Hidden Highlights 12.31.07: Issue #122

Posted by JP Prag on 12.31.2007

Before the ball drops in Times Square: Rey Mysterio hits Mark Henry with everything he’s got, Kelly Kelly wears the wrong outfit to New Jersey, Dave Penzer proves he knows what a Knockout is, SmackDown! switches to black & white, and more! All with guest co-host Steve Cook!

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #122

Hello everyone who can is about to transverse into the next year, and welcome back to Hidden Highlights!!



Hidden Highlights, they are about the little things that make the product great. They are about showing the positive motions all those involved in wrestling do to make a better show. William Regal may bend his opponent's hand backwards just a little bit harder to dish out the pain. Christian Cage may reference a piece of obscure history. Tazz may bring realism to the product by describing an abdominal stretch in detail. The camera operator may take a low shot looking up at the Great Khali to make him look like a true monster. These are all examples of what Hidden Highlights is about.

Every week this article spotlights Hidden Highlights from the biggest shows on television (RAW, ECW of SciFi, iMPACT, SmackDown!, and a PPV or television special if there is one), delves into the past to find the ones never recorded before, and goes beyond to small shows, live events, tapes, and the indy scene to see what no one else sees. This article may have an author, but it is just as much written by the readers and true fans of professional wrestling—those who love what they watch and want to tell the world what they have found.

I am JP Prag, and I bring you Hidden Highlights with one goal in mind: to appreciate all those little things that make a huge difference.

JP: Are you ready for a little known fact? Issue #70 of Hidden Highlights was the very first article of 2007 and this issue will be practically the last. Oh, let's face it, this article is the best, so first, last, it doesn't matter! And despite there being almost no new wrestling and whole bunch of holidays in the way, we still have a jam packed issue! But I could not do it alone, so this week we welcome back an old friend. No, not JT. I'm talking about the man who you can now ASK411 anything, though he once had news in his own corner. The man, the myth, and the poor black child from the Midwest, Steve Cook. Cook?

Cook: Greetings and salutations from the Bluegrass State! I found some time between drinking, doing my Ask 411 Wrestling column & writing love letters to Sara Del Rey to help Mr. Prag out this week. Don't you all feel so special?

JP: I know I do! That's why I can't wait to get on with the Hidden Highlights!



Monday, December 24, 2007 by JP

JP: It was the fifth(!) annual Tribute to the Troops and—much to my surprise—much of the show was in-continuity! Sure, Kelly Kelly should not have been teaming up with Lalya El (unless the Miz forced them to), but otherwise it relatively made sense. Heck, they showed clips from the previous few weeks to build up matches and have things make sense. But because it was in-continuity, that ended up making two matches have non-endings. Yikes, that's not a nice thing to do for the troops! Oh well, at least there were a few more nice little things that I caught.

(3) Give me a little more stomping:

In the second match of the night, Jeff Hardy and Carlito fought in a non-title affair. Knowing about when this show was taped, is anyone else amazed that Carlito went? I mean, this was before he signed his new extension, so he must have really wanted to go. On a side note, gone from the cards of previous years:

2006: Chris Masters and Krystal

2005: Trish Stratus and the Big Show (plus Chris Masters)

2004: Heidenreich, Kenzo Suzuki, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rene Dupre, Luther Reigns, Eddy Guerrero, Ms. Jackie, and Dawn Marie

2003: Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, Rikishi, Rhyno, and Sable (plus the Big Show, Eddie Guerrero, and Dawn Marie)

On top of that, the first two years this was a SmackDown! show. Pretty odd when you think about it now.

Anyway, Jeff Hardy had attempted a dropkick to the corner when Carlito was lying prone, but Carlito moved out of the way causing Hardy and crash and burn hard. At that point, Carlito went over to Hardy to pick him up. But just before getting him back to his feet, Carlito gave Hardy a quick stomp to the chest as Carlito himself needed a moment to recover. I liked this little extra damage that Carlito inflicted as it gave him time to breath and was just plain mean.

That's right kids, Carlito is still a perennial favorite of Hidden Highlights!

