Hidden Highlights 05.12.08: Issue #141

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #141

Hello everyone who has no idea where (physically) they will be in two weeks but in all likelihood just began 11 days on the road, 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: We should talk about football (all definitions of the word) more often in this column! That was quite the comments section for two passing remarks at the end of the SmackDown Hidden Highlights section. Nick and I didn’t even banter about it; we just kind of made some light statements! Well, the banter was definitely taken care of throughout the comments. Forget the opinions for now. Can I just tell you how impressed I am to hear from such a variety of countries and viewpoints?

Also from last week, I didn’t mention it but the new banners you saw for the PPV and UWF were created by yours truly! Yeah, I’m not very good with this Photoshop stuff yet, but I’ll figure it out some as we go. Right now, Small is a little better than me, but he does have better material to work with. On a side note, JT had me take pictures of him everyday in newer and more ridiculous outfits that he then picture mailed to a lady friend of his back in Michigan. If you think the picture Small keeps showing you is hilarious, you should see what I have!

But JT is a good friend of mine, so I won’t harass him that much. Besides, I have stories over him that were censored in his guest spot, so you can only imagine!

This week’s guest host is a man I have years and years of stories over, and he vice versa on me. We’ve known each other for almost 8 years although we have no idea how we met. Not only is he a good friend of mine, but he is the proprietor of A Sports Scribe, a staff sports writer for The New York Beacon, works for one of the largest and most powerful advertising agencies in the world, and my brother from a different mother (and father): Jason Clinkscales! Jay?

Jay: Prag, what up? Good to be here. Of course, maybe if I was here last week, I would have debated the superiority between Australian Rules and American football. I do that whole “covering the Super Bowl champion New York Giants” thing. Then again, because I’ve never watched Aussie Rules, my lack of knowledge would have prompted a Mike Adamle moment. Not a good idea.

JP: Maybe not, but I’m quite sure 95% of the Americans would get behind you no matter what you said. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Jay: Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

JP: Exactly! Now let’s get on with the Hidden Highlights!

Monday, May 5, 2008 by JP

JP: It was be mean to ECW night on RAW where the WWE Tag Team Champions lost to a makeshift team of a loudmouth and a gimp, the Money in the Bank winner had his match turned off in the middle, and the entire roster (thankfully) defeated two men, but then got laid out by a single man, who in turn was laid out by another man. Therefore, your pecking order for the evening is William Regal > Everyone. What? Did you think I would ever dare respect the GM or RAW and King of all the WWE?

(3) Now with New and Improved:

Speaking of the King of WWE William Regal (you know, it must be retribution for all his time as a page to King Booker), I noticed something interesting when he was making his way to the ring at the beginning of the show. Just in the corner of the screen I caught a glimpse of King Regal’s entrance video and noticed that it has already been updated to include his victories in the King of Ring tournament, particularly his submission win over Hornswaggle. That’s a nice bit of work by the production department to take the shift in Regal’s direction and make sure it is know right in his video already. Now go updated Jesse and Festus’ video so you don’t have the scene of them before they were Jesse and Festus in there!

(2) Always a pleasure:

Later in the evening, William Regal let his power be known when he kicked JR out of the announce booth and gave out Mike Adamle for a match featuring the Burchill Siblings against John Cutler. As Adamle got himself positioned in the announce table he let Jerry Lawler (the false King, he lost that title) know that it was a real pleasure to be working with him. Lawler, to all his credit in the world, just said, “Well…” and left it hanging longing enough for Adamle to say something else. I really enjoyed that Lawler did not return the greeting in any way, yet didn’t make it obvious that he was insulting Adamle.

(1) Hot hot hot:

As mentioned above, the main event saw the entire ECW roster against Triple H and Mr. Kennedy. After most of the ECW roster made their way out to the ring, the ECW Champion Kane came out for a solo introduction. As Kane got into the center of the ring, he was about to set off his pyro when CM Punk and Kofi Kingston—and only those two—jumped down from the ring apron to avoid getting burned. Why didn’t the rest of the guys jump down? I have no idea. Or maybe the question should be why did CM Punk and Kofi Kingston jump down? We may never know, but it will remain a mystery Hidden Highlight.

Jay: Can I just say that I’m looking forward to the King of all the WWE deciding to cut off our cable from the hours of 9-11 on Mondays until he gets some respect? At least to watch the IWC go ballistic.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 by Jason Clinkscales

Jay: It’s ECW’s 100th episode on Sci-Fi, which means… actually, it means it has survived, which to quote on Diamond Dallas Page, “it’s a good thing!” Tommy Dreamer needs some Aleve, Colin Delaney wins the right to some entrance music and John Morrison sees some weaknesses in CM Punk and Kane.

