WWE Superstar Study: Analyzing the State of the Miz's Character

The Miz calls himself “the most must-see champion in WWE history,” but over the last year or so, he hasn’t exactly been a champion or must-see. 

Since beating John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 27, The Miz has seen his stock plummet, and—if he isn’t already—is certainly on the verge of becoming just another guy. 

Today, we’re going to take a look at what’s happened to The Miz and where he may be headed in the future with this week’s Superstar Study. 

Where He’s Been 

After successfully defending his WWE Championship at WrestleMania 27, The Miz lost the title to Cena at Extreme Rules and then transitioned into a feud with his protégé, Alex Riley, where he actually lost to Riley at Capitol Punishment. 

The Miz would then go on to be unsuccessful in Raw’s Money in the Bank match and be on the losing side of a six-man tag team match at SummerSlam. It was on the Raw after SummerSlam that The Miz formed a partnership with R-Truth on the basis that they were both overlooked for main event opportunities. 

Miz and Truth, collectively known as “Awesome Truth,” would go on to challenge Air Boom for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions in a losing effort, but they became perhaps best known for interfering in matches (that got them storyline fired) and made a huge splash at both Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell when they attacked a number of the WWE’s top stars. 

Eventually, Miz and Truth were rehired by John Laurinaitis and would go on to beat CM Punk and Triple H in a tag team match at Vengeance. They would then serve as the opponents for Cena and The Rock at Survivor Series, a match that, to no one’s surprise, they lost. 

Following their loss at Survivor Series, The Miz turned on Truth on Raw and hit him with a Skull-Crushing Finale on the entrance ramp (which was really just a way to write Truth off of TV because he had been suspended for violating the Wellness Program). 

The Miz would then compete in a Triple Threat TLC Match for the WWE Championship at the TLC pay-per-view in December 2011, but the match was won by Punk. Shortly after the PPV, R-Truth returned and began attacking The Miz on a weekly basis, ultimately resulting in a match between the two where the winner would have to enter the Royal Rumble match first. 

The Miz lost the match and was forced to enter the Rumble at No. 1, but had an impressive showing as he lasted more than 45 minutes before eventually being eliminated by The Big Show. 

He would also compete in Raw’s Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship in February 2012, but was again unsuccessful in his attempt to win back the WWE title. 

Where He Is Now 

Following the Elimination Chamber PPV, The Miz—left without a spot on the WrestleMania 28 card—started a campaign to get a match at Mania, and eventually made his way onto Team Johnny for the battle of the GMs. 

At WrestleMania 28, The Miz got the pin in the 12-man tag team match for Team Johnny, saving Laurinaitis’ job and ensuring that Teddy Long would no longer be the general manager of SmackDown. 

Following his big win at WrestleMania, The Miz got an easy victory on Raw over Zack Ryder, and on last week’s show, Laurinaitis ensured The Miz that he had “big plans” in store for him and that the two would talk the following week. 

However, The Miz made no appearance whatsoever on this week’s Raw, so it’s uncertain exactly what his standing in the WWE is at the moment. 

You would think that the WrestleMania win would have ignited a big push for The Miz, but he hasn’t had a match on the last two Raw episodes.  

Where I Think He’s Headed 

While I think it’s kind of a load of crap that The Miz wasn’t even on this week’s Raw, I still have faith that his WrestleMania win and Laurinaitis’ debt to him will lead to a big push in the near future. 

There would be no real reason to have The Miz go over on the grandest stage of them all and save Laurinaitis’ job if there weren’t any plans to follow up on this. 

As the weeks go by, I’d expect to see Laurinaitis give The Miz preferential treatment by doing things like booking The Miz in easy matches, giving him title opportunities, giving him match stipulations that work out in his favor and so on and so forth. 

The idea is that Laurinaitis feels like he owes The Miz so much for saving his job that he gives The Miz whatever he wants, ultimately resulting in a renewed push and some mega heat for The Miz because people feel like he is unfairly getting opportunities that he doesn’t deserve. 

Exactly where this leads The Miz, I’m not sure. But I would bet on seeing a ton of interaction between him and Laurinaitis as The Miz continues to seek rewards for his big WrestleMania win. 

This storyline could play out over the next several months because, as we’ve already seen, the WWE likes to completely ignore it on some episodes of Raw. 

Where I Think He Should Be Headed 

Given the ongoing storyline and the fact that Laurinaitis has “big plans” for The Miz, here’s what I’d do with the Awesome One. 

On each week’s Raw, I would have backstage segments where The Miz is begging Laurinaitis to find out what those “big plans” are, but Laurinaitis continues to say that he is “too busy” and will deal with The Miz later. 

As a result, The Miz will grow increasingly frustrated with Laurinaitis’ refusal to give him his reward for saving Laurinaitis’ job, and he will start demanding that Laurinaitis give him a title shot (or something along those lines) as payment. 

Laurinaitis will refuse to do so, so on one episode of Raw, The Miz will demand that Laurinaitis meet him in the middle of the ring to discuss the situation. The Miz will then make his way to the ring, grab a mic and call out Laurinaitis for failing to live up to his promise. 

Once Laurinaitis comes to the ring, he will continue to tell The Miz to “be patient” and that there are still “big plans” for him. But The Miz—so frustrated and incensed by the wait—hits Laurinaitis with a huge Skull-Crushing Finale that gets a big pop from the crowd. 

Boom, there you have it: A baby face turn for The Miz. 

I’ve maintained for a while now that I think The Miz needs to turn face, and this could be a great way to do it. Have Miz turn on one of the most hated heels in the WWE, and this would lead to The Miz feuding with one of Laurinaitis’ henchmen, someone like Lord Tensai or perhaps even Brock Lesnar. 

Ideally, this would accomplish two things in refreshing The Miz’s character with a baby face turn and giving the WWE a new top face. 

Final Thoughts 

I like The Miz, and I think he’s a really talented guy, especially on the mic. 

But it’s pretty obvious that he needs something to shake up his character, which has gotten extremely stale and redundant over the last several months. 

To be honest, I think two things can cure that: a baby face turn and/or a move to SmackDown. 

Let’s see if the WWE is willing to take a chance on either one of these and turn The Miz’s struggling career around.

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10-to-20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring or Twitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.