wrestling / Columns
Hidden Highlights 06.25.07: Issue #95 (Part 1 of 2)
Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag and James “JT” Thomlison
Issue #95 – Part 1 of 2
Intro
Hello everyone hanging out in the West Side, and welcome back to Hidden Highlights!!
There are very few positive things on the Internet. It’s more about everyone’s negative view of what everyone else is trying to do.
— Eric Bischoff, Controversy Creates Ca$h
Hidden Highlight (n) – a small, hardly noticeable point that makes a big, positive difference. This could be anything from a wrestler putting extra emphasis into his moves to make it believable to a person in the background reacting while not the focus to the cameraman shaking the picture to create an effect. There are just so many unsung heroes of wrestling that it is impossible to cover them all.
Every week we take the top 3 Hidden Highlights from the biggest shows on television (RAW, ECW of SciFi, iMPACT, SmackDown!, and a PPV or television special if there is one). Plus we turn to you, the readers, to let us know all the Hidden Highlights you saw this, last, or any week in history. On top of all that, we explore the other issues that prove why this is the most positive article in the IWC.
And who is this mysterious we, you ask?
Why none other than JP Prag and James “JT” Thomlison, of course!
We bring you Hidden Highlights with one goal in mind: to appreciate all those little things that make a huge difference. So JT, how was competing in the Ms. 411mania contest?
JT: You know, here I was all ready to ask you about your TNA shows and what a great time you had and you give me this… nice.
JP: I couldn’t resist. You’re lucky I didn’t write your response; you know exactly what it would come out like.
JT: Gracious acceptance of my title?
JP: Exactly! Anyway, we’ve got a little bonus going on in this issue as I went to TWO TNA house shows this weekend. And now I’m out in the West Coast, so it’s been a little whirlwind few days for me. With that, I really need us to get on with the Hidden Highlights!
Hidden Highlights for TNA Presents Slammiversary: Sunday, June 17, 2007 by the Readers via JT
JT: TNA turns 5, LAX feels the wrath of a Gore, Jay Lethal becomes the X Division champ by way of Black Machismo, an ex-NFLer is 1 – 0 in TNA, Bob Backlund shows he’s still got it, VKM continues their successful campaign to degrade women, Robert Roode wins… then loses… or something, Team 3D cages Animal, God is a Sting fan, and Kurt Angle is your first TNA World Heavyweight Champion! As usual, we got a little help from the readers on this one!
(3) Psychic signs? By Brian Thoms:
Editors Note: We got this on WEDNESDAY:
During “The Black Machismo” Jay Lethal’s entrance, the TNA camera crew select a sign which says, “GIMMICKS CAN’T HELP ‘JOBBER’ JAY LETHAL WIN” (note the correct usage of quotation marks). While some may say, “HEY! ‘The Black Machismo’ Jay Lethal won that match!” (again, the quotations), by the time that this article prints (Monday, June 25th) Jay Lethal will have lost his title to one Samoa Joe.
Thus, the Slammiversary sign becomes correct: “GIMMICKS CAN’T HELP ‘JOBBER’ JAY LETHAL WIN”.
At least, for more than a week.
JT: What, are we misusing quotations and asterisks around here? I’m an editor, so I think we’ve been doing okay. JP, are you slipping on the quotation usage?
JP: No, I think I’ve been good actually. Although, I have ten thousand bucks that says that is not the message we’re getting at here.
JT: And you would be $10,000 richer, as it’s NOT the message I’m getting at. The message I’m getting at, Brian, is that:
Some of us (like “myself”) absolutely loathe and despise “spoilers”, and don’t get to see Impact until “Saturday” (even if I saw it on Thursday, your “email” was sent Wednesday), so maybe sending a “Hidden Highlight” before it actually “happens” is something you should consider “holding off on” in the future. Other than that, “thank you” for helping fill in the Slammiversary “section”.
JP: I have to be honest, I cracked up when I read this in the emails. I knew immediately since it’s your week that you would be going bananas. What can I say? I find it hilarious, excellent work Brian! Of course, I avoid the reader mail until Friday/Saturday like a plague, so I’m pretty safe.
JT: You “would”.
(2) Mind your manners! By Brian Thoms:
During the Sabin/Lethal match, Earl Hebner gets on Sabin’s goat and reminds him that closed fists are a no-no.
For a minutes thereafter, Sabin quite noticeably hits Lethal with open palm thrusts and chops. Not only is this A) F’N cool, but B) shows that in 2007, refs still care about open/closed fists in a match.
JT: I like it. The refs get shit on a lot, and while we’re too busy yelling when they screw up, we’re missing a lot of things they are doing right. THE YEAR OF THE REF CONTINUES! (more on that from one of 411’s own later)
(1) A bunch of stuff! By Ross Sims:
Alright guys, another good TNA PPV goes down in the books, and I’m right here to give you my 3 hidden Highlights.
1. Sign guy: The guy on the front row with the dry erase board. He provided some entertainment for me at least. Especially when Alex Shelley hit his sign for the disrespectful comment about the talent (or lack thereof) of Papparazzi Productions.
Here are some of the ones that I saw:
Orlando Sux
Nash Ville
Paparazzi No Talent
What A Rush
The Angel Has Fallen
TEABAG Tomko!
Wildcat: King of the Mountain
JT: Gotta love sign guy! See, I really like the dry-erase board idea here. There wasn’t a single fan in that building that knew about Animal replacing Scotty, yet here is this guy, the only individual in the place in a position to show him some love! Smart really.
