Hidden Highlights 04.07.08: Issue #136… LIVE!!!

Posted by JP Prag on 04.07.2008

411mania’s own JP Prag was live at WrestleMania, RAW, ECW, TNA iMPACT, and SmackDown from this past week. He and the greatest special guest co-host in Hidden Highlights history bring you all of the Hidden Highlights you definitely did not see at all of these shows… unless you happened to be there yourself.

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #136… LIVE!

Hello everyone who realized that fives shows in six days will actually completely wear you out on your vacation, 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: HELLO 411MANIA! After twelve days on being on the road non-stop (except 6.5 hours to change suitcases and sleep), I have returned to the land of… ummm… legal indoor prostitution… and… uh… where Showtime's Brotherhood takes place… yeah… and… a big mall…

Well anyway, Florida was an amazing time, and I got to see Ric Flair's Hall of Fame speech, his last match, and his retirement speech (the real one you folks at home didn't see). And then I got to see Kenny Dykstra at the ECW/SmackDown tapings!! What? He's from Worcester, MA, which is where I used to go for original ECW. Although the kid sitting next to me didn't seem to understand the Adam Sandler joke I threw his way. Well, screw that kid!

But the events were only half the fun, because I was joined by my good friend and this week's guest co-host. You know him, you love him, and you've been demanding him. My peeps, give it up for James "JT" Thomlison. Wow, here's something I haven't done in a while: JT?

Ghost of JT: FINALLY some love around here. Let me tell you som—

JP: Not you, Ghost! We have the real JT!

Ghost of JT: Awwwww…

JT: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! …I had to type it, because I certainly can't yell it after the three straight days of Flair love! Seriously, if you heard me WOO right now, you would likely compare me to a sad, underdeveloped hunting beagle with strep throat trying to howl. Yes… it's that bad. Rule of thumb: When you're standing there LIVE watching Ric Flair's farewell address no more than 50 ft from you, you stand up, you clap non-stop until your hand hurts, and you WOOO until your throat gives out. Period. To do otherwise is just flat out bitchassness (that one was for you George Sirois). Regardless, it is GOOD TO BE BACK people. I have missed you all so.

JP: Liar! You tell me all the time how much you like having no weekly responsibility in these parts. Well anyway, I know there are a few things you want to get off your chest, mostly directed at Small.

JT: Yes, I would like to address Jeff Small, and his most recent Small-For-All-News column, in which he displays this picture, that he describes as "utterly ridiculous":





Now, our friend Small failed to mention a couple of key points.

1. The term "utter ridiculous" was actually a direct quote from me, meaning:

2. I was fully *aware* that I looked utterly ridiculous, because:

3. That was the GOAL! SHOCK…. AND…. AWE people was the plan from the start. This wasn't JT walking around in his regular everyday street attire. No no, this (like those swank aviator shades) that were brought SPECIFICALLY for the purpose of heading to WM weekend, and looking utterly ridiculous in that fabulously-terrible and horrifically-awesome kind of way. Mission accomplished! All of my friends and family were privy to this plan way ahead of time. Although if you thought that pic was ridiculous, you should have seen some of the other outfits that did not include an appropriate WM 24 shirt!

JP: I can attest to that one!

JT: So I'm definitely no way upset as I asked him to take the picture specifically for his column, we just can't have people thinking I walk around Michigan in all white NY hats (although that will get some action) and obnoxious aviat-

JP: -and ZOO YORK sneakers…

JT: YOU LEAVE MY ZOO YORK'S ALONE, SIR!

Anywho, now that we've addressed that, let me just say that I had a great time at the get-together. Small and Melchor were both (or at least appeared to be) great guys and it was fun hanging (and drinking) with them for a few before the show. The food was also fantastic, and our waitress was a riot. Thanks to Melchor for throwing that all together, and VIVA LA MARGARITAVILLE!

JP: Yet I was the only one to order something "local" with a jerk chicken while everyone else had burgers. Oh, and Small, I was supposed to be Kofi Kingston, not Tommy Dreamer. Not cool Zeus!

JT: I have no problems with Matt Hardy, good work sir.

JP: Ok, JT, all these kids have been begging in the commentary section for some witty banter, so let's give it to them.

JT: I've got nuthin'

JP: Wha?

JT: Dude, I'm exhausted. We were on the road for days! You woke me up insanely early!

JP: 10am is not early! Staying out [Rest of comments deleted by Hidden Highlights Moderator.]

JT: Sorry bud, some stories just aren't going to be told.

JP: Oh COME ON! It's like the funniest yet scariest time of the entire trip!

JT: What can I say? Besides, we'd be stealing Small's thunder.

JP: Small has Thunder? After meeting him, I'd have to say it's more like… light mist.

JT: ZING! Besides… I told you should have parked in those earlier lots.

JP: That's it! You're not getting that extra special present from me.

JT: You got me a gift? Oh come on dude, you should give it to me, or I'll tell them about what happened at mini-golf.

