wrestling / Columns
Hidden Highlights 11.19.06: Issue #64
Hidden Highlights
By JP Prag and James “JT” Thomlison
Issue #64
Intro
Hello everyone looking down over Meehan’s home right now (that’s right, I’m flying over Washington, DC while writing the intro), 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. JT?
JT: For the record, JP. It was not 15 emails last week. Get it right… …it was 14.
JP: I’m sorry, the heavy bags under my eyes from reading all of them consecutively must have somehow affected my vision.
JT: Hardy har har, Mr. “I’m such a humorous guy.”
JP: If the shoe fits.
JT: So, are you going to respond to Cook?
JP: Sigh… sure, I guess I should.
JT: You don’t have to if you really don’t want to. I mean, he is a Reds fan. You win. I win. We all win.
JP: True, I could just write the intro and make you say the words.
JT: That’s not what I meant.
JP: Wouldn’t be the first time one of us got in trouble for something the other one wrote for them.
JT: But you DID write those words last week.
JP: Oh right… Well anyway, first off let me say that Cook is one of my favorite writers in all of 411mania, and I look forward to News from Cook’s Corner every week. If I have a vote, I’d say drop the other stuff and stick to the news. I don’t know if Cook realizes it or not, but he is an incredibly positive writer. He may not think so, but I do. That’s why I thought his comments were really out of place. When I talk about negative writers, it’d go something, like… oh, JT, can you do the impression?
JT: “The WWE ruins wrestling. SmackDown! sucks. There is nothing good in wrestling. I don’t even watch this crap. Damn ROH monkeys. Vince hates us all. TNA ratings for one week mean the death of the company. Boogeyman is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever seen (wink). The creative team never books anything right.”
JP: Not bad, not bad at all. My point is, I rarely ever read something like that from Cook. When he is down on something, he usually provides solutions, and that is what I like. I’ve never said that I am against criticism, I said I am against negativity. Cook said something along the lines of he’s not being negative, he’s being realistic. And I agree with half of that statement. But here’s something that I don’t think the negative nancies grasp:
NEGATIVITY DOES NOT EQUAL REALISM!
JT: Oh I see where this is going.
JP: Good for you! Being negative can be unrealistic, too. If one is constantly down on the product, wrestling, or life in general, you aren’t seeing the world as it truly is. You cannot accept something positive even when it does happen. When I wrote In Defense Of… I spend most of my time trying to disprove what people came to believe and replace it with facts. Most of that came from people just hating on a wrestling, organization, event, etc…, not because of what actually happened. As the writer of ASK411, I would figure someone like Cook would understand that concept: to try to set the world right and make it less about crap.
JT: And we can be critical, too. Just a couple of weeks ago JP let it be know that he didn’t appreciate the WWE’s pick for “This Week in Wrestling History”, but he used the opportunity to list other better matches that would have benefited the product. That’s the difference between being negative and being critical.
JP: And Cook said that he is just there to entertain. Well, so are we. But yes, I do think it is our job to try to change the way people look at the product. I’m not trying to brainwash anyone, just at the very least get them to see the other side of the equation. If people constantly hate on the product, they cannot understand what is good about it. We get what is good about wrestling because we write about it every week.
JT: Plus I can think of more than one occasion that we wrote about something so “bad” that it was “good”.
JP: Exactly. I’m very careful with Hidden Highlights and its message of positivity. The second Hidden Highlights becomes about the little things we didn’t see and wished happened is the second this article is dead. Anyone can be out there complaining about not getting what they want. This article is about letting people know they got more than they thought.
JT: So sure, the product has some bad points, but that’s not what we are about. We’re not saying that you can’t have negative opinions on something (I hate the Boogeyman, JP hates Sonjay Dutt), but that there are better ways to express them. And frankly, we don’t need to express them because others do it for us. This is just the other side of equation that makes people think beyond their own opinions, if even just for a second.
JP: Besides, that line about saving the world was a setup to the joke that JT had on the next line about all the volunteer work we wouldn’t be doing.
