wrestling / Columns
Hidden Highlights 08.20.07: Issue #103
Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag
Issue #103
Hello everyone who spent the entire weekend catching up to their TIVO (and still not making it), 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: Kids, I am in much better shape this week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still exhausted and worn out from two weeks on the road straight, but it was a fun time. That said, I made it home to actually watch the shows and finish this article. That said, I still had quite a bit of catch up to do!
And before we get too far, I’d like to send kudos and thanks out to reader Dan Hamilton for designing all of the new banners you see this week and in the coming weeks. That’s right, 99% of the site turns to John Meehan, but not me… nor this week’s guest co-host. He is the latest writer of Ask 411 Wrestling, former author of News from Cook’s Corner; lady and gentlemen, I give you Steve Cook. Cook?
Cook: Hi everybody! It’s great to be here on a Monday… except for that strange smell. Hasn’t anybody taught Randle about the joys of deodorant?
JP: He’s Canadian, and mid-western Canadian at that. What would you expect?
Cook: Good point!
JP: Ok, change of topic, I have a question for you.
Cook: You couldn’t send it into my article?
JP: No, I think it’s better to ask here.
Cook: Fine. Go ahead!
JP: Craig Letawsky, Scott Keith, Brian Cole, Gavin Napier, and Chris Clarke (and to an extent Ryan Byers) have all gone insane (more insane?) after write Ask 411 Wrestling. When will you go completely off the deep end?
Cook: You’re a jerk, you know that?
JP: Stop dodging the question!
Cook: Fine… the latest word from 411 Creative is that I’m not scheduled to go insane until the beginning of the new fall season. I’m supposedly disappearing for a few weeks and coming back in time for Sweeps month. I’ll then either have a wedding or a baby, because those always boost ratings.
JP: If you say so… well, I guess you won’t flip out in the next 16 pages or so, then we can get on with the Hidden Highlights!
Sunday, August 12, 2007 by the Readers (via JP)
JP: And the readers have nothing. Boy, that was a quick segment!
Cook: Judging from Bossman Csonka’s recap of the event, this doesn’t surprise me. It seems like the only thing that could have made this show worse was Jake Roberts stumbling down to the ring and stroking his snake. Yikes!
Monday, August 13, 2007 by Cook
Cook: Ah, Monday Night Raw. The mothaship, if you weel, of World Wrestling Entertainment. Let us see if they can take it to the pay windah… with some Hidden Highlights! Don’t worry, there is a reason that I am speaking Dustyese…
(3) No beer for Sandman?:
Now, maybe this has happened before during Sandman’s WWE stint. I’ll admit that I’ve missed a good number of his matches this year. But the one thing I noticed while Sandman was making his entrance through the crowd to take on Mr. Kennedy was something I didn’t see: beer. When haven’t we known Sandman to throw back a beer or two before his wrestling matches? The lack of an adult beverage on this occasion led me to believe that Sandman was taking his upcoming match very seriously. Which he should have… Kennedy is one of the rising stars in WWE and the match was taking place in Madison Square Garden, a place where young basketball players and young wrestlers dream of competing. Obviously this was no ordinary match to Sandman, and you could tell that from the way he entered the arena without a cold one in hand.
(2) The fans love Orton:
I’ll give WWE credit for one thing, more than any other wrestling promotion over the years they’ve excelled at giving us great reaction shots from the fans. Whether it was the girl crying when Randy Savage & Elizabeth reunited at WrestleMania VII, or the young John Cena fan in shock when Edge beat him for the title, WWE really knows how to pull at the ol’ heartstrings with reaction shots. So it’s not surprising that they gave us another one tonight… while Randy Orton was making his entrance for the main event, they cut away to a shot of several fans that had the same exact reaction for the #1 contender for the WWE title and the biggest threat to John Cena’s title reign…
A blank stare.
Yeah, that pretty much sums up the way I feel when he comes out to the ring too.
(1) A son outdoes his father:
Jim Ross made sure to let us know that tonight marked the first time that young Cody Rhodes would compete in the World’s Most Famous Arena. Cody scored a victory over Charlie Haas, a man who has held the WWE Tag Team Titles on several occasions and who’s generally thought of as a pretty decent hand. A good victory for Cody, no doubt. This led me to wonder: what did Cody’s daddy do in his MSG debut? After consulting the History of WWE website, I found out that young Dusty Rhodes also scored a victory in his first MSG match, against Rocky Tomayo. Now if you’re like me, you’re wondering “Who in the blue hell is Rocky Tomayo?” At the risk of pissing off the Tomayo family, I will tell you that ol’ Rocky could be considered at best a journeyman wrestler who was capable of beating men the likes of Ted Adams and not the likes of Billy Whitewolf.
