Looking Back on 2014

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

In a nutshell, 2014 was a roller coaster. I first said it right after the passing of one of my biggest inspirations The Ultimate Warrior back in April and I've been saying ever since. Of course, every year will have its ups and downs, but I don't think any other year in recent memory had as highest of highs and lowest of lows as 2014 did, hence why it will go down as one of the most memorable years in the last decade for better or for worse. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a bad year, but I wouldn't consider it a great year, either. For lack of a better term, it was historic. I think we can all agree on that.

It feels like just yesterday I was highly anticipating the arrival of 2014. I may have been in the minority, I had high hopes for it. It's safe to say those lofty expectations weren't met. Again, this year wasn't all terrible. It had its moments, both personally, professionally and even from a wrestling standpoint. I hate calling any year a "bad year" because truth be told, it's only as bad as you perceive it to be. For example, if I think 2015 is going to suck, then it will. That's my mindset, anyway. And I'm not the kind of person that has high expectations for things. I set goals for myself, sure, but as optimistic as I am, I'm more of a realist than I am a pessimist. I don't get my hopes up for something that likely won't happen in risk of being disappointed.

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I'm the kind of person that it is more excited to look forward to the future than to look back on the past, but the sake of this column, I thought it'd be fun to analyze every month of 2014 for its highlights and low points. Most of it will be in relation to me and my life, so not all of my thoughts on one month of the year will the universal for everyone else. For example, June was the best month of 2014 for me, but it may have been the worst for someone else. Just to be sure to keep that in mind while reading.

January has never been a favorite month of mine. In fact, it's always been one of my least favorite. I'll reiterate that you shouldn't think a month is going to be bad before it even happens, but history has shown (for me, anyway) that January is never the greatest month. It's a time for fresh beginnings which I'm a fan of, but I always find myself frustrated every January for one reason or another. I started my internship at the New Haven Register (a local newspaper outlet here in Connecticut) early that month, and as helpful of an experience as it was, it was also very tiring. The job itself wasn't tiring, but having to get a ride there every day for two weeks (and this place is close to an hour away from where I live) definitely took its toll. It got to the point where I was sick of being home and was ready to go back to college. That wouldn't be the last time that would happen in 2014.

CM Punk's (one of my favorite wrestlers) abrupt departure from WWE in late January didn't put me in the best of moods going into February, but that was one of the better months of the first half of 2014. The launch of the WWE Network was really exciting, NXT Arrival at the end of the month was excellent, Valentine's Day was great and President's Day weekend (where I had the whole dorm to myself when my roommate went home) was a lot of fun. February can usually be hit or miss, but this year it was better than it had any right to be coming off of a flat first month of the year.

March was a mixed bag, though not much of note happened so I can't remember a lot about it. I went home for spring break by the middle of the month, which was fun at first in that I got to see friends and family in some cases for the first time in months, but by the end of the week, I was ready to go back to school. The countdown to WrestleMania also officially began and I couldn't have been more pumped for the show.

April started off on high note with the amazing WrestleMania 30 event, but it was only shortly thereafter that one of my all-time inspirations The Ultimate Warrior shockingly passed away. It devestated me for days, but I eventually got over it by the end of the week and coped with it. I also went home for a few days over Easter weekend which was rather relaxing. It marked the first time in a long time that I went home and wasn't completely ready to go back to school so quickly, but less is more, I suppose.

May was a pretty major month. The first weekend of May, I had both of my brothers drive up to my school and spend the weekend. After ordering out three times, going to see "Captain America 2" and watching the Disney classic "Heavyweights," it was an awesome weekend that ended with a great Extreme Rules pay-per-view. It was only one week later that my grandfather passed away in a car accident, and I was upset for at least a week after that. I took half my finals, went home for the funeral, went back to school, took the rest of my finals, and left. Not the best way to end my freshman year of college, but I managed to get through it. The final two weeks of May were fun, though, as I went to go see "Godzilla" with a good friend of me and landed a job at What Culture! whom I still write for to this day.

Of all the months of 2014, I'd say June was undoubtedly the best. I was flustered at some points, but on the whole, it was a pretty kick-ass month. At the very start of June, WWE held their great Payback pay-per-view and I celebrated my 19th birthday the very next day. The following weekend, I landed a job at a local movie theater and attended an awesome independent wrestling event where I got to meet Scott Hall and Matt Hardy (again). I worked for the remainder of the month before attending the most amazing episode of Raw (or any wrestling show I've ever been to) on the last day of June. What a way to kick off the summer!

I'll group July and August together because most of it was a blur. I worked pretty much the entire time. Sure, I made a lot of money from working so much, but how good was it if I couldn't spend any of it? It all goes back to the column I wrote last month about passion. If you don't love what you do, then you're in the wrong business. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed what I did at the movies and not many people get that kind of opportunity, but I was so sick of being home for a while that I was miserable. Never before had I been so burned out and ready to go back to school. The two vacations I went on in July and August, respectively, were enjoyable, but it wasn't enough to re-charge my batteries. Let's also not forget about the shocking death of Robin Williams that occurred that month. That took its toll emotionally on me as well as many others as I loved a lot of his work.

September, as I've said in the past, is one of the year's more underrated months. There's many people who don't fancy the idea of going back to school, but I couldn't have been more excited for it as you could tell from the previous paragraph. My sophomore year of college was officially underway and I was pumped for it. My class schedule compared to my freshman year was fantastic and I was making money from working for the paper. The weather was also excellent since it wasn't too hot nor was it too cold.

As a big fan of Halloween, the month of October was more fun for me than it may have been for some other people, but it was still pretty good. It had its ups and downs, but for the most part, I was excited for Halloween and watching scary movies all month long was a treat. It was around the end of the month that I started to get fed up with some people on my campus, but ending the month with Halloween in Salem was a blast.

Like January, November isn't one of my favorite months. November 2014 definitely had its moments, including Thanksgiving week and attending an awesome independent event where I met Kurt Angle and AJ Styles, but it wasn't too fun on the whole. I was sick for most of the month and by the time I went home for Thanksgiving, I was burned out and needed a break from the immaturity from some kids on my campus

December isn't yet over as I write this, but it's been great for the most part as it always has been. The weekend of the TLC pay-per-view was really fun, NXT: R Evolution was phenomenal, coming home for Christmas has been fun and how can you not love Christmas? December is always excellent and it's been not exception this year. But I'm ready for 2015. It's been a year I've been highly anticipating for ages. It's the year I'll finally be eligible for an internship at WWE, "Avengers 2" and "Star Wars 7" are due out, I'll be turning 20, and so much more is going down.

I look at 2015 is the unofficial start of the future. We often say that the future is right around the corner. Well, now it really is. My hopes are higher for 2015 than they were for 2014, so I may be setting myself up for disappointment if it doesn't meet my expectations. But I'll take the risk. We're only days away from the new year, and so far, it's already shaping up to be a blast with all that seems to be going on, both personally and in wrestling. I'll be making my annual goals as I always do (I don't usually like to make resolutions since most people don't even stick to them) and am excited for 2015 holds. 

If 2014 was a great year for you, ride that momentum in 2015. If it wasn't, then it's irrelevant. Look  to make 2015 ten times better. And remember: bad things are bound to happen, you can't avoid them. But so are good, even great things. You just have to roll with the punches and make the most of everything that comes your way. As I said earlier in the post, the new year is whatever you make it. Go into it with a positive attitude and I can almost assure you that positive things are bound to follow. I'm excited to say that the roller coaster that was 2014 is now reaching its end. Here's to 2015, here's to the future!