Day #31 7/9/11: Are you mad?…

This was taken the hour of the beginning of the day and the day got off to a pretty good start as I worked out after work at the gym I go to and it was a very satisfying workout in terms of cardio and working out the muscles as well. I slept around 3 o clock that night and I didn’t wake up till around 12 the next day as I had little time to do much at home except walk the dog and watch Smackdown. Going to work was a different story as I found out I was working by myself that night as the other person had called in sick. I was upset by the fact that no one has even cared to do something about me working the night by myself and it was all incompetence based on the managers that work there. They felt that there were other important tasks to focus on but I just said oh well and people could tell on my face that I was upset about having to work by myself and a newbie went up to ask me if I was mad and I explained my situation which she understood but I don’t think she understood the ramifications behind working alone as she has a big team to work with and I had no one. The night went by slowly as I worked hard to get everything but in the end it wasn’t enough as expected. However, I went home knowing that I had at least contributed something to that Machine. I also had lunch with a good friend of mine who has expressed his frustration with the machine as well and I agreed with what he said as we both let out some pent up anger that had happened recently but he did about 80 percent of the talking as there has been a lot of shady happenings at the big red machine lately (people getting fired, writeups, relationships, drama etc.) But, I took in good stride as I don’t want to end up like a few that have ended up there for 5+ years and my goal is to leave by the end of the year.

The Elimination Chamber 2011…

It’s been about two weeks since I went to WWE Elimination Chamber here in Oakland and at first I was doubting myself as to whether it was worth it or not and after all the smoke cleared it was. Me and brother got there around 4:30 to find parking which was around the BART station. What surprised me was that up at the main entrance, they were charging 30 bucks for a parking spot and we were lucky there were quite a few parking spots left by the station. After we had found our seats, we got hyped up for the night’s events, as everything seemed in place and the energy really seemed like it flowed well that night. When I was sitting there, I realized that I noted that one of my resolutions was to come to this event and I was glad that it was with my brother. I don’t see my brother on a everyday basis as he doesn’t live with us anymore but when it’s just us, I can talk about whatever is on my mind and he as well. The matches were really solid overall and they gave me hope for the sheer transition that wrestling seems to go through every 4 or 5 years. I was impressed with the veracity of the opener between Kingston and Del Rio as it established them not only as good performers but solid characters as well. I was also impressed with the Elimination Chamber matches as well as both had excellent standout performances. I can say that on the smackdown side, there was really no fear of actually trying something innovative here. Usually, what I see as a contribution from a well established veteran is what happened when Edge, Rey Mysterio, and the Big Show all pitched in and gave two young guys such as Wade Barrett and Drew Mcyntre, a chance to shine as they all took pretty nasty falls in that match. I can say that the exchanges between Mysterio and Edge really gave them the opportunity to give the fans their money’s worth and they didn’t disappoint. I found it interesting that the Raw Chamber was not as exciting as the smackdown as it seemed that this one was more built towards creating a ‘spot’. I understand that wrestling needs variety in order to get their point across and in this case it was no different. John Morrison really delivered a performance which was worth every accolade he gets because this guy has started to change my doubt about how much of a waste of talent he is. At first, the only reason I thought he was good was because of the guys he was being matched up with but then I saw that this guy can do some pretty insane moves. He has also won me over in how he can give a different type of performance very night instead of doing the same thing over and over. I was equally impressed by guys like CM Punk and Randy Orton as they both ended up looking like they took big bumps in order to get the effects of the chamber over. Overall, the show had two other matches in the Corre VS. Santino Marella and Vladmir Kozlov which was a short little affair that I didn’t pay much attention to as it was over just in about 5 minutes.  I believe the match between Jerry Lawler vs. the Miz wasn’t great but not bad either as both men seemed to want to try to get the story of their match over. Lawler was playing the ‘one last chance’ story and Miz was playing the ‘most must see champiuon’ of his day which made me believe that Miz had to win in order to be a better character. The way that Miz plays his character almost makes me feel like a little kid again. In my older life, I have been a supporter of bad guys or ‘heels’ as the antihero is something that intrigued and made me wonder about our own society. Good guys have always seemed preppy and too goody shoes to do anything wrong as they are almost seen as superheroes. However, with the Miz I just feel like slapping him because he really makes your blood boil because he plays his part so well and he understands that the crowd has to hate him. I’ve seen that the man, Mike Mizanin, worked his ass to where he is and he deserves everything he has earned but as a character you just want to see that he gets what’s coming to him. In my case, I believe to see a bad guy get their ass kicked is what sends fans and supporters alike home happy. He plays his part very well and I can say that I was non believer in what he could achieve but he did well with what he got. Miz ended up pulling out a convincing victory and I was surprised that he won clean because very rarely do we ever see that happen with the Miz. Two other short segments in this event that happened was the appearance of the very wonderful Trish Stratus as she was revealed as a trainer of the show Tough Enough and very few fans knew who she was but I knew who she was and she looked gorgeous as she always does. Then one of the best characters that WWE has produced in recent years, Vickie Guerrero, appeared and she begged for some forgiveness from the authority figure, Teddy Long. I enjoy watching Vickie because she seems to understand the meaning of what a good female heel is supposed to be and she is probably supporting her family as well with what she does. I’ve always said, these people are away from there families almost 300 days of the year and for them to elicit a reaction must be tough as they have either be seen as good or evil. But, the way some people do it almost makes you wonder what goes on inside them as humans as some of them play their characters so well that it is hard to imagine what they are really like. The event was probably one of the better ones I’ve been to and I hope they come again so I can take some pictures with a camera that I hope to purchase soon. I would like to thank my brother for bringing along his camera as the pictures he took were very crisp and unreal to look at if you put them on a 1080 P TV:

Here they are:

Del Rio against Kingston
Big Show
The match itself
Vickie Guerrero
Jerry "the King" Lawler
Randall Keith Orton
Nice picture of the Chamber
CM Punk, Straight Edge Rules!
The closing moments of the Raw Chamber