WWE TLC 2011 Predictions: Why the Miz Will Maul CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio

Lately The Miz has been on a roll.  He was given a last match with John Morrison where he crushed his former tag team partner and ended his career.  In truth, Morrison's contract was up, but the fact the WWE gave the push of "ending" Morrison's career to The Miz means they want to make him look strong.

The week before that he had destroyed his then-current tag team partner R-Truth by slamming his head into a steel grate and writing Truth off the air for a full month.  Again, this happened for outside reasons as Truth was suspended for violating the WWE Wellness Policy.  Still, it didn't diminish the impact it had on Miz's character.

Each time it helped enforce two things about The Miz that hadn't been there before.

One, The Miz is a person who is not only willing, but capable of executing brutal attacks on his opponents to the point of severely harming them.

Two, he will take any opportunity to win or finish anyone he sees as a threat.  The turn on Truth was sudden and gave his partner no indication it was going to happen.  Likewise, in the match with Morrison he sprang on him and attacked him with a lead pipe before the match even got underway.  He then used the injury he had inflicted to win the match.

It doesn't exactly make The Miz look like the best wrestler on the roster, but it does put him over as a vicious competitor willing to do what it takes and calculating enough to pull it off.

Against someone like CM Punk that is important, especially in a triple-threat match that includes tables, ladders and chairs.  Each of those items could be used by The Miz to hobble opponents.  He has turned from an annoying, but harmless heel into someone able to damage his opponents and then effectively and methodically create a game plan that centers around him beating on their weakened area or using whatever he needs to to gain the upper hand.

In that respect Miz has seemingly become another Edge.  He is the new ultimate opportunist able to capitalize on the openings that either present themselves or the ones he makes.

In a match where there will be multiple weapons it will play out in Miz's favor.  

The only issue is he will be facing the wily CM Punk, who would normally not have a problem figuring out Miz's tricks and countering them.  However, they will both be in the ring with Alberto Del Rio, and with Punk facing both Del Rio and The Miz he will have to stretch himself beyond his limits.

When that happens, The Miz will seize the moment and weaken the champion.

As for Del Rio?  He might be strong and technically proficient, but he lacks the ring intelligence that Punk and Miz seem to have.  Plus, he seems to have a vengeful streak, which will be aimed at Punk for having beaten him for the title.

Miz will be an afterthought for both men.  All he has to do is lay back and watch them destroy each other and swoop in and pick up the pieces.