i removed my rear bumber, and i cant seem to get the supports to come off.. nor that piece directly above where the bumber was..any suggestons. does anyone know how to get them off

 

The piece directly above the bumper (looks like a little spoiler lip kind of thing, called a bumper filler in some of the catalogs), is spot-welded to the unibody in about a dozen spots. It doesn't come off without a lot of drilling and air-hammer work, and subsequent straightening for re-use (or a very expensive and hard-to-find purchase). Don't remove it unless you absolutely have to, e.g., rust repair or if you're doing the no-bumper modification thing.

The supports are secured by the huge nuts/bolts you can see inside the rear hatch, on the floor. I think there's 3 per shock mount. Carefully undo them, preferably while someone holds the mounts from below, and then carefully thread the kidney-shaped plate back through the body panel so you can lower the shock/mount down from underneath the car. Also not worth messing with unless you need to replace them, or for rust repair, or of course modification.
good luck,
Dave