Hidden Highlights 10.06.08: Issue #162

Posted by JP Prag on 10.06.2008

Chris Jericho whispers discretely into Lance Cade’s ear, Mark Henry uses his strongest muscle, Jim Cornette highlights all of the key points, Jeff Hardy almost makes a fan pass out, and more!

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #162

Commentator: Previously, on Hidden Highlights…

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Commentator: Old arguments became new when it was proven that no one is ever satisfied.

Manbearpig: Do you write the insanely fake banter with Small/Ghost of JT/etc like in the Kozlov/Khali highlight for your own shits and giggles? I can't imagine one single other person finds it funny or amusing. It's like being an IWC smart mark for yourself and other 411 staffers. Give it up.

Polish Post: Hey Manbearpig, shut up. I enjoy the banter. It's amusing and sometimes includes a HH within the HH's.

Irish_Cougar: Manbearpig, you make an interesting point that the banter is sometimes annoying. However the banter changes this from a boring "here's the facts" article to more of a "here's the facts and our opinions over said facts" article. Personally I enjoy some of the banter as long as it is kept small for each highlight.

Manbearpig: All I ever do is whine, so don't mind me.

Commentator: Meanwhile, the real issue was about where would SmackDown be if one was in a non-MyNetwork TV market.

Michelle: http://www.mynetworktv.com/stations.php

A directory of MyNetworkTV's partner local channels which will probably start airing SD, too.

Stenographer: Except this list for Rhode Island includes the local FOX affiliate. As noted before, it looks like for certain MyNetwork TV shows like SmackDown they are showing them on FOX stations at different times.

Commentator: Does that mean that JP had access to SmackDown this week? There's only one way to find out, and that is in this week's issue.

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





JP: Hello everyone wistfully remembering the last moments of your vacation, 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!


Sting DVD

JP: It looks like my e-mail issues have been fixed and we are getting the write-ins again. Keep it up and don't assume that someone else will write in or that I'll catch it. This article depends on you, and if you don't want to put any effort into it then I won't want to do it.

On a side note, do you see the title to this one? This is no boundaries Hidden Highlights! There are no sections anymore because I am not creating banners for every possible configuration. As seen a couple of weeks ago, I had zero for SmackDown. This week, there are only a couple for RAW and iMPACT. It's just streamlined, so enjoy the straight flow down time. The sections for different shows don't work because we have retro, special, and other Hidden Highlights. I'm tired of the argument and am not going to change my mind on this. So unless you have a suggestion for making this article easier or cleaner, I'm not interested.

But let's get back to what is on hand courtesy of Jeremy from Palmdale:

Jeremy: I was watching the Sting DVD that came with the TNA Impact game, and during January 1st 2006 announcement that the Stinger was coming to TNA, they panned across the crowd to see their reactions but there was one person in the crowd that they focused on for a few seconds, wearing a "happy new year" hat, it is someone who has very rarely (or maybe never) been seen on Impact: Dixie Carter.

Ghost of JT: Ooooooooooh Dixie!

JP: I didn't get a copy of the Sting DVD with my game! Mine came with a TNA T-shirt. Actually, mine came for free anyway. Still, Reid, that's two days in a row you've let me down. I'm watching you, boy!


RAW – Retro 1 Week

JP: Just when you think you are done with Jeremy from Palmdale, he throws one more our way!

Jeremy: On the September 22nd RAW, during the main event handicap match when HBK was tuning up the band, Batista was over in his and HBK's corner, tuning up the band along with Shawn.

JP: That's pretty funny. I was completely messed up seeing Batista and HBK team together at all considering their history, but I guess it is the same as Jericho and JBL teaming up (and quite successfully, might I add)


RAW – Retro 1 Week

JP: Still stuck in the past (see what I'm talking about?), dude11767 was watching more of the crowd than the action.

dude11767: Last week on Raw one of the Cincy Bengals held up an Attitude Era "WWF" Championship belt and the camera man got a close-up of it. You could clearly see the "WWF" scratch logo up close. I wonder if the World Wildlife Fund was on the phone for that one.

JP: Hahahaha, well, they did sue for an additionally $360 million in damages after the WWE got the F out (I guess that would not be TV-PG anymore). This is why I will never… EVER… support the World Wildlife Fund. They proved to me that they are extortionists and I am not interested in helping jerks like that.


RAW

JP: Over on this week's RAW, Jamie Noble found a new partner in Mickie James as they took on the brother/sister duo of Paul and Katie Lea Burchill. During the match, Katie was in the ring with Jamie Noble and was setting up to kick him in the ribs again. While doing so, she put her back to her opponents corner where Mickie James was standing. Mickie, to her credit, did not just sit there in distress but actually took a grab at Katie and got a bit of her hair.

This has been a pattern of Mickie's the past few weeks where she is still taking swipes from the outside instead of just watching along. I've really enjoyed this action and all I can ask, Mickie, is that you keep it up!


RAW

JP: RAW also had a mystery tag team match that saw Chris Jericho and Lance Cade team up to take on HBK and his partner Triple H.

David Greene: At the very beginning of the Jericho/Cade vs DX match Jericho is giving instructions to Cade. The Hidden Highlight? He uses his hand to cover what he's saying (also with the added bonus of making it easier for Cade to hear him).

JP: Ah, kind of like how a catcher will cover his mouth while talking to a pitcher (I'm watching Game 3 of Red Sox / Angeles while writing this).