So what’s the highlight? Simply put, Cody Rhodes had a more impressive victory in his first MSG appearance than his daddy did. Since JR & the King didn’t point it out, I will do so here. Good show, young chap!
JP: I’ve noticed the dwindling of the Sandman’s gimmicks over the past few weeks as well. A number of issues back I noted that he did not spit his beer anymore, and the past couple of weeks he has been without them. Not only that, JR did not call him the “beer drinking, Singapore cane swinging” Sandman, but just “the Sandman”. I think this might have more to do with the lawsuit that is out there that accuses the Sandman of picking up a woman and tossing her. Although the lawsuit is unfounded, the E is taking no chances right now and are just toning down the Sandman. But by the way, props to William Regal for actually saying something edgy on WWE TV (the comment about Jillian’s song being an abortion). That’s something you don’t hear often enough! Who ever thought Regal would be the man to push the limits?
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 by JP
JP: I can’t even remember the last time I did the Hidden Highlights for ECW. And who would think I would do it on the week where Big Daddy V got two matches? I’m just the luckiest one of all! I have to say, though, Big Daddy V is doing much better than his former Men on a Mission tag team partner, who I hear is a part time drive driver, part time booker, part time wrestler. Also, I can’t believe Big Daddy V is only 35! It looks like he could have a good ten more years in the business. Huzzah!
(3) Que bien!:
No one is as happy as me to see all three shows finally have General Managers. For a while now, I’ve been wondering what happened to Armando Alejandro Estrada. Last we saw, Bobby Lashley had pushed his wheelchair into some boxes. But now he’s back, and he’s GM, which means we just get funny promos every week while he books matches. Works for me! This week, Estrada started off with a Hidden Highlight bang to my delight. As he set forth the ECW title match for SummerSlam, he called the event “the biggest fiesta of the summer”. See, it’s little touches like that where Estrada slips in the Spanish that shows just how into his character he is. Keep it up, I’ll be watching.
(2) Let go, kid:
Since I haven’t talked about Big Daddy V enough yet, this next one involves him. During his first match with CM Punk, Punk managed to wrap his arms around V in attempt to… uh… I’m not quite sure. Anyway, V started slamming Punk in the corner, yet Punk maintained his grip. It was at this moment that Tazz finally had enough and started yelling, “Punk, just unlock your hands!” I thought it was a great moment of realism by Tazz to say something that would make complete sense as a wrestler. Plus, it showed that he is a fan of Punk and that he would like to see him succeed and not get hurt.
(1) Not a pin:
In the continual series of upsets, Kevin Thorne once again did battle with Steven “Stevie” Richards. Towards the end of the match, Thorne picked Stevie up and slammed him down hard, sitting down. Thorne continued to sit there as the ref checked Stevie’s shoulders, but still nothing happened. Then, Thorne realized that he did not have any part of his body actually on Stevie, and placed his hand on Stevie’s chest. At that moment, the ref started to count Stevie down. All and all, I’ll have to give the Hidden Highlight to the ref for playing by the new “shoot” rules and not counting Stevie down until there was an actual cover on him.
Cook: Two Big Daddy V matches? Good thing I let you do this show! I was busy doing other things at the time anyway…
Thursday, August 16, 2007 by Cook
Cook: Some of you may not know this, but I got my start here at 411 doing the alternate Impact recap. I was pretty supportive of TNA back then… they were young and making young mistakes like giving Dusty Rhodes the book, but they meant well. Things looked like they were heading in the right direction, and they continued to do so for quite awhile. Recently… not so much. The last few weeks have not been high points in TNA history from a critical perspective, and unfortunately this week did more to continue that trend than it did to turn things around. I was still able to find some things to include here… but I won’t lie to you, it was tough.
(3) Oh no, he’s not going to talk about colors, is he?:
I know how much Prag and my lackey love to talk about colors in this column. How red represents Raw, blue for Smackdown… yadda yadda yadda. TNA is on the ball when it comes to colors as well. While watching Kurt Angle walk towards the Impact Zone carrying 45 title belts, I noticed that the curtains off in the background in front of the building were red and black. Red and black are the main colors Kurt’s been using for his ring attire for quite some time now. Oh, and the colors were also quite fitting considering that Kevin Nash seems to be part of Kurt’s little group now. Wolfpac, whut?
