WWE SummerSlam 2012: What the Miz's Victory over Rey Mysterio Means

At WWE's biggest pay-per-view of the summer, Intercontinental champion The Miz retained his title against Rey Mysterio, pinning him clean after a Skull Crushing Finale.

It was a thrilling, gripping match, which saw both men bring out the best in each other.

Indeed, it's interesting to see how well Mysterio's high-flying, speedily-paced style meshed with Miz's more grounded offence. Judging by this match, and their previous, equally entertaining, encounters on TV over the last few weeks, these two really do seem to have great chemistry together. 

Who would have thought it?

Granted, it took the 14,000-plus crowd in Los Angeles a while to get into the action, but eventually they started warming up to the competitors, and by the end they were giving both men strong reactions, helping make The Miz/Mysterio bout an undisputed highlight of the undercard.

So, what does this mean for The Miz, whose career has been up and down over the past year?

First of all, it indicates that management now has a great deal of faith in him as IC champion, as they were unwilling to have him drop the title so soon into his reign (Miz only won the title three weeks ago, at Raw's 1,000th episode, defeating Christian).

By the looks of it, he should be having a lengthy reign with the belt, as WWE continues to build up his credibility in the role.

More impressively, he was also allowed to pick up the clean win. Going into the PPV, many would have predicted the former Real World star would emerge victorious, but few would have seen it being as clean as it was.

That he didn't have to resort to cheating or breaking the rules is possibly very telling.

Garnering an undisputed win over a star of Mysterio's caliber (despite his injuries and long sabbaticals, Rey remains one of the company's most popular stars), is an indication that, for all of their sloppy treatment of him over the past year, WWE still sees a great deal in Miz.

No doubt they are also mindful that his WWE Studios movie The Marine: Homefront will be out soon, meaning he will have to remain in a prominent position (few wrestling fans are going to want to buy a film starring some lowly jobber).

Miz's victory here also enhances the prestige of the belt and helps cement it as WWE's midcard belt (never mind the U.S. championship, no one really cares about that).

Indeed, few wrestlers have made as big a deal about being IC Champion as Miz has; his obvious enthusiasm for the title helps make the beleaguered belt into a bigger deal than it previously has been. Many other midcarders would be dismissive of holding it, but he is constantly talking it up in promos and interviews, and clearly sees holding it as a major honor.

Summarily, as Miz emerges from SummerSlam, he finds his career in a great position, with some much-needed credibility thanks to his clean pin over Rey Mysterio. Let's hope for his sake, the good booking continues and the company doesn't once again lost interest in him, like they did at the beginning of the year.