No Way Out 2004 No Way Out 2004 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) , which took place on February 15 , 2004 at the Cow Palace in Daly City , California . It was the sixth event produced under the No Way Out name and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown ! brand . During the main event , Eddie Guerrero defeated WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to win the title . Two bouts were featured on the undercard ; the first was a Triple Threat match , where the winner would earn a title match against Guerrero at WrestleMania XX ; in the match , Kurt Angle defeated The Big Show and John Cena . The second bout was a singles match , in which Chavo Guerrero defeated Rey Mysterio to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship . No Way Out grossed over $ 450 , 000 ticket sales from an attendance of approximately 11 , 000 and received 350 , 000 pay - per - view buys , and was instrumental in helping WWE increase its pay - per - view revenue by $ 11 . 9 million compared to the previous year . When the DVD was released , however , it failed to rank on " Billboard " ' s Top DVD sales chart . Background . The event featured eight professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre - existing scripted feuds , plots and storylines . Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension - building events , which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches . All wrestlers belonged to the SmackDown ! brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program , the other being Raw . After winning a 15 - man Battle royal ( a match in which participants are eliminated until one person remains as the winner ) on the January 29 , 2004 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Eddie Guerrero earned the right to challenge for the WWE Championship at No Way Out against the champion , Brock Lesnar in a standard wrestling match , also known as a singles match . Outside the storyline with Guerrero , Lesnar was involved in a staged rivalry with Goldberg , a member of the " Raw " program . The feud between Lesnar and Goldberg began at the Royal Rumble , WWE ' s previous pay - per - view event which featured both brands . Lesnar interfered in the Royal Rumble match , a 30 - man battle royal , attacking and eliminating Goldberg from the match . On the week of January 26 , 2004 , Lesnar and Goldberg conducted promotional in - ring segments on respective episodes of " Raw " and " SmackDown ! " , in which they insulted each other . The following week on an episode of " Raw " , as a result of the rivalry extending between the two programs , General Manager Steve Austin gave Goldberg the option of attending No Way Out by giving him a front - row ticket . That Thursday on " SmackDown ! " , the storyline between Guerrero and Lesnar was enhanced when they began a brawl after an in - ring interview segment . The SmackDown General Manager , Paul Heyman , announced during the February 5 , 2004 episode of " SmackDown ! " that a Triple Threat match , a standard wrestling match involving three wrestlers , would take place at No Way Out involving The Big Show , Kurt Angle , and John Cena . The winner of that match would earn the right to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX for the title . The rivalry continued to develop the following week , when Angle was scheduled to team with Guerrero to face The Big Show and Lesnar , though the latter was portrayed as being unconscious backstage . Cena then replaced Angle in the match and defeated the opposition with Guerrero . In February 2004 , WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio produced " Crossing Borders " , which was No Way Out ' s official theme song . In this storyline , Chavo Guerrero became jealous of the attention Mysterio garnered as a result of recording the song . Therefore , Heyman promoted a match between the two at No Way Out for the WWE Cruiserweight title during the February 5 , 2004 episode of " SmackDown ! " . The following week on " SmackDown ! " , Mysterio was accompanied by Jorge Páez , a professional boxer and childhood friend of Mysterio who was featured in his " Crossing Borders " music video , to his match against Tajiri . Mysterio defeated Tajiri , though he was scripted to be attacked by Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero , Sr . after the match until Paez intervened and assisted Mysterio . Event . Before the event began and aired live on pay - per - view , an episode of " Sunday Night Heat " , one of WWE ' s secondary television programs , was taped live . In a six - person tag team match , the team of Tajiri , Sakoda , and Akio defeated Último Dragón , Billy Kidman , and Paul London . Preliminary matches . After " Sunday Night Heat " , the pay - per - view began with a handicap match - a tag team match in which a team of two wrestlers face a team of three . WWE Tag Team Champions Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty defended their titles against the Basham Brothers ( Doug and Danny Basham ) and Shaniqua . During the match Hotty attempted to hit Shaniqua , who was lying on her back , with a slap over her chest , but Shaniqua countered by hitting him with her forearm . The challengers had the advantage until Hotty hit both Basham brothers with his forearm , causing them to flip over the top ring rope and into ringside . Afterwards , Rikishi lifted Shaniqua over his shoulders before falling backwards in a Samoan drop . Rikishi then covered Shaniqua to pin her , a move that allowed Rikishi and Hotty to retain their championships . Next was a singles blindfold match , in which Jamie Noble was blindfolded as he faced his storyline girlfriend Nidia . Nidia would take advantage of Noble ' s inability to see by performing antics that caused him to fall . Eventually , Noble was able to apply the guillotine choke on Nidia . Noble won the match after he forced her to submit with this move . The third contest was a tag team match , in which The World ' s Greatest Tag Team ( Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas ) faced the APA ( Bradshaw and Faarooq ) . At one point , Bradshaw performed a high - impact forearm " Clothesline from Hell " attack on Haas . Benjamin then hit Bradshaw with a superkick and pinned him to gain the win for his team . After the match , Goldberg was seen arriving at the arena and being escorted to his seat by arena security . In the ring , General Manager Paul Heyman gave a promotional in - ring segment on how " SmackDown ! " was the better program over " Raw " . Lesnar would come down to the ring to promote his match and to insult Goldberg . As