Hidden Highlights 12.25.06: Issue #69
Posted by Prag-Thomlison on 12.25.2006
And on the day after the last night of Hanukah JP and JT brought for you: Kane waiting a little while to get burned, Johnny Nitro letting the World’s Greatest Tag Team know his inner thoughts, Taz buying a new watch, Ron Killings giving up smoking, Chris Benoit not stopping Chavo Guerrero from beating the hell out of him, and no sexual innuendos about this issue number!
Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag and James "JT" Thomlison
Issue #69
Intro
Hello everyone who realizes that this is just a Monday like any other Monday, and welcome back to Hidden Highlights!!
There are very few positive things on the Internet. It's more about everyone's negative view of what everyone else is trying to do.
— Eric Bischoff, Controversy Creates Ca$h
Hidden Highlight (n) – a small, hardly noticeable point that makes a big, positive difference. This could be anything from a wrestler putting extra emphasis into his moves to make it believable to a person in the background reacting while not the focus to the cameraman shaking the picture to create an effect. There are just so many unsung heroes of wrestling that it is impossible to cover them all.
Every week we take the top 3 Hidden Highlights from the biggest shows on television (RAW, ECW of SciFi, iMPACT, SmackDown!, and a PPV or television special if there is one). Plus we turn to you, the readers, to let us know all the Hidden Highlights you saw this, last, or any week in history. On top of all that, we explore the other issues that prove why this is the most positive article in the IWC.
We bring you Hidden Highlights with one goal in mind: to appreciate all those little things that make a huge difference. JT?
JT: I am working consecutively from December 18th – December 31st without a day off. Hopefully, I don't come across as …what's the word… "grumpy". Yeah, that's it. Oh, and Happy Holidays to all those out there, and thanks for joining us today!
JP: And that's great and all, but there are more important things going on.
JT: Eh? What do you have up your sleeve now?
JP: This isn't something I came up with, but something I intend to win!
JP: While they are contemplating why your statement makes no sense, I'm going to help our readers fill out their forms:
Best Columnist: JP Prag
Best "News Report" Columnist: Anyone but Steve Cook.
Best TV Recapper: JT when he was filling in for people
Best Video Reviewer: Larry Csonka (everyone deserves a bone)
Best Multi-Person Column: JP and JT / Hidden Highlights
Best "Pure Writer": JP Prag
Best "Column": Hidden Highlights
Favorite "Column": Hidden Highlights
Favorite Columnist: JP Prag
Favorite "News Report" Columnist: All the ones not written by Steve Cook
Favorite TV Recapper: Slimmer!!!
Favorite Video Reviewer: Those guys are all creepy
Favorite Multi-Person Column: JP and JT / Hidden Highlights
Favorite Overall Writer: JP Prag
Wrestling Zone MVP: JP Prag
Wrestling Zone Work Horse: JP Prag
JT: Hmmmm…. that looks all right, but I think it needs a few modifications:
Best Columnist: James "JT" Thomlison
Best "News Report" Columnist: Anyone but Stephen Randle.
Best TV Recapper: JT… all the time!
Best Video Reviewer: Larry Csonka (everyone deserves a bone)
Best Multi-Person Column: JP and JT / Hidden Highlights
Best "Pure Writer": James "JT" Thomlison
Best "Column": Hidden Highlights
Favorite "Column": Hidden Highlights
Favorite Columnist: James "JT" Thomlison
Favorite "News Report" Columnist: All the ones not written by Stephen Randle
Favorite TV Recapper: Slimmer!!!
Favorite Video Reviewer: Larry Csonka (must suck up!)
Favorite Multi-Person Column: JP and JT / Hidden Highlights
Favorite Overall Writer: James "JT" Thomlison
Wrestling Zone MVP: James "JT" Thomlison
Wrestling Zone Work Horse: Mike LaFave
Much better!!
JP: Errrr… interesting…
Jeff Small: Two jokes about Slimmer, plus digs on Cook and Randle and I get nothing?!?!