JP: No one disparages my mini-golf skills! Fine, you have yourself a bargain. Here is my gift to you:





JT: That was the most hilarious completely random thing I have ever seen …so, thanks, I guess? Not to complain, but a Stacy Keibler video package would have been a much better gift. I think the readers would agree… even Jis… …what?

JP: Give it up already kid. Ok, enough of that fun, because we have tons more to discuss as we get on with the Hidden Highlights!



Sunday, March 30, 2008 by JP… LIVE!

JP: After already having been in Orlando for three days—and after having the 411mania staff party at Margaritaville's at Universal Citywalk—it was time for the biggest PPV of the year. Our seats were amazing, looking directly at the ring and the entrance ramp. Actually, they kind of looked like this:





Thankfully, we weren't in the cheap seats to get burned by the Undertaker's pyro. I could actually see the spot where they failed from our seats. The thing was spinning like crazy shooting fire everywhere. I didn't know until the next day that anyone got hurt, but boy was I glad to be in an expensive seat. Plus, I got to see Ric Flair's last match… then again, I've seen Terry Funk's last match more than a dozen times. For now, I'll treasure the memories and let you enjoy these ones:

(5) Down and out:

One of the early matches at the show was the Money in the Bank match featuring John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Mr. Kennedy, CM Punk, MPV, and Carlito. As will be noted many times below in the Reader Write-in section, late into the match Carlito and Mr. Kennedy pushed Shelton Benjamin off of the ladder and on to a ladder prone over the guardrail and ring, prompting a look of shock on Carlito's face and a very dirty chant from the crowd. Those you did see, but what you didn't see was Shelton Benjamin after the fall. The man stayed down on that ladder for a long time, letting us know that he was destroyed. Even after the match was over he was not about to roll too far away from that crushed ladder. Shelton's sell for the live crowd was so important in letting us know how devastating that fall was, and he continued to keep it sold all the way until ECW on Tuesday.

(4) I'm also down:

Later in the evening, the Big Show took on Floyd Mayweather in what ended up being a match of the Big Show versus everyone and everything in existence. Late into the match, Mayweather tried to make an escape with his posse bringing him up the ramp. Big Show then rolled over all of them like they were bowling pins (candlepin, not tenpin). After beating up Mayweather security, Big Show and Mayweather returned to the ring for the final blow. What you did not see was Mayweather's crew still strung out on the rampway. They continued to lay EXACTLY where they fell, whether it was a comfortable angle or not. Heck, I saw someone pour a drink on the guy in the middle of the ramp and he did not move! Now that is a sell that deserves the kudos.

(3) My eyes can't follow:

Earlier in the evening and back at the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, John Morrison was making his entrance to the ring, which is the first time I have seen it live. I have to say, John Morrison going in slow motion on the screen while he was walking normally in real life was… trippy… to say the least. But for a live view, it only enhanced his character and made him seem even more… far out.

(2) Bunny's wobble and do fall down:

Before I get into this one, I'd just like to give props to WWE.com for the headline "Dog saves Bunny" when referring to Snoopy the Dog clotheslining Santino. Now, for those not in the know, there was a Bunny-mania match featuring Maria and Ashley Massaro versus WWE Women's Champion Beth Phoenix and Melina. Before the match got underway, the production crew set up a number of "bunny" elements, including two blowup bunnies on either side of the entrance ramp. As the bunnies were blown into place, the wind picked up and knocked the one on stage left over. Then, a member of the production crew came out and not only got the bunny back to standing, but kneeled behind it and held it up during the entire entrance, all the while remaining out of sight of the camera. Excellent and hard work there by the production crew, always going above and beyond the call of duty.

(1) I wanted TV ugly, not ugly ugly:

Although the production crew is not always friendly to us. Midway into the night, they were showing the backstage segment for Show/Mayweather while the loose camera crew was running around filming crowd shots that were either going to be used live or used in video packages later (most likely the later part). JT struck up a conversation with the director running around with the camera guy and convinced her to film our section. Our only direction was we had to "act natural and not look at the camera". So, with everyone around us on board we reacted to the Big Show and Mayweather and did not look at the camera. Apparently, we were not good enough because I could just catch her saying to the grip, "Oh no, that was awful. Throw it away." Yikes! Thanks for telling us we suck! Ah well, you are still the hardest working people out there, so I'll give you a pass for killing our spirits.



JT: Yes was bizarre indeed. By the time I was done talking to her, I think the whole section had received the memo and we marked the hell out and still… NO LOVE… I have checked and can also now confirm we were definitely not used on the live show. Those were all great HH's by the way JP. Overall, just a great show and as you all know, nothing like being at a live show, doubly that if it's WrestleMania! For the record to all those torn on the ECW title match, it was hilarious if you were there.

JP: Unless you used that one moment to go to the bathroom and buy a burger… then you (and by you I mean "me") missed it completely.


&
Monday, March 31, 2008 by JP… LIVE!

