Hidden Highlights 11.05.07: Issue #114

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #114

Hello everyone whose mother’s birthday is tomorrow (two mother references in a row for me, quite odd), and welcome back to Hidden Highlights!!

Hidden Highlights, they 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. William Regal may bend his opponent’s hand backwards just a little bit harder to dish out the pain. Christian Cage may reference a piece of obscure history. Tazz may bring realism to the product by describing an abdominal stretch in detail. The camera operator may take a low shot looking up at the Great Khali to make him look like a true monster. These are all examples of what Hidden Highlights is about.

Every week this article spotlights Hidden Highlights from the biggest shows on television (RAW, ECW of SciFi, iMPACT, SmackDown!, and a PPV or television special if there is one), delves into the past to find the ones never recorded before, and goes beyond to small shows, live events, tapes, and the indy scene to see what no one else sees. This article may have an author, but it is just as much written by the readers and true fans of professional wrestling—those who love what they watch and want to tell the world what they have found.

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.

JP: World Series Champions baby! In a sweep! Honestly, I never thought I’d see the Red Sox win a single World Series in my lifetime, nonetheless two in four years. What a crazy world we live in. Speaking of crazy things that we see twice in a short period of time, this week’s guest co-host is the returning Mathew Sforcina. As you may remember, Mat is writer of Evolution Schematic, and therefore my idol. Although at this point you’d think he be idolizing me after signing up for this gig a second time. People, I give you the devastating Australian wrestling wrecking machine The Massive Q.

Sforcina: Hello all. I trust you’re all well and good and reading this. Obviously. And I hope you’re all fully up to speed on how to work your recording equipment. It’s a very important thing, ensuring that your VCRs, DVDs, your TiVos and so on all work right.

JP: I do NOT like the sound of where that is going… but I’ll change the topic for now to make myself feel better… This past Saturday was your 150th article for 411mania, huh?

Sforcina: Apparently. Quite an accomplishment, wouldn’t you say?

JP: Yeah, yeah it is. Of course, this is my 191st, not including my seven appearances in Fact or Fiction, any of the roundtables or specials I have been in, or any of the dozen of news items and radio show recaps I have done. And you started with the company a full 8 months before me.

Sforcina: Well mine didn’t include any of those either, and I did skip some weeks, and I took a couple of months off…

JP: This is a good thing? This is your excuse?

Sforcina: Why are you attacking me?! I’m here to help you! Besides, it’s better than the Mama’s Boy you tried here!

JP: Right… right… sorry, I’m just used to going after everyone in my path and crushing them.

Sforcina: But remember, we’re on the same team here. Besides, what about someone like Larry with 383928542850982340958498509289 to the power of pi articles completed?

JP: To be trite: quality over quantity.

Larry: You’re both fired, bitches.

Sforcina: What? I didn’t agree with that statement!

Larry: Yeah, but you volunteered for this and JP specifically said I wasn’t allowed to, therefore you betrayed me.

JP: Well, if we’re both fired, who is running this article?

Larry: Given that Randle’s one is currently running in South Carolina, and thus can’t be in it, there’s only two… err… characterizations left…

JP: No, anyone but tho—

Stenographer: That’s right! We’re taking over!

Ghost of JT: So let’s get on with the Hidden Highlights!

Sunday, October 28, 2007 by the Readers via JP

JP: Were you one of the 13 million votes? If you were, how do you feel about Matt Hardy and MVP not having their match again? I wonder what actually won? An MMA match in a WWE ring would be pretty funny. Not “Brawl for it All” funny, but funny nonetheless.

(2) Samoan spike to the TV:

Regular Pedro Rodriguez kicks us off with a safety catch:

I’m watching the Umaga/Triple H match at Cyber Sunday and this highlight is very important. Umaga cleared the ECW announce table, but not completely. As he walked to stand on the opposite announce table, I notice there was still a monitor on it. So anyway, Umaga did the splash and guess what? The monitor was gone. Someone had removed it before Umaga hit his splash on Triple H. This was a smart thing because of dangerous it could have been for him to actually hit his head on it.

JP: I’m always amused that they remove the monitors since you’d think they want to hurt their opponents more. Ah well! Someone cares about the wrestlers’ safety at least!

