*** WARNING: Further down this article may NOT BE WORK SAFE ***
JP: Hey, welcome back. We're in the middle of the write-in to guest co-host round 1 contest. Thanks for sticking in there, this has ended up being a much longer issue than anticipated! Man, for a guy named "Small" he can sure talk a lot…
Our next contestant is regular Neeraj Angal. Now, I'm not sure how we could work it out if he wins since most wrestling he gets is 14 days old, but what the heck!
- On Raw, Triple H and Vinnie Mac featured on Carlito's Cabana. After Vince's re-admission to liking cocks, he said he hated Trips and left. Just as Vince was exiting the ring, Trips did this "damn! I really wanted you to stay" hand-gesture. It was a little thing, but it had me cracking up, and totally made the segment for me.
JP: Of course, he wanted to get more cock jokes in!
- Not exactly hidden, but Kennedy's "I meant to do that" after muffing the mic catch was a great heel moment.
JP: I say one of the best things a wrestler can do is show his ability to improvise and react accordingly in a moment.
- After the main event, Orton kicked Cena's Dad's teeth back up his throat. Did you see Cena's initial reaction to what happened? He was just getting up, staggering, and he just froze. He closed his eyes for a second, and then stared out at his dad again. After about 2-3 seconds of staring, Cena finally moved (and that with lightning speed) to his dad's aid. I thought Cena's reaction was the best way to convey how unexpected Orton's actions were.
JP: The "I have no idea how to react because I was so not expecting that" is equal to what I just said above.
- Batista's reactions throughout the Rey Mysterio match were noteworthy, as he showed a whole range of emotions (through his facials and actions) that really helped add to the tension of the match.
JP: Did he want his friend to win or not? Will he turn heel on Mysterio at Unforgiven (this was written before the show)? Will Rey win the title and then Batista go nuts on him? The important thing is: Batista needs to be evil.
- Staying on the same match, there was a part where Rey went outside the ring and Batista stupidly followed him, then tried to climb up on the apron and come back in, only to get dropkicked in the grill. When he recovered, he was much smarter, rolling under the bottom rope, thereby not wasting any movements, and not allowing Rey an opportunity to get an upper hand. I absolutely love such subtle changes during the course of the match; it helps add SO MUCH to the realism.
JP: Changing tactics? Who'd have thunk it?
- Near the end of that match, Finlay charged to the ring with a chair to try and disqualify Batista (as very cleverly pointed out by JBL later). As he was attempting to enter the ring, he slid the chair in first. Batista, in a moment of brilliance, stepped on the chair to stop Finlay's entire momentum, and then laid into him. This was an inspired moment. Batista was ON today.
JP: I'd still like him as a heel, though.
- And so was Finlay. As Batista got DQd and subsequently turned to plead with the ref, Finlay was backing up the ramp (after Batista tossed the chair at him) with the chair. As soon as he saw Batista turn his back on him (Finlay) to go argue with the ref, he took a step forward and threatened to run in and attack Batista again. Now, considering that Finlay was miles away from the ring, the attack was never a real possibility, but it was a great touch on Finlay's part to show his intent, which in turn did a great job of getting his dickish gaining-an-advantage-any-which-way character over with those who were paying attention. Like me and you.
JP: "My name in Finlay, and I love to give you Hidden Highlights to catch." Kind of long, but works for me!
- When Vinnie Mac came out to do his little schtick, he ordered Coach to get a mic for him. As if that wasn't enough, he even added the potent measure of subtlety to it by only motioning with his hands and not verbally barking orders. This was great from Vince, as he usually gets his own mics, but this time, his character's superiority complex flared up with Coach being there. Actually, Vince is remarkably consistent in his behaviour with Coach in this regard - remember him wiping the cellphone on his jacket? - thus getting him bonus points for continuity.
JP: I like how the Coach is all upset about William Regal getting to be GM and Vince just taking little jabs to the Coach about it. If Regal were around, he'd make Coach get some more tea for him. I prefer Earl Grey and English Breakfast myself, thank you. Actually, I think I'll go make some tea right now!
While I'm away, give your score to Neeraj:
Ok, I'm back, and so is our next contestant is The Big Fig (I can't make this stuff up!):
When I was recently watching Mr. McMahon's titantron entrance, I noticed that after it lists "WWE Chairman", it then lists "Zero Tolerance" . I don't ever recall that being listed until after the Benoit scandal where the Wellness Program has now been the target. Just kinda ironic to see that, especially now that suspensions finally are being handed out.
