WWE: 10 Possible WrestleMania Opponents for the Miz

After main-eventing WrestleMania 27, The Miz finds himself in an odd position in 2012: He's just trying to get on the WrestleMania 28 card.

Whether it's backstage heat or the fact that the top half of the card is loaded, The Miz is stuck in no-man's land less than a week away from the WWE's biggest pay-per-view of the year.

There seems to be no clear-cut feud waiting for The Miz, either, so he might actually be off the show just one year after headlining it.

But The Miz is hellbent on making it to 'Mania, and he does have a little time to get there.

Here are 10 possible WrestleMania 28 opponents (or ways to be involved) for the former WWE Champion, The Miz. 

10. Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio wants to return to the WWE by WrestleMania 28, and he's advertised to do so.

The question is: will he?

Mysterio, who has been out of action since last August, would be a great late addition to an already stacked card and could provide another intriguing matchup if he faces someone like Dolph Ziggler...or The Miz.

Miz and Mysterio had a bit of a rivalry going before Mysterio underwent knee surgery last year, so perhaps the WWE could pick back up on that feud on the off-chance that Mysterio does return by WrestleMania 28.

A bout like this would drastically improve the quality of the undercard, and assuming Mysterio is healthy, it actually makes sense, too.

9. Santino Marella

What a change from 2011 this would be, huh?

While I know the chances of Santino Marella facing The Miz are pretty slim, The Miz was effectively buried by John Cena on last week's Raw and doesn't appear to be getting much of a push at the moment.

Santino, on the other hand, has actually seemed to be a bigger priority lately, and he's being taken considerably more seriously than he has been in a few years.

There's been no real interaction between The Miz and Santino as of late, but with neither guy currently having any WrestleMania plans (and both figuring to do so), I could see the WWE putting Sanitno over The Miz to continue the Awesome One's fall down the card.

Maybe something similar to when Rey Mysterio beat JBL in 21 seconds for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 25.

In the end, this could lead to a more intense Miz or even a baby face turn.

8. Team Long (Whoever That May Be)

The Miz plans on going to WrestleMania, and when he gets there, he says he'll be competing in a high-profile match. 

In a video he posted on Twitter, The Miz had the following to say about what he'll be doing in Miami: "I will be the main event, whether you call it that or not."

Hmmm. That's rather interesting.

Given that the top four 'Mania matches are already set, I don't think The Miz will actually be competing in one of the "main events" on the card, but I do think he could find himself involved in a solid mid-card match.

I'm talking, of course, about The Miz joining John Laurinaitis' team of heels in the likely match against Teddy Long's team of baby faces.

The Miz may not be the real captain of Team Laurinaitis, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a participant in the match and one of the shining stars of it.

7. The Undertaker and Triple H

No, no, no. I'm not saying that The Miz will be added to this match to make it a Triple Threat.

But during the commercial break after The Miz's loss to John Cena on last week's Raw, he was promptly pedigreed by Triple H for some reason or another.

Though this probably means nothing, it just may mean something.

As noted on the last slide, The Miz says he will be in the main event, and there's no doubt that Triple H vs. The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell will be considered one of the main events of WrestleMania 28.

The Miz is not going to participate in that bout, but much like he and R-Truth did at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in 2011, he could interfere in the match and alter its outcome.

Is it likely? No.

But given that The Undertaker is probably going to be off of TV for another year after 'Mania, we could see The Miz attack Triple H to kickoff a post-WrestleMania feud with The Game.

6. CM Punk and Chris Jericho

The Miz successfully defended his WWE Championship at WrestleMania 27 in 2011, but in 2012, he's become a complete afterthought in the WWE title scene.

Why not use that as motivation to interfere in the 'Mania match between Chris Jericho and CM Punk and cost one or both men the title?

I admit that I wouldn't particularly care for a finish like that on a major pay-per-view, but it's logical for The Miz to have beef with both Punk and Jericho for essentially "stealing" his spot in the main event scene and then screw over both guys by causing a disqualification finish to their match.

This would keep Miz relevant without having to rush him into a feud or insert him into the WWE Championship feud when it would make little sense to do so.

