WWE SummerSlam 2012: The Humanity of the Heartbreak Kid

Shawn Michaels is my favorite wrestler.  Always was and always will be; retired or not.  I was almost eight years old when the first episode of Raw saw him defeat Max Moon. Also, his final match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI will remain seeded in my memory until I die. 

I am 27 now, but the same child who grew up watching him came awake for a few moments when Brock Lesnar's continued stalking of Michaels concluded with Lesnar physically yanking Michaels out of a car door, brutally assaulting him, dragging his body to the ring, delivering an F5 and when he was down and at his most vulnerable, snapping Michaels' arm as Triple H helplessly watched.

Just about everyone involved deserves praise for this: Michaels for making it look like his arm was legitimately fractured, Paul Heyman for his shock and disbelief at what his client had done and Lesnar for successfully portraying the cold monster that WWE has been making him out to be since he returned the night after WrestleMania XXVIII.

Obviously, we all know that the men and women we watch in the ring are trained professionals and know what they are doing.  It does, however, take a special kind of performer to make us believe what we are seeing and  make us lose ourselves in the fantasy. 

I am not jaded enough to not feel emotional responses to something I see on a television screen. For the first time since I was a kid, I had a sensation come over me when Lesnar grabbed Michaels from the seat of his car.

Fear.

It is one thing to watch one wrestler go after another wrestler.  It is another thing entirely for a former wrestler-turned-fighter, who made a living and won the championship of the world for punching and kicking people in the face, to systematically hunt a retired man who no longer looks over his shoulder everywhere he goes. 

The paranoia that Michaels showed with every step he took in the arena on Monday night made me think Lesnar could get him at any second.  I even wondered if Paul Heyman screaming "I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!" as he blocked Michaels from leaving the building was not for the apparent car collision, but legitimate remorse for what was going to take place minutes later.

The moment that really got to me was when Lesnar ran up to the car and, with what seemed like no effort at all, pulled Michaels out of the window like a skilled carjacker.  Imaging myself in that scenario, without a second to react, is what I think brought out that moment of fear in me as a viewer. 

Part of me wants to see Lesnar get the win at SummerSlam because he has yet to make an impact during a match.  Another part of me, the fan that just refuses to go away, wants to see Triple H beat the holy hell out of Lesnar for what Lesnar did to Triple H's best friend. 

Am I gullible? Easily swayed?  Or are there some of you out there who were taken back to how you watched as a kid and reacted accordingly?  Tell me how you feel below, and thank you again for reading!