5 Matches the Miz Should Have as a Heel in WWE

In November 2012, The Miz turned face for the first time in his career on an episode of Monday Night Raw. He had the potential to be one of the best faces the company had seen in years, but he was unfortunately a victim of poor booking at the hands of WWE's Creative team.

Now, almost exactly a year later, the seeds seem to be planted for an impending heel turn for the former WWE Champion. According to a video that surfaced earlier this week, Miz turned his back on the WWE Universe at a recent house show in Belfast by saying that they always cheered for whoever his opponent was, which is actually true more often than not.

After being laid out by the likes of Randy Orton, Big Show, Kane and The Wyatt Family in the last few months, having Miz revert back to his villainous roots is only logical. He has proven in the past that he works best as a heel, and hopefully this recent development can breathe new life into his stagnant character.

The biggest program with Miz's face turn was that he wasn't involved in many (if any) notable feuds. With a fresh batch of opponents to work with, who should be first to rival the newly turned Awesome One?

Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam

Since returning to the WWE at July's Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Rob Van Dam has been lighting the wrestling world on fire by consistently having great matches. From Alberto Del Rio to Randy Orton to Fandango, RVD has faced not only familiar faces in the last three months but fresh, up-and-coming talent as well.

Among the few Superstars that RVD has yet to face, though, is The Miz.

While they have never before crossed paths, Miz and RVD have plenty in common, as both competitors have held the WWE, Intercontinental and tag team titles at various points in their respective careers. They were also both members of the ECW brand when it was relaunched in 2006, but the two never had a one-on-one encounter during RVD's last tenure in WWE.

RVD has done an excellent job of putting job of putting over younger talent since his coming back to the company. A win over the one-of-a-kind competitor could very well propel Miz back to the upper-echelons of the WWE, not to mention that the match could be a fun one.

Cody Rhodes

While The Miz was unsuccessfully contending for the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank this past July, Cody Rhodes was busy vying for the chance to become Mr. Money in the Bank. He came close to obtaining the blue briefcase, but he was ultimately betrayed by his former friend Damien Sandow, who captured the World Heavyweight Championship contract instead.

It was at that very moment that Rhodes turned face for the first time in nearly five years. He has since joined forces with his brother, Goldust, to capture the WWE Tag Team Championships for the fifth time in his WWE career.

As entertaining as his tandem with Goldust is, it won't last forever, and I still strongly believe that Rhodes has a lot of untapped potential as a singles star. Rhodes had several matches with Miz earlier this year, but none of them were all that great due to not being given much time to shine.

However, if Miz is able to re-enter the main event scene at some point in coming months, I would certainly be excited to see them clash yet again with the roles reversed this time around with some gold up for grabs.

Christian

On the historic Raw 1000 episode in July 2012, The Miz was voted to contend against Christian for the Intercontinental Championship. Taking full advantage of the opportunity, Miz soundly defeated Christian to capture the prestigious prize for the first time in his career and become a Triple Crown Champion in the process.

A championship rematch was held between the two men four days later on SmackDown, which was won by The Awesome One. However, their feud came to an screeching halt shortly thereafter, and the two haven't done in-ring battle since.

It is a shame too since the three matches that Miz and Christian contested against one another over the course of 2012 were all very good. I have been itching to see a rematch between Miz and Christian for quite some time now, so hopefully these two can ignite their rivalry once Captain Charisma returns from injury.

Dolph Ziggler

Despite being in the company together for close to four years, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler had never faced off before in one-on-one action. When they finally collided on the Nov. 21, 2012 edition of WWE Main Event, the match exceeded expectations and proved to be one of the best bouts of the year.

Although Ziggler emerged victorious in that match, but Miz avenged his loss on the Old School episode of Raw the following March. Since last year, the two have since had their roles reversed, as Ziggler turned face in June, and Miz looks to be turning heel sooner rather than later.

Regardless, the match quality should remain the same, and there is no denying that these two have great in-ring chemistry together. The bleached-blonde Superstar isn't doing anything of note at the moment, so I don't see the harm in pairing him up in a feud with Miz some time in the next few months.

Chris Jericho

In the spring season of 2010, Chris Jericho and The Miz were two of the biggest heels on the Raw roster, which is why their partnership was considered to be nothing short of awesome. They teamed up to face The Hart Dynasty for the Unified Tag Team Championships at the inaugural Over the Limit event, but they came up short and went their separate ways shortly thereafter.

Aside from a few sporadic encounters here and there in recent years, Miz and Jericho have yet to engage in a full-fledged feud. Jericho blasted Miz in a promo in February 2012, calling The Awesome One a blatant rip-off of his character, but nothing ever came of the controversial comments.

I am well aware of the fact that Jericho is currently taking a leave of absence from WWE, but this is one anticipated matchup that I would love to see come to fruition at WrestleMania 30. There is a very likely chance that Y2J will be back in the squared circle before then, and the clashing of styles between him and Miz might make for a highly entertaining contest.

Graham Mirmina, a.k.a. Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website at Next Era Wrestling and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.