(2) TNA tries to appease me:
Readers of my Impact recaps will remember the affinity I had for one Traci Brooks. In fact, I was often willing to ignore glaring flaws in an episode of Impact if Traci was on the show. It really doesn’t take that much to make me happy. Now, in case you haven’t noticed, TNA’s been taking a lot of flack from the Internet lately, even more so than usual. They need to do something to appease people like me… so what do they do? Well, the first shot on this week’s Impact was a clip from Hard Justice featuring Ms. Brooks covered in tar & feathers. Obviously they figured that would be enough to make me and the other lonely single guys that make up most of their demographic go easy on the rest of the crapfest they called a wrestling show this week. It might have worked better if I hadn’t already watched that part of Hard Justice several times on the Internet.
Needed more tar.
(1) Pacman loves the money:
My final hidden highlight features an incident everybody knows about by this point involving one Pacman Jones. You’ll remember the incident where he “made it rain” at a strip club by throwing money up in the air while a stripper danced for him. Good times. I was reminded of these good times by Pacman’s entrance, when green lasers lit up the Impact Zone. Pacman is obviously used to being surrounded by the color green, so that was a good choice for his entrance. And yes, I know they use those damn green lasers all the time… but they’re especially fitting for Pacman! Can I get a witness?
JP: Whoop whoop! That’s the correct response, right? Anyway, you totally can’t bash Dusty’s booking because I successfully defended it back in In Defense Of…!
Cook: Your readers were biased!
JP: Not a chance, it was fair and square! That said, I feel a lot like you about TNA. I want to be a TNA fan so much, I want to promote the product until no tomorrow. I want them to be to me what NWA/WCW was when I was younger. But they do a lot that makes it hard. I want to watch a wrestling show! Why is this so hard to understand? Then again, I think I enjoyed this show a lot more than you did. Probably this is because Jim Cornette echoes my thoughts on screen.
Friday, August 17, 2007 by JP
JP: Doesn’t Kristal have any friends who aren’t in the wrestling business? I mean, she was on “Deal or No Deal” and “The Price is Right”. What’s Bob Barker doing now anyway? Someone has to walk Kristal down the isle. You didn’t think they would just use regular people for the wedding, did you? Actually, new host of the Price is Right Drew Carrey already competed in a Royal Rumble, and Kane is on SmackDown!… oh, this could be way too much fun!
(3) Blowing bubble in the water:
Oftentimes, some wrestlers/valets put so many little touches into their characters that we don’t spend enough time covering them or taking them for granted. This week, I’d like to give some love to Cherry (no pun intended… or was it?) for doing just that. As the commercials were coming up while Deuce and Domino were in the ring, I noticed that Cherry was blowing a really big bubble with her gum. That was just too funny and in another example of the little things she does to stay in character.
By the way, the title of this is a joke about ducks. Look it up if you don’t know it.
(2) Oh, he’s down:
Chavo Guerrero continued his training for the return of Rey Mysterio by taking on the former Prince of Punk Shannon Moore. Late into the match-up, Chavo had Moore in what I can only describe as a reverse over the shoulder half Boston crab. As Chavo was setting the move up, Moore momentarily had both of his shoulders on the mat, and the ref actually went down and made a one count! Nice job by the ref to continue that shoot style and make a logical count, even though another move was being set up.
(1) Get rid of it:
In another great ref moment of the week, we’ll now turn to match that saw Finlay take on Jamie Noble in what is one of the best ongoing mixed storyline (if you include Kane and Hornswaggle). As Finlay made his way into the ring, the ref kept yelling at Finlay to put his shillelagh down. Actually, the ref would not even consider ringing the bell until Finaly not only put the shillelagh down, but pushed it far into the corner. I like that the match could not “officially” get under way until the weapon was gone, another moment of realism that’s been creeping into the programs over the past few months.
Cook: “Mixed storyline”? Out of Finlay, Noble, Kane & the Little Bastard, which one’s supposed to be the woman?
JP: That’s not what I meant!
Cook: I’m guessing Kane. With all the ridiculous storylines he’s already been a part of, would anybody be surprised if they made him a transvestite? I doubt it!
