Hidden Highlights 08.25.08: Issue #156

Posted by JP Prag on 08.25.2008

The Hell in the Cell door can’t stop swinging, Ted Dibiase tries to stop the Five-Knuckle-Shuffle, Super Crazy plays it smart when trying to save Tommy Dreamer, Awesome Kong comes down from the rafters, Finlay plays the role of janitor on SmackDown, and more!

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #156

Commentator: Previously, on Hidden Highlights…

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Commentator: With an enemy, as weak and small as they may be, on the horizon, the people of Hidden Highlights gathered their arms and prepared to bar the castle gates.

Gothekain: This article rocks as always, and I hope those thieves from the other site get owned.

Commentator: But while looking in the caste walls, there were more important matters to deal with.

Joey Gladstone: The word JBL used was "quixotic". Of or like Don Quixote. And it is a real word.

Kung Fu Janitor: quixotic-
1. (sometimes initial capital letter) resembling or befitting Don Quixote.
2. extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
3. impulsive and often rashly unpredictable.

Great word and should be used more often.

Commentator: And then, the larger question still remained: Who is Suicide?



HeartBurnKid: Anybody actually try going to the WhoIsSuicide.com site? It redirects to http://www.myspace.com/whoissuicide , which seems oddly non-TNA-oriented...

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Commentator: And now, 411mania.com proudly presents…





JP: Hello everyone whose schedule is a complete topsy-turvy mess, and welcome back to Hidden Highlights! If you've never been here before, let me tell you what we are doing in these pages.

Hidden Highlights 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. The Miz may hold his opponents hands down to make a pin attempt better. Charles Robinson may let a little tear shed from his eye every time someone mentions Ric Flair. Mike Tenay may tell you about the 17 year history of a visiting wrestler and make them sound huge in one sentence. These are all examples of little things that make the product far better.

Every week this article spotlights the Top 15 Hidden Highlights of the week, whether the be from television (RAW, ECW of SciFi, iMPACT, SmackDown!, and a PPV or television special if there is one), the past, small shows, tapes, or the indy scene.

This article may have an author, but it is also dependent upon the readers and true fans of professional wrestling—those who love what they watch and want to tell the world what they have found. The Top 15 are chosen from what I see and what readers write-in. Whatever is the best is what you'll see!

And who am I? Well, 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.

Now let's get on with the Hidden Highlights!


[WWE SummerSlam] Takers is ready

JP: We'll kick it off this week with former Hidden Highlights co-host JT!

Ghost of JT: You mean I get to write one?

JT: Out of my, imitator. The real deal is coming through!

Jeff Small: Prove you're the real deal!

JT: Well, when we were in Florida for WrestleMania, I ended up at a [CENSORED] chasing a [CENSORED] until [CENSORED] while [CENSORED] was going [CENSORED]

Jeff Small: Good enough for me!

JT: Thank you. Anyway, halfway into the HITC, Edge did something devastating to Taker. I forget what it was, but when Taker sat up, Edge was not even in his eyesight but Taker stuck up his hands in a boxing form like "Lets go! I'm a boxer!". That was pretty great. I'd probably write it much longer and more descriptive, but hey, not now!

JP: Because you are drunk?

JT: Thoroughly!

Jeff Small: Small drink count: 12 beers, 1 whiskey sour, 1 white Russian, and 3 fuzzy navels.


[WWE SummerSlam] Through the looking glass

JP: There was more during the main event as lwcmvp let's us know.

lwcmvp: Undertaker went to slam the door behind him as he has in past Hell in the Cells; well the door was apparently to small for the doorway because it did not slam shut and it came through the doorway and hit him in the back.

JP: Man, they never fixed that thing quite right since Kane ripped it off the hinges a decade ago!


