Hidden Highlights 01.28.08: Issue #126

Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag

Issue #126

Hello everyone who can’t believe your friend still hasn’t told you where your seats are for WrestleMania, 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: Why is cold air following me everywhere I go? I’ve been in South Carolina for three weeks and it has gone from 70 degs (f) to 30 degs (f). I’m almost afraid to go to Orlando at the end of March for fear of making it snow there for the first time in decades. Hey, it’s been know to happen! I went to London and Paris in December 2002/January 2003 and it snowed for six of the ten days I was there. I mean, come on! It rarely snows there, nonetheless for days in a row. It really is me.

But not me is this week’s guest co-host. Newcomer to the pages of Hidden Highlights, this gentleman is mostly seen in the Music Zone with Adventures in Elysian Fields and occasionally in the Wrestling Zone with The Sunday Morning Hangover (which often does not come out on a Sunday), this is the Mad Step Dad: MSD. MSD?

MSD: Now, where was we? Armor-all flow cuz he never gets rusty. It might take a megaton explosion the size of Godzilla to stir the abominable beast from his slumber. Or it might just take a wacky wrestling round-up organized by a headline author with “prison bitch” as his pen-name to get the job done. Nonetheless, the debut of the ELYSIAN FIELDS/HIDDEN HIGHLIGHTS mash-up is also the premiere of MSD in the 08 era. So roll out the red carpet, sound the trumpets and ring the bell. It’s your birthday, Chip Chimney! And we getting phuckked up tonight!

JP: Somehow I think I’m going to come to regret this one. Let’s get on with the Hidden highlights!

Monday, January 21, 2008 by JP

JP: The era of HD began, but I only have one thing to say:
“Why buy the cow when you have someone at home you can milk for free?”

And Ashley really should find something better to do then sell subscriptions to Playboy. Maybe she should shake hands with everyone in the audience. There were at least two people named Jordan sitting in first few rows, so I have to figure one out of every two Jordans will buy a subscription.

By the way, when I was in Israel the country of Jordan sent me (on my rental cell) a text message. I was up in the Golan Heights really close to the border and I guess I walked into the range of one of their towers and got this message (in English and Hebrew):

Roaming charges may apply.

(3) Fixing my hair:

The opening contest of the HD-era saw Shawn Michaels get his return pin on Mr. Kennedy because a push of a young superstar cannot last more than three weeks. During their match, Mr. Kennedy pulled out a bunch of Michael’s hair, and HBK actually went to fix his hair while still in hold to cover up his bald spot!

Ha! Ok, I’m just messing with you. Although that did happen, that’s not the Hidden Highlight. After hitting being hit the superkick, Kennedy bounced off the ropes and was laying precariously close to them. When Michaels went over for the pin, he pulled Kennedy’s hand towards himself and under Kennedy’s head and also pulled Kennedy’s leg up and away from the ropes. Very smart thinking by the thin-haired Michaels to keep Kennedy from being able to save himself with the ropes (even though the ref should have never started the count when Kennedy’s hand was still under the bottom rope).

(2) I’ll do anything:

Later in the evening, Mickie James got another shot at the Glamazon Beth Phoenix (nickname first, Lillian Garcia). As they were fighting, Mickie went for many quick pins including a rollup towards the end of the match. Neither the announcers nor the ref caught what happened next. Mickie actually went to hold the tights to try to keep Beth down! That’s right, subtlety Mickie tried to cheat because she was willing to do anything to win. Is this the first sign of Mickie beginning a heel turn? And if so, will she crush Ashley after Ashley wins the championship for some inexplicable reason?

(1) Not a good parent:

For our mid-show main event, Chris Jericho came out to cut a promo on JBL and let him know how upset he was. Jericho said he was more upset because he saw doubt in his four year old son’s eyes that he was not a coward. But did you catch what Jericho specifically said? “I was watching RAW with my four year old son…” Do you know what time JBL’s promo was on? It was also after 10pm. Jericho, who lives in Florida, let or had his four year old son stay up past 10pm at night on a Monday to watch RAW with him? Wow, that is not good parenting right there!

MSD: Uh… yeah (my son outlasts me on any given Monday night).