Plus, it would help The Miz get the heat back that he seems to have lost over the last six-plus months.

5. The Rock and John Cena

There is a long-running history between The Rock, John Cena and The Miz.

The Rock played a role in the Miz/Cena match at WrestleMania 27, Cena and The Rock teamed up to take on The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series in 2011 and there were a couple of promo exchanges involving all three superstars last year.

Although none of us want to see a shady finish to Rock vs. Cena at WrestleMania 28, I have this eerie feeling that we just might get one, courtesy of The Miz.

The Miz vows to main-event WrestleMania 28, and with rumors that The Rock might be competing at WrestleMania 29, I wouldn't completely eliminate the possibility of Miz interfering at 'Mania, costing Rock the match and setting up a SummerSlam showdown between the two.

This might seemed far-fetched or unlikely, but you never really know what's going on in the minds of the WWE creative team.  

4. Zack Ryder

Zack Ryder has been off of TV for a while now thanks to a couple of devastating attacks by Kane, but the feud between those two appears to be over and done with.

In that case, Ryder needs a new WrestleMania 28 feud.

While Jack Swagger is certainly an option there, F4Wonline.com (via WrestleZone.com) presents an interesting feud possibility for Ryder and his former friend, Eve Torres:

"

Creative plans have been discussed for the now heel Eve Torres to continue her feud with Zack Ryder according to F4Wonline.com.

Torres would be paired with a heel WWE Superstar and would feud with Ryder and a WWE Diva. As of now the most popular name that has been suggested to be paired with Ryder is Layla.

"

A scenario I could see taking place is Ryder teaming up with Kelly Kelly (who's started a feud with Eve lately) and The Miz pairing up with Eve for some sort of 'Mania match.

Whether it's a mixed tag team match or singles match with the Divas in the corners of the superstars doesn't matter.

The idea is to help The Miz regain some heat by being paired with a hated heel like Eve, but it could also have him end up putting Ryder over at WrestleMania 28.

 

3. R-Truth

There never seemed to be any real resolution to the rivalry between The Miz and R-Truth.

It didn't result in any pay-per-view singles matches, and it, well, basically just ended out of nowhere.

I wasn't particularly fond of the Truth/Miz feud, but with neither guy having much of a WrestleMania feud at the moment and still having a ton of history together, maybe it would be best to pick back up on that feud and give them an undercard match at 'Mania.

The WWE missed out on a great opportunity by not doing more with this feud right after the Awesome Truth split up, and it wouldn't be the same to have them feud several months after they stopped teaming together.

But it's not like The Miz and Truth are doing any better right now.

They could have a decent little rivalry, a solid match and something to do at the biggest PPV of the year.

2. Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston has been incredibly impressive so far in 2012, but he hasn't really had a marquee main event-caliber rivalry since feuding with Randy Orton in late 2009.

It's time for that to change.

Kingston has done the mid-card thing, the tag team thing and even the enhancement worker thing at times. But given how well he's performed this year, he needs to do the upper mid-card/main event thing.

With The Miz looking like he could potentially be in the doghouse, maybe now is the time to have him put over Kingston on a huge pay-per-view like WrestleMania 28.

The WWE needs to start building up new main-eventers, and Kingston's waited patiently as a number of other superstars have passed him up on the WWE totem pole.

This guy needs a chance to shine on the big stage again (like he did during the Royal Rumble match), and there aren't many better available opponents right now for him than The Miz.

1. Whoever Is in the Pre-Show Battle Royal

Don't know what to do with all the lower-card and mid-card workers?

Here's the easy solution: Throw them all into a pre-show battle royal.

The WWE did this at WrestleMania 27, and it gave a boatload of guys who weren't actually going to appear on the PPV a chance to compete in the dark match. 

Unfortunately for The Miz, he may find himself relegated to this bout just 12 months after main-eventing the prior WrestleMania.

While there's always a chance that Miz finds a decent spot on the card, nothing's lining up for him at the moment, and he just might have to start working his way back up by working a match that's only seen by the live crowd. 

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.