(1) I’ve still got that buzzing in my arm:

A man I’ve been in contact with for a while named Gary Graham is next:

Man was Randy Orton better than ever at it last night selling the arm? He was just amazing. And the best part was even after the match (just before the superkick) he was still holding the arm and selling it. I guarantee you not many woulda remembered to do that.

JP: I bet you are right, too! Of course, this is part of Randy Orton love-fest month here in Hidden Highlights. Gary, I look forward to hearing the results of that other thing we talked about.

Sforcina: Randy Orton… love-fest month? Uh, Larry, maybe we can work something out here… No? JP? Stenographer?

Wilcox?

Monday, October 29, 2007 by JP

JP: With Cyber Sunday in the books, RAW moved on to the next event in Survivor Series. This was pretty much a comedy and multi-person match-up night, and included a guest appearance by Mick Foley! Yeah, those have gotten a lot less special, I have to agree. When will we be “saved” already?

(3) That’s my baby momma:

The opening contest was a multi-branded Diva’s battle royal featuring all the girls in their Halloween outfits from the night prior. Jillian Hall decided to dress up at Britney Spears, including two little babies that she carried to the ring. Later in the match, Jilian was on the outside ring apron, and I noticed something that quite amazed me: she was still holding on to those babies! Somehow, Jillian held on to the babies all match (until she threw them at other competitors). It was quite an amazing fete and deserves some props.

(2) No, I’m starting, no doubt:

In the continual multi-person match-ups of the evening, Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes teamed up to take on “The World’s Greatest Tag Team” Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. Before the opening bell got underway, Hardcore Holly put himself in a wrestling position. He and Cody did not talk at all, Holly just went into the position to set himself up as the guy who was going to start the match. Cody looked at Holly confused, tried to talk to him, but Holly would not move. Cody eventually gave up and went to the ring apron and the match got underway. I really liked this one because Holly showed you can say so much without saying a word. As a veteran, Holly felt like he was in control, and the rookie still had to learn how to respect and listen to him.

(1) It’s a-good for you:

Anyone reading Hidden Highlights for the past couple of months knows that we have been marking pretty hard for Santino Marella, despite the fact that he rarely performs in the ring. This week was another great promo by Santino as he talked to himself, with the one of him on the monitor dressed up as Stone Cold Steve Austin. During their back and forth conversation, “Stone Cold” said many of his catch phrases, including open a can of “whip ass”. Then he added one more when he said he was going to “eat some low fat frozen”! I about hit the floor laughing at that one! I don’t know if Santino is writing his own lines or not, but I am going to assume he is and give him the kudos on this one.

Sforcina: Well, it’s either Santino or some faceless writer, or Steph, or Big Fat Oily Guy. So for everyone’s sanity, let’s say it’s Santino. Oh, and Viccy? I got your message, thanks.

JP: Should I even bother asking?

Sforcina: CLEARLY she did the Banzai as a way to let me know she was thinking of me.

JP: But she was dressed as Yokozuna at the time!

Sforcina: See, she’s clever! She could have dressed up as any old time guy, but she chose the guy who used my finisher! God she’s brilliant!

JP: You honestly think she knows you even exist?

Sforcina: Of course! If she didn’t, clearly she would have dressed up as Flair on order of creative to rag on him a bit and set up a mini-feud later on with Kenny “The Enforcer” Dyslexia.

JP: That’s not his name.

Sforcina: I don’t care, I hate him.

JP: …

Didn’t you do ECW?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007 by Sforcina

Sforcina: Uh, yeah, funny about that…

JP: Sforcina…

Sforcina: Hey, it’s not my fault!

JP: Then whose fault is it?

Sforcina: WWE’s.

JP: How in the blue hell do you come to that conclusion?

Sforcina: After my recording of this failed, I should have been able to deliver on this anyway via their streaming of ECW online. Since that didn’t work, since my region is blocked from getting it, it’s their fault. QED.

JP: Whatever. Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve been let down. Let’s see what MY memory has…

(3) That’s no Heyman:

During the “Trick or Treat Extreme Rules” Match featuring Tommy Dreamer vs. Nunzio, Dreamer came out dressed like Paul Heyman. Tazz and Joey Styles then no sold the entire things and pretended that they could not recognize the costume, despite cracking up constantly during the match. To make it even better, they started to “guess” what Tommy Dreamer was. One of things was absolutely hilarious when Joey Styles went, “Well maybe he’s a parking lot valet… I mean, he even has an official pass and everything!” That was pure classic ribbing on Style’s part.