2. God has Earl Hebners back: When Sting was still on the ground, Daniels got into Earl Hebners face. Earl Hebner wanted him to back down but it wasn’t happening. Then, all of a sudden, our good friend God, began to have a conversation with Mr. Daniels. I imagine it to be something like this:
God: Lay off of him Christopher.
Daniels: But God, what about Bret Hart?
God: Enough of that Daniels, I’m tired of hearing about it, he has repented for his sin!
Daniels: Ok, Ok, God whatever you say.
God: Chistopher?
Daniels: Yes, God?
God: Sting is getting up.
Daniels: Thanks for the heads up, God.
Then Daniels backed off of Hebner, and went over To Sting. That may have all been in my head, but I seem to remember most of it, just not the words.
JT: This is funny to me, that is all.
3. The Boxes: Abyss grabs Tomko’s Bat, and launches him off of the high well lit platform, onto the black tarp, with boxes underneath? Ok, I know that it wasn’t a bed of nails, or part of an electrified cage, but do you know what the boxes were for? I watched that 30 times, at least, and as I see Tomko trying to climb out, he throws one of the boxes, and on the side, it looked like it said light on it. I couldn’t zoom in with out it getting fairly blurred, but if you had all of those large bulbs, needed to put them somewhere close, and wanted to cover them up, where else should you put them? I mean, they weren’t going to make it too dangerous, and it wasn’t cables with a pad on the inside, and it made sense to me. I give props to production for that.
JT: I like this because it actually gives the box a purpose for being there. Not just some random prop to be used for a spot, the little addition of the word light gives the impression that these boxes were to be used before and after the show. Guess they need some new boxes!
P.S. And can we forget the Sting Dropdown? Throwback to the past, anyone?
JT: Indeed. Thanks for the help covering the PPV to both of you!
JP: Wow, and we have the counterpoint to Larry’s hatred of production blowing the spot. No blow, the boxes were for lights! I like it! But that’s one of those Hidden Highlights they should tell Mike Tenay and Don West about so they can put it over.
Hidden Highlights for WWE RAW: Monday, June 18, 2007 by JP
JP: RAW pressed on for the first time ever “without Mr. McMahon”. I have to give props to all the performers for subduing their performance in their “mourning”. Lawler even said the crowd was less rambunctious because they were still in shock. Also, super props to Lawler for reading Hidden Highlights (or whoever fed him the line) and making Paul London’s big huge grin a part of the storyline. Meehan brought it up on Saturday, but it’s still impressive enough to bring up here. What else impressed me? Glad you asked.
(3) Step away from the vehicle:
About half way into the broadcast a white limousine pulled into the arena. Later in the evening we learned that it contained Stephanie McMahon, but not before listening to JR describe how eerie it was. Better than JR’s commentary was the initial reaction to limo itself. As soon as it pulled into the arena, it was quite noticeable that the shot was getting wider but not by zoom. The camera man was actually walking away from the limo! That is the reaction I was looking for last week when the explosion happened. Of course the camera man would be freaked out by the limo, and he act accordingly and by instinct: by getting the hell away from it.
On a side note, it was an interesting night for cameramen as Candice Michelle knocked one down on her way to the ring and you could see his feet in the shot (to which Candice gave a high-five).
(2) An explanation, thank jebus!:
As anyone who has ever read a single issue of Hidden Highlights knows, I’m a continuity fiend. I love things to be explicitly explained and interwoven in the storyline, much like the Paul London incident above. I also like to know who was driving the white hummer and who pulled the briefcase away from Austin. Some things never get answered, but this week the writers did their job and filled in the holes.
For a while now, RAW has been without a GM and Mr. McMahon has been doing that role with the help of his Executive Assistant Jonathan Coachman. Keep that in mind; Coach is only an assistant, not even in the same power strata as Vickie Guerrero. But the first thing Coach did when he came out was explain that the McMahon family wish him to be in charge on an “interim” basis. And if that was not good enough, when Stephanie arrived she thanked Coach for taking on the responsibility of “interim GM”. This perfectly explained why Coach (just an assistant) was now in charge with just a couple of lines. Continuity is great!
(1) That’s just gross:
William Regal has made his way over to RAW. While many consider this a bad move for Regal’s career, Taylor’s chances of keeping a job, the tag scene on SmackDown!, and many other factors, I’m trying to look on the bright side. The bright side is: Regal is Hidden Highlight machine and I can start commenting on them on a regular basis. Yay!
On this week’s RAW, Regal was talking to Maria backstage. The first thing that you heard was Regal asking if Maria remembered him. This was because Regal used to be on RAW, and when Maria was there he and Eugene won the tag titles from La Resistance (and Eugene subsequently poured chocolate milk on her). So point number 1 goes to continuity. The next thing that happened was Santino Marella came over to try and steal Maria away. This prompted Regal to ask is Santino was “that Italian guy”. To this, Marella responded, “Si, Itiliano”. And then, well, the look of disgust on Regal’s face was priceless. It was like the Big Show had taken Ex-Lax and gone right there on Regal’s shoe. And the slow walk away—two more points. JT, you better have that instance screen capped because only the picture could describe it.
JT: I’m sorry, I was too busy giving my acceptance speech to the Ms. 411 thing to bother with screen capping your silly little Hidden Highlight…
JP: Now that’s really not fair. Mine was a playful jes-
JT: Kidding! Of course I have it screen capped. It’s me. What a classic shot of Maria as well. If that doesn’t scream her character, nothing does.
