The Miz Is Making the Most out of Limited Role in WWE

In a scathing promo during The Miz's ill-fated run as a babyface in 2013, Stephanie McMahon dismissed the former WWE champion as a utility player.

The context was derogatory as she remarked that he was "living on his own cul-de-sac of disappointment" and that he "[peaked] too early."

But despite his best days being clearly behind him during an new era where he is far from the focal point, The Miz is still finding ways to remain relevant and useful even as an alleged utility player. 

He played a starring role in one of the hottest angles headed into WrestleMania 31, as he returned to his heel roots to align with—and eventually feud with—Damien Mizdow. Though Mizdow got over more than anybody could have imagined, fans would not have rallied around him if it weren't for the stark contrast created by The Miz's natural heel antics.

Event	Opponent(s)	Notes
WrestleMania 27	John Cena	Main event for the WWE Championship
WrestleMania 28	Team Teddy (Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali and Booker T) (with Theodore Long, Hornswoggle, Eve Torres, Nikki Bella and Aksana)	General Manager of winning team became GM of Raw and SmackDown
WrestleMania 29	Wade Barrett	Dark match for the Intercontinental Championship
WrestleMania 30	Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
WrestleMania 31	Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal	Made final three

The Miz played his part brilliantly, constantly berating Mizdow and denying fans the right to see him perform, making The Miz a bigger heel, while Mizdow caught fire as a babyface.

The angle eventually dried up, and so did Mizdow, but WWE continues to use The Miz in key spots.

This past Monday on Raw, The Miz joined in on WWE's ongoing smoke-and-mirrors campaign to convince fans AJ Styles is a young up-and-comer. Styles turns 39 this year, but WWE Superstars and announcers have used otherwise pejorative terms such as "kid" and "redneck rookie" to describe the newcomer.

It's no secret Styles' weakness is on the mic, and WWE realizes this. Midway through his first sentence in WWE, Chris Jericho cut him off and said all his accolades for him. Monday on Raw, The Miz didn't even give Styles a chance to say a word. He did all the heavy lifting. And it was brilliant.

The Miz hit all the right buttons in chastising Styles, but he did so in a way that made fans rally around Styles as opposed to viewing him as inferior.

Stephanie McMahon can learn a thing or two from this utility player. 

The Miz called out Internet fans for their hand-selection of what he called "indy darlings" and reminded Styles that he was in the big leagues.

There were slivers of truth to the tirade, which is the case in just about every great promo, and by the end, fans were chanting for Styles. Styles began the segment uncomfortably sitting in a director's chair. He ended the segment as the rising babyface WWE wants him to be, and it was all because of The Miz.

Whether WWE plans on rebooting his run as a wrestler or transitioning him into a manager, there is a lot The Miz still has left to offer. This would be the second time in a few short months that he has offered to mentor an Internet darling. Toward the end of last year, The Miz offered up similar services to Neville, to similar results.

But there are legs to pairing him with somebody who came from an independent wrestling background. This would make the wrestler in question more of a heel and not one of those pointless "cool heels" like Kevin Owens.

The Miz is WWE through and through. Few WWE Superstars represent the establishment as much as he does. He remains dedicated to kayfabe in most of his interviews outside of the ring.

It's next to impossible to remain a true heel in this day and age. But, somehow, The Miz has no problem doing so, and WWE needs to take advantage of this while it can.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and an on-air host for Bleacher Report. Like him on Facebook and listen to his pro wrestling podcast, PodNasty.