By the way, was I the only one who thought this would have been a great night for the return of the new ECW’s greatest character: THE MUMMY!!!!!!

(2) How fast is that guy:

After John Morrison defeated the Miz to become the #1 Contender, he joined Joey Styles and Tazz at the announce booth to watch CM Punk’s match with James Curtis. After the end of the match, Morrison bolted in the ring and started to beat down Punk, to which Styles said, “Wow, Morrison is so fast, he just got right in there out of nowhere!” What was really amazing was that Styles was actually STILL TALKING to Morrison as Morrison ran into the ring. By the time Joey finished his sentence, Morrison was already in the ring and about to lay an axe-handle into Punk’s back. Now THAT is what sold for me how fast Morrison actually moves. Styles couldn’t even finish talking and didn’t realize Morrison was gone until he was already at his destination.

(1) It’s All Hallo’s Eve:

This isn’t so much of a hidden one, but one of those things that just has to be pointed out and given props to. The ECW set (and backstage area) was decorated for Halloween in so many way. From props to carved pumpkins to spider webs to special lights… it was all amazingly and seamlessly done. But you have to remember that ECW is taped after SmackDown!, so the production crew and to take down part of the SmackDown set, put up the entire ECW set, and decorate the entire thing… and all probably within less than 20 minutes! How amazing was that job and how good did that set look for such a short amount of time. Again, the production crew are the unsung heroes of wrestling and deserve more credit (and money) than they will ever get.

Sforcina: That all sounded nice… wish I saw any of it.

Thursday, November 1, 2007 by JP

JP: I was running way short of time, so luckily I was able to catch three Hidden Highlights in 20 minutes. Go me!

(3) Forgetting the brand:

During the opening segment of iMPACt, Kurt Angle made his way to the ring to complain about Sting, Nash, and mystery opponent. First, though, he decided to start complaining about Jim Cornette. As he did so, Kurt called Cornette the “general manager” of TNA. Looks like Kurt got caught up in his past brands in the WWE for a while there! Jim Cornette, as with most leaders in TNA, is just the “director of authority” (or management representative”). Whoopsie there!

(2) Foreshadowing a toothpick:

Also during that same opening promo, Kevin Nash came down to the ring and started to lambaste Kurt and let him know that he was coming to get him. Kurt had enough and finally said, “Instead of singing it, why don’t you bring it!” And who used to say, “Don’t sing it, just bring it”? Why none other than Kevin Nash’s Outsider co-partner Scott Hall. A nice little foreshadow/reference there by Kurt Angle.

(1) The times change:

Sometimes, when you have seen something for more than a decade, you can be really shocked to see a change. There are things that are synonymous with certain personalities, that is almost impossible to image them begin anything different. Stone Cold will flip you off, Sting will wear face paint, Hulk Hogan will flex, and Mike Tenay will always—always—wear a tuxedo in the announce booth. EXCEPT THIS WEEK! When the cameras went to the announce booth, Mike Tenay was wearing a regular suit (a new one at that, not all ragged up) and normal (re: not bow) tie. I have to say I am shocked and amazed by this turn in events and can only imagine what will happen next.

Sforcina: Clearly it was too cold for a bow tie.

Friday, November 2, 2007 by Sforcina

JP: Did you manage to get this one?

Sforcina: Of course.

JP: What a shock.

Sforcina: ANYWAY, first off, Vic-

Stenographer: HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!

Sforcina: Huh?

JP: Oh for the love of-

Stenographer: Mr. Mathew L Sforcina, I have here a court order, ordering you, under penalty of fines, jail time, torture and/or only getting a 4 month run on ECW before Creative Having Nothing For You, to desist any and all references, pictures, video, or engaging in any way shape or form in the idolizing of my client, one Lisa Marie Varon, aka WWE Diva Victoria.

Sforcina: Gahuh?

JP: Your client?

Stenographer: I only worked for you to help pay the bills as I worked through law school, it was either that or stripping, and it’s hard to find a job in the adult industry when you don’t technically exist.

JP: OK, I’ve officially lost track of her backstory, thanks a lot Sforcina!

