No Way Out 2012 No Way Out 2012 ( also known as No Escape in Germany ) was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by the WWE promotion , which took place on June 17 , 2012 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford , New Jersey . The show was the twelfth No Way Out event and the first one since 2009 . Nine matches were on the card . The event received 194 , 000 buys , up from last year ' s Capitol Punishment pay - per - view of 170 , 000 . Background . " No Way Out " featured professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre - existing feuds , plots , and storylines which are played out on WWE ' s primary television programs . Wrestlers portray villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches . The main event of the pay - per - view involves John Cena and Big Show . On the May 14 edition of Raw , the General Manager of Raw and SmackDown John Laurinaitis fired Big Show for mocking his deep voice . At Over the Limit , just before John Cena would defeat Laurinaitis , Big Show used his W . M . D . to knock Cena out cold , allowing Laurinaitis to pin Cena and keep his job as General Manager . The next night on Raw , Laurinaitis revealed that he gave Big Show back his job , complete with an ironclad contract with a bonus on the condition that he would take out Cena as Show was outside the influence of the no interference stipulation for the match . Show stated that he only helped Laurinaitis when he didn ' t receive any sympathy from the other Superstars and , because of his ironclad contract , started attacking those Superstars . Laurinaitis would soon book a steel cage match between Cena and Big Show for the pay - per - view , where both Cena and Laurinaitis ' s jobs were on the line . The main event of SmackDown involves the World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus defending his title against Alberto Del Rio . Following a successful title defense by Sheamus against Del Rio , Randy Orton , and Chris Jericho at Over the Limit , all three challengers faced off in a Triple Threat match on the May 25 edition of SmackDown to earn a match against Sheamus for his title . Del Rio successfully pinned Jericho to score a match against Sheamus at No Way Out . The main event of Raw involves the WWE Champion CM Punk defending his title in a Triple Threat match against Daniel Bryan and Kane . On the May 18 edition of SmackDown , Punk was put in a match against Kane , where Bryan was in commentary observing the match . Bryan would run interference by attacking Kane with a steel chair and making it look like Punk did it , causing Kane to attack Punk . On the May 21 edition of Raw , Bryan , who demanded a rematch due to Punk tapping out moments after scoring the pin during their WWE Championship match at Over the Limit , was facing off against Kane , set up by Punk in which the situation nearly reversed itself . Afterwards , Kane would start attacking both indiscriminately after being a pawn in each of their plans . On the June 1 episode of SmackDown , which involved Punk defending the WWE Championship against Kane , Bryan would interfere in the match , attacking both once more , only for Kane to chokeslam both Bryan and Punk . Afterwards , John Laurinaitis came out to announce a Triple Threat match involving Punk , Bryan , and Kane .