Hidden Highlights 01.01.07: Issue #70
Posted by Prag-Thomlison on 01.01.2007
Happy New Year! Our resolution is to bring you this issue, including Randy Orton going AWOL, RVD getting high on euphemisms, James Storm ignoring a good fight, Simon Dean and Psychosis not being familiar with Triple H, and more!
Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag and James "JT" Thomlison
Issue #70
Intro
Hello everyone in the year 2007, 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: Finally! The slaving has ended! 14 straight days of working (including Christmas Eve and Christmas!) is over!!!!!! As you read this, I am more than likely wearing a pair of sweats, sitting in a recliner with a beer upturned, letting my mind veg out to something completely awesome and utterly pointless... like Cops. That show owns. Anyway, hope you all had a fabulous holiday, and Happy New Year!
JP: Happy New Year to you as well! So JT, how does it feel to not have a PPV to cover for a week?
JT: As much as I love bringing the goodness for the Pay-Per-Views, my wallet is already thanking me.
JP: That's just a subtle reminder to you people that we'll need a lot of PPV help in 2007. In the meantime, on with the Hidden Highlights!
Hidden Highlights for WWE RAW: Monday, December 25, 2006 AM RAW: Saturday, December 30, 2006 by JP
JP: Well, I learned a few things this week. First, the curvature of the Earth in New England makes it much worse for satellite reception in storms than in Pennsylvania. Also, I learned that only Canadians use bit torrent for wrestling as… err… my friend tried to get me a copy of RAW but could only get the Canadian version. Third, only the USA gets the Tribute to the Troops show. Forth, AM RAW is still full of Hidden Highlights!
(3) Where is your uniform?:
One of the most amazing things about the Tribute to the Troops show is the arena and audience itself. I will be point blank with you. I do not support the United States' invasion of Iraq nor our continued presence there. That does not mean, though, that I do not believe in trying to help the soldiers stationed out there. They are people doing their job, whether they agree with it or not. That is why when I look at that sea of uniforms I feel touched, absolutely so. I do tear up because you can see the anguish and suffering they have gone through; it is written on their faces. Looking out in that audience, everyone was wearing their uniforms in their finest press. All except one blatant exception. Right there, in the front row, dead center, was a guy completely out of uniform and wearing a DX shirt! I was absolutely distracted by him all night because he stood out so much. It was just a strange sight considering everyone else.
(2) The ironing is delicious:
On this year's card, Randy Orton took a loss to perennial favorite Carlito. And seeing Randy volunteer to go to Iraq and entertain the troops really left me scratching my head. You see, Randy Orton went AWOL twice from the Marines, was dishonorably discharged, and served 38 days in a military prison. This is a man whose history is of deserting the military, and I find it completely ironic that he is the one to go back and entertain them. And irony always entertains me!
(1) Live from Stamford, CT:
If this were an issue of MeeThinks, we could do one of those "Laws of the Wrestling Universe" sections. As you know, no matter when a show was taped or when it happened, on television is always live (no matter how implausible it may be) and everyone involved is there in the arena. Well, for the first time I can every remember, Jim Ross broke this cardinal rule and revealed something during the broadcast. When the Divas were coming out for the ending segment, King started to make some comments about the ladies as only he could. To this, JR responded, "King, were 6000 miles away in Stamford, CT and you are still ogling the ladies." I could not believe that they admitted that they were not there! This was a moment of unintentional honesty that was absolutely glad to have caught.
JT: I actually thought a very similar thing regarding Bobby Lashley. He didn't seem to get any more love than any else got, and he was also in the military, even winning medals representing them! I also saw no signs or anything making reference to it. My guess here is that a majority of the troops do not know about his military past because they are not wrestling fans, which almost makes what the E does even more important seeing how much it means to "non-wrestling-watching" troops that get a kick out of the show.