JT: Yeah, way to ruin a good joke! Total no sell and it wasn’t even a Bengals joke!
JP: I know, seriously. F’n killjoy. All right, enough of this, on with the Hidden Highlights!
JT: We still love ya, big boy. And I’m with JP. Keep the news. I probably laugh more when reading that column than anything else I read on the site. Except Grumpy Larry. Nothing trumps Grumpy Lar—
JP: I said on with the Hidden Highlight!
JT: I’m just saying!
Hidden Highlights for WWE RAW: Monday, November 13, 2006 by JP
JP: You know, Todd Grisham’s heel turn is going quite well. He’s not over the top in supporting the evil ways, he just says subtle things that make it look like he’s leaning more towards the opposition. It was a nice change of pace, actually. It reminds me of when the Coach was in the booth, except a little less in your face. It certainly entertained me!
(3) You ain’t goin’ nowhere:
The first match of the evening saw DX taking on half of RAW’s tag team division by taking on the combined efforts of Trevor Murdoch, Garrison Cade, Charlie Haas, and Viscera. Early into the match, Cade was in the ring with Shawn Michaels and managed to back HBK into the corner. When they got there, Murdoch grabbed onto the belt waist of Michaels to hold him there in place so the others (especially Cade) could beat him down. Good quick thinking by Murdoch by adding a little subtle cheating that benefited his team and partner.
(2) That’s a boo-boo:
After evading some of their attackers, DX were in a room enjoying some popcorn when Eugene came to collect the bounty on their heads. After getting upset with his would be prey, Eugene attempted to throw a punch only to have the door closed on his face. The punch connected with the door and was audible, but did you hear what happened after that? In the background you could hear Eugene go, “Ow, that hurt!” Great work by Eugene to stay in character and give a line like that, even though it was quite likely the cameras and mics would not have picked it up. Luckily, they did!
(1) I’m the winner:
Speaking of characters, our top RAW Hidden Highlight goes to the youngest member of the Spirit Squad: Kenny. After pulling out the victory in a “You never win in your hometown” match (© 1997 Survivor Series) against the Highlanders, Kenny did two little things that put over exactly what his character is about. First, outside the ring he told Johnny, “I won! I won!” with extra emphasis on the “I”. And then he took Johnny’s hand like he was going to raise it, and instead put Johnny’s hand on his own wrist to raise his arm. Two excellent little moves by Kenny that spoke volumes of what he was really about.
JT: Yeah, I noticed that last one as well. There is a reason we say guys like Kenny, Kennedy, and Carlito are the future. Because they’ve already started to show that they understand that it takes a lot more than what you can do in the ring to have an established, entertaining character. It takes the little things both in AND outside the ring to make your persona believable.
Hidden Highlights for ECW on SciFi: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 by JP
JP: ECW made its UK debut, as did Bobby Lashley… which actually brings us to our first Hidden Highlight. Actually, I changed the order, so it doesn’t. Man, that was quick intro, and now it makes no sense. Ah well!
(3) You know all about them:
Late in the evening, Daivari came out for his match with Tommy Dreamer. As the match went on, Daivari actually had the advantage and continued to beat down on Dreamer, focusing on his legs and knees. It was at this point that Joey Styles said that Dreamer’s injuries were well published, and this is quite true. Still, this is the new ECW and people might not know about all of Dreamer’s injuries, so I thought it was good of Styles to bring them up. Too often announcers try to gloss over the injuries wrestlers have had over time; but with Tazz out having surgery, I’m sure the topic of Dreamer’s health was very much on the top of Style’s mind.
(2) Don’t forget him:
Sticking with the announcers, since Tazz was out Elijah Burke was in. After the first segment, the camera came back to focus on the announce position and the players there. It was at this point that Joey decided to point out Sylvester Terkay, except he couldn’t quite remember his name (what a JR move!). Thankfully, Elijah Burke was there to quickly pick up on it and say, “Don’t you dare forget the man-bear, Sylvester Terkay”. Excellent quick thinking by Burke that didn’t embarrass Styles, stayed in character, and put over his man.
