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.
The secondary event of SmackDown involves WWE Intercontinental Champion Christian defending his title against former champion Cody Rhodes. At Over the Limit, Christian won a "people power" battle royal to earn a title match of his choosing. His choice was either WWE United States Champion Santino Marella or then-Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. He had originally chosen Marella for the U.S. Title and when Rhodes wished him luck backstage, Christian stated that he had changed his mind and would instead challenge Rhodes for the Intercontinental title. Later on that night, Christian defeated Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Championship for a fourth time. Six days later on SmackDown, after Christian won his match. Rhodes came out and stated that for the past eight months he had held the Intercontinental Championship to restore it back to the original design after it was held by past superstars like Santino Marella who made it a joke. Rhodes then added that he made the title mean something again. He then announced that he will invoke his rematch clause soon. John Laurinaitis later announced that Rhodes would get his rematch at No Way Out.
The secondary event of Raw involves WWE Divas Champion Layla defending her title against former champion Beth Phoenix. Phoenix was previously the Divas Champion and lost the title to Nikki Bella on the April 23 edition of Raw, after suffering an ankle injury. At Extreme Rules, Phoenix was originally scheduled to compete against Nikki for the Divas Championship but was not medically cleared to compete. Layla returned after an eleven-month absence due to a knee injury and defeated Nikki to win the Divas Championship after the Bella's attempt at using twin magic backfired. This was Layla's second reign as Divas Champion (if one counts her previous co-reign with Michelle McCool two years prior) making her the first Diva Search winner to win both the Women's and Divas Championships. At Over the Limit, Phoenix received her rematch against Layla but Layla defeated her to retain the title. Phoenix later pinned Layla in a mixed tag match on the June 11th episode of Raw, thus granting herself a rematch against Layla for the Divas Championship. John Laurinaitis later announced that Phoenix would get her rematch at No Way Out.
==Results==
;
;
*Pre-Show: Brodus Clay (w/ Cameron and Naomi) defeated David Otunga by countout (5:43)
*Sheamus (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (15:10)
*Santino Marella defeated Ricardo Rodriguez in a Tuxedo Match (4:25)
*Christian (c) defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (11:30)
*The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) defeated Epico & Primo (w/ A. W. & Rosa Mendes) and Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd and The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) in a WWE Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Fatal Four Way Match (9:30)
*Layla (c) defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the WWE Diva's Championship (6:57)
*Sin Cara defeated Hunico (w/ Camacho) (5:48)
*CM Punk (c) defeated Daniel Bryan and Kane in a Triple Threat Match to retain the WWE Championship (18:17)
*Ryback defeated Dan Delaney & Rob Grymes in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match (1:38)
*John Cena (w/ Mr. McMahon) defeated The Big Show (w/ John Laurinaitis) in a Steel Cage Match (19:24)
:*As Big Show lost, Laurinaitis was fired. If John Cena lost, he would have been fired.
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Booker T
*Jerry Lawler
*Michael Cole
;Interviewers
*Matt Striker	
;Ring announcer
*Justin Roberts
*Lilian Garcia
;Referees
*John Cone
*Charles Robinson
*Chad Patton
*Mike Chioda
*Scott Armstrong
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*No Way Out
==DVD Release==
* No Way Out 2012 on DVD
==External links==
* No Way Out 2012 Official Website
* No Way Out 2012 at CAGEMATCH.net
* No Way Out 2012 at Online World of Wrestling
* No Way Out 2012 on WWE Network
ro:No Way Out 2012
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:No Way Out
Category:2012 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Handicap matches
Category:Events with Tuxedo matches
Category:Events with Steel Cage matches