JP: It was really abou—
Andy Clark: And nothing for me? After being involved in THREE Great Positivity Debates?
Bayani Domingo: What about me? I link to you guys every week and give random hot Asian bitches looking good.
Jordan ‘Ogre' Williams: I thought I told you ni—
JP: That's it! Everyone out of the column. Have a happy new year, and let's get on with the Hidden Highlights (and vote for me).
Hidden Highlights for WWE SmackDown! presents Armageddon: Sunday, December 17, 2006 by JT
JT: Kane sets MVP on fire, Teddy Long wants to see some Divas in lingerie, London and Kendrick defy the odds against the Hardyz, MNM, and The Brits as Mercury gets his eye swollen in about three seconds, Boogeyman ends things quickly, Vickie gets all pissy, Benoit makes Chavo tap out again, Helms and Yang somehow lost the crowd in a good match, Taker finally snaps on Kennedy, and Cena and Dave get through Booker and Finlay! How about the JBL > Cole sign? Glorious. Also, Furious, I must say, I enjoyed it quite a bit more than you reported. Here's hoping I'm not becoming a markish fanboy! (not that there is anything wrong with that to all you markish fanboys!)
(3) That was one fine match:
Well, while we predominantly look for the little things around here, sometimes, we just have to give the whole enchilada some props. This week, that whole enchilada would be the Four Way Ladder match between London/Kendrick, the Hardys, MNM, and Regal/Taylor. The match was one of the best I've seen (and definitely one of the best tag matches) I have seen all YEAR. There was nothing to point out, because it was all so good. The spots, the storytelling, the bumps, the psychology, the little things, the…. EVERYTHING. The match was just fantastic, and despite the fact everyone saw it and there was nothing hidden about it's greatness, I felt the need to point it out. After all, it is about the things that make the show entertaining, and while you didn't have to look far for this, it DEFINITELY qualifies as being entertaining. That match is one of the major reasons that Armageddon was an enjoyable PPV. That… and Joey Mercury got FUCKED UP!
(2) Don't get burned!:
Sometimes, it's nice to sit back and smirk about some things because we know that this is all a show, and everything is controlled/planned/etc. As we all saw, they had strips of fire around the ring for the Kane/MVP Inferno Match. When Kane came down the ramp for the match, he hesitated to get into the ring, and then for a split second you could see that the strip of fire on the ramp side of the ring had been turned off! Hey, he has to be able to get into the ring right? Just a funny little moment that reminded us there is in fact someone in the back controlling this and making sure that both Kane and MVP were safe.
(1) Yee-haw this is a blast!:
During the Cruiserweight match between Gregory Helms and Jimmy Wang Yang, Yang had gotten Helms into a modified arm bar down on the mat. As Yang looked over into the crowd, he must have spotted someone (I'm thinking a lady), because all of a sudden he shot that person a cowboy-ish type smile. I originally thought that that alone would be the HH, but because of it, I watched him a little closer for the rest of the match and as it turns out, he throws in this smile quite often! Anytime he's in control of the match, or anytime he just has a break in the action, he breaks out the fun-loving, harmless cowboy smile. I have to give him some credit for adding this little move to his repertoire which – if noticed – only adds to the wholesome, good guy, "I'm a fun loving redneck" persona.
JP: And after 69 issues of ordering EVERY SINGLE PPV, I just wanted to take the time to thank JT. As you all know, things are going to be different in 2007, so don't look for us to buy 28 PPVs a year! I'll be covering a lot of the minor PPVs where I can, one of us we'll cover any of the Big 4 (and we'll both be covering WrestleMania), and TNA PPVs all depend on the card. So once again, I just want to reiterate that we are super dependent on you readers to get in your PPV Hidden Highlights, because some weeks it might be all that we have!