Sforcina: Wait, you mean I can’t—

Stenographer: You are forbidden from shoehorning Victoria-love into unrelated, unconnected columns, forums and such, and can only express general feelings of appreciation and physical attraction in appropriate, pre-determined times and places, as outlined in Appendix 2. In layman’s terms, Mr. Sforcina, my client does appreciate the love, but insists you keep it within reasonable guidelines, do I make myself clear?

Sforcina: I think so, yes.

Stenographer: Very good, so good day to you all. Servant?

Ghost of JT: Yes Ma’am?

Stenographer: Take me back to the office.

Ghost of JT: Yes Ma’am.

JP: Wow, uh… Tough Break?

Sforcina: You know what this means, right?

JP: You’ll try and find 3 HH of her every week?

Sforcina: SHE KNOWS I EXIST!

JP: ::groans:: All of that for THAT weak joke?

Sforcina: Hey, restraining orders are just another way of saying ‘I love you’. Anyway, onto Smackdown!

Given my failure at ECW, I’m giving you a double bowl-full of SD goodness, but then given the whole ‘Working Arrangement’ you might as well combine these two at some point. But there was lots to talk about in this one, from Vicki Guerrero apparently going to the other Vicki’s hairdresser, to rematches, pseudo-stable formations, some big redneck who can’t even make a dumb face right first go, the Noble/Vicki romance keeps going, announcers fighting wrestlers, announcers fighting each other, and Hornswaggle. Clearly something for everyone.

(Bonus 3) That’s What Sisters Are For:

So, after Domino fell to Festus, thus proving that Modern Redneck > 50’s Throwback, he was clearly feeling blue. He was down, injured, not doing well. So his partner and sister ran to help him. But Cherry went one step further, and as you could see in the background for a second, she had Domino’s leather jacket in her arms! Clearly him putting his jacket back on would help him get back on his feet.

(Bonus 2) Tattoo? What Tattoo?:

Some discussion has occurred on this website about The Undertaker and his tattoo across his throat. For those just waking up from comas, he has ‘Sara’ written across his throat, his wife’s name. Heck of a thing to do, get a tattoo across your throat for a loved one. But WWE, while not about to tell him to get rid of it, tends to downplay it. Photos are photoshopped, and this night saw a few nice tricks. From the shadow of his head across the neck (probably unintentional) to the camera angle chosen for shots of Taker so that his hand and the mic covered the neck (probably intentional), the tattoo was downplayed to the point that you didn’t notice it at all. Well done production crew, well done.

(Bonus 1) Product Endorsement:

Rey Mysterio is a popular guy. Lots of people love him. Especially kids, kids love love love Rey-Rey. Whoa, lots of repetition there. Anyway, Rey always slaps hands, poses, and generally does babyface stuff on his way to the ring. But an interesting note about this week’s entrance for his match against Noble was that he made a point to pause, and shake the hand or high five in a very definite, one on one way, with every kid who was wearing one of his masks. Hey, promote your product, nothing wrong with that.

(3) JBL insults someone and they aren’t even there!:

So, Finlay came out to watch the Mysterio/Noble match, and sat at the commentary table but didn’t speak. During the match, Cole, while clearly nervous, spoke about Finlay openly, calling him out on his loss, and questioning why he was there, and basically doing what all face announcers do when a heel is watching a match. And thus, at a point where he pointed at Finlay, Finlay smacked Cole’s hand with the Shell…Shi… His Stick. Cole then complained, and JBL asked if he was ok. Cole said he needed some ice, and JBL then, under his breath, said something along the lines of “Ok, DDP.” Now, I don’t know of any backstage heat between JBL and DDP, but I do know, as a fan, DDP had for a long time tape around his middle, months of time with taped up chests because of an ‘injury’. It was an incredibly long term, subtle jab, but it was done so quickly and so quietly if you never watched WCW you didn’t go “What the hell?” but if you did, you got a hell of a joke. Bravo JBL, bravo.

(2) Sumo, Samoan, what’s the difference?:

So this HH comes from the Palumbo/Dykstra match, and it involves Victoria, but not directly, so put down the phone Stenographer. See, Cole and JBL were talking about the Diva Battle Royal on Raw, and about Victoria’s outfit. Thing is, Cole stumbled, and called it a ‘Samoan’ outfit. JBL picked up on that, and they ran with it, although Cole did correct himself, most of their comments called it a ‘Samoan’ outfit, not a Sumo one. The HH is the fact that Victoria was meant to be Yokozuna (as Mr. Fuji-Dykstra indicated) and thus… It WAS a ‘Samoan’ outfit. Yoko was Samoan and a Sumo, thusly they were both right twice and wrong once. So that evens out as a right.