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 by MSD

MSD: There’s one thing right out the gate that’s blindingly illuminating to me – my local cable affiliate does not carry SciFi in HD. I can watch RAW and SMACKDOWN in HD, but not ECW. Not that it really matters these days, the SMACKDOWN/ECW merge has totally killed whatever allure that might’ve drew me to the show when it premiered. I can’t really comment too heavily on the whole HD thing either, as that phenomenon is relatively new to me. I CAN say though I watched RAW in HD and was thoroughly impressed. To the cavemen reading this (like myself a week ago), Hi-def is like an intense ecstasy roll for your eyes. Brighter, flashier, and trippier. Triple H has the best HD entrance ever.

(3) Emo-rock:

This is certainly no new observation either, but one of paramount importance when discussing the steady decline of the ECW brand: the new-ish ECW theme song is garbola. To me it strips whatever luster was left on the whole “anti-authority” rebel shtick that early ECW wielded with malicious precision like a flaming branding iron. Those guys were extreme cuz they went against the grain, and looked like a bunch of masochistic X-rated maniacs you could find on a grainy snuff tape reel. Nowadays, it’s more like that mass-produced Spencers Gifts, Hot Topic, commercial-goth shit that adolescent white kids seem to gravitate towards. Oh poor me, I’m suicidal cuz daddy took away my credit card. Too One Tree Hill for me. ECW ’08 can continue to scream “extreme”, but that edge has long since dulled. All we’re left with now is stinkin memories, I loved those shows to death but now I’m drinking Hennessey.

(2) Timing is Everything:

A family that sticks together, wins together. Those were the words of Vicki Guerrero to Chavo on the night of his big ECW championship match. She was letting Chavo know the strength of the entire Guerrero evil empire rides behind him tonight. Proving those words correctly, Chavo would ultimately go on to win the ECW championship later that evening. The Hidden Highlight is the stars aligning to give Chavo the opportunity to test CM Punk in a no-DQ match – with Edge doing guest commentary. Timing is indeed everything, but the guy who really needs to learn some timing is Kofi Kingston – WWE’s “first Jamaican superstar”. He’s got skills and athleticism, and does common maneuvers in an uncommon fashion (leapfrogs, monkey flips etc). But a few extra gyrations put him out of place in a couple of spots. Luckily, Joey and Tazz were able to cover by noting Kofi’s exuberance for his debut match.

(1) Legalized murder:

Speaking of ECW going soft, how about this Colin Delaney storyline? Almost like an elongated extension of the infamous “Mass Transit” episode from the annals of ECW infamy. Young kid lies about his age, sneaks away from his parents and tries to be a wrestler. Gets in the ring with a couple of freaks who could give a phuckk less about anything and gets his shit sliced to ribbons. Buck-fifty to the grill style. Today the drama is choreographed, and Tazz is absolutely perfect as the devilish hype man. He gives props where their due, subtly egging the kid on further while still backhanding him with the wit. He cues his monster opponents with malicious glee before leaving young Colin to his doom. The whole saga is an interesting look at enhancement talent, and their place in the pro wrestling pantheon. The Hidden Highlights in this weeks episode are faint ones, but important nonetheless. Every week Colin appears with a new bandage, and it’s only a matter of time before he’s in a full body cast. It’s a recurring gag that keeps the storyline in friendly “comedy” mode without making any blatant pro-hazing statements (something many members of the WWE locker-room believe whole-heartily in). Another little spot – Colin Delaney (who has the worst facial expressions in acting history) seems to be frozen in the center of the ring as this nights opponent, Great Khali lumbers down to the ring. But nobody can really tell why he’s standing there, he’s just doing it. So Joey Styles quickly chirps in with an explanation – “he’s either too brave or too injured to run”. Great way to summarize character motivation when the actual performers can’t seem to relay the emotions.

JP: For the record, I always fast forward through Triple H’s and the Undertaker’s entrances. Watching someone walk to the ring for 2.5 minutes is not something I have patience for. On a side note, I know you didn’t get this one, but check this out:

MSD: Yeah… the Great Khali and Colin Delaney? I just talked about them.

JP: Yeah, but you see the crazy guy with white sleeves pumping his hands into the air like a complete idiot?

