Elimination Chamber. Mike breathes in and out. In. Out. Tries to find his center. He's starting the match off, and it's daunting. More than most things. He closes his eyes, pokes his fingers into the threads of his gear. Reflects on how so much depends on tonight- he wants to main event Wrestlemania. Especially in a year where the Rock will not be around to ruin everything for him. This will not be Cena's chance. It won't be Monday Night Rollins. Strowman will have no opportunity to throw those hands. Elias will have to sound like a squeeching cat elsewhere. The Big Dog will be neutered. Finn- ha! Don't make Mike laugh. He's got this.
And man, he really thinks he does, for a bit there, going in a circle and kicking each of his opponents in the chest. But Braun. Braun comes in and demolishes everyone. Sends him flying off of a pod into everyone else and damn that hurts. He tries to last past that, but he fails. Braun eliminates him and he's forced to roll out of the ring, walk down the ramp, and ... and leave. Leave his chances behind, his dreams, his hopes. He sits in his locker room afterwards, alone, staring at the intercontinental title spread before him on the table. "Guess it's just you and I now," he whispers, allowing himself a minute to feel morose at failing.
Then his eyes flash and he's back with it, mind spinning through every chance he could have to do something meaningful for Wrestlemania. Defend this belt the way it deserves.
-x
Angle clearly has some ideas as well, taunting him over who his opponent will be at Wrestlemania the following night. He wrestles Seth and loses even though Seth is battered from the gauntlet match the week prior, the Elimination Chamber, and who knows what else the idiot gets into to damage himself further when not in a wrestling ring. But that loss isn't enough, of course not. For whatever reason, Mike is thrown into another match against Finn Balor and loses that too, of course!
"How is that fair!?" he rants to himself, Bo and Axel hovering nearby anxiously. "Now I'm stuck wrestling two matches in a row? What the hell is Angle doing with his most visible champion!?" This pisses him off as well. Lesnar no-showed apparently. So that defacto makes Miz the biggest champion Angle has, but it's still not enough to earn him any kind of respect. He scrubs at his face and looks up when a soft hand rests on his back. "AJ?"
She smiles and leans in to kiss him. "Hello, husband. I thought I'd surprise you. Then when I saw your match... well, I can drive you back home now, right? You can relax in the car on the way home. Maryse has Sara Louisa right now, I think she's trying to cheer Heath up after his loss to Bray." She strokes his hair and presses another lingering kiss to his lips. "Are you ok?"
"I think so," he mumbles. "Just sore."
AJ nudges her nose against his cheek. "Go film whatever it is they want you to film with Maryse, and once we get home, I'll see what I can do to help you out with that."
His eyes gleam and he squeezes her hand. "I love you."
"I love you too," she says, pushing him towards the door.
He turns in time to see her blow a kiss his way before marching determinedly down the hall to find Maryse. I'll be fine, he thinks, shoulders squaring and chin lifting as he faces the next few weeks leading to Wrestlemania.
No matter how bad it gets, no matter what Angle throws at him, Mike will be awesome.