Hidden Highlights 01.08.06: Issue #19
Posted by Prag-Thomlison on 01.08.2006
New Years Specials, JP gets to talk about Carlito, Samoa Joe gets bloody, the perks of amatuer video, the debut of a tag team, Jesse Ventura, and me and JP turn heel! All in the 19th issue of Hidden Highlights!
Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag and James "JT" Thomlison
Issue #19
Intro
Hello everyone who actually watches wrestling on time, and welcome back to Hidden Highlights!!
Hidden Highlights is designed to look at the wrestling we watch each and every week and point out all of those understated things that go into making the shows great. This could be anything from a wrestler making a facial expression to an announcer talking about the history of a belt to the production guy timing fireworks just right. There are just so many unsung heroes of wrestling that it is impossible to cover them all. So every week we will take the top 3 Hidden Highlights from the top 3 wrestling shows on television (and maybe a PPV or television special if there was one. And there was this half hour one right at midnight on New Year's Day!).
Who are we? Well, I'm the One and Only JP, and you might recognize me better as the ultimate defender of the truth for In Defense Of…! My cohort in crime is the venerable and often under-appreciated Byte This! recapper James "JT" Thomlison! Together we are the most positive duo to ever step foot in the IWC… if stepping foot into an imagery realm made up of a mass network of computers and people sitting in their mom's basement were possible.
Still, we bring you Hidden Highlights with one goal in mind: to appreciate all those subtle bits that make a huge difference. JT?
JT: I was going to mention how sick I was, but instead, I must say our readers aren't doing their job!
JP: What do you mean?
JT: Last week during my Impact! HH, I temporarily slipped into "uhhh... hello?" mode, and referred to Mike Tenay as Tony Shiavone around three times, and only ONE person pointed it out.
JP: You did? Well, I don't believe in spoilers, so I haven't even read it yet!
JT: Spoilers? Uh, JP, the show already happened.
JP: Yeah, I know, but I'm three weeks behind on Impact (and two weeks behind on SmackDown!), so I don't want to spoil it for myself.
John Dee: Spoilers ruin wrestling~~~~!
JP: So true, Dee. Now, I'm not a drinking man myself, but I'd have to guess that it's because half the people reading our column were feeling the affects of New Years.
JT: All the better for me.
JP: Lovin' that new "edit whatever, whenever" feature, eh?
JT: You know it brother.
JP: One day I'll actually go back and, you know, fix my mistakes. For now, we have a column to write!
Of course, before in engaging in Hidden Highlights, be sure to read:
JP: Wait! You did do Promo Format for Carlito right?
JT: (sigh) Yes, I did Promo Format, just for you.
JP: Woooo! Continue.
JT: As I was saying, this week's ByteThis! featured Carlito, Chris Masters, and a surprise visit from Ken Kennedy!
AND…
JP: Hold on a sec, JT.
JT: You're interrupting the plugs again?
JP: I just want to know something. How come the newsboard keeps schooling you with the Byte This! scoops? Aren't you the Byte This! guru (when you aren't rooting for terrible football teams)?
JT: I do not watch it until the archive goes up. Thus, I don't scoop anything.
JP: Do you have a cat?
JT: Don't even go there.
JP: That's just wrong, man. Ah well, back to the plugs with…
JP: I live out of a suitcase! What does that even mean?
JT: Never mind. You wouldn't get it.
Cook: Oh no you didn't! You best be getting on wit dem Hidden Highlights!
Hidden Highlights for TNA Impact: Saturday, December 31, 2005 by JT
JT: This was about two hours into my New Years celebration, and it just so happened I was in the mood for some wrestling. Neat how things work out like that sometimes.
(3) The time has come...:
Everyone might not be with me on this one, but when I saw it, it put a small grin on my face and immediately thought HH, so it's getting in. We all know Samoa Joe has been carrying around a towel containing the "blood" of Christopher Daniels ever since he went psycho a few weeks back. Originally for the first couple / few weeks, the blood was red and gradually worked it's way to brick. This week however, the stains on his towels were completely brown. This might not seem like much, but to mean it screamed of time. Time has passed since the Daniels incident; or rather, enough time has passed. Enough time for Daniels to get back (which he did), and be ready for Joe at Turning Point (which I'll assume he is). Nice little touch by whoever is in charge of staining Joe's towel.