Hidden Highlights for WWE RAW: Monday, December 18, 2006 by JP
JP: Three hours of RAW later, and boy are my eyes tired. Actually, I watched the show over an entire week, but still. Poor Edge had to wrestle three times! Good thing Lita isn't around anymore, otherwise he'd still have tons to do that night. Anyway, since it was a super long edition of RAW, it deserves a little extra here…
(BONUS) Jealous or not or… both?!:
This one is a little hard to explain, so I'll try my best. After the battle royal, Edge and Randy Orton were out back celebrating the victory. It was at that point that Edge told his buddy that, no offense, he had his sights set at bigger victories and being the WWE Champion again. It was at this moment you had to watch Randy Orton. In his eyes you could see that he was hurt and jealous, and at the same time he was trying to NOT look hurt and jealous because he did need to stick with his partner, and his partner wasn't trying to offend him. It was a great mix of emotions and reactions and lack of reactions from Randy Orton that gave that five seconds the most reality and depth I've ever seen from Randy Orton.
(3) Mine, all mine:
After winning the three-on-two handicapped tag team match, The World's Greatest Tag Team and Johnny Nitro continued to beat down the Hardyz for an indefinite amount of time (these cross-brand tag teams confuse the hell out of me). As they started to lay into Jeff Hardy, the WGTT left the ring and JR said something along the lines of, "It's almost as if Nitro told them he'd take care of this." Ah, contraire, dear JR, it was not "almost". A few seconds before I clearly heard Nitro say to the WGTT, "It's ok, I've got this one." Excellent thinking by Nitro to let his cohorts know that he was ready to do the pummeling on his own.
(2) You take, one step forward, and two steps back…:
Bonus points for knowing the next verse in the song!
JT: Is that the one with the dancing cartoon cat?
JP: SHUT UP!!
Anyway, Kenny "Dykstra" had just pinned Ric Flair and Ric Flair was talking back in to shake Kenny's hand. As Flair got close to Kenny, Kenny started to turn away and move a couple of steps, but never took his eyes off of Flair. I liked that Kenny was scared enough of Flair to not trust him to not attack him after the bell, but not stupid enough to ever turn his back on him and curious enough to see what Flair was up to. Kenny, you may be 20, but you may have a future in this business, or at least in Hidden Highlights. God, I can't believe how much younger than me these wrestlers are getting. Poor Arnold Furious…
(1) Need… to… pin…:
The middle main event for the evening saw John Cena defending his title against the former champion Edge. Could no one take the time to mention it was Edge that Cena defeated for the championship, or that Edge was the man who ended Cena's first reign? No? Well, luckily the Hidden Highlights belong to the wrestlers this week. After Triple H came in and gave a pedigree to Edge in the style that he gave to Booker T a few WrestleManias ago, Cena was able to recover enough to realize he should go for the cover. But did you catch what Cena did when he layed himself on top of Edge? He actually extended his arm to hold down Edge's other arm… JUST in case Edge got the wherewithal to attempt to kick out. I thought this was a great touch by Cena to not leave anything to chance and to make it look like he was trying for his win and not just trusting in the massively devastating effects of a single pedigree. Man, I need Stevie Ray to come back and start laying slapjacks on people.
JT: Wait, you mean John Cena actually did something somewhat technical in a wrestling ring? You mean to tell me that he actually showed that he has any sort of clue what it takes to get it done in the squared circle!? You're kidding!? Not John Cena!!! He's the wors—
JP: Okay okay, stop taking shots at the critics, smart guy.
Hidden Highlights for ECW on SciFi: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 by JT
JT: Lashley loves ECW, the fans, his belt, the troops, th - *interruption* by Rene Dupree, a holiday beat down for the Frenchman, Striker introduces the class to the Golden Rule, Holly is… well, Holly, Punk can't beat the clock, Shannon Moore and Tommy Dreamer both feel Khali's wrath, Knox was apparently the bitch in the relationship, and Test delivers on a guarantee! Oh, and did anyone else notice that Sabu was actually crowd friendly for this show? Anything to get that vote!