Hidden Highlights for ECW on SciFi: Tuesday, December 26, 2006 by JT
JT: So Tuesday night, me and Cook were debating the points of actually doing Hidden Highlights for a recap show. Originally, he did in fact have me convinced that it was a fairly silly thing to do (I think the best quote was "what are you going to do? Talk about what Joey Styles is wearing?"). So I figured I would go back, and see if I couldn't find some of the best HH's for ECW for 2006. After realizing reading 20 plus issues of HH would be involved, I reconsidered my options. Don't get me wrong, I love me, but I can only take so much of myself. I then decided to watch it, and see if anything useable came of it. As it turns out – be it through the Styles/Tazz interaction or through the clips shown of times past – I was indeed able to find quite a few! I also liked the videos they showed for certain wrestlers (Test, Sabu, Punk, etc); sometimes people watch recap shows to see if it's something they want to get into (example: I watched the Grey's Anatomy Season 2 recap show so I knew what the fuck was going on when Season 3 started), and if you're someone who is gearing up to begin watching ECW, it was smart of them to introduce who the main players were heading into 2007. TNA did similar videos for their move to primetime, and I think it was smart in both cases.
(3) Play on words, anyone?:
Okay these may have been completely obvious, but this column is about raising the enjoyment level of the shows thanks to ALL the various aspects of the show, and while I've said before that it's hard to give props to announcers because EVERYONE hears them, I could not pass on this one. As they were about to go to commercial after discussing RVD's title win, Joey Styles said, "but his title reign soon went up in smoke". THEN, after they came back from commercial, as he was leading into the story, he said, "As WWE and ECW champion, RVD was flying high". Now, I'm fairly certain nobody needs an explanation here. Those were clearly direct shots by Joey at the situation, and honestly, I found them hilarious. Kudos to Joey for actually managing to slip in a HH while doing nothing but tell me about everything I've already seen.
(2) You can't see.. what?:
One of the first things they showed was the ending to the Cena vs. RVD match at One Night Stand 2 (in which RVD won the title). Now, to my recollection, anytime someone other than him (during a match with him) does John Cena's "You Can't See Me" maneuver, they either don't say anything, or they say "you can't see me". Well, after Edge put Cena through the table and removed his helmet, he did something I didn't notice before. He made the YCSM motion, but then said/asked "Can you see THAT!?". Edge has been putting his own stamp on things all year long, and I just thought it was savvy of him to put his own little twist on Cena's trademark saying; especially considering they were in the middle of a HOT eight-nine-ish month feud.
(1) I am on your side:
I just want to say, YES, I'm a huge fan of Holly's. It may seem sometimes like we show favoritism to certain people in this column, but I would just like to say that one of the reasons those people are our favorites is because of how good they are at what they do. Am I specifically looking for a Hardcore Holly HH? No. I simply work with what each and every individual wrestler gives me. So please, keep in mind that even if you read something about the same guy three weeks in a row, it has nothing to do with us being biased, it has to do with that person being on their A game consistently.
Now having said that, this one comes from the clip of the episode of ECW that saw Big Show and Paul Heyman team up to take on RVD and Hardcore Holly. Holly and RVD had their issues, but Hardcore gave a very convincing assurance earlier in that evening that he had RVD's back. When he made his entrance to the ring, he could have easily had that "I'm a bad ass" look on his face as usual, and nobody would think twice about it; after all, it's Hardy Holly. But he didn't. When he came out, the crowd was popping for him, and he had this huge smile on his face, even throwing his hand up a couple of times to the crowd. Not only were all of us at home and the crowd watching, but so was RVD. this was a completely unnecessary, yet excellent little move by Holly to not only help himself seem over as the face, but also helps kill any suspicion RVD may have regarding whose side Holly is really on.
JP: You know, I think that is the forth or fifth Hidden Highlight we have gotten out of Edge and the helmet. Man, that must have been one hell of a segment. I remember writing one for that, plus there were a couple of reader write-ins. And then there were more the next week, and here is another one. Crazy!
