Tha Hitman Sharpshoots

All right, O-sters, another week has come and gone in professional wrestling, and off of the heels of Backlash, there is certainly a lot to talk about.

Since Backlash has come and gone, I must mention this - unlike other WWE pay-per-views, I did not receive an e-mail regarding my predictions, which leads me to wonder...

I'm not good enough to predict Backlash?!

But there's more than just the E on my mind this week, as there have been some happenings down in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling this past week, so I'll discuss those as well.

Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Guy

Now, before all the Kool-Aid drinkers out there start sending me hate mail, I do have to admit that it's not like I didn't see this one coming. Cena, in McMahon's constant attempt to make him seem better than God himself, went over on three legitimate main eventers in what could be considered one of the worst endings in a long time.

Seriously, what was up with the finish? Everybody hits everybody with a signature move, then Cena gets lucky and falls on somebody. If the biggest skill required in being a champion was being able to fall, Mick Foley's championship runs would have been long enough to make people forget that Kevin Nash was the champ for over a year.

Not to take anything away from Mick, he was a great competitor, and he's certainly got more skills than our current champ. If Vince is so aware that Cena's getting booed, I can only wonder how long it's going to be before he comes to his senses, throws the switch, and turns him heel.

Hanging 10

Perhaps an even worse finish than the WWE Championship match was the Last Man Standing match between The Undertaker and Batista. First of all, the fact that Batista is even in the match lowers its appeal tremendously. He's even less over than John Cena is, especially since he's facing one of the men whose names is synonymous with the E. If anybody bought into this match as being a five-star, match of the year candidate, I pity them.

As for the match itself, as I said, it was brutal if for no other reason than because Batista was in it. Looking past all that was the finish. Even if a match stinks, sometimes it can be saved with a really boss finish. The finish for this match, however, was so weak, it made Spike Dudley look as strong as Mark Henry.

A double count-out? Was there even a purpose to that? Was it so that Batista could save face? If so, the people backstage need to wake up and realize just how little this musclehead deserves a top spot. I beg of the E, please bury this juicebag quickly so he can go join Brooklyn Brawler and Gobbledy Gooker in the Hall Of Bad Ideas.

In Extreme Bad Taste

As bad as the other two championship matches were, the award for "Lousiest Finish of the Night" goes to the ECW Championship match. First of all, McMahons and titles should not be put together. Creative misses the boat on that one everytime.

Secondly, this match was far from compelling the whole way through, with Lashley being picked apart so that Vinnie Mac could pin him and get some gold around his waist. This is one of the things that the E has done perfectly as of late - they make bad bookings, which perpetuate into bad shows.

The kicker of all of this is that McMahon has made no bones about it, in the past, that he's using ECW and that ECW World Heavyweight Title solely as a means to push Lashley enough to make him believable as a contender on what WWE considers to be one of their "real" shows. He's portrayed Lashley as a musclehead who can topple anybody in his way. And now, suddenly, we find out that his kryponite is the same man who is responsible for just how far he's pushed.

In other words, Vince wants to push him and turn him into a cash cow, but he wants to get a few strokes in on himself in the process. Once Vince disappears from TV again, "Raw" and ECW have nowhere to go but up.

Starr-gazing

Last week, I wrote about Randy Orton getting in trouble, and only a few days later, Austin Starr found himself in hot water as well. Apparently he wasn't happy with his spot in TNA, so he decided to throw a temper tantrum and try to be a general pain in TNA's ass - a move which got him sent home for 90 days. Other wrestlers have said that this attitude simply represents the way Starr is, but I don't buy into that excuse.

Here's how it is, Austin. Out in the real world, if you work for a company and you don't like your spot...tough. If you aren't considered indispensible within your company, and you try to stir the pot on multiple occasions, you're gonna be standing in the unemployment line. Just ask Kid Kash. It shouldn't be any different with your TNA spot.

I don't give a crap how talented you are, there are dozens of guys on the independent scene that are just as talented that would take your spot in a heartbeat. You like to bill yourself as being from "TV Land"...my advice is that you pack your things and get an apartment over on "The Reality Channel." You're lucky to have the job you have, and to deliberately get under the skin of TNA shows how little respect you have for your employer.

A Roode Awakening

A few people asked me why I didn't make any mention of the Roode/Young segment in my latest TNA review. The reason why is because I wanted to discuss it here. Personally, I loved this segment. I thought it was brilliant, and it shows that TNA is getting back on the right track to an extent. Maybe TNA does have hope for Roode after all. Feuding with Jarrett will give him main event exposure, and even if he jobs, which he probably will as a means of ending the whole Eric Young contract angle, he's now got a feud with a top tier talent under his belt.

Not only that, it's a hot angle that the fans are into. This may be when TNA finally realizes just how much charisma this guy has. Plus, it's storyline consistent, as Mike Tenay and Don West finally pointed out. Talk about icing on the cake - this is a feud so promising that even the commentators weren't able to ruin it!

I have been a mark for this guy ever since I first saw him in 2004, back when he had Team Canada written on his trunks in what looked like glued-on felt. I thought his finisher at the time, The Great White Knockout, was sick, and that he was a dynamite in-ring competitor. And I still think that.

Robert Roode is the total package, and this current angle will do more for his career than anything else he's been involved in to this point. Hopefully, TNA will follow up on this, and Roode will finally get the push he deserves. If TNA wants to be around for the long run, they need young guns, and Roode is one of the most promising stars among their young wrestlers.

That's it for this week, O-sters. As always, if there's anything on your mind that you want me to rap about in an upcoming column, drop me a line. My e-mail is listed on the side bar of the page. You can also catch my weekly "iMPACT!" reviews and monthly TNA pay-per-view coverage. Until next week, O-sters, I am out.

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