(1) Didn’t see that coming:
As Paul Heyman asked for the sixth man to come down and sign the contract for the Extreme Elimination Chamber match at December to Dismember, we cut to the back to see Hardcore Holly walking to the ring. Of course, we all know that Lashley attacked Holly en route, but I went and watched this scene another three times and something struck me. Despite the fact that Holly the person knew the attack was coming, he never once tensed up. He gave no indication that he was about to be smashed into a wall and played it off as if he really was going to the ring. His eyes didn’t even dart to the side before he was hit. We spend a lot of time talking about the little things wrestlers do, but sometimes it is about what they don’t do, and this in one of those occasions. Kudos to you Holly on that one.
JT: Hardcore Holly love. Glorious. I really thought it was a risky move to have Burke out there for an hour on the mic. However, they clearly had enough confidence to give him the shot and if I may say, he did quite a nice job of mixing both his role of color commentator with putting over himself and Terkay.
Hidden Highlights for TNA iMPACT: Thursday, November 16, 2006 by JT
JT: We’re primetime baby! Eric Young cleans up nicely, LAX and AMW discuss patriotism, Samoa Joe kills bitches, Kevin Nash holds porcelain court, Team 3D hypes themselves right into a loss to the Naturals; Kazarian, Bentley, and Devine …well, they were there too; Voodoo King Mafia declares war on Vince McMahon, Christian faced Rhino in a BLOODY brawl, Cornette rubs elbows with the World Series MVP, Daniels is the new X Division champion, Kurt Angle makes Abyss tap, and proceeds to feel the clutch from Joe!
(SPECIAL MOVE TO PRIMETIME HH!) It’s overhaul time!:
Well, I’d be a bit remised if I didn’t mention the DRASTIC makeover to just about EVERYTHING on Impact with the new move to primetime. Some you may have noticed and some you may not have, so I’m changing up the style a bit for this one and I will merely be using fun with bullet points!
Yes indeed, it was a complete overhaul, and I have to give some kudos to all people involved with production, direction, editing; everyone really. They looked prepared for their big prime-time premiere and it showed.
(3) The slow turn:
So I’m watching the first few minutes of Impact, and LAX is out there cutting their promo against… well, America I suppose. Then out of nowhere, AMW comes down (with Gail Kim) to get in their faces about it. Now the obvious one here is that they were coming down to defend their country and aren’t about to let someone burn the American flag. But I liked this for a different reason. Essentially they began to turn them face, and until we find out otherwise, they are still in Jarrett’s crew. We all know they’re trying to slowly turn Jarrett face, and I thought this was a nice point of continuity that could have very easily been overlooked. Now when he comes back, not only is he trying to get over as a face, but he has other faces in his corner. More on that later in the Reader Write-In section.
(2) Samoa Joe kills bitches …does laundry?:
When Samoa Joe finished destroying Jay Lethal, he grabbed a microphone and told Kurt Angle, “I want your blood!”. This immediately made me notice his towel, and how remarkably clean it was. As we all know for quite some time he carried around the towel that was covered in Christopher Daniels’ dry blood. No idea when he exchanged it, but just noticing it on that particular night really seemed symbolic to me, as if everything he’s done so far is now in the past. New feud; new towel. He’s refreshed, and focused on Kurt Angle. Gotta give it up for prop love! (Yes, I just gave myself dap)
(1) We have a history:
After Chris Sabin threw Daniels into Styles, AJ crouched over to sell the shot from Daniels. Christopher Sabin then began to run in the opposite direction to gain some momentum coming off the ropes. As he was doing so, you could see Daniels reach up and sort of tap AJ on the lower back, almost to reassure him that the move was unintentional and to warn him that Sabin was on his way back. You have to remember, up until a month ago these two were a tag team who worked very well together. So even though it was for the X-Division title, it was very smart of them to use their familiarity with one another to try and keep Sabin out of the equation.