Hidden Highlights for TNA iMPACT: Thursday, December 28, 2006 by JP
JP: TNA gets the credit for having the first wrestling match of the year (they did that 12:01am show on January 1) and to have the last wrestling match of the year (SmackDown! didn't have any new matches). That is a pretty cool statistic. I wonder if Mike Tenay will bring it up. I wonder why they aren't having the "First match of the year" thing again? That was an interesting gimmick.
(3) He really is everywhere:
The opening contest saw Chris Sabin team up with James Storm to take on Christopher Daniels and Petey Williams (oh Russo, you and your wacky team-ups). Late into the match, Sabin continued his heelish ways as he went for a chair to bash his opponents' faces in with. But did you notice what was written on the chair? That's right, it said "VKM" right no top. Kind of random that a VKM chair was sitting around waiting to be used.
(2) Oh yeah, that stuff:
Because of the chair and the involvement of Jerry Lynn, a three way fight broke out between Lynn, Sabin, and Daniels. If you watched the background, James Storm was making his exit up the ramp. He briefly looked down, checked out the fight, and just kept going. I thought this non-reaction was absolutely perfect and hilarious! Of course James Storm wouldn't care about their fight, it had nothing to do with him. As far as he was concerned, business was done and it was time to get a drink.
(1) Come here baby:
Later in the evening, Robert Roode came out to take on Lance Hoyt while his manager Mr. Brooks took care of Eric Young in the back. Without Ms. Brooks at ringside at the beginning of the match, there was no one to take away Roode's robe as normal. So, if you watched Roode, he gave the little "come here" finger gesture to SoCalVal to take away his clothes! Great work by Roode to understand you need to do lots of little things to be a complete dick, and do them all the time.
JT: Something I noticed about the show was the green chair that Cornette was sitting in his office. That is the exact same chair my boss has and let me assure you from personal experience that it is the most comfortable office chair on the entire planet. Good to know Cornette is at least comfy while dealing with the stresses of running TNA.
Hidden Highlights for WWE SmackDown!: Friday, December 29, 2006 by JT
JT: Much like ECW, I used the recap shows to find some of the little things I missed the first time around!
(3) You can't touch the refs, but that doesn't make them untouchable:
During the Brothers of Destruction vs. MVKennedy match from SmackDown a while back, Taker was giving it to Kennedy and all of a sudden, Kane walked into the ring and laid the big boot to him. Now, the ref (I believe Nick Patrick) was standing next to them, doing ….well, absolutely nothing. Just kind of standing there watching. I originally thought this was because the match was now a no-DQ match (thanks to Teddy Long changing it mid match). However, right after this happened, Taker went for the pin, and after the two-count, MVP broke it up. As soon as he did, the ref scolded him and ordered him back out of the ring! What does this tell us, kids? That's right. The ref simply wanted no part of trying to control and/or boss Kane or Taker around. Nice little (most certainly hardly noticeable) sell of the intimidation level of Kane/Taker by the ref, almost using the fact that it was no-DQ as an excuse to not have to confront either of them.
(2) Repetitiveness breeds familiarity:
The first two entrants in the 2006 Royal Rumble were HHH and Rey Mysterio, Jr. Entrant #3 was Simon Dean, and entrant #4 was Psicosis. Now, both times they came in the ring (respectively), they both immediately went and attacked Rey. Now, the announcers attributed this to Rey being the smallest man in the ring. I however see it a little bit of a different strategy. Simon Dean and Psicosis are both on SmackDown! Do you see? Because they sure do. They see… A LOT more of Rey than they do HHH. They see him each and every week on SD (and in non-kayfabe land, house shows), and would naturally have Rey better scouted than they would HHH, thus giving them a better level of preparedness to take Rey out. Does his size have something to do with it? I'm sure it does, but it's also a smart move to go after the man you are more familiar with (and have faced before; to my knowledge, neither Dean or Psicosis have ever faced Triple H).