(3) No shit, Sherlock:
Man, Taz has been all over the place the last couple of weeks in this column! We've talked before about how sometimes the stuff people didn't mean to do can be entertaining. Let's face it, even if it's not a live show, it's taped live, so things will happen and things will be said that were most certainly not by design, and I like to find those entertaining as well. At about the 2:34 minute mark of the Holly/Punk "Tapout Challenge" or whatever that was, Styles said something and Taz responded with "I know Joey, but CM Punk better hurry here, he's already under three minutes". Really, Taz? That's odd because he only had three minutes to start off, meaning that after one second had passed, he was "already" under three minutes. Like I said, it was in the moment, and I'm sure if Taz heard that he would gladly take a do-over, but it was just a brief glimpse of "well, DUH" that I found really hilarious.
(2) Lashley cuts a promo!:
I know, I couldn't believe it either at first! When Lashley was giving his promo to start the show, he said something along the lines of, "When you're a champion, you have a big target on your chest". I found this very odd because usually people say on your back, but I realized that would actually require that you be walking away. He was right in the middle of talking about he would face any challenge ‘head on' if you will, meaning that if you wanted a fight with him, you would be coming at his chest, because he'd be coming right back at you. Little subtle changes in vocabulary can actually have pretty interesting meaning.
(1) Pfft….CM who?:
Here is the thing. Far too often we see a heel – who is supposedly big and tough – come out and cut a promo on how he's going to beat the hell out of his opponent and how his opponent has no shot of winning. Right in the middle or towards the end of said promo when the heel is calling the face out, the faces music will hit, and all of a sudden the heel will jump or flinch and get this bewildered, shocked, "I can't believe he's really here" look on his face. Doesn't that kind of defeat everything you were saying? It is with this in mind I proudly present Hardcore Holly. The entire promo on Punk, he was just kind of walking nonchalantly around the ring. What did he do when Punk's music hit? Kept right on nonchalantly walking around the ring. It happened to be great timing as well because as the music hit, Holly happened to be turning his back on Punk, adding more insult to injury. Hardcore Holly is just that people, and things like this really help sell that character.
JP: Already this issue we have given Hidden Highlights to Jimmy Yang Wang, John Cena, and now Hardcore Holly. I think we are going to die.
Hidden Highlights for TNA iMPACT: Thursday, December 21, 2006 by JP
JP: Over in TNA-land, it was the second week of a three-week taping. Knowing that they shows were taped back-to-back, some things seemed odd. For instance, how was Slick Johnson walking around so well and how come Angle was still running around crazy? Then, other people really tried. For instance, Don West was wearing a whole new outfit. Now that is a classic good touch by Don West. That guy shows amazing understanding of television and I hope he can help out with production some.
(3) Woah, that's where that gravely voice comes from:
Inexplicably, in the middle of the TNA broadcast Ron Killings came out to cut a rap for the holidays while the X-Division faces handed out gifts and Lance Hoyt tried not to laugh at his own dancing. But did you catch one of the verses in there that kind of stuck out? Yeah, Killings admitted to being a smoker and trying to quit. That came out of no where! Props to 411mania's own Stuart Carapola for picking up on that in his own column as well this week.
(2) What issue?:
Outside of Samoa Joe's locker room, Jeremy Borash was interviewing AJ Styles about his upcoming tag match. When asked about his opponent and partner, AJ had a few choice words to say. Along the lines for Samoa Joe, he let Jeremy know that he didn't even trust him a little bit, and nothing was going to make him. I thought this was great as the two have a long history together, and AJ has so many reasons not to trust Joe. It makes sense that he would not change his line of thought just because they have the same mission tonight, and I was glad to see him sticking to his guns.
(1) Unforgivable:
In case you have been missing it, there have been a lot of Christian overtones to the Sting/Abyss/Christian Cage storyline. Like, Charlie Brown level Christian overtones. In case you don't know, both Sting and Vince Russo (and AJ Styles for that matter) are "reborn" Christians, and believe deeply in the idea of forgiveness. They believe that no matter what bad anyone has done in the past, they think that person can be forgiven and find salvation. Given some of the stuff those two have done, they must believe pretty freaking deeply in it. Christian Cage knows this, and was playing into that aspect when his DVD was played. He chose one word to describe Abyss: Unforgivable. It was at that point that Abyss lost control and attacked Sting. I really appreciated that Cage used that one word, because it pretty much sums up everything that has been going on. Mitchell, Cage, and Abyss believe that Abyss can never be forgiven and must just admit he's a monster and live with it, which Sting believes Abyss can be "brought back" and "forgiven" for past misdeeds and find a new path. This story actually has some depth to it, it's just going about a very wonky way of getting there.
