WWE No Way Out 2012 Predictions: Match-by-Match Breakdown

After last night's episode of Monday Night Raw, the No Way Out card is almost settled.

We now have five matches on the show, with Dolph Ziggler replacing Alberto Del Rio in the World Heavyweight Championship match against Sheamus and Beth Phoenix set to get a Divas title shot against Layla.

Also, the No Way Out pre-show YouTube match will feature Brodus Clay taking on David Otunga in singles action.

Heading into the pay-per-view, there are a lot of toss-ups, as it seems like just about every match can go either way.

But that's not going to prevent me from trying to predict them all correctly anyway.

Here is my match-by-match breakdown of this Sunday's No Way Out PPV.

NOTE: This article contains SPOILERS, so STOP reading if you like to be surprised.

Pre-Show YouTube Match: Brodus Clay vs. David Otunga

While I have no idea what Brodus Clay's record is, there's one thing I do know: He has yet to lose a match as "The Funkasaurus."

Although it remains to be seen how long Clay's undefeated streak will last, I feel pretty confident in saying that it won't end on Sunday.

The WWE is booking Clay like a comedy character, sure. But they're also booking him as an unstoppable one.

You think David Otunga is going to change that? I sure don't.

This is a match that was just randomly thrown together to try to generate more views on the WWE's YouTube page, and in the long run, the outcome of it probably won't matter much.

That being said, Otunga isn't getting any type of a push as a wrestler at the moment while Clay actually is.

I'll take "The Funkasaurus" in a five-minute squash.

Winner: Clay

Divas Championship: Layla (c) vs. Beth Phoenix

Did Beth Phoenix actually do anything to earn another Divas Championship match?

Probably not, but I'm glad she's getting one.

While I was initially excited upon Layla's return and glad to see her get a chance to hold the title, her short run as a baby face has flopped pretty badly so far.

That's partially because the creative team clearly doesn't care about her, but it's also because she doesn't do much to separate herself from the other face Divas. Thus, we have no reason to cheer for her.

Although Layla actually did put on a decent match with Beth at Over the Limit, it's looked like her knee isn't quite 100 percent at times, which has limited her in the ring.

I could be wrong, but whether Layla's injured, I think it's time to put the Divas title back on Beth Phoenix.

Beth is so much better as the heel champion, and there's no real reason—at least not one that I can think of—why Layla's lackluster reign should continue.

It makes no sense to have your best overall Diva lose a to a generic baby face on two straight PPVs, which is why I think this match is taking place largely to get the belt off Layla.

Winner: Beth

Intercontinental Championship: Christian (c) vs. Cody Rhodes

This match is really intriguing to me.

While it seems like Christian is bound to retain the Intercontinental Championship, the last two IC runs (Big Show's first-ever and Cody Rhodes' second) were both extremely short, which indicates that creative isn't afraid to pass this belt around like a hot potato and could put it right back on Rhodes.

At the same time, Christian has been booked strongly since his return, and a loss so soon would kill a lot of his momentum.

Then, you have to consider that Rhodes randomly dropped the Intercontinental title at Over the Limit and cryptically tweeted "Time off" before it was revealed that he had failed a Wellness test, but wasn't suspended for it.

So, one could very well assume that WWE had Rhodes drop the belt because they thought he was going to be suspended, only to realize that he wouldn't be.

What's this all mean? That creative may not have wanted to take the belt off Rhodes in the first place and thus, now want to get it back on him.

This could be even truer now, when you realize that the WWE might need to get the IC belt off Christian because he's needed as a main event baby face after Randy Orton's suspension.

Man, my head is spinning just considering all of these factors here.

At the end of the day, though, I'm gonna go with Christian retaining, based purely on the fact that I think it's way too soon to have another Intercontinental title change.

But I don't feel very good about this pick.

Winner: Christian 

World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler was a last-minute replacement for this match, winning a Fatal 4-Way match on Raw to fill in for an injured Alberto Del Rio in the World Heavyweight Championship match on Sunday.

Fans of "The Showoff" couldn't be happier, as the WWE's rash of injuries and suspensions has finally given him another chance to compete in the main event.

It's no secret that I think that's exactly where Ziggler belongs because he's one of the most talented performers in the WWE.

