Hidden Highlights 09.29.08: Issue #161

Posted by JP Prag on 09.29.2008

Kane makes sure Rey Mysterio does have access to his arms, the Miz and John Morrison take Cryme Tyme’s word of the week and make it their own, Don West works Sting’s appearance at the Bound for Glory FanFest into the storyline, The Great Khali is shaken by the thickness of Vladmir Kozlov’s head, and more!

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #161

Commentator: Previously, on Hidden Highlights…

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Commentator: Other people had met members of the TNA roster and had different experiences.

Nick: I met both Christian Cage and Alex Shelley at an indy show a few years back. Christian was cool to me, but his business manager was asking for my autograph money before I could even shake Christian's hand. Alex seemed like he was having a bad night, he was pretty aloof at the time.

Commentator: While some were concerned with current TNA roster, others thought about the ones who were no longer there.

Pure Dynamite: It bugs me that they dont bring up the fact that R-Truth is a former NWA champion. Flair's reigns were credited all the time when he was with WWE and even Harley Race is referred to as a former NWA Champ when he shows up . I get that R-Truth won the belt in TNA, but man, he's a former NWA champion and should be referred to as such!!!!

Big C: I hear what you're saying homie, but I'm not sure hyping up R-Truth's pedigree as former NWA champ really fits in with his 'rap' gimmick of coming up the hard way through the streets etc.... Also, even though it was the NWA title and not the current TNA title, it still happened in TNA, and WWE will ultimately never acknowledge their competition on-air. It's just business.

Ghost of JT: Besides, they are totally ignoring his history as K-Kwik and just pretending he's a new rookie. They are pretending that this guy is in his 20's when he is in fact 36!

Commentator: But going further back in time, some missed people who have not been seen for a very long while.

Bring Back Savage: I'm starting a petition to bring back the Madness! Bring back The Macho Man, WWE!

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





JP: Hello everyone who is wondering where all the Reader Write-ins are, 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!


SmackDown (Retro 1 Week)

JP: We'll kick if off this week with the ONLY write-in of the week (where are you people?) and last week's SmackDown.

DP: Also, during the Hardy v Kendrick match, as we went to the break, Kendrick did his old indy taunt.

Scott: Looked like a combo of that and Jeff Hardy's Walk onto the Stage... Who betta than THE Brian Kendrick??

JP: Brian Kendrick has been doing tremendous in his new role which makes me believe even more that he may actually be like that in real life.


RAW

JP: On RAW this week, the show began with a convolution of different people yakking at each other which eventually led to CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes. During the match, Cody was doing everything in his power to keep Punk down. At one point, he had Punk in a pretty simple leg lock; but the second generation star was not content to just hold punk in place that way. He also used both of his hands to wrench Punk's foot in an opposite direction, thus inflicting even more pain and disabling much of Punk's offence.


RAW

JP: Later in the evening, Kane had decimated Evan Bourne. Looking out for his good ‘ol buddy from ECW, Rey Mysterio decided to run in and make the save. Unfortunately for him, Kane was ready knocked Rey Mysterio to the ground. But Kane decided to play it safe and instead of jump pummeling Rey Mysterio, he chose to put his knees into Mysterio's arms so that Mysterio could not punch back. Nice work by Kane to make sure Mysterio would be no threat to him.


RAW

JP: In a match that was months in the making, RAW's Cryme Tyme took on ECW's Miz and John Morrison for a match of internet supremacy. Part way through the affair, Miz had grounded JTG with a chin lock. JTG then started to get quite warm and actually remembered to take off his doo-rag to help himself cool off. But JTG was not finished there! Instead, he took the same headwear and pushed it right into Miz's face, hoping the sweat filled specimen would scare Miz away enough to loosen his grip on the chin the lock.


ECW

JP: Over in the land of Extreme, Miz and Morrison again made an appearance; this time for their feud with Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz (really, how many different programs to Miz, Morrison, and Bourne have going on? You writers need to watch the other shows!). Miz was talking about Bourne and Ortiz and he called their relationship a "bromance". This is quite hilarious since that is exactly what Cryme Tyme said about them that started their online feud. Just goes to show you that Miz and Morrison know a good insult when they hear one and can totally make it their own without a hypocritical thought!


ECW

JP: Last time the WWE came through Columbus, OH, I specifically remember that no one referred to the school as "The Ohio State University". And much like with The Brian Kendrick, that just does not fly. So I was quite glad that the Boomer Sooner himself Jim Ross spent the entire show remembering to keep the "The" in place. Of course, JR is a huge college football guy so he would be the one to remember to do that, but it was good work nonetheless.