JT: Am I the only one who thinks Sting is totally bullshitting Abyss and really just has his eye on that title? I don't know why but I get the feeling that he absolutely in no way cares about Abyss, and is totally playing him for a fool?
Hidden Highlights for WWE SmackDown!: Friday, December 22, 2006 by JT
JT: Dave beats up on Santa Claus, you should buy the Armageddon replay, Benoit continues his winning streak over Chavo (albeit via DQ via Vicky), Helms encounters the Boogeyman, Mercury is pissed at the world – and more specifically – the Hardyz, Matt tries to make nice nice and gets a loss to Nitro for his trouble, JBL scolds us all, the SD ladies saw some tag team action, and the Brother's of Destruction silence the whines of King Booker and Finlay!
(3) Putting your neck on the line… literally:
I have to give Joey Mercury some love. There's nothing hidden, there was no "move", no signal, no gesture, nothing. It's just overall love to someone, and sometimes it's deserved and needs to be done. I don't care that it was an accident; the fact is he put himself in the position to take that shot, and he did it all for us. You know what's even better, it hasn't scared him off. Here he is, right back in the ring, talking to all of us (while SHOWING us the blow he took no less). Look, we take for granted the little "please, don't try this at home" segments at the start of every DVD, but the fact is these guys do go out there and risk everything from a broken nose to a fatal injury. Sure, he's a heel and people boo him, but you know what, after they showed that clip that entire arena clapped, AS THEY SHOULD. It's no different than when you're at an NFL game and an opposing player gets hurt. If he's down, and he finally gets up and walks off the field, you clap. I'm not even giving the HH to the crowd (although I will admit good show, chaps). I'm just saying that these guys – while maybe concerned with a paycheck and a certain lifestyle or level of fame – are still going out there every night and putting it on the line so that WE can be entertained. Joey Mercury, kudos to you, sir.
(2) Trusting your partner:
After Benoit and Chavo's match, we all saw what happened and we all saw Benoit mosey his way back to the ring to check on Vicky. Then Chavo came into the ring, attacked Benoit, and picked up his belt. What occurred next was a direct blow to the skull, and by direct, I mean direct. If you were watching closely, you would have seen than Benoit never put his arms up to "take" the shot. He simply moved his head forward as Chavo was bringing the belt, and they both pulled backed at the exact same time. That's called familiarity and trust, people. These two have known each other for YEARS, have faced each other more times than they can count and above all, completely trust each other. These guys are great friends, and more importantly, know the other in the ring. Benoit knew he could walk into that shot and be fine because he knew Chavo wouldn't take it all the way. On the other side, Chavo knew he could go at Chris believably because he knew that Chris and himself both knew when to pull back. This seems like a moot point, but let's not forget that there are PLENTY of fans who know how a match works, and seeing Benoit (be it live or on TV) not put his hands up only sells the realism of the blow. Thankfully, it worked out just fine and Benoit wasn't treated for multiple stitches and a swollen eye… what? Point is, these guys are so comfortable with one another that they are able to take these chances to help heighten the realistic-ness of things.
(1) Man, this arm hurts:
During Batista's match with Santa/Sylvan, he finally managed to get the upper hand, which led to a Batista Bomb, leaving Sylvan laid out and Dave on his right side. Batista then reached over to grab and hook the leg with his left arm (which would have been normal) for the pin, but didn't. Instead, he reached over with his right (and healthy) arm, grabbed the other leg, and had to roll over, essentially laying his back on Sylvan's chest for the pin. It was something seen very rarely, and was an excellent sell of that injured left arm. I mean, we all knew Dave was going to get the three count; there was no need for the adjustment, but he made it anyway just to keep harmony in the world of kayfabe.
