? Will Batista continue his winning ways and join his brother John Cena (yes, they're brothers) as a world champion? Will Rob Van Dam withstand the Chamber like he said he would and win his second world championship? Will "Rowdy" Roddy Piper end months of sleepless nights by beating the snot out of five other guys and bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to Scotland? Or will Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat end his status as an afterthought and make the Elimination Chamber his proving ground for superstardom? And what about Kane? The no-interference rule didn't stop him last time. Will he risk his young career and a World Title shot just to destroy the competitors?