(3) C is for Cookie Sheet and Cookie Sheet is for You!:

For the opening match, ECW Original Tommy Dreamer took on Mike Knox with Extreme Rules. Dreamer has a chronicled history of back injuries in his career, something that Knox used to his advantage. Knox revved up his ring psychology throughout the match, but being that this was an Extreme Rules match, the opportunity presented itself. After delivering a clothesline onto the outer mat, Knox breaks out the cookie sheet and smashes it over Dreamer’s spine. The sheet itself was bent in half, showing the force behind the blow. Stevie Richards, as a guest commentator, adds to this by saying “I don’t know what hurts more, the clothesline or the cookie sheet to the back?” I’m not sure if Julia Child thought that would be a good use of a cookie sheet, but in our world, it suits just fine.

(2) Well, At Least I Still Have My Short-term Memory:

After hitting the corkscrew onto the steel chair, Knox not only rolls Dreamer for a pin with his outer leg, but locked Dreamer’s inside leg to ensure that the match ended. Considering that he took quite a few head shots from a paddle, a hockey stick, a garbage can and a shopping cart, to still have the awareness to sell the pin deserves some kudos in my book. Actually, I think I’ll hand the Aleve to Knox instead of Tommy Boy.

(1) Oh, You’re Gonna Get It:

This was an overall observation of the commentary between our guest commentators and Adamle, who did begin the show by apologizing to the ECW audience for walking off the broadcast one week before. While his announcing has been roundly criticized, what the E has done within Tuesday’s show was very telling. It appeared as if they are having the heels of the ECW brand play-up the criticisms more than the faces. While Richards – a face – never mentioned or even broached the mistakes Adamle has made, it was Shelton Benjamin and the World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz who used their guest spots to further rake the errant announcer. Richards and Tazz picked up most of the commentary for the Dreamer/Knox match while it appeared that our heels set up Adamle for a few mishaps here and there. It’s an interesting approach, but it looks to be that the E will at least consider making Adamle a sympathetic figure.

JP: I just wonder if they’ll continue to have guest commentators in every match, or maybe go with a three man team (Tommy Dreamer?) to even out the mix and help Adamle learn?

Thursday, May 8, 2008 by Jason Clinkscales

Jay: Down in Orlando at the last Impact before Sacrifice, Jim Cornette couldn’t deal with the nagging, the whining and the moaning. So what else is new, right? He announces two teams made up from the Egotistical Eight for the Deuces Wild Tag Team Tournament. Later both teams have ‘bonding moments’ as partners faced each other that night. Meanwhile Scott Steiner tries to teach Kurt Angle the importance of teamwork by taking out Samoa Joe. As for the ladies? Well, one less Knockout won’t be bald.

(3) Let Me Drop Him on His Head Before I Get to You, Okay?:

In the X-division match, Curry Daniels… I mean, Curry Man, was almost too quick to get back into the ring after being introduced to the mat outside of the ring. While Petey Williams set to hit Creed with the Canadian Destroyer, Curry Man was slowly re-entering the ring between the middle and bottom ropes. As Williams was locked into position, our Hot & Spicy friend actually froze himself for a moment until Williams executed the move. Of course, Curry Man was actually close enough to have been inadvertently kicked by the flipping wrestlers. The camera showed the two wrestlers in the ring, but in the lower right corner, you could see the top of Curry’s head stay in position long enough. Wise move by the Spicy One.

(2) Yeah, Um… I’ve Got Nothing, Don:

The Definition of Definition finds himself in the second HH for TNA, although not in the way he’d enjoy. A few minutes after taking Creed out with the Destroyer, Petey Williams makes a second attempt, this time on Shark Boy. As he tries to flip, Jimmy Rave blocks the move by holding Shark Boy in place, forcing Williams to flip to Rave’s end. As Rave is able to knock him to the mat, he actually kicks Williams in the face – inadvertently breaking his nose in the process. Williams rolls out of the ring and isn’t seen for the remainder of the match. The HH isn’t here in the kick, but in the audio cut between Mike Tenay and Don West. Tenay, being the play-by-play announcer, points out the moves executed, but he doesn’t seem to say anything about Williams or Rave’s following moves. Instead, it’s West who actually follows up, despite being the color commentator. If there was a pause in reaction to Williams’ injury, it was minimized so that the audio continued to follow the action. A solid splice job by the producers, hoping to make things as seamless as possible.

