Hidden Highlights 11.24.08: Issue #169

Posted by JP Prag on 11.24.2008

Michael Cole gets to talk about Randy Orton’s Survivor Series history, Matt Striker lies about playing SmackDown vs. RAW 2009, ODB’s Angle is filled with glitches, John Morrison plans a theft months in advance, and more!

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #169

Commentator: Previously, on Hidden Highlights…

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Commentator: Chris Jericho made claims of grandeur that were apparently backed up by others.

Guest#6650: According to WWE's title history, these are the 5.

Defeats Rock (October 2001, WCW title)

Defeats Rock (December 2001, WCW title)

Defeats Austin (December 2001, WWE title)

Wins Scramble match (September 2008, World title)

Defeats Batista (November 2008, World title)

Stenographer: For the record, that would be the 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 pattern JP pointed out in the first place.

Guest#1357: How is Jericho upping his count? He's had gained world championships against Rock (x2), Austin, Scramble match and Batista. That makes five. Good article though.

Ghost of JT: Because the second win against the Rock and the win against Austin were in a tournament to merge the World Heavyweight and WWF titles. They weren't individual matched for the titles, but part of a big match that led to one title. It's kind of like in the Scramble how when someone made a pin they weren't a real champion, just an interim champion until the real champion was crowned.

Commentator: Of course, Chris Jericho was not the only topic of conversation, as was Jeff Hardy's hair…

ToothFaerie: Jeff Hardy uses the Hair dyes that wash away when you take a shower, that's why his hair is not dead.

MystyGlyttyr: Two things for Jeff...first, he's a natural blonde so he doesn't have to bleach his hair for coloring, and second, he uses a brand called "Manic Panic" which washes out within a month or so (hence why his color typically changes with each PPV).

Commentator: While these were all interesting, a number of people seemed to forget that this is THE MOST POSTIVIE ARTICLE IN THE IWC. It was sad to see in Hidden Highlights and goes against what this article is all about: pointing out the little things that make wrestling great!

Despite the naysayers and "negative nellies" as MystyGlyttyr put it, life went on in the world of Hidden Highlights, especially JP who was off to Australia.

scott: Hope you enjoy it down here in Oz JP, look out for drop-bears!

Oh, and don't say "down under" or ask for a "bloomin' onion" because we will kick the shite out of people for that kind of thing.

Cheers!

Donners: I thought drop-bears only attacked attractive young female tourists?

APinOz: Welcome to Australia, JP!

Nick Noel: If you make it to Sydney let me know and I'll take you out for a beer!

Commentator: Yet despite the days of travel, work, and being a tourist, JP has returned yet again, albeit with a little (lot) of help from the readers.

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





JP: Hello everyone who is somewhere in their 28 journey home, 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 vs. RAW 2009

JP: In honor of me being in Australia, we'll kick it off this week with my favorite Australian, Nick Noel!

Mathew Sforcina: Wait a damn minute here! Your "favorite" Aussie? Did you not say I was an inspiration to you?

JP: Yeah… in your writing, though, not in your weight.

Mathew Sforcina: And a fat joke on top of it!

JP: I feel like we've been down this road before…

Stenographer: Too many times to count!

Mathew Sforcina: Oh hey baby, where have you been?

JP: And we've been down that road too many times, too! Stop hitting on my made up characters that you somehow turned into a woman and let Nick speak!

Nick Noel: G'day dude,

This is my one and only Hidden Highlight and it is from the TV ad for Raw vs. Smackdown 2009.

In the match they show there is HHH and HBK vs. the Hardys. Originally I was going to complain about the whole "brand extension" thing, with 2 SmackDown Superstars, and a RAW and ECW guy.

Then I started thinking about it, and it makes sense. You have the WWE Champion HHH (from Smackdown) teaming with someone who was just recently challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship on RAW (Shawn Michaels) up against one of the challengers to the WWE Championship on Smackdown (Jeff Hardy) and the ECW Champion (Matt Hardy).

I think that it makes a great snapshot of the difference in the WWE brand extension, showcasing superstars, oh I'm sorry, ENTERTAINERS from all 3 brands.

JP: If only there were more differences in the brands! I think I went on a mini-rant in the Hamilton Ave Journal this week about that, so be sure to check it out!


RAW

JP: RAW this week began with a Q&A forum with Stephanie McMahon taking questions from the audience. During the session, perennial favorite Santino Marella stepped up to the plate and asked when he was going to get his rematch with William Regal for the Intercontinental Championship. That is when Stephanie McMahon said that Santino already got two rematches during the recent European tour at live events. I love that Stephanie actually acknowledged house show results (something that happens rarely) and found a convenient way to avoid another heel vs. heel match. Two for the price of one always works for me!


RAW

JP: But when is two enough. Here's one more!

ZeroVX: One thing I noticed during this week's RAW was during the "open forum", CM Punk was talking to Kelly Kelly before the show officially began.

A reference to their ECW alliance?

JP: I just wonder if Kelly Kelly was upset when Balls Mahoney was released? Also, why has she not continued to take off her clothes? I thought she was an exhibitionist who was being held back by the very hair Mike Knox. Wow, I just realized that all three of them are on RAW now. Maybe they can continue that story!


RAW

JP: And when three is not enough, here's one more from the same segment.

Tim Halliday: When Steph was doing the Q&A, she asked any more questions? You could hear someone say "Um… yeah… yeah… I've got a question." If you looked in the back of the crowd Hacksaw Jim Duggan was shaking his head in approval and pointing down at someone. And out walks HBK.

JP: People underestimate the little thing Duggan does when no one in looking. He's one of those great veterans who never quite had wonderful in ring skills but knew how to do all this things that count with the crowd and the match story.


RAW

JP: And when we are on a roll, let's switch back and forth between the same people.

