Hidden Highlights 04.09.12: Wrestlemania XXVIII, CM Punk, More

I’m going to go into detail on some other things about Wrestlemania next week, but I wanted to spend this week talking about how, when the WWE actually tries, they can put on a compelling story in the ring that makes sense. We’re going to analyze Rock/Cena and HHH/Taker, although you could do this with Punk/Jericho on an abbreviated level (here’s how that would go: Laurinaitis and Punk have been at odds since Laurinaitis became an on-screen character, so now that Laurinaitis has power, he uses it in an attempt to screw over Punk. At the same time, it also plays into Jericho’s gameplan up to this point, which mimicked Christian at the MitB ppv. CONTINUITY!)

If you guys enjoy this breakdown enough, I might even do an entire column just breaking down episodes of wrestling as a tv show. But I doubt we get that far.

2. Advanced storytelling, Cena/Rock edition – Sure, we can say the story of the Rock and Cena goes back to even when the Rock left WWE for good, but I’m going to talk about the match. The story of this match really goes back to the Summer of Punk, and that fateful night in Chicago where it seemed like anything could be possible in the WWE. During that match, Cena threw everything he could at Punk, and couldn’t win. He let the moment get to him, got distracted, and lost. Same basic thing occurred a month later, when Punk beat Cena again, despite Cena hitting him with every move he could. Fast forward to last Sunday. Cena hit the Rock with everything he could, and we even got the same “What do I have to do to put this guy away?” look that he had during the MitB match back in July. And then Cena got caught up in the moment, and attempted to hit the People’s Elbow, and it led to his downfall. That makes it twice now that Cena has lost huge matches in the past year because he let himself get too involved; he let his actions be controlled by the crowd, and it cost him. I don’t know if there’s some long-term goal here (Cena turning heel would be logical, but wouldn’t make sense from a business standpoint), but the groundwork has been laid.

1. Advanced storytelling, HHH/Taker edition – Ok, this one is a bit easier; almost akin to shooting fish in a barrel. But it’s a much more intriguing story that has been going on for much longer. Let’s look at the groundwork.

The story of HHH/Taker begins, somehow, with Ric Flair. At the end of November, we got that famous ultimatum from Vince McMahon that, the next time Ric lost, he would be forced to retire. So we get to Wrestlemania 24, and Ric chose Shawn Michaels to be his opponent. Shawn wins, Ric is retired, and suddenly Shawn found himself in feuds against Batista and Jericho that had their root in that Ric Flair match. Then, after winning his financial freedom from JBL (yeah, let’s really just pretend that didn’t happen), Shawn found redemption by earning himself a match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25. Of course he loses, and both guys forget the match for a bit, but then we get HBK going crazy, and this awesome video package to lead into Wrestlemania 26, which may be my favorite video package that the WWE has done.

Ok, so HBK takes two Tombstone Piledrivers, loses, and is retired, while the Undertaker isn’t seen for a year. At the ppv after that Wrestlemania, HHH is knocked out of action. Now we fast-forward to the Raw after the 2011 Royal Rumble. Undertaker makes his return, and before he can say a word, HHH shows up. No words are spoken, but it’s obvious: Undertaker retired HHH’s best friend, so HHH wants to take away the last thing Undertaker has left. HHH beats Undertaker within an inch of his life, but loses. I’m not going to repeat how this year’s build went, but it kept going from there, with the added bonus of Shawn Michaels returning, and HHH wanting to end the Streak not just to avenge his buddy, but to prove that he was better than Shawn.

Now we’re finally at the match, which may not have been the best from a workrate standpoint, but what were you really expecting from these two at this stage of their careers. Instead, they told a captivating story where nothing seemed illogical. Undertaker took an early advantage, in an attempt to prove that the previous year’s match was a fluke, then HHH takes control with a series of chair shots. Throughout the chair shots, HHH tells Shawn to end the match, which was basically an admission by HHH that he couldn’t win the match by himself. Shawn, to his credit, sold the emotional turmoil incredibly, and he ended up getting choked by the Hell’s Gate for his trouble. The big turning point was obviously the Superkick/Pedigree combo, at which point Taker started to come back, and in the end, Undertaker hits HHH with a second Tombstone Piledriver, in a callback to how he finished HBK. And so the epic saga that began with Ric Flair ended with three men hugging and, possibly, ending their careers (ok, there’s no way HHH and Taker are done, but man would it be a great way to go out).