MSD: I do…

JP: That’s 411mania’s own Andy Clark!

MSD: Who’s Andy Clark?

JP: Ouch, poor Andy. He’s the runner up of Rant Wars II and the winner of the Great Positivity Debate II where he ex post facto won Rant Wars II. But Andy, I have one question for you: why are you not holding one of these:

Andy: Andy Clark… will… not die…

JP: That’s kinda not what I asked…

Andy: Andy Clark… WILL… NOT… DIE…

JP: So I’ve been told, but I just wanted to kno—

Andy: ANDY CLARK… WILL… NOT… DIE!!!!!!

JP: Errr… MSD, please jump to iMPACT.

MSD: I thought you’d never ask.

Thursday, January 24, 2008 by MSD

MSD: TNA continues to be the third (maybe even “second”) most exciting two hours of wrestling on TV. Even live, and trimmed down to 65 minutes, ECW cannot compete with the unofficial “fourth brand”. A lot of people have been saying for a long time that the only true threat to WWE will come from OUTSIDE the sport. And with ’08 appearing to be no exception, MMA is clearly here to stay. Where will that leave WWE when the novelty of fake fighting makes way for legit competition? Hard to tell. But one thing’s certain – TNA will be all the better for this cross-promotion. Sharing the same network, and same body of fans will only benefit both shows as they continue to lead each other in and share similar production values. Pro wrestling will never become extinct, but it may shrink back into the dark, smoky backrooms it was born of.

(3) EVOLUTION of the ART:

Following that train of thought, comes the much hyped interview this week with Kurt Angle promising to let us know what he thinks of Brock Lesner dropping pro wrestling and joining the UFC. Will this be another pro-wrestling mockery, with Angle cutting an egotistical promo on Brock discrediting him and trumpeting his own victories over Lesnar in their fixed fights? Will it somehow lead to a wild cross promotion in which Brock Lesner travels to TNA to let Kurt have it? Will this be like Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz in the octagonal cage – or ring? Surprisingly – none of the above. The actual comments were quite brief, and interspersed throughout a Brock Lesner training montage (which also featured words from UFC president Dana White). Kurt Angle kept it 100% real here and told the world Brock is training like a madman, and is absolutely ready for the biggest challenge of his lifetime. This is the kind of quality cross-promotion I was talking about, and if Brock Lesner can live up to the hype – he may grow to be the face of this growing international powerhouse called Mixed Martial Arts. The package also keeps TNA looking edgier and more realistic than its more kid-friendly, cartoonish older brother the WWE. Even though they continue to steal and recycle old WWE superstars and storylines (like the Abyss/Undertaker/Kane/Paul Bearer saga all over again). Hey, nobody’s perfect.

(2) The Night the Line was Crossed:

The answer is clam juice. The question is “what’s salty and bitter with no possible chance for a payoff”? I enjoy the fact that TNA now has two hours in which to build up even its most nondescript talent. But the “rebirth” of Shark Boy has the makings of a truly disappointing wrestling angle. Having a low-rent, gimmicky jobber like Shark Boy adopt the mannerisms of a true wrestling icon is treading the line between satire and outright disrespect. Sure Shark Boy sounds like Stone Cold Steve Austin, that’s the whole joke. But taking his entire schtick – down to the clam juice beer-bath at the end, and the constant begging for a “what?” – is taking it too far. Where does it go from here? Shark Boy stops being a jobber and becomes a serious, credible threat? Or the real Stone Cold appears on the Impact zone to stomp a mud hole in his ass? The odds are stacked against both options. But who knows? Maybe this new gimmick will get Shark Boy enough indie appearances to last him a lifetime. Right, Gillberg? By the way, the Hidden Highlight here was the clam juice. He throws a clam bash and says “that’s the fishing line, cuz Shark Boy said so!” Hardy har har.

(1) Keep it real:

Along the same lines of gimmick infringement comes Jay Lethal, who carried “The Black Machismo” act for two years too long. At least this week, when he collected his trophy for best X-division guy, he dropped the shtick while speaking on the mic. He was being serious when he told us how upset he was at Team 3D and Johnny Devine for their raping of the X division. This return to realism for Lethal gives the storyline a more serious edge (especially after all the hilarious interviews from Bubba Ray during this storyline).