Hidden Highlights for ECW on SciFi: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 by JT
JT: The ECW title pulls up a seat to catch the action, Elijah Burke knees himself right out of a title shot, The Boogeyman made an appearance, a SUPER SHORT appearance, Thorn got a win over Tommy Dreamer, Nitro debuts on ECW, and CM Punk joins Chris Benoit in the Championship match at Vengeance!
(3) Kevin Thorn – Goth club hopper?:
So as Kevin Thorn was about to come out, I noticed a split second flash on his entrance video.
I don’t think we have ever seen a circumstance of him having bloody teeth or (what appears to be) a bit of blood on the goatee, have we? Is this some promotional work he did? Some promo that never made it to the air? It doesn’t even look like he’s in an arena, more of a nightclub of sorts. What is the meaning of this picture WWE!? I always like to point out these ones that get my ol’ thinking cap going. So by all means, if anywhere is much clearer on any of this than I am, feel free to drop us a line!
(2) The feet have it:
Speaking of Thorn, he had a match with Tommy Dreamer. After Tommy fell awkwardly on his ankle, Thorn capitalized by going for the pin. Now, for the first two counts in this pin, Tommy’s right foot was under the ropes; not a problem because Thorne is so big that the ref couldn’t see. However, as the ref went up for the third, Thorne was at the same time leaning a bit farther down, and it would have been visible. Dreamer, sensing this, actually lifted up his right foot at the last second, making sure that his foot was in fact not under the ropes and giving Thorn the win! Shit like this you cannot coach. Its ring awareness and Dreamer has tons of it from all of his years in the business.
(1) Get off me – and then – get off me again!:
During the match between Elijah Burke and Chris Benoit to see who would go on to Vengeance to compete for the vacant ECW World Championship, Chris Benoit took a minute to try and capitalize on Burke being on the ground by beginning to put him in a Sharpshooter. To counter this, Burke kicked him twice in the chest to get Benoit off of it. Before he did though, he actually kicked Benoit in the arm first! Smart! Hey, a guy can’t put you in a submission maneuver if he can’t get his hands on you right? Can’t put all the force into your kicks if someone’s hands on the leg, right? Nice added strategy by Burke to get not only get Benoit off of him, but to free up his leg to deliver full forced kicks to the chest!
JP: I’m still not sure why Elijah Burke is not clicking with the crowd. He can wrestle, he can talk, has a good look, a smart gimmick, and an excellent contributor to Hidden Highlights. I wonder what it is going to take to truly get the crowd to care about him?
Hidden Highlights for TNA iMPACT: Thursday, June 21, 2007 by JP
JP: My weekend of TNA began with iMPACT in my own living room. It was also the show after Slammiversary and with only three weeks until Victory Road, the main event needed to be set up fast. So the show explained everything in three minutes and set up the matches for the evening, but not before Kurt Angle finally decided he was a heel. Let’s see if that lasts!
(3) Flashback sitdown:
I probably could have (and should have) put this in the Slammiversary section above, but watchu gonna do? During the replay of the end of the Team 3D vs. Rick Steiner and Road Warrior Animal, you could see Brother Devon going for the cover on Rick Steiner. But in the corner of screen, Brother Ray ran over to Road Warrior Animal and sat on his back so that he could not get up and make the save. See, too often in tag matches people just let the other partner get in there and make the save. This was very smart by Brother Ray to keep Animal out of the picture and ensure victory.
JT: Also I noticed as I was watching it to find the part that Animal was not just lying there. He was in fact trying to get up, so good job by Bubba!
(2) Property:
In an odd moment, I notice something from TNA production. During Robert Roode’s entrance, they put up the normal graphic with his name on it and “w/ Ms. Brooks” was in the spot to the side where they put the title belt. When James Storm came out, his name was reduced in size and “with Jackie Moore” was put below his name. At first I thought this was a snafu, but then I decided something different. With James Storm and Jackie Moore, they are colleagues or something closer. With Roode and Brooks, he is the owner and she is property, at least in his eyes. And as property, she’s a trophy, and trophies go off to the side! Good call by the TNA production people on this one. It took a little bit of thinking, but I got the message.
(1) See ya:
The main event saw a three-way match-up between “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal, Chris Sabin, and Samoa Joe for the X-Division Championship. Before Joe won the title, Lethal was in the corner going up for a top rope elbow drop. It was at this moment that Sabin ran over and knocked Lethal off of the top rope and to the floor. And just for a moment there, you could see him wave “bye bye” to Lethal in an ultimate dick heel maneuver. But this “bye bye” did more than that. That time wasted turned into his Achilles heel as it gave Joe enough moments to recover and hit the muscle buster from the top rope. So the “bye bye” made him a big heel and made him lose the match. Good two-fold purpose for such a little thing.
JT: Did you just call Traci Brooks a piece of property? Don’t we already get enough hate mail from Cook? Anywho, I don’t know if Christian Cage did this at the PPV or during Impact but when he retrieved AJ from his interview and pushed Borash away by the head, that was just good times right there!
Hidden Highlights for WWE SmackDown!: Friday, June 22, 2007 by JT
JT: Chavo gets a pin heading into Vengeance, Mark Henry defeats Funaki (shocker!), Matt Hardy continues his winning ways, Teddy Long and Kristal get engaged, Chris Masters is in a mood, and Big Dave pins Edge in a preview of what we may see Sunday!
Before we get to it though, I’d like to give a little sign love this week! NC was a HOT crowd (as usual), and there some great signs going on! I won’t bore anyone with 64 different signs, but I will acknowledge a couple. Firstly, I’m hoping that ALL of you HH readers caught this one:
JP: I was so afraid you were going to go through both ECW and SmackDown! without mentioning that sign!