JP: The next night, we found our way back to the Amway Arena for RAW/HeAT. We had already been there for the Hall of Fame (while dressed up all the snazzy, but not as good as that guy in a purple pimp suit), so getting there took all of, oh, five minutes. That's great because we spent the day at Florida's #1 mini-gold course (or rather courses): Pirate's Cove. While the place is cool, it definitely did not measure up to Woody's Peril's of the Lost Jungle in Herndon, VA; the number five mini-golf course in the United States. Next stop: Skull Island Adventure Golf in South Yarmouth, MA. What? Oh right, yes, I RAW and HeAT…

JT, get back to the kitchen and start making pasta and making babies!

(5) Good luck out there kid:

After the dark match of seeing Kofi Kingston defeating Kenny Dykstra (what either was doing at RAW is beyond me, but I was glad to see both) JT Flash came to the ring for his match with Snitsky for HeAT. As Flash was climbing up the ring step, Dykstra actually gave Flash an encouraging pat on the shoulder, like "good luck kid". I don't know if Dykstra and Flash know each other from the indies or somewhere, but it was a nice bit of kayfabe breaking sincerity.

(4) That's why the call him Mr. Wrestling:

A couple of matches later on HeAT, Charlie Haas was taking on Super Crazy. After some frustration Charlie donned his mask and became Mr. Wrestling IV. Once in the mode, Mr. Wrestling IV got Super Crazy in a fairly routine abdominal stretch. But instead of leaving Super Crazy's exposed ribs sitting out there with nothing to do, Mr. Wrestling IV actually took his free hand and dug it in Super Crazy's side to dish out a little more extra pain. That's right; Mr. Wrestling IV just won the William Regal Award for the week!

(3) Let's go everybody:

On RAW, CM Punk and Chris Jericho fought in a fierce contest that had the crowd split down the middle. Or did it? What you didn't see or hear was the "Let's go Punk / Let's go Jericho" chants were started by the same people! There was a group of about a dozen people from the UK cheering for anyone remotely from Europe. But when it came to that match, they started the back and forth chant and were chanting both, and soon the crowd started picking sides while they continued to do both.

(2) The only that that move me is me:

Later in the evening, the retaining WWE Champion Randy Orton took on the revenge seeking Matt Hardy. That is, until Matt Hardy took an RKO and a nice pinfall loss. That guy just can't get his revenge right. First it was Edge, then MVP, now Randy Orton! Anyway, after the loss, the lights went down they started to show a video package from WrestleMania. Matt remained in the ring while it was going on, trying to recover. But he only started to move and actually leave the ring when one clip showed up: the one of him giving the twist of fate to MVP off of the ladder. That was a very sweet move by Matt to only be motivated by pictures of himself actually being effective!

(1) Just overcome:

Of course, the true main event of the evening was Ric Flair giving his retirement speech and everyone coming out to thank him (a moment that went on for a half hour after the cameras stopped rolling. Sorry kids at home, it pays to go to every show in existence.). After all of the wrestlers came to the ringside area, the Big Show was immediately in front. Now on TV you suddenly saw Big Show on the ring apron hugging Flair. What you didn't see what was happened before that. Big Show was so overcome with emotion and it was so pronounced on his face. Ric Flair came over to the side of the ring and waved Big Show over. Show did not waste half a second and literally bolted in one step onto the ring. He could not be held back; that is how much it meant to him. When you see someone like the Big Show so overcome, you know you have seen something truly special.

JT: JP is not lying about Big Show, kids. Ric waived him over, he literally took one step and one-footedly-Brock-Lesnar-hopped up onto that apron in LITERALLY a half seconds time (we know this because they showed this on the Titantron). The whole farewell address was really overwhelming. It's almost too much. You're standing there watching, but even in the moment can't fathom what you're seeing; almost as if your mind and body just cannot absorb the intensity of what is going on. As I said earlier, you stand, you clap, you WOOOO, you take it all in, and on the ride home you try to grasp the greatness of what you just saw. That farewell address was easily the single greatest thing I have ever seen at a live wrestling event (only slightly ahead of Ric Flair's induction speech).

Oh wait… should we mention we made it to television? Yes kids, that's right. We made television this week, and that wouldn't be the first time. As for now, I'll show you the picture from RAW. This was shown during Ric Flair's Fairwell Address; right before Trips came out:





&
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 by JP… LIVE!

JP: On Tuesday morning, we got up a bi—

JT: Way too early! Let me sleep!!!

JP: I let you sleep until 9:30, which is more than I was going to! You're lucky I slept until 8 that day.

JT: I could barely stay awake while driving, even with the top down.

JP: Geez, I don't think we've even mentioned about the sweet convertible we had for six days. There is no better way to travel in the sun then with a convertible.

JT: True that.

JP: Anyway, we drove the 4+ hours to Miami, checked into our hotel on South Beach, and seriously thought about skipping the show.

JT: We were right on the beach! What were we thinking?

JP: Of course, the whole reason we were in Miami was for SmackDown/ECW, so it made sense to actually go… after an extended beach break. And even though the show was not anywhere near as monumental as the last four we had already been to, it was still a fun time. Plus, with so many little kid (and big kid) marks around me, they were confused by who I was cheering for. Let's just say when I started to mark for John Morrison's entrance, someone actually asked me, "Whose side are you on?" My answer: "Well John Morrison's, obviously."

