Hidden Highlights 09.15.08: Issue #159

Posted by JP Prag on 09.15.2008

Chavo Guerrero knows how to save himself from Mark Henry during the Championship Scramble, Layla El won’t let Jamie Noble take her hand, John Morrison gets extra points on a move, Velvet Sky says some bad words, and more!

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #159

Commentator: Previously, on Hidden Highlights…

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Commentator: John Morrison took a little dig at Chavo Guerrero, remembering Chavo's days as Kerwin White.

Hawkeye: My god, I frigging loved the Kerwin White gimmick. Chavo just played it so well, I really thought it would end up being one of these "stupid bullshit that somehow becomes popular" gimmicks like Jimmy Wang Yang and Pirate Paul Burchill.

motu: Kerwin is the name of WWE's director. But it was probably a shot at Chavo too.

Commentator: John Morrison was not the only one making an impression on ECW, as Matt Striker has been impressing many.

O: I think it is time for an award to be named after Matt Stryker, something for the person who drops the most knowledge in a one liner or something, because Stryker is money in the making on the mic and he is really using ECW as a platform to hone his skill, quiet as it's kept the ECW announce team is getting really strong.

Anthier: Good theory on how Striker as a kayfabe heel would be plugging the Republicans, while actually being Democratic himself. John Morrison on his Dirt Sheet segment often promotes the Democratic Party though, even when asking a crowd at a Summerfest event who the crowd would vote for and then singled out the person who wanted to vote for McCain saying 'you suck'. So either Striker is wise enough to play a certain Republican character (which JBL kinda plays but I think is actually Republican) or is actually Republican is still up in the air as many other wrestlers also voice their political preference (either factually or in character). Great Hidden Highlight!

jeff: Matt Striker was fired from his job teaching at a NY public school for using sick days to wrestle. That is a misappropriation of public funds. That sounds about as Republican as you can get, these days.

Commentator: Political affiliations aside, there was some question about the history of Shane McMahon.

Jamal: Wasn't that "6:32" mess blatantly stolen from Taz in ECW?

Taz 6:32 "Twice as Pissed"

Commentator: While Jamal may have a good grasp on history, others do not.

Pete: Saw one in this weeks Raw. Not sure how long its been going on, but in Jericho's entrance, the screen above the titantron used to read "SAVE US"... as of at least this week it now reads "SAVE ME". Clearly Jericho has given up on us.

Ghost of JT: It's been going since at least June 30, 2008 when we first covered it in Issue #148.

Stenographer: Since then, we have received no less than a thirty e-mails and comments on the subject (including 3 last week). So thanks for keep pointing it out, but it's time that it sticks in everyone's memory.

Commentator: But why concentrate on the past when there's a bright future ahead?

Seth R: Hey JP I will be attending Survivor Series at the Garden and i will definetly bring my "My Sign Is A Hidden Highlight" sign.

Jeff Small: JP and I should be there, too… if I ever remember to buy the tickets.

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





JP: Hello everyone who keeps having rain follow them no matter what state they are in, 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!


[iMPACT – Retro One Week] Looney Toons

JP: We'll kick it off this week with a little iMPACT form last week!

Tom John: I have a HH from last weeks iMPACT!. We all know that whenever Wile E Coyote uses a ACME branded whatever, it fails epically. Well, during the 'hardcore' match, Jonny Devine used a cookie sheet with ACME scrawled on the back of it in an attempt to scramble the brains of our favourite recently mentally cleared psychopath with a heart of gold, Abyss... the result was epic failure.

JP: I saw the ACME on there, too, and thought not to point it out because it was pretty obvious. But your explanation of why it was on there totally sold me!


[WWE Unforgiven] Chavo can save himself, too

JP: Let's move on to this week with a little of the most misspelled word in wrestling: Unforgiven!

greg o: I noticed a HH during the ECW Scramble at Unforgiven. When Mark Henry had Chavo Guerrero in a bear hug and Matt Hardy was climbing the turn buckle behind Henry, you can see Chavo clearly mouth the words, "behind you on the TB." Mark then dropped Chavo and caught Matt on his way down and got him in a bearhug. This plays into Guerrero doing anything to get out of the hold.

JP: That's a nice catch! It works on a kayfabe level for the reasons you described, but it also works in a breaking kayfabe perspective because Chavo could have been given Mark Henry directions.


[WWE Unforgiven] Learning from the past

JP: The action was not just happening in the ring during that match, as Mark Sherrick points out.

Mark Sherrick: During the ECW scramble match, Matt Striker shows he's a student of the commentary game. When the Miz comes off the ropes and runs into Mark Henry, as Miz falls on his ass, Striker quotes JR, and says "That was bowling shoe ugly."

JP: I just wish the WWE would have taken Matt Striker seriously in the ring because he as skill there, too. Ah well, we'll deal with him being the awesomeness of ECW.


[WWE Unforgiven] Where do you keep your utensils?

JP: The ECW Scramble match was not the only one that had some Hidden Highlights, as John Madigan points out.

John Madigan: During the early going of the Jericho/HBK match from Unforgiven, HBK went looking under one of the corners of the ring. Soon after, Michaels seemed unhappy at not finding what he was looking for. So what was he looking for? As a long time friend of HHH, he would know that's where The Game usually hides his sledgehammer. While it wasn't there that night, HBK was eventually able to get the job done with his own two fists...

JP: That is actually pretty funny! And you would think Triple H would want one considering the competition he was facing later in the night.


[WWE Unforgiven] Too late to change

John Madigan: That's not the only thing I saw during the RAW Scramble match from Unforgiven.

JP: Oh? Do go on!

