Tha Hitman Sharpshoots

Recently, I wrote an article about Orton's newest backstage heatseeking with WWE. It was an unbiased article, and as such, featured none of my own thoughts or reactions to the incident. I would like to do that now.

Also, some of you may remember way back in the day, one of my first ever comments was a Jim Rome-like shoot of Scott Steiner. I am bringing back that format in a new column that, in addition to my TNA review, I will be writing weekly. So, with that in mind, here is the first edition of "Tha Hitman Sharpshoots". And just to give it that Jim Rome banter-ish feel, I'm going to talk about a few other things as well.

An Or-ton of trouble

Now, I'm all one for partying every now and then. God knows that I can't preach to anybody about temperance without being an out-and-out hypocrite. However, those liquor commercials always make sure to mention "please drink responsibly" for a reason. Because when you don't, you end up passed out in a cheap hotel somewhere in Europe with a room that had more monetary damages than the original cost of constructing the room itself.

I would think that after so many warnings about his conduct backstage, that Orton would finally get his act together. After all, the last time he got in trouble, he jobbed to Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam and then got buried for months on end before finally being used as what could best be described as a "throw-in" to Edge's hate-on for Degeneration X.

He managed to keep his nose clean for a little while,and even got himself a nice little slot in Money In The Bank at WrestleMania 23. Follow that up with being tossed into the main event at Backlash, where he very likely may have gone over, and it seems like everything is back on track.

I'm not sure what makes this more idiotic - the fact that he did this to begin with, or the fact that he did it shortly before a main event match, where he could have very easily and believably gone over. Is it just me, or does it seem like every time he's about to get the gold put around his waist, he decides to go and screw it up? If I didn't know better, I'd say he doesn't want to be the champion and is going to whatever length necessary to make sure he doesn't get the gold around his waist again.

Quite frankly, as propesterous as that may sound, and as farfetched of a conspiracy theory it may be, Orton certainly hasn't done anything to disprove me. And if this is true, Randy needs to take the advice of the E's slogan right around the time of his debut and "Get The 'F' Out."

Gimmicks Galore

So just days after TNA produced a stellar Lockdown where the only matches fans shit on were the gimmick matches, we have all learned that apparently TNA doesn't listen to their fans. And thanks to that, we now have a Texas Deathmatch to look forward to at the upcoming Sacrifice pay-per-view.

This tells me one of two things. Either Vince Russo and Dutch Mantel have both suffered severe brain aneurysms sometime several months back, or TNA has zero faith that any of their midcard talent can perform and make a match hot on their own.

I'm hoping it's the first one, since the latter is so ridiculous that I almost want to buy a TNA shirt just so I can burn it in effigy. Then again, me supporting them by buying their merchandise may just make them think that I agree with what they're trying to give me as a product.

You want to give me a gimmick match? How about a match where you just let the two guys wrestle and show their stuff? I've even got a great idea for a name for the gimmick match - a "Wrestling Match". Wow. I can't believe it's come to the point where a promotion puts out more stip matches than actual matches.

WW-Ego

Earlier this week, WWE cut ties with one of their developmental partners, Deep South Wrestling. Great. Just what we need - another company for the E to blacklist. Following the folding of WCW and ECW, tell me how many superstars that worked for those promotions during their dying days held the championship in the E. I can only think of three - Booker T, Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio, who I shouldn't even count considering Eddie Guerrero's death was the reason he was given the belt. And those two promotions had superstars with tons of mainstream TV exposure.

Now think about guys like TJ Wilson, Colt Cabana and Ace Steel. Most marks don't even know who they are, and their involvement in DSW may be what keeps them off of TV permanently. Vince is an egomaniac before a businessman, and I highly doubt he cares about burying talent if it means he can throw his weight around and further establish himself as the biggest, baddest thing in wrestling. Yeah, way to go Vince. You'd screw over monstrously talented guys just so you can massage your ego. You're really a sight to behold. No wonder so many people hold you in low regard.

J.C. - F.U.!

Last Monday night on "Raw", we were treated to one of the most entertaining sights in quite some time. Who didn't enjoy watching Michaels drop on the deck and flop like a fish when Mr. No-Sell himself, John Cena, delivered an F-U to him? To me, it's a much-needed breath of fresh air for a wrestler to finally make it clear to the people backstage that Cena should not be in the spot he's in. And if anybody's going to do it, Shawn Michaels is the guy. Shawn Michaels is a man who can sell like nobody's business, but also has a track record of overselling in order to disrespect his opponent.

Add the fact that Michaels is one of the few people in the back that could get away with it. There's no way Michaels would lose his job, or face any repurcussions at all, for that matter, over showing up "The Champ" like that.

Michaels is financially set for life, and if he ever were to part ways with the E, he could wrestle for indies, he could wrestle for TNA, he could even retire if he wanted to. On the flip side, while Michaels doesn't need WWE, WWE needs Michaels. Whenever he's asked to do something, he does it. Montreal hated him for 10 years for something he did simply because he was told to do it. He was told to put Cena over at WrestleMania 23, and he did it.

Now, he's seemingly being asked to job to Cena again. And he's inevitably going to do it. But guess what, folks? He's not going to put him over. Instead, he's going to oversell and make Cena look like the chump that he is. Michaels is a smart man for doing so - Cena shouldn't be a top face, nor should the E be trying to push him as the number one guy in wrestling. Thank God that at least someone from "Raw" is still capable of logical reasoning.

That's it for this week, O-sters. Be sure to check out this article, it will be appearing weekly. Also, if anyone has anything they want me to rant about, hit me up at my email address, listed in the side bar. I am out.

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