JP: Hahaha, I think it was there before, but they are changing that video up a lot. I rather like how TNA sometimes shows the entrance videos (Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, and Robert Roode come to mind) and wish the WWE showed their's off more often. A lot of work goes into those things!
It's a short one, but it has everything you need to score The Big Fig:
Moving on, we have Armond Davis and another short one:
Did you guys notice during the Mcmahon's son angle at the end of the show, when one of the hints was that his son likes gold, Chuck Palumbo was still in the ring! Even though he has yet to win any gold on Smackdown with this biker routine, the creative department remembered the Billy and Chuck days with the WWE, and also when he was part of the New Blood with WCW!
JP: And yet they forget about Hacksaw Jim Duggan's WCW US and Television title reigns!
Well, how do you score Armond?
Our next contestant got his entry in at the last minute, but we won't hold that against him… Brandon Metheny:
RAW (last week): When the entire family "confronted" Vince in the ring, Stephanie very subtly shows that the little things matter to her too. When she climbed into the ring she looked at her father, then glanced over her shoulder and pointed at the ropes, with a look on her face at Vince that basically said "if you're such a "good" man, why wouldn't you open the ropes for your daughter?" Great job by Stephanie of giving Vince a "chance" to redeem himself, then being disgusted when he couldn't even do that little thing for her.
JP: Steph has popped up in these pages a few times. Though she may not be able to write a show for damn, and is completely disconnected from the audience that watches the product, she still gets Hidden Highlight points. That counts for something.
ECW (this week): After Matt Striker's match, he and BDV were celebrating in the ring, and then the Boogeyman's music hit and everyone got (understandably) freaked out. But Striker then showed that he just might be the smartest man in WWE, as he claims to be. While everyone else looked at the entrance-way for Boogeyman, Matt Striker remembered that that's not the only way Boogeyman comes in and, while still facing the entrance, for a SPLIT second he looked down at the edge of the ring, just to make sure that Boogeyman wasn't going to jump him from under the ring, as he has many times before.
JP: Striker, on the other hand, has gotten tons of love in this column on almost a weekly basis. I wonder if we can make a Hidden Highlights roster? Who would I draft? Well, let's say I had only ten to pick (to keep this short) and they have to be in the WWE and at least been active in the last 60 days:
William Regal
King Booker
MVP
Matt Striker
Carlito
Mr. Kennedy
Finlay
Victoria
Elijah Burke
Tazz (it was a touch choice between him and Charles Robinson).
Edge would have made the list, but inactivity will do that to you! I guess if Edge were on here that Finlay would be kicked out. Sorry dude!
You may not like my list, but you can still put your votes in for Brandon's entries:
I was about to wrap this up, but just as I was posting this article (this half, to be specific) Nikolia Nygard wrote in. Better late than never:
Nik's Hidden Highlights for RAW
Monay Monay Monay Monay
During the opening segment with JBL, Jeff, and Khali in the ring talking about how they might be the bastard, when JBL is talking about his money and all the money Vince has the camera keeps going to a semi awkward angle to show a sign behind the two that says Monay. That was a nice touch to add pictures to JBL's descriptions of his money.
JP: I may think the "catch phrase" is weak, but production is always top notch.
Khali still can't understand
Yet another HH from the opening ring gathering. (I've left out the whole Jeff is high so people look up one). When JBL starts a Tirade and calls Khali a Cro Magnon, instead on looking angry Khali pokes his translator and looks like he's asking, "what'd he say?" This was pretty cool since he seems to slip sometimes and now he's getting better at remembering that, by god he doesn't know what Cro Magnon means.
JP: I'm pretty sure there are English speaking Americans who don't know what a Cro Magnon is!
Cade the Role Model
During the Cade vs London match on more than one occasion Cade, while grappled, would shove London into the corner. Now most heels would hold the face in distress in there till the ref counted to 3 or 4. But Cade immediately backed off and raised his hands in a face like manner. This fits his repeat of the clean cut guy thing they did with the Hardyz. It's nice to see him remember that so anytime he says they never broke a rule it will be true.