Saturday, August 18, 2007 by JP
JP: The most unadvertised Saturday Night’s Main Event in history… ended up being an OK show. Cena and Carlito continue to be great in the ring together (though why Cena needed the win back so soon is beyond me), Morrison and Punk make an ECW main event believable somehow, and there was no over the top silliness except for the Vince’s bastard angle. But what really made the entire show for me was MVP talking and the entire intro of the boxing match between Evander Holyfield and Matt Hardy. My word, that whole ten minutes was nothing but Hidden Highlight gold!
(3) Speaking of bastards…:
Before we get there, there were a few other things to cover. Take for instance the opening contest which saw Batista and Kane team up (figure that one out) to take on Finlay and the Great Khali (more on him in the reader section). Late into the match, Hornswaggle made his way into the ring and was used at a battering ram on Khali. After the beating, Horswaggle was slowly rolling his way out the ring… but not before Batista got one more kick on the little guy! Now that is just plain mean!
(2) RK… EXPLOSION:
After John Cena defeated Carlito (after pulling off a top rope leg drop into an STFU, no less), Randy Orton came down and beat up a defenseless Cena. At the end of their tussle, Randy RKOed Cena straight through a steal chair. But did you watch the chair in this segment? Actual screws and pieces of it went flying during the RKO! I saw one screw land about three feet away. The visual of the chair exploding really made the segment for me. I do not know if the chair was rigged or that happened naturally, but either way it was an incredible image.
(1) A boxing match:
This is one of those times where you are going to hear JT talking through me, but I really do have to give the Hidden Highlight to the entire segment of the boxing match. Here’s just a few items:
All and all, I have to say this is the best swork segment I have ever seen, especially one involving so many outside characters (ones that are incredibly unpredictable elements. Like I said above, this segment made the show for me completely.
Cook: Holy crap, I forgot this show was on! I was spending my Saturday night doing exciting things… like watching that Inoki show where Angle beat “Block” Lesnar (Yeah, they called him “Block”. Don’t ask me why.) for the IWGP title. Can you tell I lead an interesting life?
Larry: About as interesting as one of your columns.
Cook: Shut up, Larry!
Larry: Eat me.
Sunday, August 12, 2007 by JP
JP: After missing playing dress up last week, the Hulkster was feeling estranged from his son. Just thinking, maybe you shouldn’t have let him get his GED so he could start a drifting career at 16 instead of developing social skills by having to interact with other people in a learning environment. Also, is Nick Hogan subscribing to the K-fed magazine of how to dress like a douche? My goodness!
(3) Speaking of clothes…:
Like the title said, Nick at one moment was not looking like a douche, and that’s when he was wearing a “Bubba Army” shirt. Like we’ve covered in the past, this is for Hulk’s best friend Bubba the Love Sponge on Howard 101 on Sirius. The best part? Later in show, Hulk was wearing the exact same shirt! I love Bubba references.
(2) Secret passcode:
Hulk wanted Nick to teach him how to IM, so Nick stated to set up an account for the Hulkster. He then asked Hogan what his password was, and to my shock they gave it on TV! For the record, Hulk’s password is: scumbag. Now you too can log in as “HulkHogan” on AIM. Yeah right, like that name was still available!
(1) Got some energy, brother:
As noted in many prior seasons of Hogan Knows Best, this family intakes a lot of energy drinks. In seasons 1 and 2, it was Red Bull and Red Bull Sugar Free. In Season 3 they became addicted to Socko. This season? Nothing more than “Hulk Energy Powered by Socko”, as seen in the living room towards the end of the episode perfectly facing the camera. Oh man, nothing is better than product placement!
Cook: In the spirit of positivity, I will try and say something nice about this show…
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Brooke has a nice rack.
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: Well, since I cut off the pack early last week, we’ve got a bit of an overload today. 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 it off this week with write-ins coming for Australia and David McCann:
SmackDown just aired down here in Australia, and I noticed two things.
1. When Kane was on his way to the ring, he stopped and smelt his hand twice. Nothing unusual (and not really hidden), but the point is it kept continuity from the segment just before. Not only that, but even after the match, Kane smelt his hand again. Great continuity by the Big Red Machine, who just does not get enough love in your column!
JP: I agree, Kane does so many little touches for his character that we barely notice them because they are the norm. And I believe this was about the coffee. Details are fuzzy for me when it comes to last week.
2. The Great Khali made the mistake of holding his title belt upside down on a couple occasions in the past, and he must’ve picked up on that this week. After Khali had come down to the ring, he stood in the ring and raised his title–AFTER he looked at it to make sure it was the right way up. Too little, too late? You decide.