[RAW] Taking a swing at things

JP: The night after SummerSlam was, of course, Monday Night RAW. And on RAW, there were quite a few Hidden Highlights, but we'll start off with favorite Mickie James. Early in the evening, she teamed up with Kelly Kelly to take on Jillian Hall and Katie Lea Burchill. At one point in the match, Jillian was dominating Kelly and tried to goad Mickie into the ring to distract the referee. This worked as Mickie came storming in and the referee was quick to intercept. But despite being held back, Mickie managed to still throw some punches and land one on Jillian's back. I liked that Mickie continued to commit to the action of trying to hit Jillian despite the fact that the referee had her and was pushing her out of the ring. More often than not, when someone is intercepted they just try to duck around the ref before going back to the corner; but Mickie kept herself committed until the ref physically forced her out of the ring.


[RAW] Another attempted shot

JP: Also on RAW, John Cena was in a handicapped match against the World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase. At one point, Cena was in the ring with Rhodes and dominating him thoroughly. As Cena was bouncing off the ropes to set up for the five knuckle shuffle, Ted Dibiase looked absolutely devastated and distraught, but then realized he could do something about it. When Cena was near his side, he took a swipe at him! Sure, he missed the shot, but at least he tried to stop Cena unlike most people!


[RAW – Retro one week] And the GM of the Year Award goes to…

JP: After Cena won the match, there it reminded Bruce Walters of something else from a week ago.

Bruce Walters: I just wanted to write in and give some dap to Mike Adamle, who is doing a great job as GM by playing it right down the middle, not favoring the faces or heels. Case in point: after the Cena/Batista vs. Rhodes/DiBiase match, after Simply Priceless gets punked out and Cena and Batista start going at it, Adamle come out with the security, but stops for a split as he get to the ring to check on Rhodes (I think), who is on the ground at ringside.

The heel and/or babyface General Manager has become such a staple of WWE it's nice to NOT KNOW just what the GM is going to do when he makes his next decision.

JP: Did you also catch this week when Cena arrived and he was being nice to him? I love that Adamle is nice to everyone but the crowd sees him as disingenuous and boos him for it. What we need now is for him to really get behind a face like Kofi Kingston and do everything to help that person succeed, and that person needs to keep telling him off and say he doesn't want the help. Then, of course, in the end he has to turn heel and accept it to win a big title!


[RAW] That's a reference and a half

JP: Of course, there is one man that Adamle treats very fairly, and that's the Big Red Monster Kane!

lwcmvp: During his promo on RAW, Kane described Rey Mysterio as "the fly in the room which contaminates whatever he touches". This is a HH, because the last time Rey was on RAW, he was wearing a mask with mesh covering the eyeholes and it made him look like a fly.

JP: And I really hated those fly eye masks he has! Let's see those crazy contact lenses!


[RAW] I didn't do my yoga this morning

JP: In the WWE's continued summer tradition of giving away huge matches, the main event of RAW saw CM Punk take on Chris Jericho. About halfway through the match, Jericho was trying to set up CM Punk for the abdominal stretch right in the center of the ring. Well, Punk was actually fighting and would not just extend his arm, so Jericho had to hit him not once, but twice in the ribs to get him to put his arm up. I really liked that Jericho had to work to put in the move and that Punk was just not willing to go into it. These moves and a match is supposed to be about a competition and you need to actually fight and try to counter. It came across very subtle but very well here.


[RAW] And the conspiracy theory of the week

JP: With more conspiracy ideas, here's Derek Siow!

Derek: So after watching Raw I couldn't wait to read the Rawtopsy and Raw Report to see their comments on what I thought was the most intelligent reveals/payoffs I've ever seen on WWE as to where a story line was going (almost like a 'Usual Suspects' Kaiser Souzai-type reveal) but there was nothing! And nothing in the 'Comments' section from anyone either! So either it's a Wacky Wrestling theory that I should be sending to Jake Chambers or it's a Hidden Highlight. My HH is that Jericho and HBK are retelling the Benoit tragedy in a way that makes the people understand it from their perspective (whether they've been plotting this from the start or it was a recent idea) and I discovered this HH as follows…

JP: This is going to be interesting! Don't mind if I interrupt as you go.