JP: Even when they turned heel, they said the Hardyz attacked them first… which is true!
Shelton's Super Pants and Old Entrance
This one's not too hidden of a highlight but nobody brought it up. Since his dropping of Haas, Benjamin has already switched back to his old entrance music. And for the Super Pants, well when he got in the ring, he tugged on his long pants and they came off just like that. It was fun to watch and I got a kick out it.
JP: No, Shelton definitely has a "solo" character and a "team" character and I like the subtle differences.
Comfort is Cool
Another Highlight, this time for Carlito. (He gets love in matches that he doesn't wrestle!). Well somewhere around the middle of the match Hunter tossed Shelton onto the folding chair that Carlito was sitting on. It broke the chair and Carlito by the time of the next cutaway of him was sitting in a new, plusher, comfier chair. I'm pretty sure he stole it from King or JR. I thought that sort of fit with Carlito's style and plus it was another thing I got a kick out of.
JP: Carlito equals points. Next!
Sleep with One Eye Open
Another one from the HHH vs Benji match. When Carlito came and started pissing of Hunter, HHH turned around and started yelling but kept checking behind him for any attack from Benji. It was smart to keep your eyes on the dastardly heel.
JP: I noticed that, too. It's a shame Hunter doesn't read the internet because he could get some props in here.
Cena Likes Security
This HH actually goes to Cena (Or whoever wrote his bits). During the whole time he was trying to get through security, he never threw a punch, not once. He would simply push the security guards but not punch at them at all. Way to be a really friendly babyface.
JP: The heel Cena of SmackDown! would have hit them all with his chain!
Santino Doesn't Like You
Not sure if this one is a HH but when the (Unsuspended?) Santino Marella came out to the ring. Once he got in the was about to run at the side and raise his arm but suddenly shrugged it off because he didn't care. Not sure if it's a HH but the camera only caught it for a few seconds before it searched for Sandman.
JP: I totally enjoy the little things Santino does to be a heel.
Santino Doesn't Like Sandman
Santino gets another possible HH. During the match it was quite clear that he was trying to hurt Sandman's leg. But not quite so obvious was his post match attempt. Because after the first Cane by Santino after the match, Sandman slid in the ring and started going out the other side while Santino was swinging at his LEG. So Santino still stayed on target after the match.
JP: It's a shame the Sandman is gone. I still haven't got a good reason he was let go!
Diva Dis Diva Dat
In the Diva Search profile listings, each diva had special music that seemed sort of connected to her personality. That's it.
JP: You watched that? I'm impressed. That went straight to my fast forward button!
Tag Partners that *gasp* SPEAK!
This one's yet another semi Hidden Highlight. While all the eligible Bastard were around the ring, Matt and MVP could be seen discussing how they could each be the son. Matt pointed out his nose and face while MVP pointed at his bling and titles. And later when the Fair Skin clue came up Matt could be seen yelling don't worry I'll do it to MVP when Montel was leaving.
JP: Those two were great from the second they came out until they left. They have a real chemistry. Now turn heel Matt to make this all awesome!
Chucky P and Val V have Gold
This was a nice touch by the writing team to remember that Val Venis and Chuck Palumbo have both held titles and didn't have to leave for the Title hint. Chuck has held at least the Tag Titles as Billy & Chuck while Venis held the Tag With Lance Storm and Intercontinental titles plus one European Title Reign. Remember the Venis!!!
JP: There was a time when Val Venis was the future. Now he's a veteran that jobs out to nobodies in dark matches because he's solid and management loves to use him to test guys. Well it's a job, I guess.
The Giant Hornswaggle
Another one for the camera man this time. When Hornswaggle climbed up the turnbuckles after he found out he was the son, the camera man used a shot from below that made Little Horny almost look like a normal height. I was laughing already but I just managed to catch that.
JP: I believe we talked about lower camera angles earlier……
Mr.Woodcock
A Hidden Highlight for the after show ad! The post show ad for Mr.Woodcock was about him wrestling little kids. More wrestling. That's that.
JP: And yet you have more!
Nik's Hidden Highlights For ECW
Armando #1 Fan
This was a nice touch by Armando. After he announced Burke as the opponent and Burke came out. Armando kept him out of the ring so he wouldn't attack CM Punk. Since Armando just claimed to be Punk's biggest fan I can sort of see a reason for such a coward to do that.
