Alberto Del Rio started off the show, heading to the ring in a BMW 6 series. Del Rio showed footage of him assaulting Sheamus on Raw, and warned the Champion that this was nothing compared to what he had planned at No Way Out. Del Rio called Sheamus out, and out came Ricardo Rodriguez with spiked and dyed hair and white tights. Del Rio used this to demonstrate that while anyone could be Sheamus, there was only one Alberto Del Rio. This brought out the real Sheamus, who ran into the ring and hit Del Rio with an Irish Hammer and chased them up the entrance ramp. He smashed Rodriguez on the WWE sign on the stage and tried to hit the High Cross on Del Rio off the edge of the stage. Rodriguez grabbed Sheamus' ankle and Del Rio used the distraction to slither out and assault the champion's arm yet again. As referees separated the two, Theodore Long came out and announced that he was going to be the stand-in GM for the night. Long set Sheamus vs. Kane as the main event of the night, and put Del Rio in a match against The Great Khali right then.

Del Rio punched away at Khali from the opening bell, but the giant took him down with a brain chop and unloaded on him in a corner. Khali hit a hard chop on the chest and repeated the move after throwing Del Rio on the opposite corner. Khali charged at Del Rio, who side-stepped and as a result, Khali got caught in the ropes. Del Rio kicked away at Khali's knee and applied a cross leg-lock that had the giant writhing in pain. Del Rio released the hold and kicked Khali a couple of times in the face for a near-fall. The Mexican Aristocrat hit a leg DDT and a dropkick on the leg before climbing up top, but Khali hit a hard chop in mid-air. The Punjabi Giant went for the Punjabi Plunge, but got distracted by Rodriguez on the apron. Rodriguez avoided an axed handle and Khali turned and ran into an arm-breaker from Del Rio. The #1 Contender capitalized with the cross arm-bar, forcing his opponent to tap out.

The show started off with a video package showing Big Show's path of destruction, and was immediately followed by a Michael Cole interview with John Cena in the ring. Cole accused Cena of being an egomaniac who was only interested in making jokes without a care for anyone else, especially the Big Show. Cena retaliated with a My Little Pony joke and called John Lauranitis a power-hungry bully. The two then had a war of words with Cena alleging that Show took the easy way out whereas Cole maintained that Show made the obvious choice and Cena was the only one to blame for the giant's path of destruction. Suddenly John Lauranitis came out and decided to remind everyone that he was a fair man by allowing Cena to choose his own opponent for the night. Cena wanted to face Big Show, but he had been given the day off. Cena then named John Lauranitis but he said he had retired from in-ring action. Finally Cena had to settle for Michael Cole, who was visibly frustrated.

The first match of the night was a rematch from SmackDown as World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus faced Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Sheamus dominated the match early on until he charged on Ziggler, who pulled down the top rope causing Sheamus to fall on the floor. Sheamus yanked Ziggler out to the floor but got distracted by Vickie Guerrero, allowing Ziggler to gain the upper hand with a dropkick. Ziggler continued to wear down the champion, targeting the left arm and shoulder. Sheamus came back with a Polish hammer and a powerslam, but Ziggler turned the tables once again with a Fame-Asser. Ziggler went up top but Sheamus cut him off and the two traded punches until Ziggler got a near-fall off a second rope Fame-Asser. Sheamus fought back and blocked a sleeper hold and nailed the White Noise and followed up with the Brogue Kick for the victory.

David Otunga started off the show with his patented rant, demanding that the World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus show himself immediately and apologize to General Manager John Lauranitis for running him over a couple of weeks ago on Raw. Sheamus came out and decided to take an apology into consideration only when Lauranitis would ask for it in person. Sheamus mocked Otunga, reminding him of the Brogue Kick he had received on Raw. Suddenly, the #1 Contender for the world title, Alberto Del Rio came out to the ring and decided to suck up to the GM's legal counsel, promising to take Sheamus' title at No Way Out in the process. The Celtic Warrior laughed his opponent away, reminding Del Rio how he had been knocked out by the champ just after becoming #1 Contender last week on SmackDown. Otunga decided to teach the champ a lesson by allowing Del Rio to pick his opponent for the night, something the challenger would disclose later.

Sin Cara made his much-awaited return to SmackDown in a singles match against Heath Slater. Slater clubbed Cara down and locked in a hammerlock. Sin Cara countered with an arm-drag and threw Slater out, following up with a top rope plancha. Cara threw Slater back in the ring, but he got booted down and Slater focused on the surgically repaired patella. Cara fought out of a chin lock with a back suplex and capitalized with a springboard back elbow and a modified headlock takedown. Slater back-dropped Cara to the apron, but he fought back with a kick to the head. Sin Cara hit a top rope cross body and followed it with a modified La Mistica for the victory.

Executive administrator Eve Torres started off the show in a bid to reinforce John Lauranitis's control over SmackDown. Eve announced that due to international commitments, Lauranitis could be present on the show, and he had entrusted Eve to deal with the World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus for helping John Cena against him on Raw. Torres demanded that Sheamus apologize and just as she was about to announce his opponent for No Way Out, Alberto Del Rio ran in the ring and after praising Eve for some time, he laid his claim for the title. This brought out Randy Orton and Kane, each of whom staked their claim at Sheamus and the World Heavyweight Championship. After hearing everyone out, Eve announced that they would face each other in a Triple Threat, with the winner becoming the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The first match of the show saw the new Intercontinental Champion Christian in a non-title match against Hunico (who was accompanied to the ring by Camacho). Hunico got a side headlock applied, but Christian whipped him away and flattened him with a flying forearm. Christian hit a back-body drop and Hunico rolled to the outside, gaining some breathing space by dodging a baseball slide kick. Christian got distracted by Camacho and Hunico threw him shoulder-first on the ring-post and stomped away on him inside the ring before hitting a scoop slam for a near-fall. Hunico went for a Senton but Christian rolled away and hit a flapjack followed by a strong clothesline. Hunico countered a missile dropkick into a jackknife pin, but Christian fought back with an elbow off the second rope. Captain Charisma dropkicked Camacho off the apron and hit the Killswitch on Hunico for the victory.