JP: Actually, Samoa Joe did a whole angle when he was in the three way feud with Styles and Daniels that he was carrying a clean towel around to get their blood all over it. Still, I like that he’s doing it again without putting it right in our face.
Hidden Highlights for WWE SmackDown!: Friday, November 17, 2006 by JT
JT: Boogeyman continues to haunt the Miz and Layla, Booker is pumped to be in England, Kayfabe never dies (Rey wearing his mask during the surgery segment), Chavo tries to take out Benoit for good, Kennedy is apparently the future, London loses in single’s competition, MVP gets a win over the Big Red Machine (the took a serious loss by the B.O.D), Hardy and Helms provide yet ANOTHER HH, and Batista one-ups King Booker again!
(3) Will we ever stop talking about the Helms/Hardy feud?:
At the start of the Helms/Hardy match, “Gregory” immediately attacked and started laying punches into Hardy. Now, we see brawling ALL THE TIME between people, yet the ref just seems to watch. Yet, when Helms starting going at Hardy in the middle of the ring with shot after shot, referee Charles Robinson started to count. Why the hell would he do that? Well, there is actually a reason. The ref has nothing to count when two guys are going at it, but Helms was hitting Hardy with shot – after closed fisted – shot. That is a no-no. The ref was able to count because it was one man hitting the other with the closed fist over and over. Now, a lot of times they let this go, but great job by Charles Robinson to remember that little tidbit while in the midst of two guys who have been feuding for quite some time now. To make it even sweeter, about halfway through the match CR says to Helms (in microphone range) “Stop with the closed fists! I’m tired of it!”.
(2) I’m scared!:
After Boogeyman made his way down to the ring for his 2 on 1, Miz was keeping in front of Kristal and slowly “leading yet debating” her back to the corner so he could go first. She got out of the ring, and sort of grabbed onto the ropes for “safety”. Then, they went to a close up shot of Kristal for about three seconds, and it showed her clutching the top ropes, and LITERALLY shaking. Her entire body. Not shaking like you would see someone purposely do. Actually SHIVERING in fear. You could see it in her hair, arms, everything. I thought this was so great, especially coming from (let’s face it) a rookie. It was so great because you could barely see it. You really had to focus to notice (trust me, took me twice to confirm). So often people sell things with merely a look on their face; she not only had that look, but used her entire body to sell how frightened she was of the Boogeyman.
JP: What’s with you and the Boogeyman? I thought you hated hi—
JT: I do; he just happened to be there, and be the contributing factor to the HH at hand.
JP: You know JT, talking like that about him and a certain flock over in the Genesis Roundtable really doesn’t bode well with our whole positi—
JT: They’re my freebies. It happens. As long as people remember I gave him some love in the original GPD, and also a HH recently.
JP: That is true. So… do I get freebies?
JT: No. Absolutely not. Your lack of freebies is what keeps balance in the positive force.
JP: Gotcha. Well, as long as I’m contributing!
JT: Knew you’d understand. On with it!
(1) Touche!:
Well, I’d have never thought that I’d find a second consecutive Hidden Highlight in the RAW Rebound, but I have no say that –
Just kidding, folks. I did find another one, but let’s keep it SD shall we? When London (a HH in and of itself considering where they were, and yes I know it was in Manchester, I’m just saying because it’s England. When London (SHOT OUT TO MY BOY O’SULLIVAN)/Ashley made their way down to the ring, they did their usual spiel. JBL made a comment about their masks, and Cole replied with “Why are you looking at the mask on London’s face when Ashley is in the ring?”. Now, as we all know, JBL is ALWAYS putting over the Divas and ribbing on Cole for focusing on anything other than that. Cole – being the play by play guy – rarely gets an opportunity to just let a random comment slide to one up his partner (the fact that his partner is JBL also has something to do with that). But occasionally he does manage to get one in. I’ve mentioned before that because EVERYONE hears the announcers, it’s hard to get them some love, so I will always jump on the opportunity to give one of them some love for a HH they slipped in. Nice job Cole.