JP: Thank goodness! I saw him do it three weeks in a row and was just cringing. That is one of the most disrespectful things you can do to a title. And I don’t care what WWE writers say, those titles all have honor and I like to have it! Justinas caught the same thing, and sent a pic:
The Great Khali came out to the ring for his match against Flair. He took the title off of his shoulder, but before raising it, he looked down to it, possibly to check if the belt wasn’t upside down! Someone must’ve told Khali to make sure he doesn’t hold the belt upside down and he did just that. Here, I’ve even included a picture of it!
JP: I really need to get better at making screen caps. I’ll be taking suggestions all week. I have DirecTV with Tivo and a Slingbox on Windows XP if that helps. Anywho, somehow getting us further back in time is Chris Page and more of a man we know and love:
Whoops, I meant to throw this one in this week, but nobody noticed it, and yes, it’s yet another William Regal one. When Maria was making her entrance during the Dating Game segment and she was entering the ring, you could catch Regal getting himself a sneaky glance at her rear end when she bent over, followed by a look of innocence in a sophisticated sort of way (is there anything he doesn’t have a facial expression for?). Us
Brits might have a reputation for being prudes but Regal has always been one to prove that theory wrong (remember when he took the ho’s…)
JP: I actually read this before I saw the episode, but had forgotten I had done so until I caught Regal doing the exact same thing. Oh Regal, I can’t wait until you are really retired so I can induct you into the Hidden Highlights Hall of Fame. I’ll make a whole issue of it! Thanks to Tom Wollerton for sending in the same, and for using the word “arse”. Sticking with people in England (do Americans still read this article?), Alex Levine says:
In continuing with the E’s production crew putting the right pictures to words, I noticed last week in RAW’s theme, one of the first lines is “I want domination” and they show a quick shot of “Emotional Void” Lashley
JP: I think Lashley needs a big scar or something. At least he isn’t tatted up all over. It’s actually refreshing now and seems more edgy when someone doesn’t have a tattoo. Go read Kurt Vonnegut’s “Hocus Pocus”, it has a similar thought in there. I’ve mentioned it before, you should read it! Speaking of things that are worth a read, we continue our quest for the answer to Khali’s language and move from Australia to England to Pakistan with Asim Baig:
I read your column this week as was impressed as usual but after reading the comments of Neeraj I had to disagree. I am a Punjabi speaking person from Pakistan and even though at first I thought that Khali was speaking jibbrish but later when I concentrated I found out that he was infact speaking Punjabi but his speech is slurred and he is speaking in the dialect of Indian Punjab mostly used by SIKH community who are credited to be the originators of Punjabi at times so the dialect is very pure and difficult to understand for most of us.
Although he is mostly repeating just a few lines like “NO one can beat me and I am invincible”. But he is also uses lots and lots of swear words and vulgar statements. For example…. when he first beat John Cena he in fact at one point said:
“I *&^&*ed John Cena in the a*&” in Punjabi.
He also refers to almost everyone as SALA, the term meaning brother-in-law. This term is considered to be very offensive in conservative Punjabi homes because it simply means that the guy has *(&*ed your sister.
In short what Khali is saying and what is being translated for you are two different things but he is not speaking jibbrish and what he is saying is far more interesting that what you guys hear.
JP: If what you are saying is right, that is totally awesome. First of all, Anyone getting swears across in another language just shows the hypocrisy of censorship and therefore I love it. But even better is calling everyone Sala. Khali, then, is in fact bringing a piece of his culture and history to his character, and I am impressed. Khali just gained some big points in my book today for that. Thanks for all your help in this one! Now for some reverse thanks my way, here’s Chris Jacobs:
I am still training hard in the art of pro wrestling, and waiting to get on shows that you guys may talk about on here, it still may be a while. But HH is one of my favorite articles, I read your HH’s and I read reader write-in HH’s and use a lot of the “tips” in my character. I have gotten a lot of feedback to getting into character, and I have been told I play it so well that people believe I am this character, and not “acting” because I do things so naturally. So not a HH, but a simple thank you for a great article that helps in character development.
JP: Well you are welcome very much, and thanks for the props. I’m always impressed by guys who can live the character and blur the line of kayfabe and real. Scott Steiner is probably the best in the world today at this, though the Iron Sheik and Roddy Piper are right up there. Hopefully you can make it big and wear a “My tights are a Hidden Highlight” tights to the ring. In the meantime, I’ll accept your next though.