Derek: 1) The line that got me was when Jericho said "despite Shawn's accolades and nicknames, all that matters is that the last moment he ever spent in this ring was him cradling the head of his unconscious wife and knowing that he was responsible for it. Shawn has tarnished his career and legacy forever (HH) and he and his family will have to live with it forever."

JP: I actually did think that that was interesting choice of words, and can concede your idea so far. Go on!

Derek: 2) The cameraman did a close-up on Jericho and I swear it looks like he's about to cry (HH) like he was saying Benoit's legacy will be tarnished forever no matter what Benoit's achieved in his life especially after HBK made that long list of his achievements at Summerslam the night before. I was wondering why they were talking about the 'wife' and 'kids' at Summerslam and how 'Jericho will never be Shawn Michaels' but now drawing the correlation to Benoit it's because Benoit so desperately wanted to be at the HBK/HHH level. Also Jericho grew up wanting to be like HBK.

JP: I really just think the wife and kids stuff is to make it more human. They also talk about Jericho's wife and kids, who have nothing to do with anything. And although this feud is about Jericho wanting to make himself a legend, that is completely in line with everything Jericho has said since he came to ECW forward.

Derek: 3) At first when Jericho came out I was wondering why he was wearing a black suit & tie (HH) then I realised it's like he's doing a eulogy. I KNEW that he wasn't talking about HBK, but in kayfabe/story-line twist/life-imitating-wrestling-imitating-life whatever u wanna call it, he was talking about Chris Benoit. There's no other reason why Jericho would wear a black suit & tie to the ring which he has NEVER done before and will never again (despite his recent wardrobe change to speedos ring-gear).

JP: Jericho has been wearing a suite for weeks of different colors and ties. This is more about getting the "mature" Chris Jericho over than to say he was going to a eulogy. That is way too much of stretch for me. And to say he never will again? Watch RAW to see how his suit and tie look tonight.

Derek: 4) I thought it was kinda suss that HBK had been doing the Crossface (old HH) in a few high-profile matches over the past year, and I noticed HHH do it too that they must have really respected the guy to be paying tribute to Benoit in a HH way. Also knowing that Jericho and Benoit were close friends and because Vince has eraased Benoit from all the WWE DVDs and History since it's bad publicity, Jericho and HBK don't seem like the type of guys that can be 'silenced' about anything like getting their viewpoint across, so they are telling their story/opinion in the best way they know how to- in the wrestling ring.

JP: Snitsky has been doing the crossface, too, so you think he is in on it? I've always taken it as both Triple H and HBK had fought Benoit in the past and taken moves from him, but at the same time they were trying to preserve the legacy of the move and make it available to others in the future.

Derek: More specifically, I think Jericho and HBK (and maybe McMahon is in on it) are trying to retell the Benoit tragedy to the wrestling stage and are moving it in a direction so that they can tell the Benoit story the way they want to tell it and not as the media has. This is my HH and I think this storyline is as much a 'coincidence' in it's correlation to Benoit's tragedy as is 'coincidence' that the Rock's first WWE title win at Survivor Series 98 (where Vince rang the bell the same way he robbed Bret the year before at SS 97) and or coincidence that Vince made a group of annoying heels called the Right to Censor (like how Vince viewed the PTC at the time).

JP: Survivor Series 98 was a direct reference, that is totally different. Plus they've done that ending a bunch more times since then. They use it for heel heat, especially in Canada! Watch a Michaels match whenever he in Canada and he's bound to at least try for the SharpShooter. That said, how can this storyline go anywhere near Benoit if it doesn't involve murder, drugs, concussions, and the like? Although I'm sure there are elements of Benoit and Chris Jericho's thoughts around it in the story, I don't see this as a direct allegory.

Derek: Jericho is a true genius (and HBK too for going along with it)

JP: Well, I certainly can't deny Jericho being a genius. He IS in the Hidden Highlights Hall of Fame!