JP: Ok, love has gone to Michael Cole, Todd Grisham, Joey Styles, and Coach this week. And I’ll give you one guess at which one of those WON’T get us heat with the smarks.
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 JP gets to pick our Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights of the week.
JP: One day you readers are going to disappoint me. Oh, I’m just waiting for it to happen. Sadly, that’s not to be this week! So, *GENERAL WARNING*:: some parts of the following Reader Write-in Hidden Highlights may be edited for grammar, spelling, and English translation…
Starting us off this week is AOD with a correction:
Great column etc etc, I really must disagree with the big show pyro statement though; show has almost always had some kina of pyro during his WWE run. When he first showed up he had the stage pyro as a heel that would go off just after his music began to play and before he actually came out. When he turned face he had the in ring pyro that would go off when he gave the choke slam sign. Show only really stopped using a pyro when he jumped to ECW as you mentioned the close proximity of the crowd may have made it unsafe. So really this is nothing new for show, it may not have been at every show but he always had his pyro.
JP: I agree, I remember the Big Show having pyro at various points, and it makes sense that he stopped it at various times as well. Thanks for the clarification! Ok, that’s enough humbleness from me for about two months. RavenM will move us over to RAW instead:
When Mickie hit Lita with the…sausage, she tried to slide it out of the ring and it didn’t make it out, so instead of her just ignoring it and letting the ref “not see it”, she went over there and made sure it went out this time. Was cool and smart that she did that. Yeah, Mickie’s awesome…
JP: I could not agree more! I saw that and said, “Instant Hidden Highlight!” But you sent it in anyway, so I took a nap instead. When I woke up, Shawn Memolo had a couple more for me:
The first one goes to Jeff Hardy. When the camera flashed back on him towards the end of his entrance he was doing the “Hardy Boyz” gun sign he’s made famous as well as the Mattitude sign showing he’s always thinking of his brother as well as alluring to there reunion at Survivor Series.
The second one goes to I guess creative. When Piper got taken out, they took him to the back and kept the belt on him instead of taking it off so Edge could have it at the end of the match. This is also noticed at the end of the match when Edge goes to get a belt as well and looks confused for a second until DX’s music hits.
JP: I actually think this is about the third time Jeff Hardy has been caught doing V1 signs, but I like the comparison. And yes, it was very confusing that there was only one tag belt at the end, but Piper did leave with it! Next up is Amanda Shanahan. I just want to remind everyone, these are reader write-ins, I just reprint them:
Not at all hidden, but an amazingly beautiful slice of continuity from my King of Kings, Triple H! While dealing with Cryme Tyme, Shawn was laid back and having fun. But our dear ol’ Trips clutched the suitcase, hovered behind Shawn, and looking so HORRIBLY uncomfortable around those negroes.
It’s nice to see that, because he’s STILL Hunter Hearst Helmsley, white upper-crust snob from Connecticut, and this isn’t the first time he’s shown disrespect or distrust toward black people. Remember when Shelton first hit out on his own, and was having matches against Triple H? He’s still channeling that same feeling, and that just makes me so warm and fuzzy inside, this level of continuity. I’d expect nothing less from the Boss’ son-in-law.
JP: Oh, the most un-PC award of the week definitely goes to you, my dear! The best part is, it’s absolutely true! It’s the same racism his shown in the Booker T and Shelton Benjamin storylines, except this time he’s playing a silly face so it’s ok that he’s a bigot. That is an amazing bit of continuity that I’m… well, proud is the wrong word… but impressed with!
JT: So are you not going to hit on her because she used the N-word?
JP: JT, you are so uncouth! Of course I’ll hit on her, just not where your prying perverted eyes can see. In the meantime, Keith Grove will distract you with this interesting one:
I noticed a hidden highlight during the Lita/ Mickey James match. When the ref put the leg shackles on Mickey he made sure the double locks were engaged with the key. So you know handcuffs and leg shackles have what are called double locks which prevent them from being closed any further and possibly causing injury. If you look at the back of a handcuff key it has a little rod on the end to engage the double locks and that was what the ref was doing with the key at the beginning of the match.