(1) The MVPs:

You would be hard-pressed to not just give Matt Hardy and MVP the #1 slot each and every week. Thing is, they deserve it! This week was no exception, as the two chatted backstage. There seemed to be nothing the same about them, be it personality, their character, the way they dressed, their physical status, who had belts and who didn’t, nothing about them was the same… Except one thing. They were both chewing gum while they talked. Such a very subtle thing, but it gave them SOME common ground, a thin sliver of hope that the two can work together in the long run. At least on a symbolic level. You could also make a case for MVP’s breathing strip and Hardy’s bandages, but the Gum seems more like something they would have to think about.

JP: I’m surprised they didn’t get into a contest to see who could fit more bubble gum in their mouth (the answer is MVP because he’s better than you).

Hidden Highlights are not just about what was written above, but about what you have seen as well. This article strives to not only spotlight the best Hidden Highlights, but to engage you, the viewers, and make you the best audience in the world.

JP: Plenty to keep us busy this week. So, *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…

We’ll kick off this week with Bill Bumgarner and a letter strangely referencing this week’s guest co-host:

This doesn’t pertain to one show in particular, but it is something I’ve noticed recently. In this week’s Evolution Schematic, Sforcina mentions that Chris Jericho once got into a feud with Kane because Y2J spilled coffee on the Big Red Machine. Fast forward to 2007, and Kane goes nuts on Finlay after the Irishman spills coffee on him. I don’t think this is coincidence. With all the buzz surrounded a now-more-likely-than-ever Jericho return, could this have been another hint, one even more subtle than the SAVE_US.222 ads?

JP: What do you think, oh master of kayfabe?

Sfocina: Well, given that it has been less than 7 years, yes. The Kane/Y2J coffee thing was roundly hated at the time and is thus, to long time fans, somewhat memorable, even only if by the anti-references. So yeah, it’s probably a subtle call back.

Oh wait, did you want a kayfabe explanation?

Uh, given the hype that Jericho might be coming back, older guys are preparing, slipping back into old mindsets to deal with him. Thus, Kane has been hanging around the coffee tables more, and thus something like this was bound to happen.

JP: That was… creative. Well anyway, with more interesting tidbits is Jeremy Haston:

The Father Of The Year Award is givin by a group called the National Fatherhood Initiative. It’s a non-profit started by Pres. Clinton. My mother worked for them for about 5 years. From my understanding, their Board of Directors chooses who gets the award. Mom went to almost every award ceremony they had during her time with the group. She got to meet Tim McGraw and Faith Hill when he was given it. She got to meet Jim Kelly, former QB for the Bills, when he was awarded it. And she got to meet the guy who played the father on Seventh Heaven when he was awarded it (can’t remember his name). So it is a legitimate award given by one of the great organizations around right now. Just wanted to let you know.

JP: Oh, I knew it was legitimate after some research, I just don’t know what the criteria is for choosing someone. If your mom has some literature, send it our way and we’ll print it up. Sticking us with last week’s subjects is Chris Jacobs:

This is pretty random, but about wearing one elbow pad. Most people that wear one have a elbow/arm injury, or use a elbow style finisher. The two I know more of is Dusty and Randy Savage. They also hit there finisher with the padded elbow. Why would they do that? Well if they wanted more impact, then use the un-protected, or wear two elbows and just pull it off for the finish, but imagine wrestling damn near every day of the year, and hitting someone with your elbow countless times in a night for every day of the year… IT’S GONNA START HURTING!!! So put a pad on it, have confidence that a half inch of foam isn’t going to NOT knock the opponent out, and blast that man and not hurt yourself in the process. Also if you are a heel, and you are hitting with the pad, and don’t wear two pads, chances are that your one elbow pad is loaded.