JT: Now, we know that there is a 100% chance that had nothing to do with you JP, but hey, still, the connection was immediate. Then, we had this:
Now, THAT is a sign! Talk about going all out in the creativity department! Oh, those Carolinians and their love of Flair!
(3) Take one for the team, Jimmy!:
So during the Matt Hardy vs. Fit Finlay match, Hardy has Finlay on the ropes, and referee Jimmy Cordaras went to break them up. As he backed Matt Hardy off, I noticed that he had a bit of a shiner! I never even thought about them really but they are on the road taking shots from these guys each and every night just like the wrestlers. Is it so inconceivable that one would accidentally catch a stiff shot? I mean I doubt a wrestler would every intentionally do it but surely it happens, wouldn’t you think? So, for once, I will give the REFs some love for putting their body in (a little bit of) harm’s way each night. Hey, accidents happen.
(2) Mark your calendar, bitch:
During the opening tag match, Jimmy Wang Yang hit Jamie Noble with a Hurricarana followed by what Michael Cole called a “Hurricarana Yeehaw” (some sort of spinning cowboy rope celebration maneuver). He then went back to action with Noble, but before he did, he took a second to turn in Chavo’s direction and flash him two digits, as if to say “In two days, that’s YOU!”. This was a great little move on his part. This whole feud has been built on Chavo being – I won’t say scared – more “concerned” than Yang about Sunday’s match at Vengeance against Yang. JWY has added several of these little touches in his cruiser matches lately to let Chavo know that he has all the confidence in the world that he is going to win the title.
(1) We’ve been here before:
During the main event match, it was Ric Flair and MVP in the ring. Ric Flair had MVP in a wrist lock (using both hands), and started to walk over towards his corner. He began to extend one of his hands to get the tag, but before he could fully do so, Batista reached over and smacked him on the back. Miscommunication? JT thinks not! This is actually VERY smart on Big Dave’s part based on Flair’s angle towards him. For one, it allows him to get into the ring sooner. For another – and probably more importantly – it allows Ric Flair to get right back to having BOTH hands on MVP, something that helps ensure him keeping him secured for Dave. We don’t get to give Batista much HH love around here, but I for one have to say I really liked this move on his part. We have spoken of ring awareness earlier and will talk about it again later in the column, and this is just smart tag-team wrestling here. Although, should that really surprise me? After all, these two men ARE two time World Tag Team Championship partners.
JP: I’d have to say some wrestlers do hit others intentionally. Hardcore Holly immediately comes to mind. But once again, it’s a note that can never be overlooked: wrestling is “pre-determined”, it is not “fake”. The injuries are all too real.
Hidden Highlights for the TNA House Shows in Cohasset, MA (Friday, June 22, 2007) and Lincoln, RI (Saturday, June 23, 2007) by JP
JP: In case you missed it, you can read my live reports:
Now, that’s all the intro I need because it was quite the weekend!
(5) You’re not going anywhere:
On Friday night, “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal took on Kaz in a quick paced match. First of all, I cannot put over how much Jay Lethal is over with the live crowd, even more so on Saturday. Also, nothing was funnier than seeing some 70 year old rotund white guy in a XXL “Black Machismo” t-shirt. Anyway, After hitting the elbow drop on Kaz, Lethal sat down on Kaz’s chest to make the cover. It was then that Lethal noticed that Kaz was close to the ropes and that he could reach them with his hands (the ring was a smaller ring, too, by the way). So instead of leaving them flailing, Lethal leaned forward and used his own hands to pin Kaz’s ones to mat. Good quick thinking by Lethal there!
(4) Different crowds:
I mentioned this in my Saturday report, but I have to put over how good everyone was at putting on different shows for different crowds. Friday night was full of kids and the show was much more subdued for that. On Saturday, with the adult crowd everything was turned up. Some examples:
I appreciated that they tweaked the show for the different crowds, and it really put over the art that goes into making a wrestling show.
(3) Hardest working man on the road:
I don’t think people realize how much Jeremy Borash does for TNA. He’s not just some backstage interviewer, but has a wide variety of responsibilities both in production and in the office. This was especially true on the house show circuit where he was playing ring announcer and one other job as well. When I went over to talk with JB, I took a look at his MacBook open on the announce table. It was there that I noticed that open on the screen was an iTunes playlist and the songs of the TNA superstars. So during the house show JB was also playing the role of musical production and timing cues! Nice work, JB. As I told you when I saw you, thanks for putting on some good shows.
(2) That’s my boy:
As I mentioned in the live report and above, on Saturday Brother Ray made some hilarious gay jokes at Christian and Tomko’s expense. I wish I could go through the whole setup, but that would take all day and I have a plane to catch. But what was great is that Christian and Tomko continued to play up the gay stuff all match, making the joke just keep going. As a matter of fact, Christian patted Tomko’s butt not once, not twice, but three times during the match. The last time was the best because Tomko jumped, then he turned around and just smiled at Christian, who in turned smiled back. I was absolutely cracking up.
(1) Even I enjoy the show:
And what would a live event Hidden Highlight section be without props to the production crew? This time, I would like to concentrate on someone in the rafters. On the show on Friday night, the guys running the spot light were literally strapped into the top of the tent and were looking down on the ring. I would look up occasionally and see that they were still there, watching down. Then, during the Rhino vs. Christopher Daniels match, I looked up and saw the spotlight guy had a huge grin on his face. It was great to see the guy strapped to the ceiling really just enjoying the show so much that he got caught up in the moment and was just smiling.