JP: Mmmmmm… double locking Mickie James…….
JT: You’re terrible.
JP: You were thinking about it too!
JT: Damn, that is true…
JP: Seriously. Now stop interrupting so that Brett from Sydney, Australia can give another good one:
Who stole my shirt?
When he made his entrance to the ring and high-fived some fans at ringside one of the stole the shirt from Hardy’s back pocket.
JP: Bwa hahaha! I totally did not see that! I’m surprised we’ve never really caught thieving fans before. Seems like there’d be a lot more of them! Speaking of international folk, Andrew in the UK caught this one on LAST week’s SmackDown!:
I picked out a Live and in Living Colour Sharmelle Hidden Highlight for you to look out for when you watch Smackdown this week!! As Booker is going for a pin on I think Lashley, the ref has to run around to get around to see the shoulders. But Booker already has Lashley down, and Sharmelle starts to count in the air (like how JR/Cole will when say a face has a pin after a ref has been bumped). So Sharmelle is counting 2 and 3 as the ref counts 1 and 2, then she complains at the ref for not counting three. Sharmelle is a revelation, such a good presence as a heel manager and that’s the sort of thing that makes her great.
JP: We’ve often praised Sharmelle, and this is another great example. You are dead on on her impact to King Booker and the product as a whole. Sticking with our international theme, Benni L. moves us over to ECW:
This week on ECW, Mike Knox went down on CM Punk and turned him into a Boston Crab Submission Hold. That’s nothing special. What was special was Joey Styles saying it was the “Manchester Crab”. Pretty interesting. As you know Manchested United is absolutely HATED in England, so Joey might have add some extra head on Knox right there. You could also hear Joey saying there was a “Manchester Mugging” going on during the quick beat down in the main event by the heels. CM Punk is MONEY btw. The match had also great psychology with Knox focusing on Punk’s back with several moves like a tilt a whirl backbreaker and a DROPKICK right in the back etc. MOVESET-!
Another one. It was mentioned before in past columns but as Daivari & The Great Khali made their way to the ring against Tommy Dreamer, the camera went again pretty low to add to the giant size of Khali.
And ANOTHER one. During the match between Lashley and Holly, you could see Test on the outside adding a lot during the match with his facial expressions. Especially as Holly came down for a flying clothesline when Lashley turned it into a T-Bone Suplex. He really cringed right there.
JP: I thought they were at the Manchester United arena? I’ve known a lot of Irish people who like Manchester United, so I can see why the Brits would hate them. How does everyone feel about the team from Turkey? We’ve talked about the camera angle with Khali before, but it’s always good to bring it up again. And Test is highly underrated by the IWC lot, so I’m glad to see him get some love. We move from ECW and quickly into the iMPACT primetime premier and Jamel Wright:
A Paparazzi Full House
In the second segment of Paparazzi’s court battle, Alex Shelley was in the middle of a rant. He says “cut….it…out.” What’s the hidden highlight? The hand motion Sheley made when he said “cut …it….out”, was made famous by one Dave Coulier, one of the stars of Full House.
Now all we need is for So Cal Val to sing that “she’s so excited.” Then we can have a “We Love the 80s” vibe in TNA.
JP: Now I’m going to take you even further back. Coulier used that hand motion in a show years before Full House called “Out of Control”. It was sketch and animation show on Nickelodeon very early in the network’s life. Still, funny stuff! Sticking with iMPACT is Adam Nelson and this:
I’m sure you guys probably will have this on your regular hidden highlight list for the show, but I noticed that for the first time since they started teaming, AJ and Daniels weren’t wearing matching tights. Not sure if this means that the team is permanently done or if it was just since they were opponents in the match, but I thought I’d mention it.