(1) Next time, it’s the boots in the ring and the flip-flops on the beach. D’oh!:

Sometimes, the little things make you shake your head. Not because they’re good or bad, but because it was so ridiculous that it’s good no matter how you slice it. That was the case for the War Machine, Rhino. As he and Christian Cage cut a backstage promo, they are interrupted by Team 3D. After a fat joke from Cage and a math lesson from Brother Ray (“Do you know what 16 and 5 are? That’s 20!”), the four men break out into a brawl. As they are moving about, throwing fists and kicks, Rhino and Brother Devon tussle further into the unlit background. Yet if you look closely, you’d find that Rhino wasn’t wearing wrestling boots or even sneakers… but flip-flops!

Flip-flops?!?!

I hear the weather is pretty balmy in Orlando and the beaches are amazing, so maybe Rhyno was headed to the sands after the taping. Who knows?

JP: I really loved that one and was totally transfixed on Rhino’s feet the entire time. Maybe Rhino the character didn’t plan on being in a brawl, but the man behind the character must have known it was coming! Of course, I’ve been known to wear my Jesus sandals to concerts, so it’s not like I can talk.

Jay: No you can’t. But I do have a question, JP.

When Jim Cornette spoke to the Knockouts about their match that evening, he said “you all have more static than a two-dollar iPod”. You ever had a two-dollar iPod, Prag?

JP: No sir! Jim Cornette must know some real hot sources that even you or I haven’t heard of. I mean $2? I don’t think event he Zune is going for that yet!

Friday, May 9, 2008 by JP

JP: The Chase to the Championship at Judgment Day was on. Boy, was it a long crazy path just to get Edge vs. Undertaker again. The highlight (regular) for me was how good John Morrison looked in his match with Batista. The WWE may actually be getting behind Morrison again and let him move up the card. Sadly, I believe that could stymie the Miz’s development. But it would be worth it for more Morrison and a fresh person in the main event picture.

(3) That’s a break:

The Chase for the Championship began with a batch featuring Matt Hardy taking on CM Punk in a rematch from the King of the Ring tournament. Matt Hardy was working on CM Punk’s left arm throughout the match was not willing to let go for anything. At one point, CM Punk had made it to the ropes, but Hardy dragged him back to the center of the ring. Much to my surprise and delight, referee Jimmy Corderus actually got in between the men and forced Matt Hardy to break the hold! Too often referees have let competitors drag other to the center of the ring after they make the ropes (see: Angle, Kurt; Shall Not be Named, He Who) when the ropes should mean an automatic break. I’m glad to see this rule being enforced for a change.

(2) Walk alike, talk alike:

Also during the Chase for the Championship, MVP took on Finlay. Strangely, I noticed something quite interesting as well: MVP followed the exact same strategy as Matt Hardy—working on the left arm of his opponent. That was not the only similarity, as Matt Hardy did some cheating moves (like the one mentioned above) and walked away cocky after his win instead of sticking around or shaking Punk’s hand. It seems like MVP and Matt Hardy grew very much similar to each other during their time as tag team champions, and they continue to act that way even when they are apart.

(1) Who won what?:

I’ve caught ones similar to this before, but I do like to point them out. When it got down to the final four competitors in the battle royal (errr… the first battle royal), Michael Cole started to go over the accolades of the men in the ring. That is when he said that The Big Show and Batista were former World Heavyweight Champions and that “Kane was a former WWE Champion.” I really like that Cole makes the distinction between the championships and puts that much thought into his broadcast. Michael Cole: always underrated.

Jay: Well, considering that I spent a paid-day-off in transit and ducking the rain, I didn’t even see Smackdown. Shame on me, huh? But, a good catch nonetheless.

Friday, May 9, 2008 by Nick Noel… LIVE!

JP: Now here’s something I don’t get to do everyday. We’ll have on guest co-host talk to another one! Welcome back after last week’s column Nick Noel!

Nick: G’day JP! Missed ALL of this week’s wrestling on television, but just got back from the ROH show in Manassas, VA and have my live Hidden Highlights from there.

(5) Sweet and Sour Incorporated Is A Business!:

Super agent Larry Sweeney comes out with his stable of performers, but they’re not his main concern. Stitching up deals is what he’s there for, as each time he accompanies someone out he’s chatting away on his Bluetooth headset. He also has gold business cards! And Larry Sweeney gets the line of the night when, referring to Sara Del Ray receiving the check he sent, she’s “now residing in a different tax bracket”.

(4) Was Erick Stevens A Hockey Player?:

Because when firing off chops to Austin Aries he not only lifted his shirt out of the way, but pulled it right up over the top of his head and wrapped it around up there.