JP: You know, I never really thought about loading the elbow pad, but that makes so much more sense now. By the way, I forwarded your other e-mail to Steve Cook and Ask411mania, he’ll have a better answer. Check that out in the middle of the week before he goes insane. Speaking of insane people, the master of my banners Dan Hamilton checked in with some Hidden Highlights of his own:

During the Kurt Angle / Sting match, and one of the many headlocks applied, Kurt was down on the mat facing upward in Sting’s headlock, I couldn’t help but notice that Rudy Charles, the ref, kept checking to see if Angle’s shoulders were off the mat, and thus not considered a pin attempt by Sting. See, the WWE isn’t the only place where they are trying to make it look more shoot style, but then again Rudy has been the only TNA official I’ve seen do that, so maybe it was just an improv moment for him, I don’t know.

JP: I always notice Rudy doing Hidden Highlights; he is one of the best in the industry period. Other wrestlers and support staff would do well to pay attention to him.

I’m kinda wondering how much an entire Louie Vuitton mask and matching pants cost? Hell, then again since only 1% of the Louis Vuitton items out there are real, (Thank you Wikipedia) .I suppose that Rey Mysterio’s entire getup could have been fake, and probably was.

On a “Wow, he has no life!” note, I instantly recognized what Rey was wearing as soon as I saw him on the entrance way. I should be shot for being a male and noticing that. Please JP, please say that you recognized the designer as well, PLEASE!!

JP: Beg all you want, but I totally did not. I did think Rey’s pants were quite odd, but I never linked them to a designer. Do you think he wore nice pants because he was going to MVP’s VIP Room? Speaking of all those in the VIP Room, we have Chris Wingert:

During the Hardy/MVP vs Finlay/Mysterio match, MVP had a ‘C’ on his outfit, stating that he is the ‘captain’ of the team. Nice little subtle touch to add to the on-going rivalry between the tag champs.

JP: MVP just gained 50 more points in my book for that one. There is no one who is coming as close to his awesomeness on SmackDown! right now. Heck, even RAW is starting to slip because they job out my boy Carlito like no tomorrow! But not as much as I job out Carlton Kearny:

I would like to add a hidden highlight from the Oct.29 edition of Raw taking place during the backstage segment with Vince and William Regal when Vince asked for little Bastard. The hidden highlight comes when Regal opened the door to the hallway where Hornswoggle waiting and the lights were green, which caused the entire hallway to illuminate with a greenlight.

JP: I thought it was a special green closet designed to keep him happy! Speaking of keeping people happy, I must keep the rest of the staff happy by plugging Randy Harrison from the Sprawl and Brawl video review over in the MMA Zone:

My Hidden Highlight for Raw that I’m sure everyone will get is Paul London and his Amish facial hair in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania of course is home to the notorious Pennsylvania Dutch so perhaps London was just giving a shout-out to all his horse and buggy riding homies out there… Though one would wonder how they’d ever know about it.

JP: Sorry to burst your bubble there, but I lived in Philadelphia and in Amish country Lancaster, PA, and they are pretty far away. It was an hour and half the way I drive, so I can guarantee you that very few Amish ever make their way anywhere near Philly. Then again, he could have been sending a shoutout to Roadkill who did come to fame in the ECW Arena in Philly. Anyway, because we have not had enough Australians in this issue, here is Nick Noel:

During the tag match on RAW, Kennedy was working over D.H. Smith’s left leg. But when going for the pin he proceeded to hook Smith’s RIGHT leg, making it harder for him to kick out.

JP: And then Smith got suspended for violation of the Wellness policy! I’m going to say was marijuana in his case.

I’d just also like to point out that Brian Kendrick almost killed himself for our viewing pleasure by pulling a “Candice”, when he FACE-PLANTED the barricade after diving over the top rope onto Murdoch during the London/Cade match. Poor bastard didn’t move until the post match beat down.

JP: Yeah, I was a bit scared for him too when I saw that one. It looked quite painful! Not as painful as the return of Hidden Highlight Reader Write-in contestant finalist Trevor Alexander. I kid, I kid. Where is Nikolia Nygard, though?

1. The World is watching.

a. In The WWE’s The World is Watching opening promo Booker T has been replaced by Randy Orton and in the Raw opening Booker has been replaced as well.

JP: WWE Production is always on top of those opening promos!

b. I also noticed that Trish has been replaced by Torrie (While Lita Still remains) and Eddie has been removed completely as well. Now those changes may have been around for awhile but I find it odd that they would replace Trish but not Lita… and for Torrie of all people, other than take her top off what has she done for the business.