JT: Obviously this comment is pre-written, but I really had a great time at both the TNA House Show and Slammiversary. I’ve got to give some credit to Borash (at the house show) because he really gets involved with the crowd and makes you feel like they really are there for no other reason than to put on a good show for you.
Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights
Hidden Highlights aren’t just for us to find and tell you about, but for you to spot and share with us. Don’t just sit there and stare, but be a more active, attentive, and engaged viewer. Appreciate all the hard work that goes into making the wrestling we have the privilege to watch and then let us know what you caught this and every week.
This week JT gets to pick our Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights of the week.
JT: Man, the emails were FLOODED this week. I think the heat is getting to people, but in a good way! So, *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…
Before we get started, let me say this to Trey B.. With the amount of emails we got this week and how busy I was, I was unable to look up the answer to your question, but I promise I will get to it and respond in full (unless JP beasts me to it next week). This week, Adam W. starts us off with a possible glitch from the draft episode a couple of weeks back on RAW:
During the “random draft bits” after the matches I noticed something rather odd;
During smackdown’s first pick, we saw the entire RAW and ECW rosters on the screen, including non wrestling staff like JR, King, Tazz, Styles and RON SIMMONS (in the raw section) all was fine and in order.
Then when Raw won its first pick, we saw the entire Smackdown and ECW roster, including non wrestling staff like JBL, Cole, Tazz, Styles and…. RON SIMMONS (in the smackdown bit)
Is this a genuine mistake, or is Ron getting two pay checks for turning up and saying “damn!”? If so, that is one sweet deal.
JT: As far as I can remember, I have only seen Ron Simmons on RAW. However, he is on neither official roster on the website (a la Million Dollar Man a year ago). I certainly haven’t seen him on any non-RAW free TV show unless the entire roster was ordered to be in attendance (like the draft). Anytime I have seen him on PPV it has been assumed by me that it was under the RAW roster. So it really could be anything; mistake by production or maybe he just has a buddy in the booth, who knows. Either way, sharp eye man! More from the draft is David K.:
During the Benoit/Lashley match on Raw, Michael Cole and JBL were talking about Lashleys amateur background, and JBL said he may be “the best amateur wrestler in WWE history”. I thought that was a bit much, but then I realised that with Angle in TNA, and Brock on bad terms with the e’, Lashley wins by by default! Great call by JBL!
JT: Excellent reasoning there David. I almost started to say that the Olympics weren’t considered amateur, but then remembered I had that argument with my dad and he was in fact right because while sponsors and certain countries will award cash prizes, Olympic athletes are not paid in any way from the Official Olympic Committee; hence, amateur. Same with college. But like I said, excellent reasoning. I suspect if Brock or Kurt were around, or if Shelton had celebrated a better career over the last three years, he may not have said that. Might as well capitalize on the present I suppose! Next is Dominique, who thinks he spotted a bait and switch!
I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but when Vince was walking to his limo on Raw it had no back window in the very back of the limo but when they showed the footage of the fire being put out they showed that the back window was broken and had flames coming out of it. They had it come out of nowhere and showing the people who caught it that it was a different limo.
JT: I’ll have to take your word for it, although that sounds …like a bit of a stretch. I can’t dispute that in any way, shape, or form as I no longer have it TiVo’d, but it just doesn’t seem like the E would let something like that happen. I mean, do limos not have back windows? Could the explosion not have blown out the back? Look D, I’m not knocking you. If you know you caught that then I say big time HH props to you, just seems odd that they would use two different limos. Hell, maybe they were doing on purpose for the very reason of future use “in the investigation”. Also this week was Ryan J., who spotted not one but two HH:
I am watching Raw and already noticed 1, and maybe 2 great hidden highlights.
1st. If irony is a hidden highlight, you have to give credit to JR and Jerry for a brilliant hidden highlight during the Kendrick & London vs. WGTT match. They were talking about Mr. McMahon’s exit last week and how London was the only one smiling, implying London was the bomber. Jerry Lawler said, “nothing’s far-fetched” when actually the whole angle is more far fetched than anything they’ve done since hitting Austin with the car.
JT: We mentioned it last week and the photo proved that London was in fact cheesing his ass off. I can’t really think of motive, but maybe he was mad about the Ashley suspension (even though she’s now on RAW)?
2nd. This is more of a did they actually say that, and if so, then it is definitely a hidden highlight in my book. But did they say the name of the “federal investigator” character is Dan Levesque (pronounced Le-veck, just like Triple H’s real last name). If so, then, that is a hidden highlight. Way to work that family influence into the storyloine even when none of them are on TV for the time being.
JT: Nope, I’m with you Ryan. Thought the exact same thing and more importantly, heard the exact same thing. The last name of the guy certainly sounded like Le-veck. His name is actually Dan Beck, so when they announced it, it was probably announced as “Daniel Beck” and it came across as “Dan ‘Iel Beck’ ” which came out similar sounding. So you were wrong, but so was I and possibly a bunch of other folks.
P.S. Will you be doing Hidden highlights of the ROH pay per views that will be starting soon?