JP: Armando looked SOOOOO different in a t-shirt and without his hat. He looked like he was 20 instead of 30, that different!
STEVIE!!! IN MAIN EVENT
Not a HH I'm just a Stevie mark.
JP: Did RtC ever get a main event?
Kelly Kelly: Not a slut?
As of this week Kelly Kelly is now the most dressed member of Extreme Expose. With a shirt that exposes way less than the other two as well as longer pants it's sort in tune with her not liking Mike Mizanin.
JP: I think they slowly fired that fashion consultant to doll the divas up. Guess they decided they like whores better.
KO? No? OK!
This goes to the ref in the Miz vs Dreamer match. While both men are down and he starts the count, after not too long both men get to their knees. What impresses me is that this ref knows the rules. The rules state that the KO count stops when both men reach their knees. Most refs count until both men are standing but not this one. ECW seems to get all the best referees in WWE.
JP: They also have Armstrongs, which makes them the best (so long as you forget about BG).
Hey Remember this guy?
This is sort of a HH. I'm just thankful that the WWE is using their own jobbers rather than less talented local talent. A win over Nunzio means more than a win over Johnny Joe. Especially when you remember that Nunzio lasted like 15 minutes against Johnny Nitro. Meanwhile adding Knox is nice since he was Kelly's first boyfriend.
JP: I think I've commented on both of these already.
No Reversing Please
Here's a HH to Matt Striker. After his 15 seconds in the ring he sent in V to demolish Nunzio. But the Highlight is while V is crushing the little guy Matt is busy keeping the ref busy so he doesn't see all of what's happening. Because as WWE has shown us. Beating the shit out of someone after the bell can cost you the win. (See: Draft night Miz vs Snitsky, ECW Stevie vs thorn)
JP: Not to mention WrestleMania when Ken Shamrock lost the IC title because he got DQed after the bell!
Tick Tock
A quick shout out for Boogeyman. During his entire promo he blinked once. That's good selling. Especially since he only blinked when he smashed the clock on his head, when it was hard to see it.
JP: Sometimes it's nice not having JT around.
Balls can Speak
Balls Mahoney gets a minor Highlight because when Miz appears during Balls' match, Balls can be heard yelling. "What're you doing here?!" It was nice to see someone actually talk rather than just stare. Plus the camera wasn't on Balls so him staring wouldn't have been seen.
JP: What people always forget about Balls is that he is a long amateur background, so the guy can actually wrestle, too!
Old Breed
For the main Event entrances. Thorn and Burke come out with the old New Breed entrance video playing. (I could tell because I caught a glimpse of Cor Von and Thorn in it.
JP: I never totally understood why Thorne quit the New Breed. Oh well! I hope Cor Von can come back soon.
Injuries don't go Away
During the Main Event, Burke clearly got some damage done to his leg. Not long after that he tagged in Thorn. I was looking for a HH from Burke and I got it when while he was on the apron he was putting his weight on the other foot. Makes sense to not accidentally hurt it.
JP: Sometimes you can be disappointed trying to get a Hidden Highlight out of someone, but Burke usually delivers.
2 2 2 2!
Just wanted to point out that during every match of the night a fan was holding up a sign saying 2 every time there was a two count.
JP: That's soooooo old, like 1997 in Canada.
Stevie can't Stand
The final HH of ECW is for Stevie. After getting the crap beaten out of him by Thorn and Burke he managed to get them off his back for long enough to start towards Punk. Unlike most people wanting for a Tag he didn't plainly crawl, he grabbed the ropes and tried to drag himself to Punk. This is not only selling the injury but also making himself look smart by doing everything he could to get the tag.
JP: And I'll tag this over to your next set!
Nik's Hidden Highlights for TNA iMPACT
Sugardaddy Kurt
A nice tidbit from when Karen was introducing Kurt, she calls him her Sugardaddy. Now with all the rumors of Karen having been a stripper and all this just sort of fits in. I guess she didn't realize it when she was told to say it.
JP: Oh, that's another way to look at it! And maybe she did realize it, eh?
Tenay the Philosopher
Just another thing that made me laugh. After all of the Angle and Sting business is finished, West and Tenay have a quick talk about it where Tenay's choice of description is "Women, [what're you gonna do]" that finished the bit. I just laughed when I heard Tenay act all high and mighty about it.