(1) Just call me John:
While introducing the first of two "Tribute to the Troops" trip-to-Iraq clips, JBL was very passionately soft-spoken, nothing but supportive, and in no way his usual self. Then during the clip, they showed briefly JBL clapping and bowing to the troops. Now, we here at HH give love to ALL the wrestlers who go over there, but I use JBL as a specific example for a reason. If you're watching a wrestling show, or something wrestling show related, he will almost NEVER, EVER break kayfabe. EVER. But when it comes to these guys, he almost instantly drops the acts because of his love and support of the troops (he was actually the HERO Monday night). He may play a prick on TV, he may be a prick onstage, but the level of priority he places on the troops has to be commended. It is one of the rare times you will see him out of character (as you will a LOT of the wrestlers [see: Chris Masters]), and it's certainly a worthy cause to break it. For a little while overseas, he is merely John Layfield, supporter of our troops. I've talked about it before, but I will always think that those guys do not get enough credit for what they do over there or what that means to the brave men and women of our armed forces.
JP: JBL definitely has that old school mentality of not breaking kayfabe, and it works great. He reminds me a lot of Scott Steiner, and I like them both for the same reason: they are serious and passionate about what they do and how they live their lives.
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 JP gets to pick our Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights of the week.
JP: You would think two major holidays would slow you people down, and it did… a little. Ah well, still good stuff! So, *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…
We'll start off with David Francis representing England and last week:
Having just watched the '30 man battle royal' episode of Raw, I managed to notice another highlight from Cena in his match with Edge. After receiving the spear, Cena, ever so slightly, shifts himself closer to ropes, as it appears he thinks he may not reach it to keep the match going!
JP: Cena has many "ring-veteran" like qualities that come through from time to time. I'm telling you people this, Cena has many more wrestling skills than he is allowed to display. That said, he is still going to try and shine his knowledge through. Besides, he likes it when we talk about how good he is in these pages. Anyway, you think you are talking about old wrestling, my gal Catherine Semerjian returns at long last with… well, you'll see:
Oh how I've missed writing to you guys. Hope you haven't forgotten about the Canadian girl wrestling fan. I'm stuck in Korea teaching for a year - I'm so the heel English teacher - but your column has been a not so hidden highlight of my week.
JP: Korea?! Why would you get further away from me?! That is so not right!
JT: .........I don't even know why I bother, anymore..........
JP: Me either, so just be quiet and let the lovely lady speak.
Anyway, this write in isn't an original - all the wrestling I get is a month old and dubbed in Korean although the free month old dubbed in Korean except for the promos PPV's aren't too bad - but it's actually an addition to a write 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.
This is also added brilliance on Nitro's part. I mean, have we all forgotten that Cena got stabbed in the kidney not so long ago? Must have been at a nightclub near the set of the Marine.
Was it really so long ago?
Am I the only one who remembers Carlito was responsible?
JP: Wait, wait, that was never proven. Although it was implied that Carlito had his friend Jesus jump Cena outside the Nightclub (and in kayfabe, he was so not filming the Marine back then). Still, I was weirded out a few weeks back when Carlito and Cena teamed up, it didn't make any sense to me. How could Cena even consider turning his back on Carlito. Even if you only count what happens in the ring, Carlito hit Cena with his own chain to win the US Title at their first meeting!
Is my head really so full of useless wrestling trivia?
JP: Yes, and it is a total turn on!
I guess the answer must be yes.
Oh, and JP I get back in August and if I catch you with anyone....
JP: Well hurry back honey, I can't promise to stay faithful forever when I miss you so!
Moving on we ha—
JT: Ahhhh… forgetting something?
JP: Only that I'm surprised you've kept your mouth shut for the most part up to this point.
JT: Hahaha, no I wanted to see your "game" on this one.
JP: Hardy har har. Well, if there is nothing else…
JT: Oh, I got something else! You forgot the end of Catherine's letter.
JP: What end? That was the end. You shut up now!
JT: ‘fraid not!. For our home audience:
Oh, and JP I get back in August and if I catch you with anyone.... oh, who am I kidding? You'll be lucky to have any skin left on your hand by then.
