# No Way Out (2004)
No Way Out 2004 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on February 15, 2004, at the [Cow Palace](https://www.edgepedia.org/cow-palace) in [Daly City, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/daly-city-california), best remembered for [Eddie Guerrero](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-guerrero) defeating Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship in the main event.[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) • [2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004) It was the sixth edition of the No Way Out event series and the final pay-per-view before WrestleMania XX.[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) • [3](https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/14/no-way-out-2004-2018-redo-eddies-got-this/?print=pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | February 15, 2004, Cow Palace, Daly City, California; reported attendance 11,000[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) |
| Brand | SmackDown-exclusive event, the first No Way Out restricted to one brand[4](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004/mainevent) |
| Main event | Eddie Guerrero def. Brock Lesnar (c) by pinfall to win the WWE Championship[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) |
| Cruiserweight Championship | Chavo Guerrero def. Rey Mysterio by pinfall to win the title[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) |
| WrestleMania stakes | Kurt Angle won a triple threat over Big Show and John Cena to earn a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) |
| Buyrate | 265,000 buys per WrestleTalk's compilation; an October 2004 WWE.com-based report listed 255,000[5](https://wrestletalk.com/features/every-wwe-pay-per-view-buyrate/) • [6](https://insidepulse.com/2004/10/30/28534/) |
| Highest-rated match | Lesnar vs. Guerrero, rated 4 stars by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer[7](https://wrestlenomics.com/wp-content/uploads/mookie_archive/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wwe_network_wonstar_1985_2015_wo_star_ratings.html) |
## Background and build
After featuring both RAW and SmackDown Superstars in 2003, the 2004 edition became a SmackDown-exclusive event, part of the brand-split practice under which WWE pay-per-views outside the "Big Four" were divided between the two rosters from 2004 to 2007.[4](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004/mainevent) • [8](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2012/no-way-out-returns) Following Chris Benoit's win in the 2004 Royal Rumble Match, a 15-man Mini-[Royal Rumble](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-rumble) was held on SmackDown, which Eddie Guerrero won on January 29 to earn a shot at [Brock Lesnar](https://www.edgepedia.org/brock-lesnar)'s WWE Championship two weeks later.[4](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004/mainevent) • [9](https://www.catch-revolution.fr/ajddshistlutte/AujourdhuiDsLHistoireDeLaLutte-Num07-R3CD.pdf) • [15](https://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/2004) The short gap meant Guerrero and Lesnar had little in the way of a direct rivalry heading into the match.[9](https://www.catch-revolution.fr/ajddshistlutte/AujourdhuiDsLHistoireDeLaLutte-Num07-R3CD.pdf)
## The main event
**Guerrero's title win.** Early in the match Lesnar used his power and size advantage to keep the challenger at bay, while Guerrero turned the tide with speed, working the champion's leg with a range of submission maneuvers to keep him off a vertical base. Lesnar powered out each time and avoided Guerrero's first attempt at the Frog Splash, his finishing maneuver.[4](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004/mainevent)
The finish involved interference. After the missed Frog Splash, Lesnar went for his F-5 finisher but knocked out the referee in the process. Lesnar tried to use his championship belt as a weapon, and Goldberg, with whom Lesnar had an ongoing feud, ran in and delivered a spear to the champion. Guerrero then tried to use the belt himself; Lesnar ducked and set up another F-5, but Guerrero countered into a DDT that drove Lesnar's head onto the championship belt. With the referee recovered, Guerrero hit the Frog Splash from the top rope and pinned Lesnar to win the [WWE Championship](https://www.edgepedia.org/wwe-championship).[4](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004/mainevent)
The victory was the defining moment of Guerrero's career and his first and only WWE Championship.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004) • [8](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2012/no-way-out-returns) By winning the title he became the first holder of Latin origin since [Pedro Morales](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedro-morales) carried the belt in 1971, a span of twenty-three years.[9](https://www.catch-revolution.fr/ajddshistlutte/AujourdhuiDsLHistoireDeLaLutte-Num07-R3CD.pdf) [Dave Meltzer](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-meltzer) of the Wrestling Observer rated the match 4 stars out of 5, and TJR Wrestling's John Canton gave it 4.5.[7](https://wrestlenomics.com/wp-content/uploads/mookie_archive/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wwe_network_wonstar_1985_2015_wo_star_ratings.html) • [10](https://tjrwrestling.net/feature/5-star-wwe-no-way-out-2004-guerrero-brock/)
## Undercard
The full card ran as follows:[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004)
- **WWE Tag Team Championship, 3-on-2 handicap match**: Rikishi and [Scotty 2 Hotty](https://www.edgepedia.org/scotty-2-hotty) def. The Basham Brothers and Shaniqua by pinfall to retain.
- **Blindfold match**: [Jamie Noble](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamie-noble) def. Nidia by submission, in a match where Noble was blindfolded.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004)
- **Tag team**: The World's Greatest Tag Team ([Charlie Haas](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-haas) and Shelton Benjamin) def. The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) by pinfall.