I'm just not sure how long he's going to stay there.

Prior to Ziggler's big win on Raw, he had lost a few big matches recently—including two against Sheamus—and there was virtually no indication that he was headed for a monster push.

While I love Ziggler and haven't been overly excited with Sheamus' run as World champion, I don't think that the WWE is going to put the World Heavyweight title on someone who up until a few days ago wasn't even going to be on the No Way Out card.

My thought is that the WWE knows it can plug Ziggler in here, have him bump like a maniac for Sheamus and put on a really good match, especially for something that was thrown together on such short notice.

There's nothing more or less to this than a good wrestling match that will entertain the fans.

This might very well be the best match of the night, but unless the WWE gives us a major swerve, I don't see any way that Ziggler wins.

Especially given his ongoing breakup angle with Jack Swagger (is that still even going on?), I could see a situation where Swagger tries to interfere on Ziggler's behalf again and costs him the match, which leads to a firm and final split between the two.

Winner: Sheamus

Steel Cage Match: The Big Show vs. John Cena (Cena Wins, Laurinaitis Gets Fired)

John Cena will be wrestling in his fifth straight PPV main event, this time against the newly heel Big Show.

For as much as we like to hate on Cena, though, he's only 2-2 in the previous four main events, having lost to John Laurinaitis at Over the Limit and The Rock at WrestleMania.

The question now is: Will Cena lose his second straight main event and his third in the last five PPVs?

This one's really hard to predict for me, especially after what happened on Raw.It was revealed that Vince McMahon would be sitting ringside for this match on Sunday, and that if Big Show didn't win, Laurinaitis would be fired as GM. Then, at Tuesday's SmackDown tapings, it was announced that if Cena loses, he's fired.

Stop me if you've heard either of those before. Oh yeah, the first is pretty much the exact same stipulation we had at Over the Limit, only slightly different, while the second is something we've already seen multiple times before, too..

But after Vince McMahon was knocked out at the end of Raw, his status for No Way Out is up in the air, so it's unclear if he'll even be able to fire Laurinaitis should he lose.

Thus, there's going to be a lot of outside activity going on here, with Laurinaitis sure to be at ringside, McMahon possibly there and even the potential for Triple H to somehow get involved.

Ultimately, I think that the steel cage stipulation is going to mean nothing, though, and that the odds are going to be stacked against Cena in this match.

I certainly wouldn't be shocked if Cena was able to "Rise above hate," but I also think it's going to make Big Show look far too week this early on in his heel run if he loses to Cena.

While there are so many different directions this match can go in, I think that Laurinaitis will somehow help Big Show get the victory, much like Show did for Laurinaitis at Over the Limit.

Cena will get fired, but it won't mean much. He'll probably show up on Raw the next night.

Winner: Big Show

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Title: CM Punk (c) vs. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan

This is the love square from hell.

At the center of this rivalry between WWE Champion CM Punk, Kane and Daniel Bryan is AJ, the "crazy chick" who seems to be losing a little bit more of her mind each and every day.

Given her involvement with all three men in the WWE title match on Sunday and the way that she seems to have a thing for all of them, it's safe to say that she's going to have a major effect on this bout.

The thing is, we just don't know what that effect will be.

While AJ appears to be siding with Punk, she did kiss Kane on Raw (was that just a distraction?) and she obviously has a lot of history with Bryan.

She could be legitimately aligned with Punk, her alignment with Punk could be a little bit of trickery as she's actually aligned with Kane or Bryan, or she could be aligned with none of the three.

We just don't know.

On a whim, though, here's how I think the Triple Threat Match at No Way Out will play out: AJ watches from ringside to support Punk and largely stays out of the match until the end when it looks like Punk is about to lose.

AJ tries to prevent Punk from losing, but this distracts Punk, which allows Kane to clothesline Punk out of the ring. Kane then turns around into a big kick from Bryan, and that allows Bryan to apply the LeBell Lock on Kane for the submission victory.

By having Punk not involved in the pin, this would accomplish a number of things: Add to the storyline with AJ, keep Punk looking strong, get the title on Bryan, etc.

While the match probably won't go down like this, I do ultimately think that Bryan will pin Kane or make him tap to win the WWE title.

Winner: Bryan