JP: He'd tap that.
Why Steel?
I was sort of impressed with TNA to come up with a reason for the 6 sides of steel match. All the Karen Angle shenanigens sounded far more reasonable than, "Well we really like the cage".
JP: I just didn't get why the match had to have the stipulation for Abyss. It was a non-title match. I think submissions and cage is enough!
Broken A
A quick thing that nobody would notice that I thought seemed cool. When Abyss had his interview that finished off with him throwing the chain, he tossed the chain straight into the broken A. It looked like him throwing it broke the letter. Made him looks cool doing it too.
JP: Ok, I'm going to tap out now. You have a lot more, so please continue uninterrupted…
Oooohhh Nooooo
In the Daniels vs Lethal match after Black Machismo missed an Elbow off the top rope and landed on his kidney area, Daniels followed it up with 2 moves that both resulted in Lethal landing on his Kidney. Nice following up. It made Daniels look very focused.
Shake It
Another HH of the Daniels vs Lethal match goes to....Sonjay! During part of Lethal's comeback he was hitting several Clotheslines. But at the same time, Sonjay would bang the Tamborine at the exact timing of the Clotheslines. What's weird is that somehow, that made the Clotheslines sound harder. So it made the moves and Sonjay look good.
Pimp my Office
Everyone loves the crazy stuff in Cornette's office. This week two things stood out for me. One: A framed issue of Sole magazine. What is has to do with anything? I have no clue. Just there for no reason I guess. Two: Tennis Rackets from his run in the WWE. I think that may have been there before but it stood out as being the only non TNA thing in the shelf.
Judas the V.I.T
One thing that I noticed when Judas was killing Abyss was that he really seemed to want more blood in his mouth. I mean, he started off with a mouth-full then after beating Abyss seemed to drink his blood. Creepy stuff there.
Nik's Hidden Highlights for SmackDown!
Oh My God You Killed Kenny
Well they didn't kill him but he could have passed out. During the Women's match he kept yelling at everyone around. He criticized the ref's call ("Oh, Come on!" and got angry at Chuck and the fans. ("Shut your Mouth!"). It's nice to see he does actually care about what people think.
Oh My God Kenny Killed You
Another one for Kenny in the Mixed Tag Match. After he beat on Chuck's leg and went for a pin he made sure to hook the same leg. Often we've seen people work one leg and then mix it up later. I was glad to see him do the right way.
That is the Face of a Dancing Man
Festus got a HH! During the Bachelor party when everyone started dancing. Festus got himself in the shot by rolling his head around in circles slowly. I just figure that fits with his character.
We know Chess
This was something that I was impressed by. In the Chess game with Matt and MVP, they were actually playing a logical game. The pieces taken and positioned were in the right places and the Check from Matt actually was a check. Nice to know that at least somebody did know how to play.
JP: Wait, wait, wait. You and I are in complete disagreement there. The pieces were in the right place, but there was no check and Matt Hardy made an illegal move!
Black and Blue (and White)
Just a quick thing. Shannon has Black, Blue, and White trunks. Smackdown! colors there. Because he's on Smackdown!... get it?
Ouch! My Arm! It hurts.... still
Another nice bit in the Moore vs Noble match was the fact that every time they got hit hard they went down and grabbed their injured arm. It was nice continuous selling since they didn't grab it if they didn't get hit anywhere near the arm.
Tag Team Matching
In a rather odd manner Matt and MVP have the same ring attire. In the two matches they had in casual attire they both were wearing the same pants. Which is sort of strange but fits in with the Team thing. I think this is a HH, not positive.
Kane kan be hurt!
During the Belfast Brawl during a part where Kane was crawling away from Finlay was made better when Kane sold all the damage that Finlay had done to his limbs. It was nice to see that the damage wasn't just ignored.
JBL Scarred for Life
After the scene with Krystal and Teddy arguing then partying with the Ron Simmons DAMN! Cole was happy and John was disturbed. But what I loved was this look John gave to the camera right before it cut back to the Main Event hype. It was this look that said "I am now scarred for life and will become a serial killer" I was laughing so much at that when I saw it. Good look by John to complete my HH.
My god I should have done each shows HH's on the day it was and not all at once. *Collapses*
JP: I think our readers just collapsed, too! That was quite a bit of stuff.