[ECW] Last ditch save

JP: The opening contest on ECW this week saw Tommy Dreamer, Super Crazy, and Evan Bourne team up to take on John Morrison, the Miz, and Chavo Guerrero. Late into the match, everyone had jumped on each other in the outside, and Tommy Dreamer ended up alone in the ring. When Miz came in, he thought he could go for a finish, but John Morrison put an end to that and Miz went to finish off Dreamer. At that moment, Super Crazy saw that Tommy Dreamer was in trouble and decided to go for the save. But did you happen to catch how he went about that? Instead of just trying to dive into the ring where everyone else was (including the standing John Morrison), he actually ran a quarter of the way around the ring to make the attempt. John Morrison then saw what Super Crazy was doing and had to run after him to cut him off at the pass. This was a very smart move by Super Crazy to try to get some space so he could at least attempt to get in the ring to make the save.


[ECW] More new stars!

JP: The next match saw the New SuperStar Initiative in full force as Ricky Ortiz took on Gavin Spears. The match was all about the initiative, but Matt Striker is the one who took it home. During the match, he pointed out that the referee in the ring Aaron Stevens was also part of the Initiative! I really liked that Striker tied the new referee into it all and showed that everyone we see on TV could be part of the new crew that is getting a chance.


[ECW] Are you down with LAX?

JP: After Ricky Ortiz won the match, I noticed something quite odd… TWICE! Ortiz went to two corners of the ring and actually made the LAX hand symbol! I only particularly took note of it because Hernandez took the time to show me how to do it. I wonder if Ortiz is a fan of LAX, knows them personally, or has dealt with either Homicide or Hernandez on the indy scene?


[ECW] Minding the step children

JP: The main event of ECW was a rematch from SummerSlam where Mark Henry took on Matt Hardy for the ECW Championship.

lcwmvp: During the ECW main event, Matt Hardy had spent a great deal of the match working on the leg of Mark Henry. When Mark finally got Matt down, he went over to the corner where Atlas was planted and Atlas proceeded to massage the leg of Mark Henry. This is the cornerstone of a good manager, doing what is needed to keep the client in the match without breaking the rules.

JP: I caught this too and was impressed that Atlas was helping out Henry like that. Guess it goes to show you that he really was willing to carry his bags. And what was up with that sleeveless dress shirt?! Yikes!


[iMPACT] The last laugh

JP: In the land of TNA, the second match of the evening saw Eric Young team up with BG James (there's a team I didn't see coming) to go against the Motor City Machine Guns (the quite guys who don't eat cookies). As EY and BG were making their way down to the ring, both tried to avoid getting surprised by the pyro but failed at the end. That is when Mike Tenay went, "And the last laugh goes to Keith the pyrotechnics director!" I really enjoy when anyone in production gets a mention, especially by the announcers in a very poignant way. Good job Keith!


[iMPACT] Does Awesome Kong have a black bat?

JP: Before her match with Gail Kim was to come up, the video team went to the back to see Awesome Kong heading towards the ring. But did you happen to catch where Kong was coming from? She was actually coming down the stairs that lead to the rafters, at least according to a scene between Kevin Nash and Sting several months ago. I wonder what Kong was doing up in the rafters there? Was it just random choice of scene placement by the director, or is it a foreshadow of something to come?


[SmackDown] Where's the janitor?

JP: Finishing us off this week is SmackDown and the man who loves to fight: Finlay.

Finlay came to the ring to have his match with Shelton Benjamin (who was already in the ring). Before the match could get underway, Finlay made a hand signal to referee Charles Robinson and Shelton Benjamin to hold on one second. He then proceeded to kick two of something out the ring before signaling that it was ok to get underway. Whatever had fallen in the ring, it was mighty considerate of Finlay to clear it away so that none of them would end up getting hurt or dirty by it. So you see, Mike Knox is right! Finlay has gone soft!


Well everyone, that wraps up this week's show. Thank you for reading the 156th ISSUE of Hidden Highlights!

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. The best of the best will be featured among the top 15 next week.

In the meantime, 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.

Until then, you have just experienced the most positive article in all of the IWC: Hidden Highlights!