Sunday nights SmackDown PPV - No Way Out, from Los Angeles was mostly a PPV built on a solid main event, and mostly average undercard bouts with no real surprises to speak of. The one return to action that we saw from a singles standpoint was Chavo Guerrero, who came out last in the Cruiserweight gaunlet match to beat Jimmy Yang last to take home the title. The other shock of the night was the turn by Batista, as it looks as if he is going to play the role of heel in his upcoming program with the Undertaker.

The main event was very good, which was good for a change with a tag match that really didn't have anything to play off of. The four main event wrestlers in a tag the month before Wrestlemaina could have either come off really flat, or red hot, and I think for the most part with the tension that is bound to build between the two teams it did come across as very good. As for the heel turn by Batista, it did come out of left field, but when you think about it, it could have been expected. You know that John Cena and Shawn Michaels are not going heel, and Undertaker never speaks, so if he were to go heel, it would come out lame as he is in this non-speaking mode right now.

So the logical choice would be Batista, who I also thought looked about as strong as he has in months last night. He actually had better offense, moved better, and took some shots that made him look good. I think this move to heel may give him a shot in the arm that he sorely needs, and it also means that we will not have the two sets of face vs face main events for Mania. I think that its a solid move, and it right away tells me that the Taker vs Batista match will now be pushed as the real main event of the card, and it should be. An undefeated streak vs a World Title - that's a solid main event. I know that the trend is almost always for the face to win the main event at Maina, but as we sit here today - I'll take Batista to win and get on a hot streak that makes him bigger than ever in 2007.

The remainder of the card as mentioned above was about average to below average at best. You had the solid start with a six-man of Hardys and Chris Benoit vs MVP and MNM, then the crusierweight match, which was okay since you simply had to get that belt off of Gregory Helms, then the out and out dumb with Finley and Little B***ard vs Boogeyman and little Boogeyman. Kane vs King Booker was actually better than I thought it would be, but really just filler, and then what I thought was an underachieving tag title match with London and Kendrick vs Deuce and Domino. The champs win, which you could see coming the way JBL said time after time they would not, but I really could have gone for a rematch ladder match from the December PPV here as originally planned.

The bout before the main was an ECW title match that basically fell flat between Bobby Lashely vs Ken Kennedy. This was a train wreck, as the sold out crowd was dead and neither guy really showed much here. They continue to give Lashely this huge push, but everytime they throw him into a match where he can show his ability, he tends to fall flat. The finish was a lame DQ where Kennedy used a chair, but that went unseen, then Lashley was DQ'ed returning the favor. After seeing the crowd reaction last night, they really need to rethink using Lashely as Donald Trump's wrestler in this challenge vs Vince McMahon at Mania. He simply will not get over with the crowd, and they had better quickly open up the lines of communication again with Hogan, or else that match will fall flat, just like last night.

The diva contest was - well, a diva contest, so you knew in the end with Ashley getting a Playboy push that she would win, and she did with the same costume that Sable wore about eight years ago when she and Jackie would have these lame contests PPV after PPV. Then was another odd segment, as they showed the first trailer to Steve Austin's new movie - "The Condemned" which will come out in the spring. Then they interviewed some former English soccer player who is in the movie - Vinnie Jones, who says he is the real star of the movie - not Austin. I guess they are going to go with some program with the two, and if it means Austin back in the ring again, then I guess they see dollar signs. It came across about as bad as what eventually became the awful Zeus vs Hulk Hogan feud of 1989. If that is what is to come - look out, and not in a good way.

The crowd was into the main event very much, and again, it did come across very good with the end turn by the Animal. I think that as you walked away you looked forward to what was to come tonight and into SmackDown on Friday, which is a solid change. RAW tonight from Bakersfield, CA should really start our run towards Maina and I expect them to really start the push with Michales and Cena, and I wouldn't doubt if we get the tag title belts in some other teams hands within the next two weeks.