JT: Ouch!
JP: That's just because I'll be faithfully missing her, you jerk!
JT: And what about Jis, Katie, April, Jess, Amanda, Lisa, Ja—
JP: Enough!!
JT: Manu, LaFave…
JP: WHAT?!
JT: Huh?
JP: What are you talking about?!
JT: I forgot.
JP: I'm moving on! Next up is Katie wi—
JT: Of course it's Katie!
JP: ……………
JT: And what did Katie have to say?
Hey guys! Sorry I haven't written in a while. Merry Christmas! These are all from Christmas in Baghdad.^^
- When Taker's first gong hit, JR muttered "If there's a blackout, I'm leaving.". Of course, the taping was outside, so he must have meant the headquarters where he and Lawler were dubbing over the matches for commentary! At least, that's what I figured.
JP: Especially considering my number one for RAW above! Like I said, crazy that he admitted that they were back there!
- Speaking of Taker, I found it quite amusing that he was breaking Deadman kayfabe around the cameras when playing around with the troops. Also, during said clips; he was wearing his usual Biker bandana...and his hair was up! I guess it's true what's been said--the BikerTaker side is just Mark Callaway being himself, only with a bit more fierceness. XD
- I should probably take note that Taker was also devoid of his coat and hat again this year. I could understand, since it's most likely Christmas in July (figuratively of course) over there!
JP: I actually wrote that one down, too. I wonder if it was just too hot or he didn't have room on the plane for the robe and hat?
- Even though JBL was more well disguised than Foley was last year in the Santa suit (even when he finally revealed himself), I couldn't help hearing his accent slip out from time to time during his promo. Oopsy--careful, Bradshaw (BTW, I'm sure a lot of young men are quite jealous of him right now—I think I caught Torrie smacking his butt getting in!)! :p
JP: Hey, she and Kidman got divorced, so she's fair game now! Or the other way around, everyone is fair game to her. Get in her line of sight, gentleman!
- Who else saw the flags from varied countries around the barricade AND in the background? I sure did! ^_^
JP: I did!
- During the Masterlock on José, he was trying desperately to pull apart Masters' fingers... someone knows how to escape from a full nelson! JBL doing the CFH could've loosened his grip enough for José to legitimately escape on his own power! ...Or Masters could've just let go upon impact.^^;
JP: I was confused because I thought all those other times Masters was attacked that he "released them of his own volition". Does this one not count the same? I guess not! All I know is Masters got brownie points he desperately needed by going to Iraq and probably humanized himself to a lot of crew by introducing his future brother in law. He even got to main event, and you can't argue with that! Chris Pugh would like to argue, but not about that. About our other favorite subject… COLORS!:
Now I know everyone loves and knows the whole WWE colour thing. But What I hadn't noticed till tonight (while watching the tribute to the troops) was that the colours even go so far as to be included on the belts? And why shouldn't they? Those belts represent the brand. RAW has red in the center (i believe its a map) and SMACKdown had the same but with blue. I wonder if WWECW makes it, if they'd have purple in their belts?
Thought you guys might enjoy that little one. I'm not sure if anyone had ever mentioned it before.
JP: I did notice that when the World Heavyweight Championship was on RAW it had red jewels. I'll have to look to see if it has blue jewels now, I hadn't noticed. The ECW title does have purple in it, that I know for a fact. From old to new, as first timer Benjalyn Dolsarone gives it a whirl:
Hi! I'm a longtime reader, first time contributor. I have two Hidden Highlights I'd like to share... I really hope they are actual hidden highlights, because it's taken me awhile to actually work up the courage to write in, so if these turn out to just be my imagination...
1. Actually been noticing this for awhile, during the RAW theme, when the line plays: ... you better watch your fuckin' neck... they show a clip of Randy Orton doing an RKO, which focuses primarily on the neck.