- **Singles**: Hardcore Holly def. Rhyno by pinfall.
- **WWE Cruiserweight Championship**: Chavo Guerrero (with Chavo Classic) def. Rey Mysterio (with Jorge Páez) by pinfall to win the title.
- **Triple threat for the number one contender's spot**: Kurt Angle def. Big Show and John Cena by submission, earning a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX.
A pre-show Sunday Night Heat match saw Tajiri, Akio, and Sakoda defeat [Paul London](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-london), Billy Kidman, and [Último Dragón](https://www.edgepedia.org/ultimo-dragon).[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) The event's theme song was "Crossing Borders" by [Rey Mysterio](https://www.edgepedia.org/rey-mysterio), with commentary by Michael Cole and Tazz and ring announcing by Tony Chimel.[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004)
## Reception and business figures
Retrospective reviews describe a sharply divided card. TJR [Wrestling](https://www.edgepedia.org/wrestling) scored the show 7.5 out of 10 and called it a three-match show carried by Mysterio versus Chavo Guerrero, the WrestleMania-stakes triple threat, and the main event, identifying Noble versus Nidia as the worst match.[11](https://wrestlefile.com/events/no-way-out-2004/) On Meltzer's scale, the main event's 4 stars stood well above the rest of the card: the cruiserweight title match received 3.25 stars, the triple threat 3 stars, and the opening four matches between 1.25 stars and a DUD for Noble versus Nidia.[7](https://wrestlenomics.com/wp-content/uploads/mookie_archive/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wwe_network_wonstar_1985_2015_wo_star_ratings.html)
The event drew an estimated 265,000 pay-per-view buys according to WrestleTalk's compilation of WWE buyrates; a contemporaneous October 2004 report citing WWE.com's key business drivers listed 255,000 buys, and the two figures were never reconciled in the retrieved record.[5](https://wrestletalk.com/features/every-wwe-pay-per-view-buyrate/) • [6](https://insidepulse.com/2004/10/30/28534/) For comparison, WrestleMania XX two months later achieved an estimated 885,000 buys at a suggested domestic retail price of $49.95.[12](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1091907/000120677404000684/wwe906039.htm)
## Aftermath
Guerrero's championship win set up his title defense against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX, the WrestleMania-stakes match Angle had earned by winning the triple threat.[1](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004) The Goldberg spear continued the Lesnar-Goldberg feud that culminated at WrestleMania XX, with the two meeting in a match officiated by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.[13](https://www.catch-revolution.fr/ajddshistlutte/AujourdhuiDsLHistoireDeLaLutte-Num10-P76Q.pdf) No Way Out itself continued as a February SmackDown event through 2008, after which the name was retired in favor of a dedicated Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in 2010.[14](https://editthis.info/iwe/IWE_No_Way_Out)
## References
1. [WWE No Way Out 2004 Full Results & Match Card, The SmackDown Hotel](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/events-results/ppv-special/wwe-no-way-out-2004)
2. [No Way Out 2004, WWE.com](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004)
3. [No Way Out 2004 (2018 Redo): Eddie's Got This, KB's Wrestling Reviews](https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/14/no-way-out-2004-2018-redo-eddies-got-this/?print=pdf)
4. [Main Event, WWE.com](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2004/mainevent)
5. [Every WWE Pay-Per-View Buyrate, WrestleTalk](https://wrestletalk.com/features/every-wwe-pay-per-view-buyrate/)
6. [WWE News: Recent PPV Buyrates, Inside Pulse](https://insidepulse.com/2004/10/30/28534/)
7. [Dave Meltzer Star Ratings for NWA/WCW/WWF/WWE 1985-2015, Wrestlenomics](https://wrestlenomics.com/wp-content/uploads/mookie_archive/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wwe_network_wonstar_1985_2015_wo_star_ratings.html)
8. [What you didn't know about No Way Out, WWE.com](https://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/2012/no-way-out-returns)
9. [Aujourd'hui dans l'Histoire de la Lutte, numéro 7, Catch-Revolution](https://www.catch-revolution.fr/ajddshistlutte/AujourdhuiDsLHistoireDeLaLutte-Num07-R3CD.pdf)
10. [(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar, TJR Wrestling](https://tjrwrestling.net/feature/5-star-wwe-no-way-out-2004-guerrero-brock/)
11. [No Way Out 2004 Review & Final Grade, WrestleFile](https://wrestlefile.com/events/no-way-out-2004/)
12. [World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal year ended April 30, 2004, SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1091907/000120677404000684/wwe906039.htm)
13. [Aujourd'hui dans l'Histoire de la Lutte, numéro 10, Catch-Revolution](https://www.catch-revolution.fr/ajddshistlutte/AujourdhuiDsLHistoireDeLaLutte-Num10-P76Q.pdf)
14. [IWE No Way Out, Iwe](https://editthis.info/iwe/IWE_No_Way_Out)
15. [Royal Rumble 2004](https://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/2004)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Combat sports and professional wrestling › Professional wrestling promotions and championships › WWE promotion and brands › WWE pay-per-views, 2002–2016*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license