(5) I know it's a midget joke, but still:

In yet another Kenny Dykstra dark match, this time he came out to loose to Finlay. Finlay (another man who can't get revenge) had his son Hornswaggle with him. About a third into the match, Hornswaggle scurried under the ring after Dykstra was threatening him on the outside. In order to get back in the ring, Dykstra actually stepped on Hornswaggle as he was wiggling his way under the ring, using the leprechaun as a stepping stool!

(4) Look! Look! I did that:

On ECW, Stevie Richards took on Mike Knox because, once again, we need people who never get their revenge. Before the match got underway, they were showing the weeks of buildup of Knox attacking Stevie and Stevie attacking back. During the last segment showing the prior week, Stevie got the better of Knox jumping him in the hallway. Meanwhile in the ring, Stevie was quite excited to see himself beating up Knox and started nodding "Yeah!" and making kicking motions, quite proud of himself. Nice of Richards to stay involved with the segment and show how happy he was with his own performance.

(3) Oh we aren't ready:

Even though SmackDown (no exclamation point anymore) is taped and airs much later, the WWE was trying to keep on a tight timetable to finish up the show. Between ECW and SmackDown there are a number of things that need to change, most notably the set table and ring ropes. Well, there was some snafu with the far camera side middle turnbuckle and it apparently would not tie on, nor would the turnbuckle connector cover. Still, Justin Roberts could not be stopped from starting the show, so Edge's music hit and he and the Familia came out and used the ringsteps to enter right where the turnbuckle was still missing! Once Edge got out of the way, they went right back to working on the corner, which only got finished during the intros of the first match.

(2) The pain and the argument:

Ok, so maybe Matt Hardy gets a little revenge as he defeated MVP in a non-title contest after working on MVP's knee all match (revenge for what MVP did to him months back). After the match, the camera's followed Matt Hardy's victory parade, but the real story was MVP. MVP had rolled outside the ring and was grasping as his knee for a full three minutes, slowly trying to make his way to his feet by pulling himself up the ringsteps. Charles Robinson then came over to ask if he could help him, but MVP instead started to argue with Charles. Because he started arguing, Charles Robinson decided to just walk away, so MVP hobbled after him yelling at Robinson the whole way, with Robinson yelling back! The two never stopped their own mini-story the entire time, despite the fact that they were not on TV and were not even being followed by cameras.

(1) Switch it up:

As mentioned above, they do a lot of things to switch out the change from ECW to SmackDown, but nothing compares to the grips. During ECW, the grips around ringside were all wearing ECW shirts. Then, while the ring ropes were being changed, the grips ran backstage and changed into SmackDown shirts! Now that is dedication to detail. I mean, who is going to notice or care what black t-shirt these guys are wearing? Well, someone certainly cares about the little things, so whoever that is, they get this kudos of a Hidden Highlight.

JT: I was so tired at this point, I'm surprised I made it through the entire show with the vertigo I was experiencing in that arena. Fortunately, there was all of 6 inches of glass there to make me feel just comfortable enough to not bail. Which reminds me, it should be noted that aside from only having front row for all three shows, we ended up having END SEATS on both RAW, SD, AND the HOF (HOF was not first row). Talk about sweet for a smoker/drinker. Regarding the grips though, those little guys move around like rabbits! It doesn't matter the level of urgency, lighting in the arena, whether it's a break or not or even if a camera is around, those guys are full speed ahead (and low) at ALL TIMES. Would you believe there are literally four people who have MVP's entrance tunnel duty? Yes, fun times indeed to watch those little guys scramble.

Although, there was a much more important thing that happened. We got on TV. It was the same shot from RAW (picture is *slightly* different), so why was this so important? Because it came during the Flair Address clip that aired on ECW, then aired again on SmackDown, and will probably go on at least a DVD or two, and be shown a ton of times and remembered forever. So, in one fail swoop, myself and JP have been embedded in the archives that is the entire WWE catalog:






Taped Friday, March 28, 2008 and aired Thursday April 3, 2008 by JP… LIVE!

JP: Our trip really began on Friday. I had arrived at about 11am, but JT was not due in until 6. I took the time to learn about Orlando, see where we were, eat some food, and get the layout of the land. Also, I talked to our good friends at Midway games.

You see, we were going to be getting a demo of Midway's upcoming TNA iMPACT video game, but we got a whole lot more. Thanks to them, we got to not only go to the overstuffed iMPACT Zone for this taping, but got to sit in the production stand right behind Mike Tenay and Don West. Actually, right here (taken from the Impact showing on SpikeTV last Thursday):





So once again, many kudos to our gracious hosts at Midway for setting this up. That's Midway, makers of the TNA iMPACT video game, one of the largest advances in wrestling video games ever, coming out Summer 2008 for X-box, PS3, and Wii. Look for an exclusive review right here on 411mania by yours truly. Now on with the show!

JT: Okay, hold on… I could have sworn that I had iMPACT duties this week. I mean, that was like my ONLY thing to do wasn't it?

JP: Well, I mea-

JT: Wait, wait, wait. Lemme check something…





JT: yup… thought so!

