Disappointment

Coffee Table Thoughts {9} – Disappointment

Disappointment A boss gets disappointed by the performance of his employee. A wife gets disappointed by the carelessness of his husband. But what we humans hate the most are the moments when we are disappointed by ourselves. Or disappointed in ourselves. Whichever is the correct phrase? Allow me to explain, or rather, just forget that.

Chris Jericho is F’in Awesome!

The man’s a true prick. He has mastered the art of getting under the skin of absolutely anyone that he wishes to. You knew from the beginning of his video promo on this week’s Raw that he was up to something. When he began to showcase the guilty emotions, you knew that he was going to change the gear soon. And when he said ‘however.....’ and paused for a few seconds, you knew he was up to no good.

I laughed out loud at every second of it and that is not being insensitive to the hurt feelings of one CM Punk. CM Punk kept getting emotional and hyper and thus kept increasing the intensity throughout the interaction. Jericho, on the other hand, managed to cool down the atmosphere with his obnoxious remarks and comical facial expressions. It was nice to see Jericho acting shocked when CM Punk used some ‘bleep’ remarks as if he was the nice guy. Ha Ha!

I believe Chris Jericho easily won the vocal contest on this Monday night except for a great line by CM Punk where he listed down the ways in which one can overcome obstacles. He called Jericho an obstacle itself and said instead of jumping over it, or digging a deep hole and crawling underneath it, he was going to go straight through it. Absolutely fiery mic-work by Punk here. But I thought he went a little too overboard with the expressions. The audience was fully behind Punk throughout though so that’s a good sign.

And oh yeah, ‘I am proud of my father’. I genuinely clapped at that line, even though I was sitting in my home in front of a computer, watching it 12 hours after the actual occurrence! Hurray Punk!

We have gone through various emotions regarding this match. It has been in the discussion forums even before Chris Jericho made his actual return. First it was assumed that Jericho would start the inevitable programme with Punk the moment he returns. Then we hoped that he would challenge CM Punk as the winner of the Royal Rumble. His unfortunate exit from the Elimination Chamber made us believe that he would get his rightful rematch as a result. But finally, the match was determined on the basis of a Battle Royal that forced Wade Barret to go on a long vacation.

There are several of us ‘IWC’ that feel that the latest turn of events in this feud has left a bad taste. They feel that the personal remarks made by Chris Jericho are uncalled for and that they are taking the match to a direction which isn’t needed.

But according to me, the biggest turn that the match took is when it was pushed in the ‘face-heel’ dynamic.

Both CM Punk and Chris Jericho are IWC darlings and have been for years. Both of them are fairly established stars and would be cheered loudly by the live crowd comprising mainly of casual fans. If Chris Jericho had remained face upon his return, things would have been a little different. If he would have remained face going into Wrestlemania, this could have been filled with Nostalgia. And in the long run, this little fact will have a bearing on where we will view this match in comparison to other matches in the rich history of Wrestlemania and in comparison to other matches on the same card.

Chris Jericho is known for staying on ground at least when it comes to professional wrestling (I don’t expect to see the same thing from him in real life. The guy’s a douche!) He always brings down the ‘greatness’ stuff. I may very well be blabbering here but I am trying to make a point. Some of the things that Chris Jericho did, if he would have done it a bit differently, or may be with a complete 180, then in my opinion, he would have been an even bigger legend.

Take for example his match with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 19. After the match was over, they both hugged each other and the live audience loved it. If the last image of the two would have been that, I am sure Chris Jericho’s status would have been elevated in the eyes of the fans. But no, he had to kick Michaels in the nuts.

Another such example is very recent, when CM Punk told him that may be he was a lot like Jericho but he had already surpassed everything that Chris Jericho has ever done or ever accomplished. Jericho could have accepted it and came out with an argument that people never accepted him like they accepted Punk. He could have gone on to say he never wanted to be ‘The Man’. But what does he do? He completely ignores what Punk said. And goes on to say the same things that he had said just a few minutes ago. #LikeATroll

See, it may come off as foolish. You may argue that such small things wouldn’t make much of difference in his resume. You would say that Jericho has already achieved everything that one can ask for. He has become a legend in this business. And I agree with that. But he severely lacks more of those ‘Y2J Debut’ moments. Those moments that we would remember till the last day of our lives are sorely lacking in his resume. He cuts great promos. He performs greatly in his matches. And gives meaning to everything that he does.  But he also keeps things grounded. These are small things which differentiate Arn Andersons of the world from Ric Flairs of the world.

But that’s Jericho for you. This is the guy who wants to see his career end the way the life of a side-kick of the villain in a movie ends. The one who dies from one bullet shot from the hero and falls screaming ‘Aaaaahh......’

Overall though, I’m very much satisfied with how this feud has developed over few months. They will be up against a match involving legends from yester years; a match where icons of two different eras collide; a game Randy Orton going against reinvigorated Kane; two hungry young men who will not hesitate at going the length of physical abuse; and two other matches which can turn out to be very decent. Any of these matches can steal the show; can be the contender for match of the year.

And in light of these facts, these two are going in the right direction. The feud is meaningful, with a purpose other than, or should I say more than, clash of the titans. They are keeping it grounded by adding human-ish tendencies. They have a reasonable chance of escalating Wrestlemania.

And this does not remind me of the term ‘disappointment’.

Randy Orton and Kane have been thrown into a make shift feud. Because neither had any matches set up going into Wrestlemania. But the creative and the wrestlers have done a good job of keeping it meaningful and interesting.

When every other feud was slowly developing on the back of promos (and less by actual physical exchange), they gave this feud a start with the physicality. In the normal course, it wouldn’t mean much, but because the build is different than the rest of the matches, it maintains interest. And then they added meaning to it.

I know, it’s just a small excuse they’ve found out but it plays very well. Kane is disappointed in himself, he was disappointed about the lows he had reached when Randy Orton beat the hell out of him last summer (Summer of Christian?) and hence wants to avenge the person who forced him into such a situation. Randy Orton’s promos continue to be meaningful and decent (Now go on, start a clan to berate me for what I said there, I know no one else believes that). But this feud is based on hate. Or to be honest, it’s just based on the need of violence. It doesn’t even need hate. Both these characters are such suckers for the violence that they would rather fight a cup-board for the rest of their lives without ever coming to a conclusion instead of fighting with someone who they can beat in 2 minutes.

And that’s why it is important to note that they’ve both found a worthy opponent in each other. They want to stop at nothing and that is what they are getting from each other - a licence to keep beating the hell out of each other.

Newton’s Foresight

1.      Randy Orton vs. Kane will get a stipulation added to it.

2.      Undertaker will defeat Triple H at Wrestlemania 28 without any shenanigans from Shawn Michaels.

3.      Miz will be revealed as the final member of Team Teddy Long.

4.      If in case they decide to give this chance to Evan Bourne instead of Miz, then Miz will issue an open challenge at Wrestlemania and that challenge will be accepted by none other than..........John Morrison.

5.      John Cena will turn heel at Wrestlemania 28*

* Conditions apply