John Madigan: The cameras occasionally showed the Titantron and five additional screens showing all 5 of the wrestlers in the match, including CM Punk, whose status in the match was still unknown. After Jericho shows up to replace Punk, Punk's image goes away and the screen is left blank. Adamle's replacement pick was so last minute that the graphics guys didn't have a chance to put Jericho's picture up.

JP: See, I like when production decision are made too late and they are not prepared for them! Not being ready is a great way to keep kayfabe!


[RAW] Life for real!

JP: After the PPV went off the air there was only one thing to do: go to RAW the next day! And over on RAW, something new caught my eye. Off in the lower left hand corner next to the WWE logo was the word "LIVE", letting us know at home that RAW was part of the LIVE programming block. I thought that was a nice touch by the WWE to put over specialness of RAW programming, and just hope it won't come back to bite them since none of their other shows are live and RAW is taped from time to time.


[RAW] No thank you, dear

JP: During the live RAW itself, Jamie Noble came out with Layla El to take on William Regal and prove he was a real man worth her time. As they were coming to the ring, Jamie put his hand out and tried to grab hers so they could hold hands on the way to the ring. Layla would have none of it as she instead took her own hand and put it behind her back! Oh Jamie, Layla was not your girl yet, nor would it appear that she will be.


[RAW] Woof Woof

JP: I was not the only one who caught something involving this match, as ZeroVX will attest.

ZeroVX: Before the Noble/Regal match, as Noble was entering with Layla, I could hear some fans barking.

A reference to his pitbull days with Kid Kash?

JP: Or for that matter after Kash left the WWE Jamie Noble was re-christened "The Pitbull" Jamie Noble? I was thinking that his barking was missing from the beginning of his music this week, too.


[RAW] Foreshadowing the love

JP: Still didn't get enough of this match? Good, because 411mania's own Chris Lansdell also caught something!

Chris Lansdell: You'll get this from a ton of people, I'm sure, but Layla's shirt matched Regal's ring attire!

JP: So what you are trying to say is that they were foreshadowing Layla going with Regal?

Oh, and for the commentator last week who thought it was Lena Yada having family issues, no, it was Layla El who had to go back to England because of a deceased family member. Lena Yada has been around and doing interviews the past few weeks.


[RAW] Remember when…

JP: Later in the evening, the second generation of fun continued as Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu W. Samoan took on Cryme Tyme and Kofi Kingston. As the match continued, Michael Cole asked the King to described what it is like being in there with Rhodes and DiBiase since he has done so. The King was quick to respond, "You've been in the ring with Rhodes and DiBiase, too!" Nice call by the King that was both hilarious and historically accurate.

And can I just say how much better Jerry Lawler is without Jim Ross? They were way too comfortable with each other and playing characters of themselves. Now the King has become much sharper and edgier. Having Michael Cole around has been nothing but good for him.


[RAW] Honk-o-meter plus one

JP: The next match saw Santio Marella increasing his Honk-o-meter against Snitsky. Snitsky laid a good boot into Santio's chest while Santino was on the mat and Santino screamed, "Oh my ah-god!" Nice one by Santino to still play his over-the-top Italian guy even when getting smacked in the chest by an obviously powerful man!


[ECW] Get the point

JP: Jumping to ECW, we have the hg dragon.

hg dragon: Morrison goes for the Regal Award during his match with Bourne. While Bourne was going for the standing moonsault, Morrison not only pulled the knees up to block it, he turned it into a kick, driving both feet into Bourne's chest and embellishing on the classic spot.

JP: I saw that, too! Not only did Morrison get his knees up, but he also pointed his toes forward and used that hit Bourne. Usually the William Regal Award goes to mat-based catch-as-catch can stuff, but I'll allow it.


[ECW] I want in

JP: During the main event, former bitter enemies Matt Hardy and Finlay (bet you forgot about their blood feud) teamed up to take on Mark Henry and Mike Knox. Finlay was in the ring with Knox and was being thrown against the ropes. As he headed towards his own side, Matt Hardy reached out and tried to hit Finlay with the tag. We've seen this a lot recently with the opposing side trying to hit someone running the ropes, so I really liked having someone on the same side being smart and trying to tag themselves in when their partner comes near.


[iMPACT] Was that a swerve?

JP: Over on iMPACT, the final build to No Surrender was underway. The show began with current TNA Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe coming out to forget the main event and go for Sting. This brought out his former mentor Kevin Nash to bring Joe back into focus and challenge him to a match consisting of 3 different opponents later in the night. When Nash came out, something struck me as quite odd: he was wearing his wrestling gear. This made me automatically assume that Nash was going to be the third man and that would set up his turn. Instead, Tomko was the third man and Nash hugged Samoa Joe goodbye. I think Nash wore his wrestling outfit to make it look like he was obviously going to wrestle. It was another headgame for Joe and for people like me who are used to reading into the situation. That was quite the interesting reverse swerve and actually made for a much better moment.


[iMPACT] What did she say?!

JP: After Joe and Nash met early in the evening, Lauren was backstage with the Beautiful People Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and "Cute" Kip James. As Lauren and Angelina were conversing, Velvet and Kip were having a side conversation of their own off mic. Now, I don't know if they were just lipping words or the mics did not pick up on them, but the side talk was completely lost. Despite that, though, Velvet apparently said something bad because a blur suddenly appeared over her mouth! Wow, it must have been blatantly bad to get censored where there was no sound! I wonder what it was?


That'll finish us off this week. Sorry for the lack of SmackDown; I simply ran out of time and had plenty of other things to talk about. Maybe I'll get to them next week, depending. In the meantime, be sure to check out my boy Jason Clinkscales over at A Sports Scribe. Jay is bringing the positivity mission to the sports world every Wednesday with Props. Consider it Hidden Highlights-lite for Football. But otherwise, thank you for reading the 159th 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!