2. Poor Vickie – I mean, you had to know, when this match was set up, that Dolph and Jack would end up fighting each other at some point. But you have to give Vickie credit for trying to get her men to not fight each other. The highlight here was listening to Vickie yell “NO NO NO NO FIGHTING! DON’T FIGHT!” as if she had a chance to stop it from happening. Bonus highlights for Santino playing into his cartoon character by trying the old “LOOK OVER THERE!” gag, and Dolph deciding to murder himself while selling the Funkasaurus’s headbutt on the ramp.

1. Adventures in selling a rib injury – Here’s another callback that we need to remember: Punk technically beat Swagger after hitting the Savage Elbow, so at this point we have to consider that move as a finisher. Plus, you know, that was the move Randy Savage used to put away his opponents. So kudos to Punk for choosing to sell a body part (this week, it was his ribs), which allow his opponents enough time to kick out of the move.

Also now would be as good a time as any to mention the crowd from Monday. Do I think that crowd would be chanting for Daniel Bryan as much as they were had Bryan and Sheamus had a long match at Wrestlemania? No, but it seems to have worked out for the man.

Sidenote: you can go ahead and put Henry’s splash in the corner on the list of moves that rarely, if ever, get hit, along with Sweet Chin Music from the corner and a slow turn by Christian on a Killswitch attempt.

2. Handshakes are hard – Ken Anderson and Hulk Hogan go for a handshake in the middle of the ring. They miss each other. Curt, your opinion of this?

Thank you Curt. Also, how about Roode telling his lawyers to tell Hogan no, and the lawyer deadpanning “NO!” while having the sternest look on his face?

1. From Parts Unknown – So, this may be the first time I’ve ever heard Winter get a ring announcement, but I was laughing when they stated that she was from “Parts Unknown.” I guess this means she went to the same high school as Papa Shango and Giant Gonzalez. I bet Doink the Clown was her next-door neighbor, while Ultimate Warrior took her to the prom (in this setting, the way he asked her out was as incoherent as you imagine it would be).Also here’s a Demolition mention just so we get every decent mention out of the way (BATTLE CAT WAS ALSO FROM PARTS UNKNOWN BATTLE CAAAAAAAAAAAT).

1. Big Johnny finally gets a Titantron. – And no, I’m not referring to that wonderful video CM Punk debuted over the fall. This was the first time that Mr. Excitement got music and an entrance video, which means Laurinaitis is here to stay, although I doubt that music is. Sidenote: why was Teddy Long hanging out backstage if he no longer has a job? Wrestling logic hurts sometimes.

Reader Highlights

Hawkeye gets us started because, once again, he sent in an email. And like I said, emails get priority here. Plus his highlight is pretty great.

Hey man, here’s another one. Even though the camera was right on it when coming into the segment, no one mentioned (that I heard) that Johnny Ace has a shrine to his win at Wrestlemania in his office – his white suit, a Wrestlemania magazine and a plaque commemorating the date. Fun stuff.

ausjimmy gives us a different view of a previous Raw match. I edited his comment down a bit, but left the gist of it, plus it’s a really good connection.

Noticed one from Raw a few weeks ago, from the episode after Elimination Chamber.

When Jericho won the match, he posed, did the obligatory face-off with Punk, and then the first thing he did was jump out and walk over to where Barrett was and ask “what happened to Wade?”
In kayfabe it makes sense too – because two years ago when Barrett first came in as an NXT rookie, his pro was Chris Jericho.

And then Michael Ornelas, who I’ll just assume is the beloved 411 writer, had this to say about Khali.

Punk calls Johnny L. a toolbox. Lots of people laugh at this. But someone on TEAM TEDDY, who would be inclined to dislike him, didn’t laugh: The Great Khali.

I’ve heard he knows some English and can converse with people, but he still sold not knowing the language. He was very visible, too, as he was the face in the background right behind Punk when he said it.

***

And with that, the 9th edition of Hidden Highlights v2.0 is in the books. Make sure to send in your reader Highlights so we can return this to being the most reader-inclusive and positive article in the IWC.