(2) Take this, and this!:

Shortly thereafter, Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry fought in a rematch that was not so much from this past SmackDown!, but from when Mysterio was World Heavyweight Champion. Lest we forget, Henry pinned Mysterio twice when he was Champion and defeated him by DQ and count-out. And did Henry ever get a title shot for defeating the champion four times? NO! How unfair!

Well anyway, at the beginning of the match, Mysterio went right after Henry with first flying. But instead of just trying to punch him like we've seen many do, Mysterio hit Henry with a double fisted sledgehammer. Smart thinking by Mysterio and it showed that he was not going to come after Henry with anything but his top hitting power. Henry is a dangerous customer, and this one showed it.

Also, didn't Mark Henry's contract expire after he lost to the Undertaker? Did he sign a new extension or something? One of the news guys should get on that! What? Oh… oh right. Maybe I'll ASK411 instead. Cook?

Cook: He signed a one year deal some time in 2007.

JP: Wow… so insightful.

(1) Now that is being a heel:

We all know that the wrestlers spent a few days with the troops and more than likely were friendly and helpful. As Larry pointed out in his report, though, the troops knew their roles and booed at all of the appropriate times (and louder than many other audiences). But the wresters, too, had to act the part of total heels and nobody did it better than Mr. Kennedy. On his way to the ring, several fans reached out to try to slap Kennedy's hand. One fan actually succeeded in landing the low five. When the hand hit, Kennedy immediately withdrew his own hand, backed away, and started yelling at the fan! Now **THAT** is dedication to being a heel. When he was in the role, Kennedy would not accept being anything but the character he is. Kennedy reminds me a lot of Scott Steiner who ALWAYS stays in character. Like Steiner, you never know where the line really is for Kennedy and what he's like away from the ring.

Cook: Kennedy's such a natural at acting like a jackass, isn't he? Why doesn't this surprise me…



Tuesday, December 25, 2007 by Steve Cook

Cook: Most of this was new to me because I don't make a habit of watching ECW. I remember attending the WWE vs. ECW show in Dayton held just before the Second One Night Stand… you had Sabu vs. John Cena, RVD vs. Rey Mysterio, Edge vs. Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk punching Mick Foley like Foley owed him money… I had so much hope. What the hell happened? Right, right, be positive…

(3) Fun with colors!:

I always like to make fun of JP (and JT back before he became a lazy bastard) for talking so much about colors in this column, so I'm going to steal their gimmick. Tazz & Joey Styles were both wearing red & black to represent ECW. Why ECW & Raw have the same colors, I'm not sure. Couldn't one of them use a little purple & green? Also, I noticed Shane McMahon wearing yellow and black at One Night Stand, which reminded me of another ECW legend that currently works at Target. Hopefully Shane Douglas is happier there than he was for most of his wrestling career.

(2) Oh Kelly… Kelly:

Funny thing I noticed during the WWE live events commercial… one of the people they showed was Kelly Kelly. That's not the funny part… they were advertising the upcoming show in East Rutherford, NJ while showing Kelly Kelly wearing a Red Sox shirt. The Sawx aren't very popular in Jersey, are they, JP? They probably could have chosen a better image of Kelly for this one.

JP: Uh, no, everyone hates us New Englanders. Even JT is a Yankees fan, and he's from Michigan!

(1) Who's time is it?:

The show featured some nice little vignettes from assorted ECW talent showing you what they're all about. John Morrison claimed that his time is now. Oddly enough, CM Punk also claimed that his time is now in his vignette. So whose time is it? Is it time to get different scriptwriters? Maybe!

JP: I think the time is now for me to switch away to TNA iMPACT!



Thursday, December 27, 2007 by JP

JP: Didn't two weeks ago Booker T completely blew off Christian Cage and say that he would never team with him? Man, I guess when Booker T's butt is on the line his morals shift relatively quickly. That said, I'm amazed and happy that Booker is out there wrestling every week. The guy is 42 years old! You would never know that by looking at him, and he really hasn't lost a lot of his game nor been injured a bunch. In all intents and purposes, he could have had a working schedule like Sting and Kevin Nash (show up, only wrestle on TV once in a while, stay on PPV). Instead, he's out there every week and has wrestled more times than he has not. Say all you want for bringing in another veteran that TNA did not need and taking someone's spot, but Booker T is working for it.

