The Miz Must Maintain Momentum with Win over Dolph Ziggler at WWE Backlash 2016

Among the many matches set to occur at WWE Backlash 2016 this Sunday, The Miz will meet Dolph Ziggler in for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. If WWE was wise, it would know there is only one real outcome, and that would be Miz maintaining his momentum by retaining his title.

I spoke in depth last week in another article about how it was imperative WWE capitalized on the buzz Miz received coming off his controversial Talking Smack promo. Thankfully, the company did that by having him open SmackDown Live the following week and sound off on the officials, the Superstars and the entire WWE Universe.

It was the most motivated Miz had been in years, and thus it would have been asinine to throw all that away by not moving forward with the storyline. Although the focus is no longer on Miz and SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan, it never needed to be, because it's apparent it wouldn't lead to a match of any kind.

Instead, Miz was paired with Ziggler, someone he has plenty of history with. The two have actually feuded over the intercontinental title before, trading the belt back and forth throughout the fall of 2014.

But times have changed, especially for The Awesome One. WWE might have gotten away with Ziggler beating Miz for the belt (twice) back then, but Miz is on a different level at this stage of his career, which means there is no reason to strip him of the strap in the near future.

Credit: WWE.com

Ziggler is perhaps better suited as a midcard competitor in 2016 anyway. There is little doubt he could thrive in the main event scene if he had the proper push, but he has been so badly booked over the years that it's difficult for fans to take him seriously as a legitimate threat.

Ziggler seemed to recently undergo a character overhaul when he was in contention for the WWE World Championship going into SummerSlam, and fans had hoped that the WWE was finally starting to realize his worth to the company.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and not only did he fall short of capturing the championship at the event, but the match was fairly forgettable and he did next to nothing that left a lasting impression on the audience.

A heel turn against Dean Ambrose would have been the way to go and would have reinvigorated his stagnant persona, but it wasn't meant to be for whatever reason. Now he is setting his sights on the intercontinental title once again.

While Ziggler does deserve a consolation prize of some sort sooner rather than later after coming off a sad string of losses, it should not come at the expense of The Miz. The self-proclaimed A-lister has been ripping it up this year, and his hot streak is only beginning to get underway.

To the performers' and WWE's credit, the latest incarnation of the storied rivalry between Miz and Ziggler has been entertaining. They haven't had matches simply for the stake of facing each other; instead, both men want to prove themselves and re-establish their dominance on the blue brand.

As a result, the WWE Intercontinental Championship feels more relevant than it has in years, merely because Miz is making a big deal out of holding it. He is in the midst of his "Never-Ending Intercontinental Championship World Tour" after all, so why not continue to run with that in the coming months?

Even if Ziggler were to win the prestigious prize Sunday, there are few potential challengers he can face right now. He and Baron Corbin have already had no less than a million matches; he's beaten Bray Wyatt before, and AJ Styles is embroiled in the world title picture.

There aren't any obvious contenders to beat Miz for the belt either, which is why the WWE should hold off on a title change until someone starts to catch fire. Or, as I've suggested before, WWE can have some fun with Miz trying to break the record-setting 454-day reign set by The Honky Tonk Man.

One thing that we can always count on from Miz and Ziggler is that their matches will deliver inside the squared circle, and fans should expect no different at Backlash. However, when the smoke clears, it must be Miz who wins so his reign can roll on.

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

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