JP: We’re going to have to have a talk about “positivity” at some point after the show.

Friday, January 25, 2008 by JP

JP: Well, if Punk won the Rumble last night (which was my bet after he lost the title to Chavo), then we just saw the SmackDown! main event of Punk vs. Edge. Unless they want Edge vs. Taker. Or do they want Edge vs. Taker vs. Batista vs. Mysterio vs. Punk vs. … ummmm… Chavo? Wow, outside of Hardy vs. MVP, I have no idea what matches I’m going to see at WrestleMania.

(3) Out of my way:

As Michael Cole (and several people in the commentary section last week) let us know, we were going to see the second Belfast Brawl on SmackDown! with Finlay taking on the Great Khali. After knocking the Great Khali down with a chair on the outside, Finlay went to check on Hornswaggle before going on the attack. As he went back to Khali, the cameraman was in the way. Finlay then did the only things that you could imagine would be sensible: he just pushed the cameraman out of the way! Nice, effective, and mean; IE, it was typical Finlay.

(2) Papers:

Earlier in the night, MVP came out to cut a promo on Ric Flair and show us all the future. I personally look forward to attending MVP’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Since MVP is already in his 30’s, it may come about sooner than most people think. Anyway, as MVP made his way to the ring and took off his jacket, I noticed something interesting: MVP has some papers in his inside jacket pocket. What could those papers have been? I’m thinking they were MVP’s airplane tickets for later. Maybe he was trying to get home that night and was already dressed to go? Who knows?!

(1) Maybe I won’t let you have it:

In the opening contest, Rey Mysterio took on the Edge Heads Ryder and Hawkins. After Ryder brought in a chair and got his team DQed, Mysterio hit a quick dropkick on the chair into Ryder’s face that knocked the chair down. As the chair was on the ground, the referee tried to grab the chair and push it out of the ring so that no one else would get hurt. But Mysterio quickly grabbed the chair back from the ref and threatened Ryder and Hawkins with it. I like that the ref at least tried to get the chair out of there instead of leaving it lying. It showed that he did care and wanted to at least try to keep the other wrestlers safe from Mysterio’s wrath.

MSD: I didn’t write a comment, so JP put these words in here for me. These words are not very funny.

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: Was my mailbox on super junk filter again because this week seemed a bit lighter than usual. I mean, I’d expect 20 e-mails on Raw’s every shows new set alone. 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 with Hidden Highlights Reader Write-in Finalist Trevor Alexander and last week’s TNA iMPACT:

It was a nice touch to have Homicide come to the Sharkboy coma scene and point out that we are down with the blue and points to his head band signifying the gang affiliation. But… we then see Hernandez and Shelly Martinez and they each have on different colors (Black and Red). I guess it’s a good way to show neutrality when it comes to the real life ramifications of gang colors.

JP: I’m just reminded of that episode of South Park where Jimmy and Timmy lock the Bloods and the Crips in the Y overnight.

When Shelly was leaving and ran across Mrs. Sharkboy she said “you looking at my man? Huh Tuna!” Meaning Hernandez is her man and that’s her purpose within the group. To be honest with you I was hoping they were going to have her just be down with the cause like Roxi is with VKM but I guess we have another “couple” in TNA now.

JP: They could both be her man, you never know! And I know I said it last week, but Martinez continues to get hotter. Good thing JT isn’t here because this article would be nothing but pictures of her… and then pictures of Stacey Keibler. Like she has ANYTHING to with wrestling now-a-days.

Senshi has lost every single match that he has been in since the rumors surfaced that he requested his leave from TNA. Even in tag matches he’s usually staring at the lights.

JP: That was the idea. He said that he wanted to put people over on the way out and he is certainly doing that. I don’t know if it is helping his status on the open market, though. He must have something already lined up in Japan for good money.

Speaking of lights did anyone else notice that smoke was coming out of Abyss’ hair while he was under the spotlight after the big reveal.

JP: Can’t say I did, but I was mostly writing this article while watching iMPACT so I wasn’t paying very close attention.

The WWE allows UFC to show WWE footage of Brock and next week TNA is going to show him training for his fight. What does TNA gain from showing a guy that has never wrestled in their company train.