(3) There’s A Mrs. Necro Butcher?:

As it’s been pointed out for wrestlers before, Necro Butcher also wears a band of black tape around his ring finger. Considering the man was bleeding from the forehead before he even got to the ring, there really is someone out there for everyone.

(2) And In The Same Vein:

Necro Butcher really makes it look painful. Instead of just picking people off the mat by their heads (like most of the other wrestlers out there), Necro Butcher digs his fingers into eyes, noses, and mouths as he drags them up. Just that little extra bit of pain being dished out by a seriously crazy man.

(1) They Weigh In At What?:

In a point that I really liked tonight, all the wrestlers from NOAH (Takeshi Morishima, Naomichi Marufuji & Go Shiozaki) were introduced with their weight measured in kilograms as opposed to pounds. Great stuff.

And the best thing I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring? Takeshi Morishima delivering a cartwheel elbow. Words cannot describe it.

Jay: I’ll tell you something that’s impressive. How about a Yankee game that ends before the Winter Solstice comes? That’s impressive. That’s also me obviously mixing my work with the Beacon in with 411 for some cheap pop (sportswriters can’t seem to get enough of it).

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: You head my call and came a-knockin’. 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 Trevor Alexander who decided to perv up the column this week:

Angelina Love’s nipple made a surprise appearance after the brawl with ODB and Gail Kim. Her nipple was clearly visible as she is retreating up the ramp, the camera people cut to a shot of Gail Kim and then back to Angelina with the nipple now being blurred. I see two “problems” with this. The first being is that they caught her nipple slip after they cut to Gail and then blurred it out. Now this would be fine and dandy, ok well blurring a nipple is never fine, if this were a live show, this was pre taped. So the guys in the booth had no excuse not to catch this.

The second “problem” was that I caught this on the TNA IMPACT REPLAY! There is no way this was an accident in my opinion. ODB even said “I can put my paws all over those big fake fun bags of yours” right before it happened.

With that said I hope ODB gets a hold of Cheerleader Melissa next week and does the same, that is all.

JP: Interesting conspiracy theory. My thought is that they still wanted to show the Love reaction shot, so they just went with the blurring. If TNA was hoping to gain some hype on this and some viral fix, it certainly did nothing. There has been very little to nothing on the… ahem… less prestigious sites on the slip. So if this was the new CMO’s idea, it certainly went nowhere. Unlike Chris Jacobs who went years back in time for this one:

I would like to point out on the 15th Raw Anniversary DVD, I was watching the HBK vs. Angle Iron Man Match, and HBK hit the flying forearm, to which JR commented “THE FLYING BURRITO!” I found it funny since one of the writers on here mentioned that Heenan “I think” used to say that when Tito Santana would hit it.

JP: I like when some moves take on the gimmicks of the wrestlers forever. Like when someone drops their opponent in the corner it is still called “Snake Eyes” after Kevin Nash’s character “Vinnie Vegas” during his first run in WCW. Now whatever happened to calling the Death Valley Driver the Spicoli Driver? Maybe Mark Strong knows:

Not very hidden at all but still fantastic…

During the Motor City Machine Guns v Curry Man and Shark Boy match, Alex Shelley went face first into the bowl on Curry Mans head and when he came up from eating he mouthed the word “spicy”!

Priceless.

JP: We covered it last week (heck it was Nick’s number one for iMPACT), but I liked it so much I ran it twice. Now pay attention, like I know Jehy Janik did:

On ECW following the Kane vs. Chavo/Bam match, Bam was going to enter the ring through the far ring ropes right where Kane was laying. He put he head through, but looked like he thought better of it and walked around on the apron to where Chavo was celebrating, then entered the ring. Even with Kane down selling his intimidation factor, maybe Bams got hope.

JP: We really don’t know too much about Bam, but I’ve been noticing a lot of little things from him. Maybe he’s a big guy in the Tomko vein and not a big guy in Snitsky vein. Although I will give Snitsky credit forever for living his gimmick so much that he permanently dyed his teach brown. That may have saved his job in all reality. But someone just got a job, and John Bakerr wants to point it out:

Monday’s main event was Kennedy and HHH vs. the ECW roster. I noticed that Colin Delaney was missing, and then I realized that it made perfect sense, because he still hasn’t earned his ECW contract from Armando Estrada.

JP: This was by far one of my favorite Hidden Highlights of the week that I noticed as well. I’m glad someone realized (because I don’t trust that the RAW writers watch ECW) that Colin Delaney was not on the ECW roster! Like I’ve said before, sometimes it is about what you DON’T do that makes a big difference. Then again, sometimes you do strange things, as Philip Sinkins noticed:

A small Clothing highlight I noticed.

