No Way Out 2001 No Way Out 2001 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . It was the third such annual event and took place on February 25 , 2001 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas , Nevada . Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event ' s card , which featured a supercard , a scheduling of more than one main event . The first saw The Rock defeat Kurt Angle in a standard wrestling match , also known as a singles match to win the WWF Championship , despite interference by The Big Show . The other main event was a Three Stages of Hell match , in which Triple H defeated Steve Austin by two falls to one . The featured bout on the undercard was a Fatal Four Way match between defending WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho , Chris Benoit , Eddie Guerrero and X - Pac , in which Chris Jericho was victorious . Background . The main feud heading into the show was between The Rock and Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship . At SummerSlam 2000 on August 27 , The Rock defeated Kurt Angle and Triple H in a Triple threat match to retain the WWF title . In a rematch at No Mercy 2000 , Kurt Angle beat the Rock for the WWF Championship . In the match , Rikishi interfered on Rock ' s behalf but accidentally nailed him with a savate kick , enabling Angle to finish off Rock with the Angle Slam . The following two months at Armageddon 2000 , Angle pinned The Rock to retain the WWF title in a Hell in a Cell , also involving Steve Austin , Triple H , Rikishi and The Undertaker . On the January 1 episode of " Raw Is War " , The Rock lost a number one contenders match to Kane by countout after WWF Champion Kurt Angle interfered . A few days later on " SmackDown ! " , Rock lost a non - title match to Angle by disqualification after nailing Angle with the steel chair . On the February 8 episode of " SmackDown ! " , The Rock defeated The Big Show to become the number one contender to face the WWF Champion Kurt Angle at No Way Out . On the final episode of " SmackDown ! " , WWF Champion Kurt Angle teammed with Edge and Christian against The Rock , Kane and The Undertaker in a six man Tables match . At the end , Angle ' s team won when Angle performed an Angle slam to The Rock through a table for the victory . After the match , he finished off Rock with the ankle lock at the close of the show . Another main feud was between Steve Austin and Triple H which began at SummerSlam 1999 when Triple H , after failing to win the WWF title from Steve Austin in a Triple threat match , involving Mankind , decided to hit Austin with a steel chair and targeted his leg with it . Austin would get his rematch at No Mercy 1999 against Triple H but lost after The Rock accidentally struck him with a sledgehammer that was meant for Triple H . At the Survivor Series 1999 , Austin was booked into a triple threat match for the WWF Championship that also included then - WWF Champion Triple H and The Rock . Instead , however , Austin was run down by a car in the parking lot . The Big Show would replace Austin in the match and would win the WWF Championship . What followed was neck surgery by Dr . Lloyd Youngblood and a nine - month rehabilitation with the car angle as his reason for leaving . In September 2000 at Unforgiven , Austin made his official return and tried to find out who ran him down at Survivor Series the previous year . On the October 9 , 2000 episode of " Raw Is War " , Rikishi finally admitted to being the driver because " he did it for The Rock . " The following Pay per view , No Mercy , Austin was back to face Rikishi in a No Holds Barred Match . During the match , Austin motioned he was going to drive his truck into Rikishi , who by that time was a bloody mess . Before he could , he was stopped by officials and the match was deemed a no contest . Austin was then arrested and was later bailed by Commissioner Mick Foley . During a handicap match against Rikishi and Kurt Angle , Triple H came down with the apparent intention of teaming with Austin . After clearing the ring , Triple H smashed his sledgehammer over Austin ' s head , and revealed it was actually him behind the whole scheme by paying off Rikishi to run Austin over , devised to shield the WWF Championship from Austin and end his career . At Survivor Series , Triple H had plotted to run Austin down again during their match ( thus repeating the events of the previous year ' s Survivor Series ) but his plot failed when Austin lifted Triple H ' s automobile with a forklift , then let it drop 20 feet . On the January 8 episode of " Raw Is War " , Austin challenged Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship . The title match ended in a no contest when Triple H interfered and struck Austin with a Steel pipe . At the Royal Rumble , Austin got back at Triple H by interfering and costing him the WWF title then during the latter event , he won the Royal Rumble match , last eliminating Kane . On the February 5 episode of " Raw Is War " , during the contract signing segment WWF Chairman Vince McMahon announced a Three Stages of Hell match between Steve Austin and Triple H at No Way Out to settle their differences . McMahon then warned that if Triple H and / or Austin lays a hand on one another before No Way Out , Triple H gets suspended for six months and Steve Austin loses his WrestleMania title shot . After Austin signed his name on paper , Triple H nailed him from behind with the brief case and stomped on him . McMahon then reminded him that he has been suspended but he stated that he has yet to sign his name on the contract and did it anyway . On the final episode of " Raw Is War " , Austin nailed Triple H ' s wife Stephanie McMahon - Helmsley with the Stone Cold Stunner on the same week on " SmackDown ! " , where Triple H performed a Pedigree on Austin ' s friend and Raw play - by - play commentator Jim Ross . Aftermath . After No Way Out , Steve Austin set his focus back to the WWF Championship and the new champion , The Rock . Austin won the WWF championship at WrestleMania X - Seven from The Rock in a No Disqualification match after Mr . McMahon handed Austin a steel chair to hit Rock with . The following night on Raw is War , Austin and Triple H truly laid their differences to rest by teaming up and assaulting The Rock following a steel cage match The Rock had with Austin . Triple H felt that after he ' d defeated Austin , there was no one left in the WWF to beat and that he had deserved to be in the main event at WrestleMania . The Undertaker then told Triple H that he ' d never beat him and challenged him to a match at WrestleMania , which was made official by WWF Commissioner William Regal after Kane threatened to throw Stephanie McMahon over a balcony . Undertaker would go on to defeat Triple H at WrestleMania and improve his record at WrestleMania to 9 – 0 . Their feud continued , however , with Steve Austin at Triple H ' s side as The Two - Man Power Trip and Kane at Undertaker ' s side . The two teams would face - off at Backlash where The Two - Man Power Trip would come out victorious .