(2) We're more than stripes dammit!:
This is, I suppose, a constant-running Hidden Highlight, but one I found we'd never really touched on before and thought deserved some credit. I was watching the refs after I noticed something, and sure enough, it occurred throughout the show. The refs were counting at choke holds, directing usual traffic, signaling legal tags in tag matches, and making all the motions, signals, and mannerisms you'd see a normal ref in WWE do. But there's a difference. There are no DQs in TNA. So it doesn't matter if they don't break the hold. It doesn't matter if it's the legal man who gets the pin. The only thing the ref essentially is there for is to count the pin, break the pin if someone makes it to the rope, and make sure things don't get completely out of control. Nice job by the refs of making the show more realistic instead of just standing around waiting to count the pinfall.
(1) Dissention within the ranks? ...already?:
Towards the end of the opening match, as Jarrett was going for the pin, he motioned for Monty Brown to bring over for the double pin. After the 1-2-3, he similarly motioned for Gail Kim to hold up both their hands. Following this, he again motioned Monty to get up on the ropes with him. Now, the thing here is that these were all identical points / motions. They were not "Hey this'd be a good idea" motions. They were "do it now" motions; almost insinuating that Monty Brown is on no better a level than Gail Kim. To be, this says that while they may be a "team", Jarrett feels that Monty is no more than a pawn in the "King of the mountain"s game of chess with TNA. He still considers him top dog, and other people, while useful, are still all below him. It's little things like that which may lead to Monty to a slow, exciting, face turn on Jarrett. Now write this one down, kids, because nobody ever wants to say something nice about him. I'm giving Jarrett complete credit on this complete act of foreshadowing which we probably won't even see for at least another 2, 3, or even 6 or 7 months.
JP: God, I cannot wait until I can be home for a week so I can watch all my wrestling, catch up to you, and actually comment on what you write. Oh man, that'll be sweet! On a side note, just before I left for FL, I found out that I'm going to Virginia in two weeks for a week. There went that plan!
Hidden Highlights for TNA Impact New Year's Special: Sunday, January 1, 2006 at Midnight by JT
JT: As good as I was feeling by midnight on New Years Eve, they could have sent monkeys out there to fling shit and I still would have enjoyed it. But, perhaps that analogy was a little too graphic, so let's just hop to it.
(1) This is all I need:
JP: One?
JT: Yes, one.
JP: ....???
JT: What...? It was only a half hour long...?
JP: Slacker! Impact is normally only double that!
JT: Perfectionist!
JP: ...touche'. You were saying?
JT: This one is actually a co-Hidden Highlight, because it required two participants to make it happen. The first was the production / planning team. Were they ready for New Years or what? I don't think there was a single soul in there that didn't have a hat, lei, blowhorn, tiara, or any other New Years party favor. Throw in all the confetti falling from the ceiling, and you've got yourself a party. Nice job of the people planning this to give it a really good New Years feel. Of course, that was only one-half of the Highlight. The other half of this shot out goes to the crowd. The crowd participation was insane for this. They all acted like they had just counted down, they were going nuts, and they were acting completely drunk. Hell, for the first 10 minutes, I could barely make out what Tenay, Christian, or Jarrett were saying. For a minute there, they crowd along with the atmosphere made me forget that I wasn't watching this live. What a great way to kick off the New Year.
JP: Sometimes I read the first few words of your Hidden Highlights so I know what they are about and can look smart. This is one of those times. I love it when production gets props (see more below)!
Hidden Highlights for WWE RAW: Monday, January 2, 2006 by JP
JP: In the year 2006, I have been home for ten hours, and two of them I spent watching RAW! That's right, 1/5th of 2006 for me has been spent watching RAW (the other 4/5th on airplanes). Aren't you lucky? So what did I see in my stupor?