JP: You can see my thoughts on this in Issue #17 of the Hamilton Ave Journal. I know Chris Jacobs already read it:

I would like to add a quick hidden highlight, one that may not be seen again, and one from Raw. This is just coincidence, but I clicked on the link that had Hogan on the Rachel Ray show, which he was all decked out in black, like the n.W.o. days, and at the bottom of the article I don’t remember what the ad was for, but in big letters it said HOLLYWOOD! Just a strange coincidence to the all black wearing Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

JP: Hey, who ever said Hidden Highlights had to make sense to anyone but yourself!

The other was when Jeff Hardy scaled up the scaffold (in the shape of an E by the way), and only about a foot of the scaffold where he had to stand there was a solid black (hard to notice) platform to make sure Hardy’s feet wouldn’t slip through the open bars that the rest of the scaffold was made of. That is how the production crew protects the wrestlers.

JP: Despite Ryan disagreeing with me, I still said jumping 30 feet upside down, even to an air mattress, is quite dangerous. Hardy could have easily missed his turn in the air or overturned and landed on his neck. Or he could have overshot and hit the wood sides. Or the air mattress could have failed and popped, and then what would have happened?

Another one was when Jeff Hardy was thrown out of the ring I would like to point out the green DX paint was still at the end of the ramp from WAY WAY WAAAAAAYYYYY back.

JP: Thank goodness Eugene is still not around because I could not handle one more person writing in about the green still being on his boots. Sticking in the past we have Marshall Berke:

I have another hidden highlight for the January 17th TNA telecast. When Bubba Ray was cutting the promo regarding how fit they were, it was the old ECW intro that Joel Gertner used to do for Devon. Every promo would have the “Slim, Trim, Ripped, Buff, Cut, Chisled, and JAAAAKED” and then Gertner would slowly reduce Devon’s weight every time.

JP: Man I miss Joel Gertner. That guy was a great manger, but an even better color guy. Then again, Cyrus was really good on color, too. Moving on to this week we have Christopher Alden:

just wanted to mention a couple of great Hidden Highlights I noticed from Raw and ECW…

First Raw has a joint one from Mr. Kennedy and Shawn Michaels that was fairly prominent on-camera, but went nearly unnoticed by the announcers. When Kennedy came down to the ring for his match with Shawn, he showed his disdain for Shawn by throwing his shirt at him. Not to be outdone, Shawn showed his disdain for Kennedy (and his general immaturity) by wiping his ass with said shirt. I thought that one was a nice touch.

JP: So did I and I was going to use it myself (just the throwing of the shirt alone) if not for prolonged ass-flossing my HBK. You are right, though, the announcer definitely missed it.

And then, on ECW, one for the production team. We’ve all seen the new WWE set by now, and we all know it includes personalized graphics for each wrestler to go with their entrance video. So it was a little odd to see the set revert to the standard ECW graphics for Tommy Dreamer’s entrance for the Over-The-Top-Rope Challenge. Odd, but, when you think about it, it makes complete sense. Why? Because Tommy Dreamer is Mr. ECW! In his rare TV promos and his online columns, he always talks about how much ECW means to him, he’s always wearing the ECW t-shirts, hell, he even shouts, “ECW!” during his matches. Great touch by the production team to have his graphics reflect the one thing in the world that’s truly meaningful to him.

JP: Ah, Tommy Dreamer: the only man holding on to hope that ECW can become the ECW of old. All you have to do is read RVD’s interview about how Vince McMahon views ECW (Vince trained the audience to chant “ECW”) and you know there is no chance of that. Sticking with ECW, Nate Stephens is here:

I’m not sure if this would be considered an HH, but I noticed on ECW this past week, The Miz was about to step into the ring for the battle royal, but stopped in his tracks when he heard John Morrison’s music playing. Although the camera didn’t show his face, The Miz’ body language gave an “Oh… this is my tag-team partner that I’ll have to face” expression. It is, after all, every man for himself.