JP: Uhhhh… dude, remember during the show? I said, "Well, I guess I'll be covering this one as well." And you said, "Yes, I don't have to do anything now!" You can't believe a forum from weeks ago. Besides, look at the LAST update, not the first. It says, "JT (Commentary Only)".

JT: mmmhmmm…No sir I do not remember that convo during the show, and I was dead sober for once! Glory-hound! That's okay though. If I feel the need, I'll simply add to what you say or add something of my own. Please continue, sir.

(5) She really does that:

We arrive a little (lot) late to the iMPACT Zone because SOMEONE had to check his luggage and it took forever to come out. But thanks to our host from Midway came out to greet us, we got to walk through the backstage area and LAX's entrance to our seats in the production pit. But before we did that, though, we paced by Traci Brooks who was warming up in the back. Have you ever seen the backstage scene where Traci is walking around back and forth in front of the production truck? Well she actually does that! There were no cameras on her, that's just where she was! And once again, the camera does no justice to Traci. I watched her in the ring and on the screen at the same time and it was like looking at two different people. I just don't get what the camera does, but I hope HD works much better!

JT: I just cannot understand it. I was again literally FEET from Traci Brooks and got an up close and personal look and this woman is F'N GORGEOUS. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE CAMERA (video or otherwise) HATES HER FACE! Seriously, I will again challenge any and all persons who want to tell me about how she is ugly or has a horse face. Somehow, someway, get within 3 feet of her, get a direct look at her, and then honestly try to come back and argue with me. It's the most insane thing I've ever seen.

(4) He's excited I tell you:

Many people complain that Mike Tenay and Don West are too animated in their announcing duties and are talking too much, but the truth of it is they are very excited. I was watching them for most of the night and they don't just sit there, stare at the monitor, and talk. They are engaged in a real conversation. Mike Tenay was waving his arms around, talking like crazy, and he and West were cracking jokes with each other when their mics were off. How they are "acting" is just how they are, and it was enjoyable to watch them go in their natural environment.

JT: I'll also add that it's great to watch them because it isn't just interaction with each other. They are hamming it up with the production people and So Cal (again, camera does her no justice) and anyone within their radius.

(3) I have no idea what they said:

Some of the backstage segments were shown to the live audience, but not all of them. Some they were taping and maybe didn't want them to appear live. For whatever reason, many of Crystal's backstage segments were just not played on the big screen. But that didn't matter because I had a clear view of Don West and Mike Tenay's monitor and watched the segments as they happened on there!

(2) Replace that:

Also at the announce table, there was a lot of collateral damage happening. In the main event, Sting took on Cowboy James Storm with Matt Morgan as the special guest referee. The match spilled to the outside, and Sting threw Storm all over the commentary table, knocked down a fan (the mechanical device, not a person), and stole Mike Tenay's bottle of water. The production folks were on top of that in a second! Without a word from Tenay, they reset everything on his desk, got his papers in order, and then opened a fresh bottle of water for him right where the old one use to be.

(1) Oh, Dixie:

Before getting into this Hidden Highlight, I would be remiss not to say that Dixie Carter is like a fine wine, only getting better with age. I don't know how, but Dixie looks even younger than the last time I saw her, and her assistant was a definite cutie as well. It almost makes me want to move out to Nashville, but then I could not stand to live inland. Still, having Dixie, her assistant, and Rose Falcon in one state might make it worth it.

Anyway, I was watching Dixie in her second row seat at various points during the night. Frankly, I was so distracted by all of the production stuff buzzing about me that I was barely watching the matches. We came in during the tag match of Tomko and AJ Styles vs. Christian Cage and Rhino. During that match and most of the subsequent matches, Dixie was busy sending out e-mails on her Blackberry or talking to various people who came over to her. But there was only one point when that didn't happen, and that was during the entrance of Sting. Dixie put everything down, stood up, and started clapping and cheering. That's right; Dixie is a complete Sting mark. It explains quite a few business decisions on her part, actually. I'm not sure how or why Dixie became a complete Sting mark, but it is obvious that Sting is her favorite, far and away.

JT: You are not joking about Dixie my friend. She really is just an unbelievably beautiful woman in person.

Also, I would also like to mention a funny thing. Vince Russo, who never seems to make it onto TV, actually sits about two seats from Dixie in said second row. The funny part is that he carries/holds a copy of the booking sheet with him, so you can catch him skimming it AS the show happens! As a matter of fact….

Notice my white hat and JP's white button up from the previous picture?





Good, now notice how nobody in this section seems to be standing?





That friends is the VIP section of TNA iMPACT tapings. They are hardly standing because they are the big wigs. Notice what appears to be a face under the bottom rope sitting right behind the guy in the first row?





That is him. Allow me to give you a much closer (albeit alternate) perspective.





That is Vince Russo, kids, clasping his booking sheet and watching the show. Seeing that pic, doesn't it amaze you he never makes it onscreen? Gotta give props to the cameramen on that one for always being aware of exactly where he is in relation to where they are.