JT: That seems to be the big question around here. I have looked into it and it doesn’t appear that DirecTV will be showing it; it seems to be Dish exclusive. Because of that, I’d say chances are slim (unless JP has Dish and wants to do it). If it does become available for both of us, I’m sure we’ll discuss price and priority, and go from there. This week, we also had Jarkota chime in regarding arena setup if you will:
In the opening segment, Cena, during his rhyme-a-thon (through which I was doing much eye-rolling), he mentioned “the drunk guy up in the bleachers”; then pointed up into the bleachers and said, “I’ve got my eye on you!”. This wasn’t significant in and of itself, but later, during the Carlito segment, the Sandman came down from the upper levels in the same direction Cena was pointing at earlier (unless I’m horribly, horribly wrong about the angle, but I don’t think I am).
JT: Close but no cigar J, although I can certainly see why you would think that. But, after reviewing the tape, they were actually in the exact opposite spots! As evidenced in the following picture, yellow is where Cena pointed (TV Side), and Blue is where Sandman came from.
But that is still a good eye either way! Pedro M. chimes in with quite a few things:
I got more Hidden Highlights from the one, the only Matt Striker.
JT: Already looking forward to it.
On the 3-hour RAW before the Battle Royal, all the entrants were making their way to the ring together by brands. Look at who was part of the ECW team:
Marcus Cor Von
Matt Striker
Elijah Burke
Sandman
Tommy Dreamer
So ECW’s team consists of the New Breed and The Originals, guys who had been feuding for the longest of time. Anyway, here’s the true highlight. While they were all making their down to the ring, everyone was walking down normally. Everyone except Striker, who kept looking back since the Sandman was behind him. Why? Because the two factions were feuding and was afraid Sandman might do some funny business and start caning him. Smart move by Striker.
JT: I actually noticed this, and think it’s a great call. Striker is a HH beast.
Also, on ECW the day after, before the Boogeyman/Striker match, we see Striker in the ring. Yet, he’s both pointing to the sky and mouthing ‘This one’s for you.” Let’s not remember what happened on RAW (Vince and Limo). Basically, Striker kept kayfabe and sold Vince’s death as real.
JT: Cant give you “hidden” on this one as I think the whole world saw it, but we can still give him some love for it. He is the epitome of what a HH should be.
If there is ever a HH person of the year, Striker needs a nomination.
JT: HH Person of the Year. I like the sounds of that, and he definitely deserves nomination! Striker – while widely ignored and disregarded – has his job for a reason: the little shit. Yes. The little shit. He is, as I said, a HH beast. Our first staff member to email us this week, Ari Berenstein, hit us with this:
I’ll admit it. I slept through the first hour of Raw–as usual these days. I woke up in just in time for the second hour and who do I see but Mick Foley heading down to the ring. Immediately I predicted his opponent to be–Umaga. And I was right! Now, I hope this Hidden Highlight didn’t pass you guys by–when Umaga threw his ass at the head of Mick Foley and took off the ring steps (missing Mick by a mile but we’ll pretend it hit full on), Jim Ross pipes in with this commentary:
“He’s gonna need some help… Mick’s gonna need some help!”
And he did. Now why is that unique or special?
Because years back, when Foley gave his classic interview with JR as Mankind, he proceeded to attack JR with the Mandible Claw. And as he waddled away from the interview set, here is what Foley had to say:
“He’s going to need some help…JR’s gonna need some help!”
Sounds familiar huh? What’s better is that Jim Ross practically said it in the same tone of voice as Foley did back in the day!
JT: Don’t remember this at all, so we will give Ari benefit of the doubt and say good call man! It would appear that Vengeance (see what I did there?) has no expiration date! Rey has something for King and J.R.:
They made the comment that Lashley and Booker were locking up for the first time EVER!!!! I guess if it doesn’t happen on Raw, it never happened.
JT: I will let JR handle this one himself, as he noted it in his blog:
Jim Ross: “Just as many of you pointed out so thoroughly and quickly, J.R. and The King made a glaring mistake on Monday night’s commentary when referencing Booker T.’s previous encounters with Bobby Lashley. We received some erroneous info during the broadcast that both King and I utilized and consequently fumbled. I was trying to pick a spot to mention that “I thought” that it would be the first time that the 5 men in the WWE Championship Challenge on Sunday at Vengeance… Night of Champions would be a first for the 5 wrestlers to be in the ring in this environment, but I am not sure if I ever made that point clear either. Doing live TV without a net is challenging but all excuses aside, we simply made a mistake that many, hell a bunch, of folks have brought to my attention. I can’t speak for King, but I regret making the error and take full responsibility for it, but let me assure you that it wasn’t my first screw up, nor will it be my last. Humans make mistakes, especially when doing live TV where there are no “re-do’s.” In the heat of battle, I thought the info we received was not accurate and I should have simply not gone there and relied on my instincts, but I didn’t, which was “my bad.” The process of doing live TV and the volume of info to be distributed and addressed these days, is far more challenging and taxing than ever before and is light years more than what it was even 5 years ago. Nonetheless, we made a mistake and I have no problem admitting it. I am sorry that this apparently offended so many of you and that this even warranted becoming a “news item” on other websites.”
JT: There you have it. Up next is Jones:
Just watching this week’s Raw, and found a good little hidden highlight from Davari. When Hardy had him set up for the twist of fate, he was really close to the ropes. When he was selling the move though, he moved himself away from the ropes. I assume he did this so nothing was under the ropes to mess up the pin.
JT: While I’m not going to put him on the same level as Tommy Dreamer when it comes to ring awareness (see earlier HH), this is along the same lines. Many fans know a lot more about the rules nowadays, and when they spot things that shouldn’t be, it makes the E come off looking tacky and inconsistent.
BUT WAIT! WE GOT MORE FROM JONES LATER IN THE WEEK!