ECW

JP: Over on ECW, the main event featured The Miz, John Morrison, and Mark Henry teaming up to take on Ricky Ortiz, Evan Bourne, and the ECW Champion Matt Hardy. During the match, Bourne found himself alone in the ring with the World's Strongest Challenger and decided to lay some kicks into Henry's thighs. Now, Henry's thighs are thick enough that he could just stand there and take the punishment. Instead, though, Henry chose to raise his legs, block the move, and tighten his muscles (thus reducing any other damage). Nice thinking by Mark Henry there to show the man's truly strongest muscle is his brain.


ECW

JP: Of course, what would an episode of ECW be without a Matt Striker related Hidden Highlight?

Remington Steele: I found a very interesting Hidden Highlight during the rundown of the No Mercy card that Matt Striker gave us. When talking about Triple H, he called him "The Lord Of The Ring, The King Of Kings, The Ace Of Spades". Well, if we know Triple H, he is a Motorhead fan, and what is the name of the most popular song by them besides The Game.... Ace Of Spades. I found that little mention of that kind of a hidden highlights cause it keeps up the connection of Motorhead to Trips.

JP: You weren't the only one, Remington (that is his real name!).

Jeremy from Palmdale: When they were running down the No Mercy card, Matt Striker said that Triple H is "The Lord of the Ring, the King of Kings, The Ace of Spades", this is a HH because Ace of Spades is the name of a Motorhead song and Triple H is a huge Motorhead fan (they have sang multiple themes for him and just last week video surfaced of him introducing them at a concert in New York).

JP: Two Motorhead and Matt Striker fans can't be wrong!


iMPACT

JP: Although readers may not remember iMPACT, I certainly do! In the second match of the night the Motor City Machine Guns fought LAX to get a chance to enter the Monster's Ball Tag Team Invitational (now title match) at Bound for Glory. During the match, Hernandez was laying in the chops pretty heavy to both Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. As he was doing so, I was watching referee Earl Hebner in the corner of the screen. After several of these chops, he started to stiffen his own chest as if he was feeling the pain. Whether kayfabe or really thinking about it, I liked the interaction of the referee with the action of the match.


iMPACT

JP: Later in the night out back, TNA Management member Jim Cornette confronted Kurt Angle about his comments in the UK Sun. You had to look at this real closely, but in the copy of the newspaper that Cornette had several line and paragraphs were highlighted in yellow! Now, I have no idea if this was Cornette's idea to that or if someone else did it for him, but whoever it was deserves major kudos. Of course if a management member was going to reprimand someone for comments said in a newspaper they would want to highlight said comments. This was an amazing detail that was so easy to overlook; the perfect example of a Hidden Highlight.


SmackDown

JP: Since SmackDown was making its MyNetwork TV debut this past week, it seems only fair to overload us with bunches from the show. And we'll start it off right with the beginning of the show! Jeff Hardy was making his way out the ring and slapping hands with many of the people in the crowd. He gave this pre-teen girl a double high five and the hilarity ensued! If you watched this girl, she started screaming, running around, and just about fainted after Hardy touched her. It was all way too much fun and one of those things you just can't script.


SmackDown

JP: I wasn't the only one who caught something during Hardy's entrance, though.

ZeroVX: When Jeff Hardy came out during this week's Smackdown, you could see him singing to his own theme. Awesome when you see it.

JP: I was too busy watching the girl go crazy! Sorry!


SmackDown

JP: In the match itself that Hardy was coming out for, he teamed with Rey Mysterio, Batista, and Finlay (how Finlay and Batista gets along also confuses me) to take on Kane, JBL, MVP, and The Brian Kendrick. Part way into the affair, Mysterio had The Brian Kendrick in an arm lock and tagged in Hardy. Hardy then went to the top rope in the idea that he would come down on The Kendrick's arm with a double ax handle. Too often when this move is coming people just stand there and wait to be hit. But no The Kendrick, oh no; The Kendrick instead started squirming and fighting and trying to get away! Nice work by The Brian Kendrick to not just accept his fate.


SmackDown

JP: Just because we can't get past the first 15 minute of the show, here's john Madigan.

John Madigan: Right before a commercial break in the 8 man tag match from this week's Smackdown, Kane pulled Rey out of the ring before he could execute a 619. The show then went to a commercial with JR saying "The match will continue... I think". Given Kane's recent history with wanting to hurt Rey, it was possible that he might go off the deep end and get himself DQed during the commercial break which would have ended the match. It didn't happen, but it was a nice little extra thing to say to add to Kane's recent psychotic character.

JP: I still prefer people to pretend the match could end during the break, but that's cool in my book!


SmackDown

JP: There were quite a few multi-person matches on SmackDown, including a six man tag consisting of Carlito, Primo, and CM Punk taking on Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu. Mr. Dominique still found something in this bunch.

Dominique: I was watching Smackdown tonight and when Carlito and Primo were coming to the ring they announced that it was a six man tag and J.R. said it was a six man tag. But when they got on the mic Carlito said it was supposed to be a two on two match and that they wanted to make it a six man tag. Then when CM Punk's music hit Rhodes, DiBiase, and Manu all acted surprised like they didn't know. Guess they need to pay attention.

JP: I have to be honest and say I did not catch the announcement, but I may have been slipping off the dreamland at that point! No, not because it was boring! I took a red eye and I'm still tired. Yeash!


SmackDown

JP: And finishing off SmackDown and the week for us is perennial favorite MVP. Back to the aforementioned match that he was in, JBL had tagged MVP in but the referee had missed it. This cause the referee to push MVP out and for JBL to confusedly tag him in again. When he did so, MVP then started to yell at the referee, "You see that tag?!" That's MVP for you: always thinking on his feet to come up with some great insults! I'm quite sure that's how he came up with his joke on the guy who had to watch him pee.


Well everyone, that wraps up this week's show. Thank you for reading the 162nd 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!