I would also like to thank the fine gentlemen from Midway (WHO ARE MAKING THE TNA IMPACT GAME WHICH LOOKS AMAZING THAT WILL BE OUT SOON – WE HOPE!) for treating us to this fine event and then generously hosting us for an exclusive look at the revolutionary creation they will be presenting to the video game world.




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: Ok, listen, when you put them in the comments section they are no longer original content. If they are no longer original, I won't want to print them here. If you don't care, fine, go ahead and post them in the Comments. If you'd like to be featured in the article proper, join the rest of the legion of writers below. So, *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…

Also, JT, feel free to interject….wait… I didn't…. are you? …Stop writing for me!

JT: Hey! I would have interjected anyway! I was just trying to make you look like the nice guy here… sheesh.

JP: You know sometimes I'm glad you le—

JT: DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT STATEMENT! DON'T YOU DARE!

JP: Fine. We'll kick it off with Rick Landis and where I left off… the middle of last week:

I'm sitting here eating sausage gravy & biscuits (how ironic) and watching Smackdown and seen that Festus bounced off the ropes to gain a bit more speed.

I guess that he does gain some intelligence while in the ring.

JP: I had that song stuck in my head for days! And then I went to the SmackDown/ECW taping… and got it stuck in there for a few days more. Just like what Brian Bazinet said:

You probably noticed this, but I noticed a nice little touch by MVP during his match with Jericho on Smackdown. He went for a pin, but noticed that Jericho's legs were close to the ropes so he made sure to hook both of them, so Jericho couldn't get a rope break to negate the pinfall attempt.

JP: I'm trying to remember if I did notice this or not. Yikes! I have seen so much wrestling in the past seven days that is hard to keep straight, but considering it concerned MVP and Hidden Highlights Hall of Famer Chris Jericho (how dare you come out retirement and ruin our Hall of Fame!), I'll say I did!

JT: I actually do remember seeing that and catching it myself. As for the HH HOF, well, it is Jericho after all. Gotta give that man a pass!

JP: Next up we have the often misplaced anger but also often entertaining Chris Jacobs with some Classic Hidden Highlights from the RAW 15th Anniversary DVD:

I was watching the match between Gerald Briscoe and Pat Patterson vs. Mean Street Posse. In the end, when Briscoe and Patterson won the match they ended with Hulk's music, and Patterson did the rip off the shirt, Hulk flex to the crowd routine. JR made a comment when the shirt came off, "And he's single fellas". Now to most people it would come across as a screw up in words, but the Hidden Highlight here (if I remember correctly) is that Pat Patterson is actually homosexual.

Now that could have either been a slip up on JR's part, or an actual meant to say it statement. I don't know if Patterson is actually open about it or not, or if he even is honestly. I was just pretty sure I heard that somewhere, and it was amusing to hear JR say it on the Raw DVD. Patterson must not care too much, since they didn't edit it. They also didn't edit the Rock tellin' someone to "Get the fuck outta my way". After he Rock Bottomed Mick Foley through a table in the match where Mankind won the world title on Raw. Since they edited stuff such as G*d damn it, shit, Jesus Christ, etc... I thought it was funny that the F bomb wasn't taken out.

JP: What, one issue with JT and already we are dropping F-bombs around here again? Haha, but yes, as far as I know Patterson is gay. Actually, at the Hall of Fame there were a few funny references to it, including my favorite where JBL was introducing the Briscoe Bros. and said something to the affect of "when his brother retired, Jerry hooked up with another life-partner". Oh, JBL was on fire that night! Patterson also told a story about Mae Young (back when she was young) showing up at his door in her underwear and didn't describe her body or his emotions at all, so I must say that leans a little away from the hetero side. Mae Young did look good back in the day.

JT: And what about all the other girls you hit on in these columns?

JP: Are you still sore about following that gay Asian girl around for two hours?

JT: ….

JP: I'll take that as a yes. So did regular Nick Nygard:

For RAW on 3/31/08

I figured I'd just throw some that I saw throughout the first hour of RAW as I didn't have time for the second hour.

While Matt was backstage yelling at Regal my eye was somewhat drawn to the backstage area which seemed less red than usual. I used my magic DVR machine to pause it and I noticed the lights in the hallway behind the two had purple lights. You know who else had purple lights? The Hardyz! Yay colors! Yeah that one was kinda weak.

JP: Colors are never weak in Hidden Highlights!

Another one from the arguing scene with Matt and Regal. When Regal goes "Well if you want a match tonight. I'll have to think about it." Regal pauses in between before saying he'll have to think. He's thinking about thinking about it. Now that's some forethought.

JP: It's still funny thinking about Regal as a proper gentleman knowing that he started wrestling at the circus when he was 15. Ok, I'm used to it now.