All right, than the final vote for Nik is:
That's all for the contest. The rest of these are just because…
We'll start off with Christopher Alden and:
During Randy Orton's big long rant, the crowd suddenly started cheering, and Randy stopped talking for a second and looked over to the entryway. This was brilliant because it shows Orton as a very smart heel. He knows the crowd hates him (hell, he revels in it), so they'd never be cheering something he said; therefore, they had to be cheering for somebody coming out to shut him up. Of course, Cena ended up coming through the crowd and catching Orton by surprise anyway, but this was a great little touch by Orton in including the audience in his promo.
JP: I like when heels take the heat off themselves and try to put it on someone else. A classic Hidden Highlight that comes to mind is from Issue #1 of Hidden Highlights (and Issue #104) via our departed buddy JT:
Monday Night RAW – April 18th, 2005. Trish Stratus and Lita were in the ring… Madison Square Garden. The crowd is chanting (among other things) "Slut! Slut! Slut! Slut!", and as applicable as it is to Lita, they're actually talking to Trish, because she's on the mic. What does Trish say? "Come on guys, you don't have to call her that". How BEAUTIFUL…. she included the crowd, and also strayed from whatever she planned to say
JP: Wow, that has to be the only clip in Hidden Highlights history to be replayed three times. Well, except for this:
JP: Too good. Moving on we have Michael Omelas with:
I thought this was great: A Ron Simmons HH.
During the segment where Krystal ran into Teddy and their two separate parties more or less merged into one, once Ron Simmons delivered is over-anticipated "Damn!", I thought it was great that he didn't say a word when everyone was chanting either "Go Krystal" or "Go Teddy" because neither of those fit his limited vocabulary of "Damn" or anything that rhymes with it. I got a big kick out of that.
JP: And remember, only one person was chanting "Go Krystal"! Got that one above. I've also got this one from Travis Bucklaschuk:
I hope you caught the "AKME" on the crate from last week's Smackdown. Great throwback to the Wile E. Coyote type plan of Jamie Noble, it also got a good nostalgia laugh once I saw it out of me.
JP: Oh yes, I most definitely saw it. At the very least, if you are going to do something over the top, go all the way!
Also when looking back at this past Raw, when we saw Hornswaggle get named as the newest McMahon, one person was missing from the group of Superstars.
He is not extreme.
He has a fondness for gold, beating down champions in order to try to win title is the name of the game after all.
He has fair skin.
He has fair hair as well
He has had individual gold, The US Title being one.
He loves to play the game, the game being throwing Hornswaggle about.
He has been known to use his beating stick to play games such as; hide and seek (hiding them under the ring), horseshoes (Hitting Kane in the leg recently is a example... possibly not the best reference.. But still) or marbles (Well... He has been known to low blow a few superstars....).
This Man's name if you have yet to guess is Finlay...
And before anyone tries to dispute the age thing. Finlay is 49 (Unless I forgot math...) and Vince is 62 (Unless again, I forgot math...) and that's a gap of 15 years. Thus making it plausible.
Personally I'm hoping for a program between Vince and Finlay to determine who gets to keep Hornswaggle, it could be quite funny if done right.
JP: Well, you got the ages close (Finlay is 48, which actually helps your case), but it's a stretch. I'd like to see Finlay involved somehow, too, and was sad that Hornswoggle was not on SmackDown! to play off the angle. Something has got to happen there!
Personally I loved the "sexual tyrannosauruses" remark from JBL... Too bad the "almighty grapefruits" could only produce a velociraptor.
JP: Uh huh. Well then. I think Fixxer315 has a classic for us:
I'd easily put ECW's Heatwave 98 on my top 10 list of all time favorite PPV's, and it would have been my favorite from ECW if not for the lack of historical value. Still, action-wise, you can't top this, and watching it again, I caught another HH. Before the Bigelow/Taz encounter, they run a very good video package with Heyman doing a voiceover explaining the heat between Taz and the Triple Threat, which included Shane Douglas' broken arm. Shane was doing commentary for the evening, and they come back from the package with Douglas ranting about how the package was clearly biased and that Bigelow was going to destroy Taz. The real HH is that Douglas is in mid-sentence when they cut from the package to the announcer's booth, suggesting that he had been ranting throughout the package and only now did the cameras (and the audience) catch up to him. This little set of timing adds realism, more than it would if Douglas had waited until the camera was on him before starting his rant.
