WWE's Poster Child: Why The Miz Will Face John Cena at WrestleMania XXVII

The 2011 Royal Rumble has now come and gone, and the Road to WrestleMania has officially begun.

The event made history with 40 men entering the Rumble match, all competing for a chance to main-event WrestleMania XXVII. In the end, Alberto Del Rio made his destiny a reality and was declared the winner. But you already know that. His new goal will be to claim ownership to SmackDown's top prize, the World Heavyweight Championship.

The man he will most likely face at WrestleMania XXVII for the Big Gold Belt is none other than the Rated R Superstar himself, Edge, who successfully defended his title in a match against Dolph Ziggler. That takes care of things going forward for Friday Night SmackDown.

What will happen on the Monday Night Raw side, and what the WWE title picture will look like, however, will most likely not be determined until after the Elimination Chamber PPV in three weeks. But even so, strong predictions can already be made.

There were two things I learned last night, and both of them involve the WWE title picture. The first is that Randy Orton will not face The Miz at WrestleMania. At both TLC and Royal Rumble, Mr. Awesome has successfully (yet controversially) beaten The Viper and retained the WWE Championship.

Having the same opponent twice in a row is a standard, but facing him more than three times is considered overkill. Orton will get a third and final shot at the strap at Elimination Chamber, but he's going to once again come up short. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if before the next PPV, Orton is already dealing with a new threat—CM Punk and the New Nexus.

That brings me to the second part. It was CM Punk that was responsible for costing Randy Orton his title shot at Royal Rumble, so obviously The Viper will be upset. With Orton and Punk feuding with each other, that takes the New Nexus storyline out of the hands of the man that has clashed with the stable for the past eight months, John Cena, and into the hands of The Apex Predator. So what will John Cena do now that he's finally freed from dealing with a Nexus incarnation? What he does best, of course—go after the WWE Championship. It's current holder? The Miz.

I understand that some people still find it hard to imagine The Miz main-eventing WrestleMania, but you've got to realize that The Miz's rise didn't begin back in November. This isn't a guy that creative just randomly decided to throw Raw's world title on. This is a person getting an old school main-event push that started nearly two years ago in April 2009. The Miz slowly worked his way up through the ranks of Raw, becoming bigger and bigger as time went on, from United States Champion, to Unified WWE Tag Team Champion, to United States Champion again, to Mr. Money in the Bank, to finally, WWE Champion. And ironically, the man more responsible than any other superstar for The Miz's rise to the top is John Cena.

Given their history with each other, The Miz vs. John Cena has plenty of potential to work. In many ways, The Miz could also be looked at as Cena's kayfabe doppleganger. Cena is portrayed as the strongest WWE Champion. Miz is portrayed as the weakest WWE Champion. Cena never gives up, always does the right thing and puts others before himself.

Miz is always ready to give up, rarely does the right thing and worships his own ego. Cena is the brave PG superman with amazing strength and determination. Miz is the cowardly PG villain with a variety of lackeys and tools at his disposal. Cena is mature, but has a sense of humor. Miz is immature, and has no sense of humor.

Cena is the poster child of the WWE, supports the WWE Universe even if they don't like him, and rarely loses cleanly. Miz WANTS to be the poster child, detests the WWE Universe for once giving him a hard time and rarely wins cleanly. Cena is the perfect example of what a champion and a leader should be, while Miz is the exact opposite.

Both men are viewed as workhorses by management, both men have excellent mic skills, both men have average ring skills, and both men are controversal with the fanbase—you either love them or hate them. Many differences, yet so many similarities. Yet at the same time, they make the perfect yin and yang.

The Elimination Chamber may be three weeks away, but the champion and the contender may have already been chosen. At WrestleMania XXVII, either The Miz will be the WWE Champion and John Cena the No. 1 contender, or John Cena will be the newly crowned champion and The Miz will be using his rematch clause. Orton will be busy dealing with Punk, New Nexus will clash with The Corre, and Sheamus will more than likely face a returning Triple H.

The Awesome One vs. The Champ. WrestleMania XXVII. It's going to happen. As the guy from the Men's Warehouse commercial says...I guarantee it.