(3) Watch the eyes!:
After Todd interviewed Trish on the stairs, Trish let everyone know that she needed to go take a shower (on a side note, how come Trish wasn't wet at all when she got out the shower?), the whole audience went "whoooooo"! But that's not the Hidden Highlight, oh no! When Trish was walking off, watch Todd. He just slowly moves his eyes down to Trish's caboose as she walked away. Oh Todd, you horn dog you!
(2) Nice save:
Victoria, Torrie, and Candice came down to ring to confront Maria (and subsequently beat the crap out of her). Now, somehow Victoria got herself a match with Maria on the spot. See, if Eric Bischoff were still around, then the "inmates rule the asylum" rule would still apply. But since he's fired, there had to be another reason! And leave it to the Coach to cover up for everyone quickly by saying, "So, do you think this was another one of the matches Mr. McMahon wanted to see" (or something like that. I can't find the quote right now). Good save Coach, thanks for thinking beyond the script!
(1) Now that's home entertainment:
Edge's skit about Ric Flair's road rage was pretty funny stuff, but I was paying a little more attention to the side of the screen. Look around the edges, there was some good stuff there. On the bottom was a real working clock (with the right time!) and the actual date of the incident, plus in the upper left hand corner was an SLP flash. Nice work by the production staff on that one! Of course, if it was an amateur video it'd have all those things, and those dates and times! Kudos to whoever produced that video, that was just good stuff.
JT: Gotta love the amateur video feel. Had those things been missing, it would have been "just another WWE camera". A very nice small touch indeed.
Hidden Highlights for WWE SmackDown!: Friday, January 6, 2006 by JT
JT: JP, I have been up since 9 a.m. on Thursday morning. Since I know your circumstances this week, I've placed toothpicks on my eyelids in order to stay up to finish this. I'm also sick as shit. You WILL cut me some slack...
(3) 1 on 1... and a half:
JBL and Matt Hardy took each other on in a Falls Count Anywhere, no DQ match. You'll notice when JBL came out, he climbed into the crowd, and egged Matt on to start the match where he was. This was very smart by JBL. You see, Jillian Hall does JBL absolutely no good if the two men are in the ring. However, on the outside or anywhere in the arena, she can almost be counted as an extra "man" if you will. By starting the match outside of the ring, JBL set up the chance that he might have some extra help throughout the ENTIRE match. Nice job of thinking ahead by JBL.
(2) Simon Says it's over:
Right at the end of the debut of the new tag team Gymini, the two men picked up Paul London, tossed him about ten feet into the air, and then slammed him on the way back down. As soon as this happens, Simon Dean starts jogging around the ring. For one, this is exactly the type of thing a fitness guru would do. But to me, it was something else befitting of a physically fit athlete. He went all the way around the ring. To me, this was a "victory lap" because Simon knew as soon as they hit that move, it was over, and he / they had won. Nice job by Dean of taking actions performed by track and field athletes, and incorporating them into our wrestling show.
(1) You like-eh de juice eh?:
To be honest, I haven't enjoyed a guest commentating job since... okay, well since Booker last week. Still, Kennedy did a GREAT job of "entertaining" during the (former WWE wrestler) Juvi and Kid Kash, which is what we're all about. He spoke as if he felt completely confident, comfortable, and relaxed; as if he did this for a living. Kennedy CLEARLY has no issues with stage fright whatsoever. But, this is all of course obvious. Anyone watching knew that he was doing just fine. However, it was one of the things he said in particular that I enjoyed. Very briefly, and in the midst of all three guys talking, he said, in complete accent, "You like-eh de juice". He only got to say it twice, very quickly, but still. For those of you over the age of 20 or so (unless you catch repeats) who happen to enjoy Saturday Night Live, you know that this was a reference to one of the funniest recurring skits of the Schneider / Farley / Sandler / Nealon / McDonald / Spade / Myers era of SNL. As soon as he said it I knew immediately what it meant, and I laughed my ass off. I suppose it doesn't necessarily add to the overall enjoyment of the product, but damn it... it was perfect timing, completely appropriate, and man did I appreciate Kennedy for that.
JP: I'm really running out of things to say about not having watched the shows yet. How about: "the slack has been cut"?