JP: How funny is it that John Cena and Batista both garner top HH spots for their pinning technique? I mean, it would have been funnier if I wrote that line myself and it wasn't pre-written for me, but what can you do?
Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights
Hidden Highlights aren't just for us to find and tell you about, but for you to spot and share with us. Don't just sit there and stare, but be a more active, attentive, and engaged viewer. Appreciate all the hard work that goes into making the wrestling we have the privilege to watch and then let us know what you caught this and every week.
This week JT gets to pick our Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights of the week.
JT: Bit of a slow week with the holidays, and we still have no suggestions on the HH Hall of Fame. Looks like we're just going to have to throw a bunch of random ideas into a hat and pick one!. So, *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…
Nothing for Armageddon, but we did get a couple of interesting ones from RAW. Pertaining to JR and Kenny, Chris P. and didn'tleavehisname found some similarities respectively:
I thought it was interesting that the first match where Kenny had a last name (although obviously not his real one) was refereed by (at least I think that was Jack Doan) a guy with Kenny's real last name (different spelling I assume) ....I did like who King kept pointing out the fact Kenny had no last name before tonight.
And
Right after Kenny was introduced as Kenny Dykstra, JR and King started talking about how JR had been wondering about Kenny's last name and then JR said something along the lines of, "The people of Louisville are no stranger to Ken Doane." JR is slipping up more and more and that was pretty bad however it was also a nice little nod to OVW.
JT: Well, for starters, the referee and Kenny's real last name are actually both spelled Doan (Doane was merely his OVW version), so it is indeed a unique coincidence and a good spot by Chris. As for the other one, I will again – not saying that he didn't botch it – come to JR's defense a little bit. As you pointed out, what he said was "The people of Louisville are no stranger to Ken Doane, and well, that's the truth. That was his name in OVW, so technically, the people of Louisville have no idea who Kenny Dykstra is. Kenny Doane on the other hand, they're well familiar with. It isn't like we haven't heard this before. I can recall him referencing the "Diesel" days, even when he had returned to the E as Kevin Nash. So again, you could be right, but I'm still willing to give ol' JR the benefit of the doubt. He has forgotten more about wrestling than I'll ever know (love that cliché'!), so a lot of what he says may be more calculated that we give credit for.
JT the Editor's Note: That in no way means we're implying JR hasn't lost a bit of his touch over the years.
JP the Editor's Note: But that in no way means we are endorsing that JR isn't losing it all the time.
Next up is Patrick R., who notices The World's Greatest Tag Team keeping it legal… sort of:
After Matt tried to enter the ring (as Shelton was working on Jeff's leg) to save Jeff and the ref stopped him, both Nitro and Haas jumped in to triple team Jeff. Eventually Nitro and Shelton left the ring leaving Haas as the 'legal' man even though no tag had been made. The highlight is when that while the ref still has his back turned, Haas claps his hands loudly in the air as if there was a tag made to make it appear he was the legal man in the match.
JT: Short and sweet, I like it. You know, being a good heel is knowing how to get away with stuff. Haas threw in the nice little touch to ensure that there would be no way the ref could dispute him being in the ring. Kudos to Chuck, and on that note, congrats to him and Jackie on the birth of their first child. Shylo E. also caught something from RAW last week (and RAW vs. SD 2007!):
2) For the show-starting 30 man battle royal, DX was in the same match together, but introduced separately, because they were (theoretically) opponents in the match. For the same reason, Edge and Orton were introduced separately (although I don't think Edge was introduced on TV).
1) I noticed this one while playing SmackDown vs. RAW 2007. It seems as though women's weights are never announced. Why? The answer seems fairly simple enough: What woman would willingly submit to a (kayfabe) public weigh-in, and risk publicizing an embarrassing weight?