(3) That old reference bug:

As anyone who follows Hidden Highlights knows, we love references, especially those that aren't blatantly obvious. Calling Booker T and Sharmell the "king and queen" multiple times during the show is a little straight forward and not something we'd highlight. But during one of the early promos involving the Angles, Karen got upset that Kurt was not caring about her problems. During that interview, Karen called Sharmell a "diva" in a most disgusted voice. See, now that is a slight reference to what women are called in the WWE, and the disgust really sold it. This is of course in comparison to the "knockouts" of TNA, which brings us to our next one.

(2) Whatever they are called:

Later in the evening, the Knockouts were in action as Gail Kim, Velvet Sky, and Angelina Love took on ODB, Roxxi Laveaux, and Ms. Jackie Moore. First off, can you believe how over ODB is with the iMPACT Zone? It's like she's the girl in the bar that is there at the end of the night and you say, "What the heck?" Not that I'd know much about that… I'm not much into bars… yeah…

Anyway, during the intros, Gail Kim was coming down to the ring and David Penzer announced her as "TNA Women's… Knockout Champion". Except when Penzer said it, he did not miss a beat! You could hear when he stated to say "Women's" that he knew he was saying the wrong word. But instead of stopping himself and making it look like an error, he just continued and said the correct word. That shows you how much a profession Penzer is and how good he at his job. If only he'd actually appear on camera!

(1) S.C.U.D.:

Earlier in the evening, The Motor City Machine Guns got a shot at the tag team champions AJ Styles and Tomko in a non-title affair. Somewhere in the match, Tomko had been knocked to the outside and the Machine Guns took advantage. After planting Style, Alex Shelley took a running suicide dive through the ropes and right at Tomko—who was just getting up on the outside. As Shelley launched himself, Tomko had the utmost look of shock and horror that he was about to be hit, like it was a complete surprised that Shelley had launched himself right at him. That was a perfect look that completely sold the moment for me. Too often outside "suicide" moves look scripted and you can see them coming, especially by how the receiver reacts (putting out their hands, waving, etc…). But Tomko looked completely amazed and caught off guard, something that made the moment perfect.

Cook: ODB… oh, it'd take at least a 12 pack of something really strong for me. I'd be too afraid of Jackie Moore to try anything. Roxxi would probably be a 6-pack because voodoo chicks creep me out. It wouldn't take anything for Gail, Velvet or Angelina though. Just two or three beers to get up the nerve to make my move.



Friday, December 28, 2007 by Steve Cook

Cook: Your regularly scheduled WWE Smackdown was replaced by a presentation of the 5 greatest matches of 2007, according to WWE.com readers. I think they did a good job for the most part…my main complaint was with the MITB ladder match, but only because I'm currently watching the Ladder Match DVD and am starting to get burned out on them. You can only see somebody do three flips off of a ladder so many times, you know? Another downside was that I didn't get to go to the Pub and flirt with my new favorite barmaid. Yeah, I have a new favorite every other week. What about it?

(3) Weekly Tribute to Eddie:

I never watch Smackdown, so I've never noticed this before. At the very beginning of the Smackdown opening video, they pause on an animated image of Rey Mysterio, who is wearing an Eddie Guerrero tribute t-shirt. I know most of us have taken issue with how WWE has treated the subject of Eddie Guerrero in the past, but I think it's really cool that they still recognize him in a way in the Smackdown opening video.

(2) Black & White:

I am probably in the minority on this, but I like it when WWE switches the color to black & white whenever somebody gets busted open a bit too much. It happened on this show during the Triple H vs. Randy Orton match at No Mercy. It reminds me of something Bill Watts said in one of his Straight Shootin' Series interviews… by switching the color, the promotion (WWE) is showing that they feel some sort of responsibility over what they show on their television, and they don't want to show anything that could offend the squeamish. Also, it makes the viewer want to see the blood that much more.

(1) Tough year for the ECW announce table:

Have Joey Styles & Tazz become the new Hugo & Carlos? Their poor announce table took a beating on this show, at WrestleMania 23 Batista drove Undertaker through it, and during the aforementioned No Mercy match, Randy Orton & Triple H make sure it bites the dust. Poor ECW, they never get any respect.