Oh and Shelton has always had that on there that I remember, I’m sure he may know someone that was in the war that may have been hurt/killed, or just for there support. Isn’t Charlie Haas’s brother in the war, and that is why his arm tape says Russ, maybe it is in support of his good friend/tag partner’s brother?
JP: Actually, Russ Haas died of heart attack in 2001. He and Charlie were a tag team in OVW, so you can imagine it hit Charlie particularly hard. He still wears Russ’ name in memory to this day. But back to the topic at hand, DJ Strong says:
He has had the Yellow Ribbon for quite a while. I haven’t seen it in a while, due to his new WGTT duds, but I first started seeing it when he got drafted to RAW and had the push against Triple H and Evolution.
The ribbon may lead to a hidden highlight, though. Bear with me on this. Typically, there are two types of handling a loss. Some people want to hold onto sentimental things, while others distance themselves. If Benjamin is wearing that ribbon because he lost someone, could that be a hidden reason behind his comments after his shout out at the last Tribute to the Troops?
JP: I’m actually not quite sure what you are talking about. I assume Shelton sent a message to someone during the tapings? Well, all and all, it is really Shelton’s personal business, so I’ll leave it here unless Shelton wants to write in and tell us himself. Besides, I have to move on to lovely and vivacious Dominique, who we haven’t seen in quite some time.
On Raw when Vince made his return, at the end of the show he walked past the superstars just like he did before the limo exploded, but this time he acknowledged Brian Kendrick for the smile he had on his face and told him to keep smiling. Vince may be on his computer reading HH to remember the Kendrick smile.
JP: Ah, I’ve missed you. Although I don’t think Vince has time to read Hidden Highlights (or knows how to properly surf the net), I’m sure many people on his staff do. I’m glad they have kept the continuity of that smile, event if the Hooligans are completely lost on RAW. And speaking of smiles, you make me smile Dominique…
Cook: Of for Christ sake, I don’t have all day here! You already sent this draft to me late. Nice of you to stick to your own plan there. Besides, wasn’t Paul London the one doing the cheesy grin?
JP: Fine, fine… ruin my fun in my own article… Getting us back to the UK (no seriously?) is Tom Lynch:
Quick note from the UK, with regard to one of 102’s HHs…
“After Regal won the battle royal in his usual underhanded ways, he celebrated by running around the ring waving the V for Victory/Peace hand signal. Of course, in England raising the index and middle finger like that to someone is the equivalent of giving the finger here in the states. So not only did Regal steal the win from The Sandman but he told off the crowd with his celebration as well. Austin was always known for giving the “Stone Cold Salute” and I can only hope the “Regal Saltue” continues past his battle royal victory.”
I haven’t actually watched the episode, but I can tell you this – the V for Victory is not the same as the infamous two-finger salute.
Do a V for Victory, the prints-side of the fingers are visible. The Two-Finger Salute shows the fingernails-side (ie, the other way around.)
Not having watched the ep, I can’t tell you which he did, but it’s one or the other.
JP: Uuuuuhhh… I need pictures here, my head is spinning. Luckily, James Leonard is here to give me something to do (like serious grammar editing):
On the 8-06-07 edition of Raw [I’m] thinking [sic] [of] when Vince was walking around in the back[,] the conversation was about how the IRS was getting him. The hidden highlight [I’m] thinking was when they showed IRS (Irwin R Shister) and being IRS he was reading the financial section. Giving the appearance that he is all about the money.
JP: It was definitely a great moment; he was actually reading the “Financial Times”. Still, good call there. Now fix the sentence structure and use apostrophes so I can continue to use you in the future. Taking us back to Scotland now is Neil Leslie and his first time writing in:
When Cryme Tyme are out doing their bit, and Jerome Lawler gives them the “Yeah Yeah”, you can see JR give him a handshake, and you can hear “Yo Dawg” or words to that effect from JR. Brilliant catch from JR who usually wouldn’t be heard on the mic during a Promo segment. JR is down with the kids!
JP: Bwa hahahahhaha! Your ending tag totally sold it for me! And here’s someone else who might sell something to me… Larry Williams:
My first HH comes from Raw a few weeks ago, in a match w/ His Awesomeness William Regal and Carlito vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan and The Sandman. On Regal’s way to the ring, he stops midway and sniffs the air around him and gets one of the funniest looks I’ve ever seen on his face. It was then when I realized that Regal smelled Sandman before he saw him! Maybe you guys should consider changing Hidden Highlights to “The William Regal Revue.” Just a suggestion.