JT: You know what, I completely chalked that up to "meh, they're superstars, they can come out solo if they want", but your explanation makes far more sense than that. They were indeed opponents representing themselves as individuals, not as DX. Good eye on the SD v. RAW one as well. I hate to be stereotypical but that is just funny to me that they would go so far as to throw something like the subconscious-ness of the female species into a video game. Joe V. is connecting the dots:
I was noticing on the 12/18 edition of RAW that when (I believe it was) Chris Masters was standing on the middle ropes at the turnbuckle over Carlito that JR made a reference that Masters was in an "Alpha Male" position. I believe this could be a hidden highlight for The Alpha Male, Monty Brown, who is signed with WWE. Did anyone else catch that??
JT: It's certainly a clever thought Joe, but we all know that the E will rarely bring a wrestler in without putting *their* touches on it as opposed to letting someone just come in as the were. Monty may keep the name because it's his real name, but I think this was just JR calling it like he saw it. Point here is that you could it and made the connection so it counts!
No ECW. No TNA. No SmackDown. Man, it's like people have something big going on this week…
Heading us into our Classic/Other section is Richard B., who is currently battling a bad case of carpel tunnel:
I spotted a hidden highlight on the new smackdown vs raw 07. In the story mode, you get double crossed by JBL. After he has blindsided you, in the background on the Titantron, they are playing JBL's entrance video he uses in real life and you can see it's in perfect timing as exactly the same time both JBL's dust their hands of what they have just done to your character. A small thing that might be co-incidence but I doubt it.
JT: Yes! We even manage to give JBL love for his video game awesomeness! Okay, a bit of a stretch there. Obviously it's the programmers who are responsible for this, but it's nice to know that they seem to have people involved that not only follow wrestling, but seem to care enough to add the little touches like this to make the game better. Regular Cram has some classic Eddie for us:
Hey guys, I found a HH in WCW Starrcade 1998, Billy Kidman had just finished winning a 3 way dance against Rey and Juvi when Eddie Guerrero came out in street clothes to challenge Kidman and finish what his LWO Protégés couldn't. Kidman accepts the challenge (they were really pushing Kidman and testing the grounds for his match against Hogan at this point) and the match starts. Midway though the match Eddie Guerrero takes off his "steel toed" and clocks Kidman with it, but Kidman kicks out of a pinfall attempt. Eddie then hits the brainbuster and signals for the Frogsplash, but as he's climbing up he puts his non-shoed foot on the bolt that goes from the turnbuckle to the ringpost. As he does this it looks like his foot cramps and he lifts his foot and rubs it with his hand, taking his eyes off Kidman for a split second. This gives Kidman an opening to leap up and hit a Superplex on Eddie. I thought this was a perfect, realistic sell because if you've climbed a ladder at the local swimming pool or something you'd realise how much it hurts when your foot cramps up. Eddie sold this perfectly and it made me enjoy watching the match.
JT: Ah, how we here at HH miss Eddie Guerrero. You know, I would be money he did this on purpose. Just an added little touch for the people watching live and at home that realistically opens a small window for Kidman to capitalize on. This is such a great, great catch Cram; seriously, nice work. Before we leave, John L. hit us with something from just about every show, so of course we had to get him in:
In last week's RAW John Cena went face to face with Johnny Nitro. At one point they went outside the ring to do some brawling and Nitro gained the upper hand. Cena was leaning against the ring apron and Nitro began punching his "kidney area" like often in wrestling when a person strikes another's back - what was different was that each time Nitro punched Cena, he pulled him backwards from Cena's belt to add some extra impact.
JT: What John is saying here is that while putting the beat down on Cena, Nitro made sure that he also prevented Cena from grabbing his belt and turning things around. An excellent catch, to me.
In Armageddon's four way ladder match as the match was about to end we saw Brian Kendrick fight on top of the ladder. What many might have missed that the two ladders involved were teetering hard and Dave Taylor crawled to the ladders and instead of trying to climb he simply grabbed a hold and stabilized them. The ring veteran saw that the finish might get blown and quickly did his best to help the other guys involved.
JT: What I got from this was simply Dave F'N Taylor. For a guy to come out early on YEARS after his prime and do a small move like this… let me just say this. There is a reason that Finlay, Regal, and Taylor are on the roster; it's because they know their shit. Taylor could have been all hyped in the "OMG I'M BACK!" thing, but instead chose to remain focused on putting on (and helping control) a great match.