During the Wrestlemania 24 Highlight Reel, which was at first accompanied by the Red Hot Chili Pepper's song Hey-Oh, right when the song goes Hey for the first time, it has Kennedy yelling from his MITB hype promo. That's a nice bit of timing. Also in the highlights, when "Snoopy the Dog" rings the bell in front of Festus it's at the word fear, which is followed by having everyone run away. As well, the word whiskey is said right as Finlay jumps through the ropes, he'd need whiskey to do that considering he gets a Trash Can lid to the face for it. The words Forever show up at the same time as a fan is shown with a Flair 4-ever sign, although there were a lot of those. During the clips from the 'Taker vs Edge match, the words Back to Life are repeated right as 'Taker Goozles Edge while prone.

JP: Once again, major kudos to the Production Crew who were on the road even longer than the wrestlers and did such amazing jobs. Heck, Ric Flair was talking until 11:35 at the Amway arena, yet they turned it into a 15-minute speech just 8 minutes later!

OK seeing as I'm not going to be able to watch the second hour because I'm already recording a different broadcast this is all I have. Still I like to consider it amazing because I'm amazing like that.

JP: Where did you learn this cockiness?

JT: He learned it from watching you!

JP: Ah! Well, I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Nick, just not before we hear from Mossby:

During the Khali/Show face-off... the hidden highlight comes in the camera angles. It's obvious to see that Khali is noticeably taller than the Show, which would take away from Show's moniker of "Biggest Athlete in the World" so the 'E changed to a ground panoramic shot rather than eye-to eye. They DID use one eye to eye shot, then returned to the ground shot and then used only face shots, so as not to dispute the Show's moniker... though one could argue Khali's not much of an athlete anyways.

JP: I was watching the process live that you are talking about. The camera guys noticeably moved their placement up or down depending on whether they were shooting Show of Khali. Sticking with RAW is Jim McDaniel:

I have a great hidden highlight from Raw 3-31. It was during the end of the show, the ring is filled with people past and present associated with Ric Flair. The locker room empties and both face and heel are there, side by side, paying tribute to Ric. I noticed just briefly that as Jesse and Festus came out, Festus was still in character! While all the other wrestlers were out there, seemed Festus went a bit old school "Kayfabe" and kept his pre-match character intact.

JP: Yes, JT was screaming in my ear when this happened! Even when Festus was clapping, he was clapping in character. Festus is fast proving to be a Hidden Highlights machine. As am I, according to the long lost Wyatt Beougher:

I just wanted to highlight a little continuity follow-up from Wrestlemania that was spotlighted on last night's RAW. Chris Jericho's new finisher, the Codebreaker, has been more or less maligned because it lacks "oomph" (and half the midcarders in RoH do it on a regular basis as a transition move). I'll admit, it's no Liontamer (neither is the Walls of Jericho, though); however, I wasn't bothered by him finishing the match against CM Punk last night with it simply because he'd hit the exact same move on Punk the night before, only with the assistance of a ladder. So, realistically, Punk would still be smarting from taking the move with a ladder, and Jericho's use of the move on a second consecutive night, this time much more successfully, really points to a great strategy going into the match.

JP: Poor CM Punk. He wins Money in the Bank while he is in the biggest de-push of his WWE career. That's not going to make him look like a credible challenger to anyone for long! Travis Bucklaschuk finally brings us to WrestleMania 24 itself!:

I just wanted to pipe in with two highlights from Mania...

First off would be from the Michaels/Flair match up, and it's not from either performer, but from the ref... But not for any of his actions but for who he is... Who is he? Little Naitch Charles Robinson, but the Highlight is for two reasons, one being that he was Flair's little lackey/clone in WCW, but also a Smackdown Ref (and what roster was Flair on? Smackdown)...

JP: Oh, I was jumping for joy when I saw that Little Naitch was reffing the match and thought it was perfect.

The second would have to be Carlito's face after Shelton sentoned the ladder.. The mixture of "Holy shit!" and "What the hell did we just do!?" and really, it became more of Carlito's moment than Shelton's to me... Now if only Kennedy wasn't looking around like an idiot....

JP: I would have put it in myself, but they've been covering it well on TV. Still, it was a perfect look, you are right. Tim Schmidt is right about his as well:

Randy Orton mouthing "no I don't" after the you suck chants is a reminder of why I like his heel attitude.

JP: Oh Randy, he's always on top of the crowd now. Once again, I'm so glad he won at WrestleMania. Absolutely the right decision WWE! Just like the return of -=Jay 2K Winger=-:

WRESTLEMANIA 24
Carlito is Shocked, Kennedy... Less So:
When Shelton Benjamin took the big bump during MITB, what really sold it for me was Carlito's reaction. He just had this "ohhhh my GOD" expression like he can't believe what he just did. Kennedy, who'd helped him do it, just spends more time looking upward, as if thinking about how to climb the ladder, and then just peers around the ladder with this "What happened over here?" expression, and looks decidedly less shocked and appalled.



JP: Already covered, but man that image sells it all.

RAW
Orton is Sneaky:
When Matt Hardy jumped Orton at the start of Raw, they were quickly separated by security, who held down Matt so Orton could get away. Orton, however, didn't just leave right away. He quickly dashed in, sucker punched Matt in the head, and then IMMEDIATELY grabbed his title and scurried off, with this big grin on his face.



JP: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha! More evil Orton!