Reader Write-in Hidden Highlight of the week
By the way, we aren't just doing this article for our health. We want to make you the reader a more active and attentive viewer, and one who appreciates the hard work that goes into making all of the wrestling we have the privilege to watch. So don't just sit there and stare, but take in everything that goes in to making the product this great, and tell us about it!
This week JP gets to pick our Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights of the week. Please keep in mind that any reader write-in for SmackDown! applies to LAST week's show, because nobody is going to get it in on time for Friday's column.
JP: I figured since I hadn't seen these shows anyway, I might as well toss them to the readers. *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…
First up is our good friend the joker Jeremy who began with:
During the AMW vs. Daniels/Styles match, Styles was laying on the outside, and Gail Kim walked around the ring to kick him. While she was kicking him, Daniels walked over to the stairs while still on the apron, partially blocking her path. When she turned around, though, she was looking at the ground to make sure she didn't step on AJ, and didn't realize it was Daniels standing there. So she actually reached out to balance herself and almost grabbed his leg before glancing up and seeing by his trunks that it wasn't one of AMW, at which point she started screaming and ran the other way. It was a great example of the heel manager being brave right up until they may actually be in harm's way.
JP: Hahahaha! I can't wait to watch Impact and see some Gail Kim awesomeness!
Next up is Gametime who got in a couple of his own:
Anyway, I caught some stuff on Smackdown! that I figured I'd share. First, during the Orton/Benoit match, when Orton rolled Benoit into the ring and covered him Orton made sure to grab BOTH legs and move his own legs over Benoit's and his legs wouldn't be under the ropes. Second, even though they were only champs for a week, Batista and Mysterio both knew that since they were champs they should at least look like they were partners for a while as they both were wearing red.
JP: I love ring awareness and color coordination! It's a dream write-in come true!
And finally Todd wanted to let up know:
Sorry, about that hidden Highlight I sent in about AJ/Joe, I did mean to include that when AJ rolled Joe over after the clash, he left one of his arms unhooked, therefore making it look as if Joe not only kicked out because he was a world beater, but because AJ made a mistake.
Sorry about any confusion JT.
JP: Did that help clear it up for you, JT?
JT: I read that in our emails... you know, the ones nobody else can see? Yeah... thanks, JP. At any rate, no worries Todd. It wasn't that you didn't explain it right. It was that I wasn't remembering and just couldn't grasp / place what you were saying. That happens sometimes; especially when JP tells me I have the "Last Page" instead of just saying "JT's Rant".
JP: You are still on that? Well, at least you called me the smart one!
Do you have a Hidden Highlight of the week? Or a Classic Hidden Highlight that you would like to share? Please e-mail JP..erT…er…us at jpjthidden@yahoo.com with your thoughts! Send them by Friday afternoon to be considered! And remember, they can be from any show, live or taped, or any house show, or anything you saw… we just like to know!
And speaking of Classic Hidden Highlights…
Classic Hidden Highlight
Every week we take a look into the past and remember something that was done to make a show that much better. Well, sometimes we don't remember, but you remember for us. Anyway, without further ado JT presents the Classic Hidden Highlight of the week:
You got that right, Gorilla!:
This weeks Classic Hidden Highlight is a shorty but goody, and from one of the most famous WrestleManias ever. WrestleMania VI. During the Mr. Perfect / Brutus Beefcake match... well, let's go to the pay by play shall we?
JESSE VENTURA: "The longer the match go, the more the advantage shifts for Mr. Perfect. Conditioning is so important once you get to the 15 - 20 minute mark."
GORILLA MONSOON:"....and I can't think of anyone else here in the World Wrestling Federation with the condition of Mr. Perfect."
I LOVE this by Gorilla Monsoon. Too often when announcers are trying to sell something about a character, they're so obvious and loud-mouthed about it. Gorilla was talking about Mr. PERFECT, and sold this by saying that nobody else had the conditioning he did. In other words, his conditioning was perfect. Nice job by Monsoon of selling the "perfection" of Henning's character in a subtle way, rather than completely in-your-face and over-the-top.