2. During TNA on 12/28, when Christian has his promo with what'shername, the newish blond interviewer, while Christian's talking about how ridiculous the question is, you can see Tomko in the background sort of mocking her, shaking his head and mimicking her mouth movements, like a third grader. To me, this was a good highlight because it shows that Tomko isn't just a bodyguard, he's also paying attention to what's happening with the guy he's supposed to be protecting.
JP: No need to fear, those two were fine indeed! For the record, though, her name is Leticia Cline, and yes, Tomko mocking her is fabulous. I've missed having Tomko around, he was always great for those background Hidden Highlights. Watch him a lot, he is always interacting. And I'll be watching you. Now that you've done a good job, I except a lot more in the future! Many like some of the following you will see from John Leafhill:
It was recap & Tribute to troops week in the land of WWE, so I didn't even bother watching RAW and ECW. However, I did catch a couple of decent ones from SmackDown.
Beginning around the middle part of the show you could see people in the ring behind Cole and JBL setting things up and also some wrestlers rehearsing matches later on. The show was probably done before an actual SmackDown taping and people were getting prepared for the event.
The second one is pretty hard to define, but maybe you can decipher it. When we reviewed the events leading to JBL's in ring retirement and cut back to Cole & Bradshaw, Michael did his little applause thing, but see what JBL does - he looks off camera and I honestly thought that he was going to cry. I did realize that it was all an act as soon as he transferred from emotional to excited about the announcer's job, but it made me think: many wrestlers are forced to hang up their boots prematurely due to various things - injuries, promotions going bankrupt, personal problems and so on. Professional wrestlers put their bodies on the line and often sacrifice their health for our entertainment. What do you think they feel like when they view footage of their days of glory when they're old and maybe broken down? A very simple maneuver from JBL made me remember many past superstars from the business I've followed for so long.
And these probably don't qualify, but I simply have to mention Cole almost cracking up and having to look down when JBL said with a serious face that he wishes The Miz has "a terrible Christmas". Clearly it isn't just us viewers who consider JBL to be hilarious and appreciate him being on the mic.
Also, I kept wondering why they didn't replay any of the feud between The Undertaker and Kurt Angle since obviously they had to have Taker on the show and the excellent match between the two at No Way Out was in my opinion the high point of Calloway's year. Of course I then realized that Angle works for the competition now so obviously they wouldn't include any footage of the Olympic Hero.
That's all I have. You guys keep up the great work and have a good new year's.
JP: Ah, rewriting history in wrestling! A friend of mine asked me the other day if I thought the WWE was going to make a Macho Man DVD, and I said I really hope not. I prefer to remember him as I do, not how the WWE feels about him today. He carries too high of a price tag to work with on this project, but I'd hate to see them bury him because of it. Ah well, what can you do? I guess nothing but close out this section. And closing us out this week is regular Matt Jones and his unique find:
After all the video game highlights last time, I thought I would add one of my own.
A while back I was playing Day of Reckoning 2 on Gamecube (highly underrated game, by the way) and I had decided to do some updating of various wrestlers' move sets. I decided to change Cena's moves to give him the STF as a finish. Much to my surprise though, Cena already had the STF as one of his finishing moves!
Now, this may not seem surprising, but the game was released (according to wikipedia) August 29th, 2005, while Cena only debuted the STFU as a finisher in his submission match against Chris Masters the night after Unforgiven in September of 2005 (also, according to wikipedia).
Basically, there are three possible explanations-1- The game developers updated Cena's moveset in the last month before the game came out to keep with the times (not very likely in my opinion)
2- The 'E and Cena had been planning for some time to introduce the STFU and tipped off THQ so they could include it.
3- Perhaps Cena had used the STF as a finish during his earlier days (pre-rapper gimmick, and thus pre-FU) or during his time in OVW. I know the game developers are have thrown in things like that in the past. Triple H has had a crotch chop as one of his taunts for most of the games to come out in the past 4 years, even though its only in the last year that he's actually started doing it again.