JP: It’s actually the opposite of the Hidden Highlight we talked about when they first started teaming and it is a good catch. Having the two not wearing the same outfit really puts over that they were opponents and further splits them apart. Matt Slater has another one on this show as well:
Just writing because I noticed on TNA’s prime-time special, when AMW made the run in on LAX to stop the flag burning, AMW came from the face entrance. As we know, for the past year AMW has been walking from the other side. I do feel that TNA underutilizes the subtleties of having a face and heel entrance sometimes.
JP: It’s kind of strange that AMW have become faces without an actual turn, all because LAX tried to kill Gail Kim, who is also a heel! Strange, strange. I think JT covered the point above very well about this slow turn that isn’t really a turn, so this is just another good example. All right, this one can only be considered a “Classic” Hidden Highlight since it happened so long ago. Matt Jones, take it away:
So I got to see Unforgiven recently and noticed a few highlights for you guys.
First off, before the McMahon/DX match. When Vince came out for the match, the crane camera showed a shot of the front of the stage, and in front of the big Unforgiven sign, there was a spotlight just sitting there. Remind you of the spotlight that represented god a few months earlier? Wait, it gets better.
Vince then comes out and steps right into the spotlight. The symbolism is clear: Vince is god. Then DX comes out, and they stood at the front of the stage in almost the same place, but just outside of that specific spotlight. Whether they meant to or not, DX wouldn’t go as far to proclaim themselves god like Vince did.
Second, a follow-up on the previous one was a lack of continuity, but kind of a funny one. JR runs down the list of injuries incurred in Hell in a Cell, including that a cameraman was seriously injured in the first one. He neglects to mention, however, that it was Shawn Michaels, one of the competitors in the current match, that injured him.
Third, Randy Orton beat Carlito by turning a springboard into an RKO. Orton used the same move on Benoit in their Summerslam title match, but as a counter to the flying headbutt. I can’t remember if that was how he won, or not, but I remember that counter. Carlito being half-Canadian (his mom); that just twists the knife in a little further.
Finally, in the main event, Cena kicked a chair out of the ring before setting up a ladder, which skidded off the apron and into the lap of one of the Spanish commentators. You can see him put his hands up to block it. I thought it was funny, as it seems that in most hardcore type matches, the Spanish table is doomed, but usually in TLC matches the announcers are spared, simply because of all the other tables available around ringside. So this chair skidding out of the ring served to remind Carlos and Hugo that they’re not out of the woods yet.
JP: The most I learned from that is Carlito is half-Canadian. Who knew? All right, wrapping us up this week is RC wi—
JT: I’ll take this one!
JP: Ahhhh… ok?
JT: RC was somehow unaware of my fondness for Superman. He is now discovering it, as he caught this from last week’s column:
Just saw the screencaps of your msn conversations (isn’t aol or yahoo instant messenger more popular in the states?) I saw the background in the msn window with LTC…it was a letterbox with the words Kent on them I think. Is that the Kent from smallville/superman that one of ya two is apparently very fond of? THAT was the best hidden highlight of the whole damn column for me haha.
For those who don’t feel like going back to look:
JT: That is indeed from Superman. Superman Returns to be exact. VERY good eye RC. And to the rest of world, let me go on a super-nerdy-I-watch-a-teen-drama-on-the-CW-which-is-basically-Dawson’s-Creek-with-Superman-on-it-because-I’m-that-loyal-a-fan rant. I would seriously recommend that anyone who doesn’t watch the show check it out in the next few weeks. There will apparently be an episode or two where Ollie attempts to get the likes of Cyborg, Flash, Clark, Aquaman, (or at least, they will become those people) and the MARTIAN F’N MANHUNTER together in what is basically the first attempt to form the Justice League. That’s right people. J’onn has arrived. Hopefully, we see him again. Okay, done embarrassing myself now.
JP: I have no idea what you just said. And you do realize you’ve already had this conversation in the forums right?
JT: Hey, like you said, product placement.
JP: Actually, I haven’t said that this issue… YET! Please wait one more section. Oh, and I totally recommend Veronica Mars. Still my pick for the best show on the CW.