JP: I also thought he was taking a jab at Henning, transposing "conditioning" with "condition", IE, he's a prick. Nice one JT! And it's from Wrestlemania, too! Do you know what would be a good idea?
JT: What's that?
JP: Why don't we do a special Wrestlemania edition of Hidden Highlights!
JT: Why, whatever do you mean?
JP: Well, JT, we can do an all Classic Hidden Highlight issue on, oh let's say, Monday March 6th.
JT: Sounds intriguing! Do tell me more.
JP: The way I see it is that you and I both pick our own top 5 Hidden Highlight moments from Wrestlemania pasts (with no overlap).
JT: What could possibly make it any cooler?
JP: This is a big stretch, but what if the fans wrote in their Classic Hidden Highlights for Wrestlemania as well, and we featured them in that special issue on Monday March 6th?
JP: I'm sure we can count on our loyal fanbase to write in to us with all of their Classic Hidden Highlights for Wrestlemania before our special issue on Monday March 6th!
JT: I bet you're right!
That Other Section
That Other Section is an idea, a free forum for a few things that just don't have a place. It could be Read Between the Lines where we'll look at a news bite in more detail. It may just be a Pointless Question trying to connect the unconnected dots. You might read a Hidden Highlights Profile where we explore one of the masters of Hidden Highlights (like Chris Jericho) and explain what they do right. It could even be some additional Hidden Highlights, or something else entirely. And sometimes, it might not exist at all. Hey, if we don't have anything to talk about, why force it?
This week, JP has something for That Other Section.
What is a Hidden Highlight? (Part 2 of 3): The Awards Banquet
JP: Last week we started talking about what is a Hidden Highlight and how to identify one of your own. This time I want to talk about the uber-highlights, when someone does something so good it deserves an award. And what are some of those awards:
Dave Sahadi Award - This award is for outstanding video production or having a minute detail in a produced video that really gets the message across in a subliminal way. It is usually won by its namesake which makes it hilarious, but he deserves it.
William Regal Award - This award is about doing something extra special in a WRESTLING move. The origin of why it gets credited to Regal actually comes from Larry Zbyszko. On an episode of WCW Saturday Night, Regal was defending his Television Title against some jabroni. Somewhere along the match Regal had his opponent in a reverse wrist lock and Larry said, "You see what Regal is doing there? He's bending back on his opponent's fingers. You see, Regal won't just put you in a hold, he'll do a little extra to really dish out the pain." That was the first time the concept of Hidden Highlights occurred to me, and it's been how I've watched wrestling since.
Larry Zbyszko Award - And because Larry was so good at pointing out things about other wrestlers, he gets an award named after him for when announcers point out Hidden Highlights of their own.
Chris Jericho Award - Chris Jericho is man of many talents, but a master of Hidden Highlights. When someone spends their entire match doing Hidden Highlight after Hidden Highlight, then they get the Chris Jericho award. Just think of a match with Jericho where he would start off by making fun of someone's name, pointing out how smart he is, telling the ref to ask the guy he's fighting if he taps out, and doing the "Come on baby" one foot cover. That is just too much for one issue!
Kevin Smith Award - What does Kevin Smith have to do with wrestling? Puns! Slight puns or just jokes that really catch you off guard but make you roll on the ground laughing when you realize what they said. That's a good Kevin Smith moment.
ECW Arena Award - This award is for creativity in the crowd. The ECW audience was notorious not just for their first for violence and action, but for being really creative and a part of the product. When an audience really makes the show or match, it deserves the ECW Arena Award.
Those are just a few of our awards, and we have yet to give some. That's because the best Hidden Highlights are super hidden!
JT: I'm going to let you slide for not consulting with me on the awards or the names of them; mostly because you named one Kevin Smith and at the same time pointed out exactly why Kevin Smith is great. I still know people that just don't get Dogma... asses... Ummm… but I completely forget what you said you were going to do in the next part?
JP: Glad you asked! In Part 3 I'm going to expand on Hidden Highlights and show how to use it in everyday life and other forms of media entertainment.
