No Way Out (2003) - Background

Background

On the January 23 episode of SmackDown!, SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced the return of Hulk Hogan to the WWE. During the returning segment of Hogan, the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, came down to the ring to insult Hogan, resulting in Hogan challenging McMahon into a match, however, Hogan then proceeded to attack McMahon. The attack led to McMahon accepting Hogan's challenge, he however, instead booked a rematch from WrestleMania X8 between Hogan and his representative, The Rock at No Way Out, the following week on SmackDown!; thus the beginning of the Rock-Hogan the Rock made his return for the first time to WWE since SummerSlam (2002) http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/r/rock.html feud on the SmackDown! brand. During the weeks leading to No Way Out, both Rock and Hogan cut promos on who was the better wrestler. The feud intensified on the February 20, and final episode of SmackDown! before No Way Out, however, where, during a segment, Rock attempted to shake Hogan's hand, and then spat water into Hogan's face, turning heel in the process.

At the Royal Rumble, Kurt Angle successfully defended the WWE Championship against Chris Benoit while Lesnar won the Royal Rumble match to earn himself a WWE title shot at WrestleMania XIX by last eliminating The Undertaker. On the January 23 episode of SmackDown!, Kurt Angle confronted his protégés, Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin), about their losses that night, as Benjamin was pinned by Edge, while Haas was pinned by Chris Benoit. The following week on SmackDown!, Haas and Benjamin were booked in a tag team match against Edge and Benoit. During the match Angle interfered in Haas and Benjamin's behalf, which led them to pinning Edge and Benoit for the win. Haas and Benjamin would then defeat the then-reigning Tag Team Champions, Los Guerreros, to win the Tag Team Championship on the February 6 episode of SmackDown!. The following week on SmackDown!, General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced a match between Team Angle (Angle, Haas, and Benjamin) against the team of Lesnar, Benoit, and Edge at No Way Out, thus the official beginning of the Team Angle-Team Lesnar feud. On the February 20, and final episode of SmackDown! before No Way Out, Angle was booked in a match against Brock Lesnar, however, before the match started, Angle stated that Lesnar had to defeat Haas and Benjamin before he could wrestle Angle, which Lesnar was able to do. As Lesnar then wrestled Angle, Paul Heyman, who was at ringside, interfered in the match and hit Lesnar with a steel chair, causing Angle to lose by disqualification.

On the January 20 episode of Raw, Eric Bischoff made an announcement about how Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out on Vince McMahon during the summer of 2002 with no explanation and that he would like to give Steve Austin an opportunity to give his side of the story. Bischoff also invited Steve Austin to make an appearance at next month's No Way Out. The following week, Bischoff stated that Austin has agreed to tell his story in the Raw magazine. On the February 3 episode of Raw, Bischoff headed to Texas, to sign Austin to the Raw brand. But, he was unsuccessful in doing so, as he couldn't locate Austin anywhere. The following week on Raw, Bischoff (kayfabe) fired Jim Ross, after Bischoff stated that it was Ross' fault that Austin hasn't signed yet to the brand. Vince McMahon, who the previous week stated he would fire Bischoff and Chief Morley for the way they were running Raw the last couple of weeks, asked Bischoff if he'd signed Austin yet, which prompted Bischoff to say No. J.R. informed McMahon that Austin would be at No Way Out, which led to McMahon booking a match between Bischoff and Austin for the pay-per-view.

At the Royal Rumble, a scheduled match for the World Heavyweight Championship match saw Triple H defend the title against Scott Steiner. The match saw Steiner defeat Triple H by disqualification, after Triple H brought a sledgehammer during the match. As a result, Triple H retained the World Heavyweight title. The next night on Raw, Steiner was put in a match against Batista. In the match, Batista was disqualified after interference by Randy Orton. After the match, Triple H, Ric Flair, Orton and Batista all attack Steiner, which led to Triple H performing a Pedigree on Steiner. On the February 3 episode of Raw, Triple H formed a stable known as Evolution with Flair, Orton, and Batista. That same night, a number one contender's match was scheduled between Chris Jericho and Steiner, in which the winner would meet Triple H at No Way Out for the World Heavyweight title. The match saw Steiner claim victory.