In this week's (Friday's) SmackDown! we saw the disturbing sight of Tony
Chimmel being forced to eat worms - what many might have missed was that after he ran out of the arena he never returned. I noticed this during the main event as we never saw who did the announcing and as I listened to the voice it was clearly someone else than Chimmel. Much love to Chimmel for selling the worms throughout the show.
JT: I'll be honest. I put this in only because it puts a positive light on the Boogeyman, even if not directly involved in the actual HH. But I do agree that Chimmel staying away for the rest of the night was a great call by someone.
And finally the classic one. I recently bought the 2005 Royal Rumble on DVD and as I watched it I suddenly remembered something I had realized a long time ago: I do believe Scotty 2 Hotty should've won the Rumble! Bear with me - as Scotty was entering he got beat down by the ticked off Muhammed Hassan who had just gotten eliminated. Scotty was NEVER thrown over the top rope and therefore was never eliminated from the Rumble. Now as John Cena and Batista did the double elimination thing at the end, Scotty was actually the only one not eliminated at that point in time. Therefore the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble was actually Scotty 2 Hotty! One might make the argument that a wrestler needs to enter the ring to be in the Rumble, but we've seen on some occasions a wrestler staying outside the ring in ie. a battle royal to gain an advantage - the only rule given about the Royal Rumble is that when you go over the top rope, you're eliminated. Fascinating.
JT: Well, I think it's safe to say that Scotty will never be recognized as the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble; that being said… WHAT A GREAT CALL! I haven't checked the tape, but if John is right, WOW. THAT is the type of eye we're looking for around here. THAT is a HH folks. And you know, we often see certain things happen where we're like "wait a minute, what about…?" and it's completely disregarded due to lack of "importance" if you will. But having evidence of an actual Royal Rumble winner that wasn't recognized? That rules. Thanks J.
JP: Might I just add—
JT: No you may not.
JP: ?
JT: Oh fine, go ahead!
JP: The same thing happened in Royal Rumble 2002. After Maven eliminated the Undertaker, the Undertaker came in and proceeded to beat him down. Some websites ERRONEOUSLY report the Undertaker came and threw Maven over the top rope, but that could not be further from the truth. The Undertaker ended up throwing Maven through the ropes, and then beat him around the arena. Maven was still trying to get up from being smashed into a popcorn machine when Triple H was announced the winner. Since Triple H walked over the top rope, he eliminated himself, making Maven the winner.
JT: But Maven didn't go on to WrestleMania to defeat Chris Jericho…
JP: I know…
JT: The world that never was… Well, back to my original thought… thanks to Mike D. on the clavicle/shoulder correction. Taz sends his love. No, I'm not a smart ass, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night (just joking with you Mike)!
JP: And I live at a Marriot Hotel! Or, maybe I live in PA. Or perhaps it is in a storage shed in MA? Either way, this section is done.
Do you have a Hidden Highlight from this or any week in history that you would like to share? Please e-mail JP..erT…er…us at jpjthidden@yahoo.com with your thoughts! Send them by Saturday 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!
That Other Section
This week, JP has something for That Other Section.
JP: So, any update on the Hidden Highlights Hall of Fame?
JT: Ummmm… next section!
Exit, stage left!
JT: Okay, kids. New Years Eve is coming up, and I don't want to have to read about you in the newspaper! For goodness sake, please, do not drink and drive; if you do drink, have a DD. Trust me, your life or the life of another is entirely too valuable to risk a ten minute drive home. Basically, be safe my little reindeer!
JP: JT should know, being the consiment drunk he is. Have a good one out there, be safe, and be sure to read more Hidden Highlights (and vote for me).
Thank you for joining us for THE 69th 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 for all the moments you see this and every week.
We'll catch you next time in the reader approved most positive article in all of the IWC, and most definitely the most positive article on Mondays: Hidden Highlights! Until then!