Last Page
The Last Page is where we get to express something else positive in the world of wrestling. For myself, JP, it is most likely an In Defense Of… Mini-Case. For JT, it's most likely time for a Bi-weekly Rant! Who knows? Well, actually, you do…
Are we heels?
By JP Prag
Earlier Gametime got into the Reader Write-In section, but he also had this to say:
I just wanted to point out that you are battling Meehan in a negative way even though it's a battle of positivity. Are you guys trying to be the heels?
Meehan: Damn straight! You guys are rotten to the bone!
Randle: And with you out of the way, I truly will be the King of Positivity!
Meehan: Randle, we can all be positive, it's ok. We don't need a king! Let the positivity spread!
Randle: Guess who I'm gonna take out next…
JP: Enough you two! I'm actually TRYING to do something witty here!
Gametime got me thinking, are JT and I the heels here? Well, let's look at the facts:
- Cannot let the issue die… check
- Strength in numbers (a la Horsemen, nWo, or Evolution)… check
- Claim we are the champions no matter what… check
- Make up titles for ourselves to make us seem more important… check
- Take up valuable space in our article just to put ourselves over… check
- Never defend our title… check
Well, it looks like we are the heels…
AND I LOVE IT!
And the Response
JT: I will say one thing. We don't defend our title; because we don't have to. There is no competition here. But to respond, of course we're the heels. Think of what can be said for every main-event heel ever. JP, if I may continue on your checklist?
JP: By all means. Heels love seeing other heels flourish (... check).
JT: Sweet. Now, back to the question; what can be said for every main event heel ever?
- Being the main or co-main event (I.E. we're on Sunday, when everyone is home to read us, unlike Friday where Meehan gets dwarfed by things like NSYW and 3Rs while everyone is out partying)... check
- Always cocky and for good reason because we know we're good at what we do... check
- Despite being assholes (albeit, positive assholes), we can't really be argued and / or reasoned with... check
- Trying to hold the rookie talent down... check
- Pretend we're in-fighting when we're really not, just to further our cause... check
- Act like complete assholes to our opponents out in the open for everyone to see (read)... check
It does indeed appear we are the heels! I too love it. But keep in mind folks, we're positive heels. We like Meehan (sort of), we just can't ignore someone who shows up two months ago, drops the exact same articles using different words at the exact same time that we do, and claims to be the most positive article on the IWC. Thus, we poke fun. We kid. We jest.
On that note, go to Hell Meescrub!
Exit, stage left!
JT: Well, it certainly was an interesting week for wrestling, as well as an interesting week for myself and JP, as he was flying to whointhefuckknows all week, and I was trying to recover from the holidays while working a 46 hour week. I'm going to bed know. Thanks for joining us folks.
JP: I should probably go to bed, too, if I knew what time zone I was in. But before we go, I just want to say congratulations to Hidden Highlights regular guest and Rant Wars runner up Andy Clark for landing a job here!
Bayani: What am I, chopped liver?
Andy Clark: Of course not! It's just that these guys know that Andy Clark… will… not… die!!!!
Bayani: Kennedy?
Andy Clark: Sure, why not?
JT: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
JP: Boogeyman?
JT: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Geoff FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NOOOO!!!!!!!!
BDSTW FOM: Defend the boogeyman damn it! Please, please please, if you have any love for God or any deity above, defend the boogeyman!
JT: Who the hell is that?
JP: That's one of my readers! You know, those people who write in when you have a compelling and interesting article? The kind you didn't have with ByteThis! and only got with Hidden Highlights?
JT: Two ByteThis! cracks in one issue? You are on a role!
JP: No, I'm on a plane! Catch ya later!
JT: Again, I'm going to bed, cold and unhealthy, so you're getting a reprieve... at least for this weeks issue.
Thanks for joining us for the nineteenth issue of Hidden Highlights. Be sure to drop us a line and let us know what you think and all the other Hidden Highlights we missed. Plus, we want to hear your Reader Write-ins and Classic Hidden Highlights for all the moments you see this and every week.
We'll catch you again next time for the most positive article in all of the IWC: Hidden Highlights! Until then!