JT: And it has nothing to do with Kristen Bell, I’m sure! At any rate, thanks to all that wrote in. You guys really do never cease to amaze me with the stuff you catch. It really does let us know that what we do here isn’t completely meaningless.
Do you have a Hidden Highlight from this or any week in history that you would like to share? Please e-mail JP..erT…er…us at [email protected] with your thoughts! Send them by Friday afternoon to be considered! And remember, they can be from any show, live or taped, or any house show, or anything you saw… we just like to know!
That Other Section
This week, JP has something for That Other Section.
JP: Oh man, where to begin on this week’s…
Hidden Highlights for Hogan Knows Best: Sunday, November 12, 2006
JP: Ok, it was about Hogan’s and Kosher food, two subjects very close to my heart. In case you don’t know, I’m Jewish (SHOCK!), and found this episode particularly amusing. But only I can laugh at it. If you laugh, you’re racist and anti-Semitic. Anyway, I do have a little trouble believing Hulk has had no experience with Kosher food before since he’s lived in many different places, traveled around the world, and wrestled Barry Horowitz. Brooke and Nick, on the other hand, I’m not surprised about.
(3) Normal enough:
As Linda and Hulk were going about the neighborhood to introduce themselves and placate the neighbors, there was one stop that got me in particular. She told the lady that they were just “normal people”, which I would usually say, “Sure, they’re just normal people with extraordinary careers and lifestyle.” That’s fine. Except she was saying this with a camera crew trained right on them! Yep, normal with a camera crew following them around. Very normal.
(2) It’s sales:
You may also know that I’m a businessman, and a big fan of product placement. If I have my way, there’d be no commercials and just product placement everywhere. Well, this episode had a blatant kayfabe breaking moment when Nick took out his phone to pimp the Verizon Navigator system. The camera even suddenly swung around him to get a picture of the system in action and then suddenly swung back to the face shot. It’s amazing that the camera men were able to move so quickly in a “reality” show!
(1) Quick change:
Finally the big day came to have the BBQ/Kosher catering party. I’m surprised Hulk wanted to cook anyway since it was being catered, but that’s ok. Anyway, as they were putting the finishing touches on the place, Linda was wearing a low-cut white blouse. Yet a little while later in the party she was wearing a light blue top! Guess Linda wanted to make a different impression and made a very quick change!
JT: So. I shouldn’t send you this marvelous cross I got you for Christmas?
JP: It wasn’t funny in the forum, and it’s not funny now.
JT: Simma down! Simma down now, playa!
Jordan “Ogre” Williams: Ex-CUSE-me? Did you jus—
JT: Pissing off two entire groups of people in four lines: priceless.
Jordan: …You can’t jump.
JP: We are all so fired after this issue.
Larry: Basically.
JT: If it’s any consolation JP, I can report that Cook chimed in with his Hogan Knows Best thoughts and gave it a RESOUNDING two thumbs up!
Exit, stage left!
JT: Just want to say thanks to everyone in the forum who voted for myself or JP in any of the categories in the Year End Awards threads.
JP: Gotta be honest, I didn’t know that was going on until you mentioned it here. And now that you did, VOTE FOR US! By the way, we generally suck at pimping, so I’d just like to give props to Bayani for his excellent field report from the WSX tapings. Can’t wait to write about those in “That Other Section”!
JT: Indeed it was. See you next week my little tube socks.
JP: You’re really starting to reach…
JT: I know. Kornheiser needs to get his ass back in the studio more often!
JP: ………………………I wish you could see the look on my face, I really do. Have a good week, everyone.
Thank you for joining us for THE 64th ISSUE of Hidden Highlights. Be sure to drop us a line and let us know what you think and all the other Hidden Highlights we missed. Plus, we want to hear your Reader Write-ins for all the moments you see this and every week.
We’ll catch you again next time in the reader approved most positive article in all of the IWC: Hidden Highlights! Until then!
PS
Randle, we never put our title on the line. Nice try there buddy!
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