JP: Heatwave '98 is one of my all time favorite PPVs as well, and that is a nice catch. This is what I talk about when I mean the realism that the original ECW created. It was not about the blood and tables, it was about a sense of the product not feeling like a cartoon. That's what made ECW different and that is what the WWE will never get. Just like they didn't get it when they took over the TBS wrestling slot back in 80's. They have no idea that there are OTHER audiences out there (at least 5 million people in the USA by my count) that want different products. They could use the brand extension to create different types of companies, but instead create three doing essentially the same thing. It's a waste, really.
And finishing us (or at least me) off this week is the woman who is stealing my heart, or at least certain body parts, Michelle "Mishy" Perez:
Me again. Did you miss me, my darling JP? :P By the way, you never did get back to me, I waited in bed all night and you never came!! :( Bought all new lingerie for you and everything.
JP: I know, I got your pics:
Unfortunately, I flew to Phoenix, not the UK… or California… or… actually, I didn't know where to go. Stupid airlines never listen to me anyway!
You owe me money! My services are not cheap!
JP: What are you talking about honey? It's MY services that are not cheap.
Small: Can you two stop stroking yourselves and actually get on with the write-in?
JP: Geez, what a party pooper. Can you believe this guy?
Ahem, anyway, I have some Hidden Highlights, a week late that I saw you didn't pick up on the thingymebobbert. Not good but here goes.
When Melina and Regal were backstage talking about Melina's special "meeting" with Vince McMahon, Regal looked absolutely disgusted, genuinely! It's not much, but the amount of acting skill that man has and puts into every single one of his backstage segments always amazes me.
JP: No, I'm always amazed by how well Regal just reacts to everything going on. He's one of those old school guys that is always in character and reacting.
Anyway, after that, when Stephanie raised her arm, Melina actually flinched. This struck me as a good continuation, as Stephanie's bitch slap was always something that you fear, and seeing as Melina is a trained wrestler and tough, I thought it was cool that she flinched when threatened with the billion dollar slap.
JP: Plus she was all dolled up and had new hair! Who would want to mess that up?
And when Santino was coming out with Maria, she tried to hook her arm around his, and he showed that he's obviously in pain. Then, when they were in the ring together, he threw his arm around and didn't have any kind of flinching. This of course contributes to the Santino who is trying to wrap Maria around his little finger, trying to get her sympathy for his pain, and then making himself look tough and manly in front of her.
JP: Of course now he's going to become overbearing and evil! But you know what? I'm starting to have a lot less sympathy for girls that get in the same relationships with jerks.
Small: You mean, guys like you?
JP: If I were a real jerk, I think I'd have a harem by now. Besides, I'm an internet sexy beast.
Anyways I'm out now, just thought I should send this in so JP can know that not ALL the female readers have abandoned his sexy self.
JP: Hey, they haven't abandoned me! Caroline Van Os wrote in to tell me that there was no chance I invented the word positivity and that a "drawing triangle" is called a "set square" (that was Sat, by the way, not me). And anyway, I'd rather leave myself all for you.
Ghost of JT: And what about Catherine? Or Amber? April? Dominique? Suzie? Jis? Ale—
JP: All right, all right! Besides, they can all write in and defend themselves. Or throw themselves at me. Whichever comes first.
Small: JP, I really don't know what to say right now. But hey, if you want to write a remix to "Mambo #5" for an upcoming column, I guess, more power to you.
Do you have a Hidden Highlight from this or any week in history that you would like to share? Please e-mail this article at lookforme@mikefine.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… readers just like to know!
JP: Wow, this issue ended up being a lot longer than expected! Hope you stuck in there, especially so you could read this. Thanks to Jeff Small for filling in this week.
Small: No problem, JP. Anytime I can help out a fellow New Englander. I got it from here.
For the Thursday Small-For-All… Sorry, I mean…
For the Small Highlights, I'm Jeff Small, and…
JP: You're killing me Smalls!
Thank you for reading the 107th ISSUE of Hidden Highlights! Be sure to drop a line with all the other Hidden Highlights not covered this time around and everything you catch in the week to come.
Until then, you have just experienced the most positive article in all of the IWC: Hidden Highlights!