In the Finlay-Hardy match, there was a great little highlight. Finlay had Hardy tied up in a leg lock (not the indian deathlock, an earlier one that was like just the leg parts of an STF or something. Reverse Toe Hold, maybe?). Finlay had a hold of Matt by the back of his pants. Technically, I would think that was illegal, like a pin holding the tights. Having Matt by the pants could give him a leverage advantage. The ref missed it, or chose to disregard it, as did the announcers.
JT: Maybe pants don’t count as tights? Not sure what the rule there is to be honest, but maybe that is a risk Hardy runs by wearing the pants. I mean, unless he’s directly holding the back of the pants as you would a pair of tights, that could be shady. But, if he’s holding his pants anywhere else like the thigh or butt or knee or something, it would seem that would be perfectly legal. I’d consult my rulebook, but sadly it’s mental, and doesn’t have a chapter on this one.
JP: The “rule” is you cannot use anything on a person’s body that gives you an unfair wrestling advantage. IE, you cannot drag someone by the hair or use their clothing to hold them down. You have to go back to original Greco-Roman Olympic wrestling which was done naked. Since there were no clothes then, all rules were base around moves of the body. When clothes were brought in centuries later, they were considered unfair advantages to the naked form, so all rules made it like you were wrestling naked.
JT: So… I’m gonna go with no on the pants then. I’m going to continue this one from Jones.
Did anyone else notice Mr. McMahon died on the 11th? In a morbid way, it just makes sense to start referring to Vince dying as 6/11. Wow, maybe this whole angle is a subtle political commentary on 9/11. We find out that Jeff Jarrett was the one responsible, and then Stephanie and Triple H send WWE wrestlers to invade and occupy TNA. Eventually, John Cena and Triple H find Jeff Jarrett hiding underneath the ring with Hornswaggle, and bring him to trial. Stephanie is the judge of course. In the end, she executes Jarrett by tying him into the electrical chair from the Chamber of Horrors, and the switch flipped itself. They’ll make millions selling t-shirts and bumper stickers with Vince’s face and “6/11: Never Forget.” The smart crowd, of course, will figure out that Vince owned TNA all along and TNA itself has all been in preparation for this angle. Does that count as a hidden highlight?
JT: …I know that this pretty much an absolute NO-NO for column writing, but LOL… that’s a bit of a stretch man, however I enjoyed reading it. And like we also say – no matter what – (and that rule I think REALLY comes into play here) if it is a HH to you, then that is all that matters. That would indeed take some super elaborate planning. JP, I have to ask your thoughts on this one because… wow.
JP: It’s old school Rec.Sports.Pro-wrestling fantasy booking at it’s best. And if you don’t know what RSPW is, then I’m not about to give you a history lesson.
JT: Ahh, you’re no fun. Matthew K. recently discovered us, and has a mouthful:
My wife hates wrestling. Absolutely despises it. Thinks it’s the most trailer trash-esque form of entertainment in the universe. And doesn’t understand how I could possibly enjoy it as I do. Ironic, considering she’s the one who grew up working state fairs. I’ve tried to explain it to her in terms of admiring the little things that some of these guys do that show that they are masters of their craft. She still doesn’t get it. But now I’ve found Hidden Highlights. You guys get it. I feel so much love right now.
JT: They can’t all be fans I guess! Although I think most would agree that having a girlfriend or wife that likes wrestling is like having a girl or wife that likes sports like football or video games or something: It is simply a bonus.
Sorry. Got a little carried away here. Anyway, on to the highlight. During the main event tag match on RAW, John Cena hit a move on King Bookah off an irish whip, but didn’t see that Randy Orton had hit a blind tag to Book’s back. Just as Cena’s head turned away, RKO dropped his body weight down while holding onto the top rope, twisted his body 360 degrees under the bottom rope, and was into the ring in a flash, ready to end Cena’s night with his eponymous finisher. To me, this was a nearly unheard of quadruple hidden highlight.
First, I’ve never seen anyone even try to enter the ring that way, and you’d have to be one heck of an athlete to pull it off. Orton executed it flawlessly. Second, it made the finish more realistic, because it put Orton out of Cena’s natural field of vision. Had Orton entered the ring traditionally, or even by vaulting over the top rope, Cena might’ve seen him when he turned back aound and been able to block the RKO. By coming up from mat level, the first (and last) thing Cena would see is a horizontal Orton grasping Cena’s head and neck and planting him on the canvas. Third, Orton hooked not one, but BOTH legs, showing that he doesn’t take The Champ lightly, even after hitting his finisher, and that he thinks of every detail. Finally, and most important to the big picture, it reinforced Randy’s character. Orton’s ring persona is that of a cold, calculating, methodical destroyer who waits calmly for the perfect opportunity to strike. A snake, if you weeeeeel. This move was downright serpentine. He slithered up from the ground to make one quick strike and definitively end the fight. Awesome.
JT: I agree completely, and don’t think I could add anything of value to that. Do I need to watch my back, JP? This guy is pretty good.
It’s really a shame the guy is such a putz, because he’s a more complete package than anyone on the WWE roster, with the possible exception of Missssssssssssstttttttttttttttttttterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr KENNEDAYYYYYYYYYYYY.
JT: Yeah, his attitude really is such a shame. And the problem is that the E does nothing but slap him in the wrist. He trashes a hotel room with upwards of 30 large in damages, and return he gets a monster push on his way to a top of the card feud with Triple H. Justice!