ZeroVX: During Kane and JBL's backstage segment, Kane mentioned that his hobby was "electrocuting people's groins with car batteries". Another reference to his rivalry with Shane O' Mac. Yay continuity!

JP: I definitely picked up on this one. Kane has been referencing lots of the evil things he's done as a heel and a face and really integrating it into his current persona. He also mentioned quite a few things about his family, tying in stuff with the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. I'm glad he's keeping track of it all because it is one big mess of information!


RAW

JP: Now to the other side of the coin with Tim Halliday.

Tim Halliday: After having problems with the fans touching him the last few weeks, JBL had his limo come out on the other side of the entrance so he wouldn't have to deal with common folks.

JP: Actually, the whole set up was in reverse. Normally, the set up is on the other side of the arena, but for some reason the entrance was put on the right side instead of the left. I wonder if they'll keep that up for RAW so it looks a little different or if it was just a one-off thing for Atlanta. Guess we'll know tonight when RAW comes from my home of Providence, RI! Of course, I'll be on flight number 4 of the day then, so I won't get to attend. But Small, if you ever want to see your money for those WrestleMania 25 tickets you better not tell me to screw in your article again!

Oh yeah, by the way, we're going to Backlash which is also in Providence. Yay being at two PPVs in a row!


RAW

JP: Earlier in this article I got to talk about Stephanie doing some interesting references; and you just read one a bit ago with Kane referencing his own continuity. Another great one happened with Michael Cole. When Batista was in his match with Manu, Cole and King were talking about the history of Survivor Series and the teams featuring Randy Orton and Batista. It was then that Cole told us that Orton was the sole survivor of his teams in 2004 and 2005. This was such a great comment because not only did it reference bits of history that might be forgotten, but it showed that Randy Orton is an the advantage because he has the experience of being a survivor in these elimination style match-ups.


RAW

JP: Lastly on RAW, another interesting moment happened again with Michael Cole during the Cryme Tyme vs. JBL/Kane match. During said match, Cole and King were talking about why Cryme Tyme would want to win and one of the reasons—according to the King—was that the winner of the match gets paid more money. This was the first time I can remember in a long time anyone on WWE television acknowledging the idea of a pay window where winners make more money. This is the type of realism I like, and I hope to hear more of the same ideas in the future.

Dusty Rhodes used to be the king of selling this idea. That wasn't the only thing he could sell, though!




ECW

JP: At one point Dusty Rhodes was in ECW, but nowadays that is home to Hidden Highlights favorite Matt Striker. This week, Striker did not disappoint when DJ Gabriel was making his way to the ring accompanied by Alicia Fox. Instead of pretending like this was the first time we've seen Alicia Fox and that we don't know what she's about, Matt Striker instead called a Hidden Highlight and said that sharp eyed viewers may recognize Alicia Fox as a wedding planner. Then, to top that one off, he said that Alicia had her hands in a lot of areas, including club dancing which is why she is back. I thought this was a great way to link the histories and make up the story instead of just pretending like it was a whole new person.


ECW

JP: In a bit of a personal Hidden Highlight, Todd Grisham was reading the spots for the live events and said that next Tuesday ECW will be in the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, RI next Tuesday. Actually, ECW will be taped before RAW tonight, not on Tuesday night. I guess that Grisham is just used to ECW being taped on Tuesday that he didn't even realize the schedule change!


ECW

JP: And when you want to combine Matt Striker and Todd Grisham, you turn to Jeremy from Palmdale!

Jeremy from Palmdale: On ECW, Matt Striker claimed that he defeated Todd Grisham on the Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 game playing as Hornswaggle (Grish playing as Khali). This is a lie. While Hornswaggle is on the game as a manager, he is not a playable wrestler.

JP: Yikes! I guess they should have had video game king Shelton Benjamin doing the commentary on that one!


iMPACT

JP: This week on iMPACT, we got the premier ODB's Angle, which was just the trashed Karen's Angle set made to look like a mess. But that was not the only thing that was a mess on the show. During the segment, the cameras also skipped out several times and the sound dropped out. I like that someone added these little technical details to make the show look and fell more "thrown together" instead of a fully produced bit. It went perfectly with ODB's personality and I hope they keep it up.


iMPACT

JP: Also on iMPACT, Booker T faced off with Eric Young for the Legends Championship (although I'm confused how Jim Cornette can make a match for a title that doesn't exist). During the match, Booker gave Eric Young a kick to the gut when setting up the axe kick. When he did so, you could hear his wife Sharmelle yell out, "That's MY man!" I love how Sharmelle can stay involved with a match and the crowd without stealing focus. It's what makes her one of the perfect manager types (even though Booker T does not need anyone to speak for him).


SmackDown

JP: Over on SmackDown, John Morrison and the Miz fought against Jesse and Festus (who was the recipient of a Wet Willie earlier). At the end of the match, John Morrison rang the bell so that Festus would go into a comatose state so that the Miz could finish him off. After doing so, John Morrison then stole the bell and put it in the corner so that the bell keeper could not ring the bell and wake Festus up! I thought this was wonderfully smart to begin with, but that's not the only thing. John Morrison and Miz actually gave this exact scenario months ago while watching a match featuring Jesse and Festus, which we pointed out right here in Hidden Highlights then! So it looks like despite planning this and giving away their plans, Jesse and Festus were still not smart enough to overcome them.


SmackDown

JP: And finish us off this week is more from ZeroVX!

ZeroVX: When Natalya and Victoria came out for their match against the Bella Twins, I saw a heart on the back of Natalya's outfit.

Well, pretty obvious why that's there...

JP: And if you all at home can't figure it out, I can't help you!


Well everyone, that wraps up this week's show. Thank you for reading the 169th 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!