JP: The day Lita shows up in TNA is the day she’s out of that video!

2. Blame Beth: The WWE took a lot of flack for how they moved Candice Michelle last week after she took a nasty fall and we see they incorporated it into the storyline by saying Beth callously moved Candice Michelle not realizing how hurt she was to make the pin. We all know she didn’t move her until the ref told her to and they could have easily not shown the ending but it makes sense that they would add it to the feud between those two.

JP: I like that they are trying to incorporate the injury into a storyline and into Beth’s character. Though you are right, it was totally the ref who told Beth to move Candice.

3. Hairless little Bastard: Hornswoggle looks to have shaved and now it seems like the WWE has had to resort to fake facial hair. It may have been fake this entire time but this week it looked incredibly synthetic and glued on. One thing that drew me to the beard was the fact Hornswoggle was stroking the beard while Vince talked to him, I never saw him do that before.

JP: I would figure that they want to shave off his beard to make him look younger.

4. Hornswoggle is “Evil”: Hornswoggle received a new between match graphic which seems to coincide with Vince telling him that if he was a McMahon he would have to be evil, we saw this graphic before the actual promo but it still gets the point across. I mean we all saw the debut of Cocko during the match with the Coach and that was pretty freaking evil.

JP: Cocko?

5. To Philadelphia, the WWE is one big C*ck Tease:

You can’t feel too bad for Philadelphia though, I mean they did get to see the winner of the Diva Search crowned.

JP: And boy did they hate that! You end the Diva search in the middle of the Midwest not the cradle of Extreme. But yeah, that was pretty mean to Philly. Then again, I don’t feel bad; I never liked living there.

That’s all this week, ha I’m doing more for the site than the guy who beat me in the contest. Ha ha.

JP: Ha! I didn’t say it. Nor did I say the following. Mark Sherrick did:

During the Hardy/Smith vs Carlito/Kennedy match on Raw, the heels spent a bit of time kicking the crap out of DH Smith’s knee. It was nice to see coherence in targeting a spot, but that wasn’t the highlight. JR pointed out at least once or twice that while DH did have kneepads on, that they do little to cushion the impact of so many blows to the joint. Yes, theyre wearing pads, but that doesn’t make them invincible.

JP: It’s the same as elbow pads not protecting your elbow when you do a drop from the top rope! That hurts no matter what. This one from Michael Reid is less painful, though:

He’s billed as being from Austell, Georgia. Kind of inconsequential, right?

Nice little touch from the writing / creative team. I wonder if there are other little touches like this that they’ve put into other characters.

JP: I’ll believe you because that sounds so cool, but in what language to “Austell” mean “from the east”? Wrapping us up this week is John Baker and what he thinks is a first:

I think I might have caught a first-ever PPV Poster Hidden Highlight. I was reading MeeThinks earlier…

JP: I feel sorry for you.

Meehan: Hey!

… and when I saw the Armageddon poster, I noticed a wrestling ring in the bottom left corner that looks like it’s been chopped in half. The Survivor Series poster features Edge cutting the ring in half with a chainsaw. This struck me as a nice bit of continuity by whoever does the posters in the WWE’s marketing department. It could also allude to an Edge/Batista or Edge/Batista/Undertaker feud after Survivor Series.

I wonder if you put all the PPV posters back to back they’ll form a coherent image? Only one way to find out! Meehan, you know what you have to do.

Sforcina: Geez, we’re over-compensating a little for being rejected, aren’t we JP? Bringing in all these outside guys…

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 [email protected] 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… readers just like to know!

JP: Well once again, I’d like to send the many thanks to Australia’s own Mathew Sforcina. The man comes through in a pinch, even from 13 hours away.

Sforcina: I have never come through a pinch, a crack, or any other small space. Have you even seen me?

Dunn: Yeah, he looks like Marvel Comics’ The Blob.

Sforcina: Ah great, now you got ME doing it!

JP: See what in addiction this article is?

Instead of being addicted to Hidden Highlights, 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.

Thank you for reading the 114th ISSUE of Hidden Highlights! Be sure to drop a line with all the other Hidden Highlights not covered this time around and everything you catch in the week to come.

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

Sforcina: Still needs more V-

Stenographer: What did I just tell you?

Sforcina:… V. Big Daddy V, that’s what this needed more of.

Stenographer: Ew.