Finishing us out for RAW and also venturing into ECW is Brian S.:
A couple of weeks ago someone had written in regarding the “tag ropes” when the ref was showing them to London and Kendrick prior to the 6 man Cruiserweight tag match. I had never heard of this before, but now that I think about it, it really makes sense. Keeps the tag partner from going to the other side of the ring and tagging himself in. So I have been watching the tag matches closer and have noticed that the partner on the outside does hold on to the “tag rope” prior to being tagged in. Which brings me to my point! During the Raw main event (Lasley/Cena vs. Orton/King Booker) at the end of the match when Randy Orton blind tags King Booker to sneak in and give Lashley the RKO for the win. If you watch it again closely, Orton is not holding onto the tag rope nor would he have been close enough to hold on to it since he was darn near the middle of the ring on the outside. Now, I understand Orton’s character is not one who follows the rules, but (since the refs are supposed to be enforcing the rules closer) could the ref disallow the tag (IF he even saw the tag, not just going by the sound of the tag)? I have never seen it done, but I think it would be funny to see someone try a blind tag only to be caught by the ref and sent back out for an illegal tag. I could be mistaken, but wasn’t there a tag team a while back that would make illegal blind tags by doing a “self-high five” while the ref’s back was turned? The ref would think the partner had tagged in when in reality, he didn’t. If I am dreaming this up, I think it would be a genius move for a team that was getting their ass handed to them and needed to get the fresh guy in. Not that I am advocating breaking the rules or anything…
JT: Well you were certainly thorough! I’ll try to address everything in your email.
First, the ropes have always been there, the highlight was that we don’t see the ref pointing them out; but if you watch tag matches closely enough, you’ll pretty much see the rope at least a time or two in every tag match you see.
Secondly, I doubt that the ref can disallow a tag for anything other than not seeing it. The rope is more of a guideline for staying in your corner (as you will see refs motion guys back to their corner, and on the other hand see wrestlers showing the ref that they are within distance of the rope). I mean, what do you do if it’s a 3 on 3, or 4 on 4? Those guys can’t all squeeze into that little area, so I’d say the ref has to allow a tag as long as their in the “area”. On the other hand, they probably wouldn’t allow it from a corner that wasn’t there, we just don’t know because wrestlers never try it.
As for the Orton thing, taking a casual “step” towards the middle of the ring to blind tag yourself in is something that both heels and faces do regularly when having to team with an upcoming opponent or someone they just don’t like (or if something is on the line; there are other circumstances but no need to rattle them all off here, those are the most common).
I don’t particularly remember a specific tag-team doing the “self-high five” thing, but heel tag teams will occasionally make the “slapping noise” (usually while in the middle of assaulting the face) with the ref’s back turned so that he thinks they tagged in when in fact they’ve both been giving the beatdown for at least a move or two. Whew! I like you’re HH depth man! Now how about that ECW one!
Flash back to last week’s episode of ECW (6/12/07) and Boogeyman’s first match against Matt Striker. As Boogey is crawling out, he stops and flips a switch on his walking stick (or whatever it is) and there is a very audible “CLICK” when he does this. Maybe next time…do that backstage? Pretty funny, but takes away from the “scary” factor.
JT: A much simpler one! I actually saw this and it was on my list, just didn’t make the cut (we only get 3!). He did indeed take a second to click something, so my guess would be this: He thought he clicked it before he got out there, but couldn’t tell because he was crawling through the smoke they filter into the entrance door. But good call there Brian as he definitely “flipped a switched” once he realized it wasn’t working. We got a message from Underground Insight baseball writer, 411’s other JD, who is here with conclusive PROOF that CM Punk is a good worker:
Near the conclusion of the match, Punk hit his knee into the corner on Marcus Cor Von. Normally, Punk follows up with a bulldog using his left arm to apply the headlock, but Cor Von had been working the arm all match. After slight hesitation, and possibly even a little shake of the arm, he grabbed Cor Von with his right arm and hit the bulldog. This little switch in his offense shows that Punk remembered to sell, something most of the guys in the company rarely ever do.
JT: See, now it’s the ones like this that I really think drive home the Hidden Highlight point. “Switch-hitting” (like that one JD?) to help sell an injury? That’s just good stuff man, it really is. Great call JD. James T. (no relation) wants to take us back to Christian Cage’s list:
About Hidden Highlights #94 – the one about Christian Cage’s list. To me that last name on the list looks like “STORM”. That’s what I think anyway.
We also got this, from Jarkota who chimed in earlier:
Before I get to my Hidden Highlight (small though it may be), after seeing the image of Christian Cage’s list and studying it very closely, I find that I am forced to agree that it says “Storm”, not “Sting”. What may have been constituted as a “G” at the end is clearly an “M”; the angle of the paper and the upper-right portion of the “X” through the name makes it appear to be a “G”, and the confusion is understandable. But it’s obviously an “M”.
JT: I completely agree, and I still attest that it is definitely Storm. I have studied it closely, and if you look at it again JP, it’s the X that is throwing you off. The name is Storm, and the upper right part of the X is going through the upper left part of the M and somehow resembling something looking like a G.
JP: Whatever. I’ve been reading and editing the section for like an hour now. I have no more energy.
JT: No fight back? What fun is that!
More Trending Stories
- JBL Explains Why He Stopped Doing Commentary For WWE
- Bully Ray Says He Was Shocked To Hear Seth Rollins Call AEW ‘The Competition’ on WWE RAW
- Jake Atlas Explains Why Triple H Telling Him His Sexuality Didn’t Matter in WWE Bothered Him
- Dave Meltzer Backs Up Rumors About Plans For Several WWE Stars at Wrestlemania 41 (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