JP: I swear, it’s slowly becoming that way around here. Actually, I’m surprised we haven’t got any King Booker ones yet. That’s just crazy. Between those two I could have a whole 20 page article every week! Now, your second…
………………………………….
JP: Hmmmm… that was interesting. All right then. Zack Rizza, would you like to take over:
I noticed a particular catch on Santino Marella. During his backstage segment with Maria, Ron Simmons, Regal, Hall, and Oats, Mr. Marella did not have the arm in a sling, but when he popped out on stage….he was in his sling. Just found that out to be quite weird…and I good keen eye lol.
JP: He re-injured it when he pulled Maria away! You didn’t notice that? Back to the UK, we have first timer Michelle. Rowr:
This is my first time writing in, but I have no hidden highlights, because I suck at spotting those.. I only have an add-on to something said last week. In the ECW HH’s you had this.
“All may not be rosy in the Miz-Extreme Expose four-way dance as this week we saw Kelly Kelly feel sympathy for Balls Mahoney. This makes sense because if any of the girls would like Balls (he he) it would be Kelly. Remember back to Extreme Strip Poker when Balls was the dealer, all the girls seemed to have a thing for him in a Beauty & the Beast kind of way. Kelly Kelly was one of those girls and she probably remembers those fond memories of taking off her clothes while playing high card.”
I’d just like to point out that Balls Mahoney was also the first person Kelly Kelly first fully “exposed” herself on camera to, back in the Mike Knox being the jealous boyfriend days.
Well, at least WWE are using Kelly Kelly realistically….. and that’s pretty sad.
JP: Michelle, as a first timer, I do have to warn you that like the Miz, I’m a total chick magnet. Yet like Balls Mahoney, I’m also the guy you want to expose yourself to. That said, I’ve only got eyes for you.
Ghost of JT: And Catherine. And Dominique. And Je—
JP: Shut up ghost! Don’t make me bring you back to life! Luckily, Tammie is next to put that ghost to bed:
Some of the best hidden highlights I have seen in a while were during last week’s RAW (8/6 I think).
First of all, when Mr. McMahon comes out and talks about faking his own death with the limo explosion, he refers to it happening the last time he “officially” (I think that was the word he used), appeared on RAW. Using that one word told so much and had a lot of hidden highlights to it. That one word said, “Yeah, I know I have been on RAW since then, but that was during the Chris Benoit dedication show that we all want to forget about because we really screwed up with that one. And besides, that appearance was as Vince McMahon the owner of WWE, tonight I am back as Mr. McMahon the character on RAW. The character Mr. McMahon does all kinds of crazy things like faking his own death and cheating on his wife and the soon to be revealed fathering of an illegitimate child. But the real Vincent “Kennedy” McMahon is nothing like that. (I just made my own hidden highlight!)
JP: I was completely thinking the same thing when he said “officially”. It’s like we’re on the same page, or something!
Cook: Sigh.
JP: Seriously. Anyway, the Chris Benoit Tribute Show happened outside of continuity (like the Owen Hart Tribute Show) and so therefore did not happen. Now he’s back for real, and that’s all that counts!
Another great HH was when Mr. McMahon was leaving the arena that night and the entire scene was like a replay of the last time he “officially” appeared on RAW and was blown up in the limo. He passes all the stars lined up down the hall – just like the first time, and when he passes Paul London, London is smiling – just like the first time. Vince even stops and remarks on it. Great attention to detail.
JP: Like I said above when it was mentioned, I really think someone who reads this article tipped McMahon off. Was it you?! No, I guess not, you did send us much love, and we send it right back. And by we, I mean me, since JT is a ghost and Cook will be nothing but a memory in about 2 pages. Maybe I’ll hire Bryan Renda to do this or Ask 411 Wrestling since he has so much info:
Ogre was giving some love to the guy who took the MasterLock challenge this week. That is none other than Fabulous John McChesney, who has wrestled in TNA, ROH and the NWA along with WWE. He has also appeared on WWE TV in the past as a security guard on a couple of occasions I believe. Hopefully this is a sign of him impressing the right people. I hope he will be added to the WWE roster in the near future as he is an amazing wrestler, both in the ring and on the mic, that I have had the good fortune of seeing live many times.