part of the storyline , Goldberg immediately jumped over the barricade into the ring , where Lesnar performed a spear , a running shoulder block to Goldberg ' s stomach ; however he recuperated and lifted Lesnar vertically in the air before slamming him down to perform the Jackhammer . Goldberg was then escorted out of the arena by security . This altercation was followed by a singles match between Hardcore Holly and Rhyno . Before the match began , Holly and Rhyno were scripted to brawl on the entrance ramp , before they entered the ring . Once there , Holly slammed Rhyno off the top rope with a superplex , though , as they recuperated , Rhyno hit Holly with a spear that caused Holly to roll out of the ring . Afterwards , Holly lifted Rhyno by his legs over his shoulders before throwing him down with an Alabama slam ; Holly covered Rhyno for a pinfall . Main event matches . The fifth match featured the WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio ( managed by Jorge Paez ) , defending against Chavo Guerrero ( managed by his father Chavo Guerrero , Sr . ) During the fight , Mysterio performed a 619 on Guerrero ( at the time positioned on the second ring rope ) and hit him in the face with both legs while using the ropes for leverage , leading to an attack by Paez on Guerrero , Sr . As determined by the storyline , the referee ordered Paez backstage . Both fighters wrestled inconclusively until Mysterio hit a second 619 . During the second sequence of the move , Guerrero grabbed Mysterio ' s legs and achieved a position with his shoulders spread so as to win both a pinfall and the WWE Cruiserweight title . The following match was the Triple Threat between The Big Show , John Cena , and Kurt Angle fighting for the opportunity to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XX . For the duration of the match , The Big Show , who stood at 7 feet tall and weighed 500 lbs , used his body size to his advantage as he squashed , or easily and quickly performed moves on , Cena and Angle . Thereafter , Cena lifted The Big Show over his shoulders and threw him down to execute the " FU " , while Angle lifted The Big Show by the side to throw him out of the ring . Angle then applied an ankle lock on Cena , forcing him to submit . As a result , Angle won a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX . The main event was a singles match in which WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defended his title against Eddie Guerrero . Lesnar did not show any effect from the Jackhammer Goldberg performed on him earlier in the event ; similar to the prior match , Lesnar used his size advantage over Guerrero throughout the match . As Lesnar lifted Guerrero over his shoulders to slam his face down to perform an " F - 5 " , he was scripted to knock the referee down . Lesnar then attempted to take advantage of the referee ' s state , as he went to retrieve the WWE title belt to hit Guerrero . Meanwhile , Goldberg came down into the ring to execute a spear on Lesnar ; because the referee was incapacitated , Guerrero could not be disqualified for Goldberg ' s interference . As Goldberg retreated , the referee regained consciousness while Guerrero drove Lesnar ' s head onto the WWE title belt Lesnar had left in the ring . Guerrero kicked the belt out of the ring to prevent the referee from seeing it and performed a body splash , known in wrestling as a frog splash , from the top turnbuckle to pin Lesnar and win the WWE Championship from him . Aftermath . At WrestleMania XX , WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated challenger Kurt Angle via pinfall and retained his title . John " Bradshaw " Layfield was scripted at the time to portray a new character after the APA broke up and Faarooq announced his semi - retirement . A storyline was then created in which Layfield challenged Guerrero for the WWE title ; at The Great American Bash , Layfield defeated Guerrero to win his first World Heavyweight Championship . Guerrero failed to recapture the title from Layfield in a steel cage match , a match where the ring was enclosed in a steel cage , on the July 15 , 2004 episode of " SmackDown ! " . After Guerrero ' s death in November 2005 , WWE held Tribute Shows on " Raw " and " SmackDown ! " . During these programs , No Way Out was the main highlight of Guerrero ' s career , as it was where he won his only World Championship . Eventually , John Cena was scripted into a rivalry with The Big Show over his WWE United States Championship . At WrestleMania XX , Cena defeated the Big Show to win the WWE United States title . Goldberg and Lesnar continued their rivalry , leading to a match promoted at WrestleMania XX , in which Goldberg defeated Lesnar . After their match , Goldberg and Lesnar were released from the company . Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero ' s storyline over the WWE Cruiserweight Championship also continued , culminating in a battle royal match at WrestleMania XX involving other wrestlers . Guerrero last eliminated Mysterio to retain his title in this match . After the Draft Lottery , a mock sports draft lottery in which wrestlers switched programs , Rico was drafted to SmackDown ! , while Shelton Benjamin was drafted to Raw , in the process splitting up The World ' s Greatest Tag Team . Afterward , Haas and Rico were written into a storyline that led to them winning the WWE Tag Team Championship from Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty on the April 22 , 2004 episode of " SmackDown ! " . Reception . The Cow Palace arena can usually accommodate 13 , 000 people , but the capacity was reduced for No Way Out 2004 . This event grossed over $ 450 , 000 from an approximate attendance of 11 , 000 which was the maximum allowed . It also received 350 , 000 pay - per - view buys . No Way Out helped World Wrestling Entertainment earn $ 43 . 7 million in revenue from pay - per - view events versus $ 31 . 8 million the previous year ; Linda McMahon , then CEO of WWE , confirmed this statement on June 21 , 2004 in a quarterly financial report . Canadian Online Explorer ' s professional wrestling section described the event as " " Smackdown ! " us our money ' s worth last night but they also set up what ' s probably going to be the best match at Wrestlemania . " Kevin Sowers from PWTorch described the main event between Eddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar as " one to remember for a long time . " The event was released on DVD on March 16 , 2004 ; however , it did not reach the " Billboard " ' s Top DVD Sales Chart . After its release , the DVD received a rating of 8 . 5 out of 10 points by IGN .