JP: Why doubt yourself? That is a perfect Hidden Highlight! Will Josh Huff do as well?:

When Bob Holly came out for his match against Carlito on RAW, he was accompanied by Cody Rhodes. At the top of the ramp, Rhodes threw his arms toward Holly in a grand flourish, and Holly IMMEDIATELY turned his head slightly with a “What are you doing?” sneer on his face. Cody promptly stopped and walked to the ring without any more fanfare. Of course it makes perfect sense that no-nonsense Holly wants Cody as his protégé, not his hype man.

JP: You know, Hardcore Holly has already been in a tag team where he was champion and fought his partner because he was goofy, high energy, and young. You may remember the late Crash Holly? Yes, Russo booking: teams fall apart the second they are put together so you never get to care about them. Brett Sullivan still tries to care, though:

During the RAW HD début the there was a guy in the crowd dressed as IRS.

I’ve seen people come dressed as certain wrestlers but c’mon IRS!

JP: I don’t know if you caught this as well, but there was a guy dressed up as a banana. What the heck is the matter with Hampton, VA?! Maybe Virginia resident (although Australian native) Nicholas Noel can help me out with this one:

Similar, Yet Different – Although Miz and Morrison enter to their own music, both their themes start with a very similar guitar riff. Maybe nothing, but an interesting note for a tag team.

JP: Now when do we get the combine-o music?

Hold On… – Did Kelly change colour robes between walking in the back and entering after the ad break? AND curl her hair? Or have I gone totally crazy?

JP: I’m not watching the replay just to figure that one out!

Chavo Keeps The Guerro Wrestling Name Strong – While he had Punk in an abdominal stretch, he reached back with his off hand to grasp Punk hand behind his head … not only to add a little extra stretch in the hold, but it also stopped Punk using that arm as leverage to escape or to attack Chavo.

JP: That’s a William Regal Award worthy performance right there. Tyler Moliterno would like an award of his own:

This Hidden Highlight from Raw on was so hidden, it wasn’t even actully on Raw…
As you know, The WWE was going to HD with a new set, they had new graphics, new pyro, and a new set, which they spent the better half of the weekend talking about on WWE.com.
Now as all real Raw fans know, tuning in to USA roughly a half an hour before raw begins will see a live promo from the venue with JR and The King talking about that nights matches; during this they show the audience and the set. Well, since the WWE was keeping what the new set looked like on the DL, they took it a step further, the promo showed the audience then panned to were the set is, but they positioned the camera perfectly so that the entire set was blocked by the back of one fans sign, so you could only see the outline of the set. this made my day and made me really curious of what it might look like, luckily it didn’t disappoint.

JP: Now that is a cool one. You do get an award! Three gold stars.

Also I made a “My sign is a Hidden Highlight” sign for Armageddon, and even though you can see me waving the sign during the majority of the show, you can’t read it, sorry.

JP: Bah you! It was a nice try, though, so keep it up. We need more images, especially HD ones. Not that I know what HD jpg will look like. And finishing us off this week is Tom Canterbury with some LIVE notes from the SmackDown!/ECW taping:

This one comes from the Smackdown taping in Birmingham, AL, which I attended on Tuesday, and it actually spurns from a mistake. At the end of the tag team match between CM Punk & Rey Mysterio and Edge & Chavo, Hawkins and Ryder are supposed to come in and keep CM from getting into the ring to help Rey. Either CM got in too early or the Edgeheads were late so Punk was in a position to get to Edge. Here’s the highlight, instead of doing the unbelievable thing and waiting for the Edgeheads to stop him, Punk went ahead and went after Edge. It would have been stupid for him to just wait to get stopped. Good job CM! Live note: after the show when Taker and Batista came in to help Punk and Rey clean house, the faces were posing and you could see CM mouth “my bad” to Rey, so it was probably him getting in too early.

JP: And that is the hallmark I like to see. I’m not in love with CM Punk like many in the IWC, but I like a lot of the little things he does. Keeping it moving and working with mistakes is the epitome of a master.

That wraps up this week, and it looks like MSD has no comments for you readers. Ah well.

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, thanks to elusive MSD for making his Hidden Highlights debut and filling in as this week’s guest co-host.

MSD: Thanks for having me JP, the honor was all yours. He’ll eat all the chips, but he won’t touch the spliff!

JP: Note to self: no more pot heads.

While I’m transferring that note, 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 126th 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!