JT: You know I'm also glad to see him finally getting some love. I remember covering an interview of his on ByteThis! shortly after he had turned face and gave the title right back to Trips. I said something to the effect of "You know, while the E has probably set him back YEARS, I still believe he can eventually be a top guy in the company." Well, here we are, YEARS later, and it looks like he has finally gotten himself to or near that spot. With better booking and a better attitude from Orton, this might have all happened much sooner for him, but better late than never I suppose.

Announcers Covering For Each Other:
...but not in the way you'd think. J.R., no disrespect to the man, is getting older, and commonly will get names wrong, which Lawler will do his best to cover up. Well, TWICE on Monday, it was the other way around. During the Punk/Jericho match, Lawler tries to compare Punk's kicks to Jean-Claude Van Damme, but mistakenly calls him "Claude Van Damme." J.R. very quickly says, "Claude Van Damme? Who's that, Rob Van Dam's cousin?" Later, during Orton/Matt, Lawler accidentally calls Matt "Jeff Hardy," which again J.R. covers for, but brings up (briefly) the Jeff/Orton feud as well.

JP: Well, since I haven't heard RAW, I'll take your word for it!

Announcers Who Know When To Just Shut Up:
Unlike the announcers in a certain other wrestling company, J.R. and Lawler know when to just be quiet and let a moment speak for itself, as in the Flair Retirement moment that closed Raw. They said nothing, just let the parade of legends and current superstars speak for itself, but for one brief comment. When Tully, Windham, AA, and Dillon came down to the ring, J.R. quietly said, "This is the first time the original Four Horsemen have been in the same ring since 1988." It was a small comment that let the fans at home know just how momentous this occasion was, apart from being the retirement of the greatest wrestler in this business.

JP: Hey, I enjoyed watching Tenay and West going crazy and gabbing to each other off-camera! Good times!

ECW
Great Opening Transition:
So ECW opened up by showing clips from Mania, with Kane winning the Battle Royal, then his very fast title win. But as the video package closed, it was ending with a shot of Kane raising his arms to summon the fire, and when the moment came, it suddenly switched to the "live" shot on ECW, with Kane's pyro going off and the new champ walking out..



JP: It happened in the arena, which took me way by surprise! I didn't have enough time to get my sunglasses down over my eyes.

Colin Can't Catch a Break, And Big Show Doesn't Like It Either:
Colin Delaney has been doing a fantastic job as the new Mikey Whipwreck, and his facial expressions really help sell his character, from the excitement when he thinks he's got a contract, to the "you just kicked my puppy" expression he had when Estrada busted out April Fools, to the "I am SO gonna get f***ed up" sad expression when confronted with the Big Show. Colin just tried to walk away, but Show just grabs him by the shoulder, then gives Colin a shrug, as if he were saying "I don't like havin' to toss you around, either, kid, but you gotta do what you gotta do."



JP: What you didn't see was that Colin did, in fact, come out without theme music and no fanfare whatsoever, selling his character (in fact the lights in the arena were out and it was dark because the crew was doing something). My favorite part, too, was that he said he had to buy a ticket to WrestleMania, which just about made my day. But to finish off this day, I turn it over to the also returning DJ Strong (it's been long-lost return week here in Hidden Highlights):

On the Judgment Day poster featuring Triple H, he's wearing an inmate number that looks to be DO888.

The eighth letter of the alphabet is H.

DO888=DOHHH.

JP: That… that is just amazing. Nice work there! I totally would not have figured that one out!

JT: Great stuff from the readers, as it always has been and always will be. I must admit one of the biggest things I miss about doing this column is getting to read all of the emails (not just the ones selected) to see just how many people have their eyes open for Hidden Highlights. But I have interjected myself enough into this one, take us home JP.


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 special thanks to my good buddy and former partner in crime JT for coming in this week and… uh… Geez, you really didn't do anything, did you?

JT: I planned to! I have already proven my "In Defense Of… JT doesn't do shit" case because that wasn't the plan!

Kidding aside though, thanks to JP who made a big part of this happen (I take credit only for the tickets), thanks to everyone in Orlando and Miami that were great to us, thanks to all the readers for hopefully welcoming me back for this week, thanks to the Midway guys (awesome stuff guys), and thanks to the WWE for showing us a great time.

Also, thanks to the readers and people who have continued to email me and tell me how much they miss me on HH; I truly appreciate it. If I haven't emailed you back, please understand how busy I've been the last 8 months. If I wasn't so busy, I'd have never left HH. Finally I got a vacation, and this was one of the better times I've had in my entire life, and I can pretty much only sum it like this:

You may want to turn up the volume a little, it was taken from someone taping their television, as the clip is not available other than at WWE.com, which has been no-selling me on their vids for a while now. Also feel free to disregard the 12 year old kid in the last 15 seconds of the video.





JP: Thank you, Ric! And JT, it was a real pleasure having you back for a week. I do miss having you around every week, but I'm glad to get you as a guest host whenever I can. Only with you around can an 11-page article blossom into 20 pages!

If you are looking for something a little more compact to read, 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 136th ISSUE… LIVE! 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!