Yay for video game hidden highlights!
JP: Yay indeed! I like number 3 myself, but I'd have to ask someone who has seen OVW. Cook, any ideas?
JT: As usual good stuff from the readers. Let's see if we can't get some more classics in 2007! Even if it's not that old, if you pop in a PPV from 2004 or something on a random Tuesday night, check for those HH and send them in! Especially you Jordan, you are ON NOTICE for lack of HH!
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: Well, apparently I set off some controversy last week with my Maven thoughts. First up was Floyd Hartlett who vehemently disagrees with me:
I wanted to point a couple of things out. The first is that you (JP) not only fucked up on Royal Rumble 2002, but you missed a far bigger point. Maven was thrown through the middle rope, then hit with a chair. Then, thrown back into the ring, THEN he was thrown OVER the top rope, meaning he WAS eliminated. But, what happened during all this? Scotty 2 Hotty dances his way to the ring, was punched in the face by Undertaker, and never made it to the ring. That means that Scotty 2 Hotty is a TWO-TIME Royal Rumble winner.
But by this same logic, does that mean that people who have been entered into the Rumble but didn't come out for their entrance won because they weren't eliminated? Or that Headbanger Mosh and Nunzio both won Royal Rumbles because they were SUPPOSED to be in the matches but had their numbers unceremoniously taken from them by Mabel and Kurt Angle respectively?
And going by the Scotty 2 Hotty rule, Spike Dudley must have won the Royal Rumble in 2004, because Kane chokeslammed him on the ramp before he could ever get
to the ring.
JP: I still don't remember Maven going over the top rope. I think you are wrong there, but then again I haven't watched it in a while. And the answer to your questions is, yes, they did all really win the Royal Rumble. I don't know why you are so hostile about it, it's all good fun! I like my logic in this one. And you know what, Matt Christensen is going to back me up:
Since JP brought it up, yes Maven was never eliminated from the 2002 Royal Rumble but this would actually serve as a catalyst for the WWE actually admitting to a mistake later that year. I don't remember the exact date but, after Maven was done with his little stint with the Undertaker, Maven was actually given a title match against HHH on Smackdown. The reason for the match...as Michael Cole said at the time, Maven is being given this chance because he was never eliminated from the RR.
JP: Oh! See, JP is right again! Maven was never eliminated! Awesome!!! That Floyd guy is so full of it. Kerry Blanchard has more thoughts on the same vein:
If memory serves me correctly, Chris Jericho (then Undisputed champ) actually DID give Maven a World Title shot... I can't remember if it was the next night on Raw, or the week after the Rumble. Also, Maven's "non-elimination" was explained as his being unable to continue after the beating he took from Taker.
I'm willing to bet if pressed, Scotty's fate in 2005 would be considered the same, the dreaded "unable to continue" clause. Although "unable to start" would be more accurate in his case.
JP: It seemed to work for those other guys that Floyd mentioned. Oh Floyd, you've been outclasses in this one!
JT: I'm not touching this one with a 10 foot pole! Although I will say that when it comes to anything HH related, I will always have my boy JP's back on this... at least until after WrestleMania; only then can I turn heel!
JP: What do you mean "turn"? Do you not remember the Great Positivity Debate I where we came in as the heel team and destroyed Meehan? And then we refused to defend our title, even against Randle after he won a grueling 8 week tournament?
JT: So you are saying that when I turn on you, it'll be a face turn?
JP: No way, it's that total Randy Orton turn. You think you are turning and then everyone resents you more for it.
JT: So it leads to a better heel turn?
JP: Have you seen Randy Orton's win-loss ratio recently?
JT: Ahhh… point taken.
Exit, stage left!
JT: Happy New Year's to all. Hope you're all at home reading this as opposed to sitting in the drunk tank right now. Until next time, enjoy the show my little tadpoles.
JP: Do they have internet access in the drunk tank? I guess you'd know, JT. Happy New Year folks!
Thank you for joining us for THE 70th 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.
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