JP: Sounds like a good pick, and he’s gotten a few chances to be in the right place. Maybe he’ll be in DSW before the end of the year then? Travis Bucklaschuck hasn’t been there as far as I know, but he can tell you himself:
First off let’s start with last week’s Smackdown (Well I suppose it would be two weeks ago now…) with the Jaime Noble/Finlay interaction. If you watched Shannon Moore in the background he took the angle into the realm of awesome with a subtle expression change. Sure we all saw know he had the “Oh shit! It’s Kane look!” going, but before that if you watched him carefully he had a “Hey! That was mine!” look going over his coffee being knocked away. Then Funaki gave a bit of a double take when Noble tried to use him as a “partner” against Finlay, his expression and with a added head shake showed that he was intimidated by Finlay and didn’t want to get an ass-kicking from the enraged Irishman.
JP: I actually caught that in the replay. Shannon Moore looked like he was about to get really upset about the coffee (he even said “Hey!” and started to say “I was drinking that!” but didn’t get back the “Hey!”).
Now for something from out of Pro-Wrestling Noah. I thought this was a nice shot to the arm for J.R. showing he is recognized by the world round as a great announcer. I don’t know the guy’s name that said it (Mostly due to the fact it was my first showing, but on a unrelated note, he sounds a lot like one of the guys from MXC), but I quote “As a westerner once said, this guy is bowling shoe ugly!”
JP: Being unfamiliar with Pro-Wrestling Noah, I had no idea where this one was going until you got to the end. Still, a pretty good catch. I think Styles used to take pot shots like that in ECW back in the day. You know, when he was a real announcer.
Now to this week’s Smackdown that just passed! While watching the CM Punk/Jim Morrison Summerslam commercial, it gave me the impression that this was a Indy type advertisement with how it went on. I loved this as it made me believe it was a bit of a nod to Punk’s days on the Indy circut. (Or maybe it’s me deluding myself to the WWE actually thinking about a wrestler’s Pre-WWE days… As we all know… They don’t exist!)
JP: I’ve talked about it before, but I’d love the WWE to set up regional promotions, move the guys around the territories, and get some local TV. Maybe they could use a 1 hour magazine show to talk about the minor leagues and how people are developing. Having a career and growing before the E is realistic and does not detract from their characters! Come on E, it’d be better than another movie. Of course, the E is good with their DVDs, which is why Fixxer315 returns with end of the Ladder Match DVD:
I finished watching the Ladder Match DVD, and I caught two interesting highlights from the Cena/Edge TLC match from Unforgiven 06 (Actually, I caught 3, but someone had already mentioned Cena’s reaction to having to set up the double-stack of tables after an FU to Lita knocked them down in a previous column).
1. During Cena’s entrance, he does his usual marine salute, but it’s a bit different; he holds the three fingers up for quite a bit before doing the actual salute. He also did the same thing at the end, only not even bothering to do the salute. I wonder if that was a bit of subtle “read between the lines” for the hostile Toronto crowd.
JP: It would not surprise me at all. The smarks may hate Cena, but he is way good at the Hidden Highlights and shows amazing ring awareness. This week, when he was hit with a big move, he quickly rolled and rolled until he was in the corner and under the ring ropes. It was just such a smart move that I should have written the RAW section.
Cook: Hey! You said I did good work!
JP: Errr… hey, Fixxer has one more!
2. At one point, Cena gives Edge a fairly weak chair shot. This was after Edge had really blasted Cena earlier in the match. I liked how JR acknowledged it and said that Cena didn’t get all of the force behind it that he wanted. I always like it when announcers acknowledge screwups in their own subtle way without really getting on the case of the wrestlers.
JP: That was kind of like how on ECW this week Tazz kept saying that Morrison was off a little, and even acknowledged that he slipped a little bit with his springboard off the middle rope. See, screwups don’t have to be a bad thing! They happen in the real world, so why pretend wrestling is perfect?
Well, that’s enough for me this week kids. Thanks a bunch!
Cook: You know JP, this whole concept of printing a bunch of reader e-mail and replying to it is a pretty good idea. Maybe I’ll steal it!
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: Once again, my thanks to Steve Cook for his help this issue, and writing some good ones. I know I haven’t sent one complement his way this issue, but that’s just because I like razzing him. So Steve, I was impressed, good job this issue!
Cook: Thanks JP! I can’t wait to see who you’ve got lined up to do this next week… hopefully you’re not bringing back that goof JT.
JP: Just because it is the week before two year anniversary spectacular? Why would I do that?
Thank you for reading the 103rd 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!
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