On Smackdown 2/5/08 – Edge was wearing a Rey Mysterio Belt Buckle… strange choice for a heel

JP: That is… really random? I just guess that Adam Copeland was wearing it in support of his friend Rey (although I don’t ever remember reading anything about them being close), but Edge the character? Well, I could see it as kind of a dick heel thing to do, like “I’m so evil that I can take something that belongs to the people who love him and make it my own”, but that may be a stretch. But you weren’t the only one who noticed it as Terry saw the same:

Don’t know if anyone else caught it. But off last weeks last weeks Smackdown, when Vickie Guerrero was stripping the Undertaker of the title. Look at Edge’s belt buckle real close. Recognize the mask? Its Rey Mysterio’s mask.

JP: Just weird. But for some things a little less weird and more awesome, Glen Russel will wrap us up this week with some LIVE Hidden Highlights (my favorite kind) from RAW in Toronto. Hey Randle, where are your write ins?:

I went to RAW last night in Toronto, and thought that I would share some of my hidden highlights with you.

During the Main Event I was looking at the ECW Wrestlers and I knew someone was missing. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I knew exactly who, Colin Delaney. I thought this was a great touch as the kid hasn’t yet earned an ECW Contract, so he wouldn’t be required to be there for this match. Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that’s the highlight!

JP: It’s like you are quoting me or something!

Before the Main Event, all of the ECW wrestlers were lined up around the ring getting ready for the faces to enter. When Triple H got in to the ring, the four wrestlers standing on the camera side of the ring (CM Punk, Kane, Tommy Dreamer and Kofi Kingston) all hoped down off the apron and stood ring side. I thought this was such a subtle thing that the camera probably missed, as it let Triple H do his water spit and pose as usual. Also, when I thought about it, those four wrestlers are the biggest faces on the ECW Roster. It really created a divide as all the heels were on the apron ready for the match, while the faces, who clearly didn’t want to be a part of Regal and Estrada’s scheme, were separated.

JP: ECW is pretty heel heavy, isn’t it? I’m just glad that the entire brand one that match. I could not stand to see two men defeat 16 again.

Before the show started Lillian Garcia came out to welcome us, and ran down the plan for the night. She then welcomed us to the “Air America Centre” which got HUGE Heat, since it is you know the Air Canada Centre. Later during the Heat tapings as Hacksaw Jim Duggan came out to a luke warm reaction, however on his way down he switched his American flag for a Canadian one that he waved around to a huge ovation (not sure if this will show up on Heat or not). The Hidden Highlight to me came when thinking about these two together, while I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be, it felt like it was a little apology to us fans as they switched from Canada to America back to Canada in a nice fitting bit of symmetry.

JP: I think the Hidden Highlight is that Duggan waved the Canadian flag since it more than likely will not show up on HeAT! On top of that, they’ll probably dub in some pop for him.

During the commercial break after Piper on the Cabana, Cryme Tyme sold off Carlito’s hammock for I think $140 Canadian. Later on during the show I saw several production guys run around (I was way up in the top section, so I had a good view of the ringside area). Looking closely, one of them had the hammock in his hand. I guess they went on got the hammock back from the fan. Now I assume that they compensated him fairly, but I liked to think that Cryme Tyme sent the guy out to “reacquire” it so that they could sell it again. Either way, it cracked me up.

JP: Now that is just mean! But $140 is a decent price for a quality hammock—especially if it came with the accessories! And at today’s conversion rates, CA$140 is equal to US$139.17. Not much a bargain anymore. Forget you Casino de Montreal! If dollar slots actually cost be a dollar, I’m not interested.

Jay: I wonder if Cryme Tyme gives discounts when they come through to the hometown. As long as they aren’t trying to hustle some subpar rap CD on me in the middle of Times Square, I got to holla at them for something.

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 [email protected] 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: Extra special thanks to one of the few people in the world I will call a close friend Jason Clinkscales for coming in and learning how tough my job is! What you don’t know is that Jay actually was visiting New England this weekend and we worked on this article together, so this is only the third time an issue of Hidden Highlights has been done actually face-to-face. Congratulations to the momentous occasion!

Jay: It’s been a pleasure, my friend. I was going to ask earlier in HH for some shameless plugs, but I see that you have already taken care of that for me. I don’t have to pay for them, do I?

Can I at least get some more cheap pop on the way out?

JP: Of course! Be sure to check out more of Jay in…

A Sports Scribe

The New York Beacon

Talking about himself

And when you are done reading Mr. Clinkscales stuff, 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 141st 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!