ECW

JP: Also during ECW, Mike Knox took out ECW's new favorite jobber Chase Stevens. After the match, Jack Swagger came in and also decided to take care of Chase Stevens. This prompted Tommy Dreamer to come out for a save and meet a similar fate as Mr. Stevens. Afterwards, Swagger and Knox were walking away and Striker—just under his breath—said, "There's money in Knox." Well that was a nice little pun out of nowhere! Per usual, excellent stuff from future Hidden Highlights Hall of Famer Matt Striker!


iMPACT

JP: Later in the week on iMPACT, Matt Morgan teamed up with Abyss to take on the Rock and Rave Infection (I think Jimmy Rave has been stuck in Toledo for a while). Towards the end of the match, Abyss was in the ring with Rave and on the side Matt Morgan made the "it's time" symbol for the Elevator. Abyss missed it, but turned to Morgan anyway and then made the sign himself, to which Matt Morgan gave his approval. It's nice to see as the team is gelling that they are aware of each other's idiosyncrasies and make them themselves.


iMPACT

JP: Out back, Lauren was hard at work while interviewing LAX's Homicide, Hernandez, and Hector Guerrero (on a side note, Hernandez told me that he thought LAX would be fine without Selinas and Guerrero, so it looks like he'll get a chance to prove it unless they are breaking up the team). Guerrero started going off in a diatribe in Spanish that I don't feel like taking the time to translate, but Lauren was completely lost. I was watching her during the speech and she had the most lost puppy dog look on her face and she started looking around for help from someone on what to do. It was just one of those breaking kayfabe moments that was funny for its subtlety.


iMPACT

JP: LAX were also involved in another Hidden Highlight while they were taking on Beer Money, but none of the competitors are to thank for this one. Instead, the props go to Don West, who gets way too much flack in this IWC of ours. During the match, Tenay started talking about the Bound for Glory FanFest going on the night before the PPV. During his speech, Tenay said that Sting would be at the FanFest as well. This prompted Don West to say that Somoa Joe's speech must have gotten to Sting and it made Sting realize he had to do more for his paycheck. Kudos to West for working the storyline into a reason for a live appearance. I thought this was a great way to make the connection and hope they do more things like this for live events and appearances.


iMPACT

JP: Many people have mentioned it which is most likely why I have not, but Sheik Abdul Bashir's started with an airplane crashing sound (just to be a little more racist). Much to my surprise and delight, this week I noticed that Bashir's music no longer contained the sound! Sheik general gimmick is great (he had it all and it was taken from him after September 11th even though he is the epitome of the American Dream), so there was no need to go overboard and make him into something he is not. Sometimes, trimming back is a good way to show a Hidden Highlight.


SmackDown

JP: At the end of the week was the last SmackDown on the CW (incidentally, I just realized that we do not have MyNetwork TV in Providence, RI, but the local FOX affiliate [which both companies are owned by News Corp] is showing SmackDown at 11:30pm on Fridays. Other markets may be doing something similar, so check your FOX stations if you live in a non-MyNetwork TV market). The show kicked off with Triple H and Jeff Hardy teaming up to take on The Brian Kendrick and "Mr. USA Today" MVP. Early in the match, The Brian Kendrick was pummeling on Jeff Hardy and Hardy did something quite smart: he took all the punches so that they would push him towards his own side so that he could attempt to tag in Triple H! The Brian Kendrick noticed this just in time and flipped Hardy back to his own corner, but at least Hardy was making the attempt to get away.


SmackDown

JP: The next official match of the night saw Maria and "Just little old me" Brie Bella take on Victoria and Natalya Neidhart. Part way into the match, Natalya dragged Brie to the corner and Victoria put her foot up on the turnbuckle so that Natalya could ram her opponents face into it. Charles Robinson realized quickly what was going on and actually started to yell at Victoria to put her boot down! Nice work by Robinson to play an official and be demanding right from the get-go instead of letting something happen and reprimanding them afterwards.


SmackDown

JP: For this one, I'm going to invite Jeff Small to the show.

Jeff Small: I'm sorry, I'm not at 411Mania this week. Check out someone else do my news report (again) this week!

JP: Ah well, I'll see you on Friday at the TNA House Show in Lowell.

Jeff Small: See ya then!

JP: Oh, by the way, JT called me up at 5am in the morning on Monday and he sa—

Ghost of JT: Jeff is already gone, and I'd appreciate you not talking about my [CENSORED] with the [CENSORED].

JP: Fine, fine. Anyway, Vladmir Kozlov was taking on the Great Khali in a match that I was surprisingly looking forward to. During the match, the two tumbled to the outside. Once up, the Great Khali attempted a head-butt on Kozlov, but something unexpected happened. Khali actually wretched back in pain from the hit himself! Kozlov's head is so strong that Khali was hurt by it himself. Kudos to the Great Khali for the awesome Hidden Highlight!


SmackDown

JP: Finishing us off this week, Chavo Guerrero (the only ECW guy still on SmackDown) had a match with Jimmy Wang Yang. After demolishing Yang, Chavo was celebrating in the ring when the lights went out. When they came back on, even Yang had disappeared! No one talked about it, but it looks like the Undertaker kidnapped Jimmy Wang Yang! Poor redneck cowboy!


Well everyone, that wraps up this week's show. Thank you for reading the 161st 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!