JP: Especially from you! Go back and re-read your ECW ones!




Hidden Highlights are not just about what was written above, but about what you have seen as well. This article strives to not only spotlight the best Hidden Highlights, but to engage you, the viewers, and make you the best audience in the world.

JP: Yeah, a little light this week, but one would figures so considering it was recap shows and holidays. Oh, and to the people who put Hidden Highlights in the comments, write them in via e-mail if you want them posted here! So, *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…

We'll kick it off with Jeremy Bourdeau and his thoughts from the Tribute to the Troops:

I'm not sure if this was intentional or not but I think Carlito normally chews a red apple and tonight it was green and it matched his trunks.

JP: It's kind of funny because the King caught this, too, and even asked why Carlito had a green apple instead of a red one. I don't know how hard it is to get an apple to Iraq, but I assume it must be something from the area or that was trekked through Turkey to get there. According to Wikipedia, "Turkey, France, Italy and Iran are among the leading apple exporters." Well, that would be right area. My research has not turned up specific apple breeds in Turkey, but anything like a Granny Smith would give us the green one. But enough apple talk, because Brian Bazinet has something to say:

I think the person who said Punk setting up with the underhooks as a pedigree tease/reference to him formerly using the Welcome to Chicago was reading too much into things. He stopped using the plunge on his own when he was in the Indies because it was wrecking his knees, so he wouldn't have any axe to grind with being allowed to use the move in WWE. What's way more likely is that the underhooks were him setting up the Welcome to Chicago, the double underhooks into a backbreaker that he's been using on a regular basis in WWE.

JP: That makes more sense to me, so I'd have to agree. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And finishing us off this week (told you it was a short one) is Klunk (who names their kids this stuff?):

On the new Shawn Michaels DVD set, check out when it covers the Cena/HBK match from WM 23. Shawn mentions that he and Cena helped put 80,000 in the stadium in Detroit. He then says "Did you ever put 80,000 in the seats in Detroit, brother?" To me this was a total jab at Hogan and his claim that he and Andre drew 93,000 at the Pontiac Silverdome for WM III. The line from everyone in the WWE has always been 93,000, even though Meltzer has claimed in the past it was 78,000 and companies inflate their numbers all the time and this just happened to be the most high profile. HBK is technically saying he drew more people than Hogan, even though most fans will probably be confused because they have learned to accept the "93,000" line. In other words, HBK is casually floating by a very obscure fact that only 5% of the people buying the DVD will get.

JP: And I was there and let me tell you something, I wouldn't be shocked if that 80,103 number was slightly inflated. Don't get me wrong; there were tons and tons and tons of people there (I was there, I should know), but reports are that the final number was actually 74,687, which would still be less than the low estimates for WrestleMania III. Even though both numbers are suspect, I'm going to accept them at face value. Why? Because nothing will come close to "World Peace Festival" (better known as WCW Kollision in Korea) in Pyongyang, North Korea on April 29, 1995 with an attendance of 190,000.

Well, that wraps up this short week. Be sure to get back on track in the next couple! And remember: send them via e-mail, I may miss the comments.

Cook: You know why the attendance was so high for the World Peace Festival, right? Attendance was mandatory. Why hasn't Vince thought of this? Not to mention the fact that North Korea is probably one of the last places on Earth that should be hosting a World Peace Festival… isn't that kind of like Washington D.C. hosting a Common Sense Festival?

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 [e-mail] 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: Well, in a couple of hours it will be next year, and we have a whole new lineup put in place. In the meantime, thanks again to this week's co-host Steve Cook. I totally made him do all the recap shows, so kudos for putting up with those!

Cook: Well, I didn't see most of the stuff on them, so it was new to me! It's been nice to see you, JP… but not that nice. BOOOOOOOOOHICA!

JP: Have a Happy New Year everyone! I'll catch you in the '08!

While you're waiting for the ball to drop, be sure to catch my very own Saturday morning news report The Hamilton Ave Journal: the only wrestling news report focused on the business of wrestling.

Thank you for reading the 122nd 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!