Badseed’s Bottomline “Special”
A Guide To Pushing Miz
January 12, 2011
By: Jon Minners of Wrestleview.com
It is time to freshen up the landscape in the WWE. Nothing as of late has shocked anyone or led to any interest in any of the characters in the company. However, the only person who has been able to generate any real media buzz outside of John Cena, has been the Miz, so it makes sense that the WWE rides this rocket to the moon. The only way to do that – turn Miz face and here’s how you do it…
It’s time that Miz wins a match without cheating. Miz is slated to take on Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble. Because the Miz has beaten Orton twice through nefarious means, one would suggest that Orton is going to get his revenge and pick up a victory. That’s too easy. The WWE needs to start having the fans expect the unexpected. At the Rumble, you have Alex Riley immediately attack Randy Orton at the beginning of the match, only to have Orton shock him with an RKO right through the announce table. Shock everyone with a high spot right from the beginning. Miz looks shocked, realizing he needs to do something on his own in order to pick up the victory. This is where you turn up the heat and have both wrestlers put on a wrestling clinic. Orton takes the upper hand and keeps it for much of the match only to have Miz start fighting back. Orton said he was not going to play Mr. Nice Guy anymore so here is where his ruthless side comes out and Miz must fight back against the odds. I would turn Orton heel after this. His face turn did not do what I think the WWE expected it to do – create a Steven Austin buzz. Have Jericho come back and feud with Orton at Wrestlemania. Jericho would be able to come back as a sympathetic face after the injury he suffered. The Royal Rumble is where the heel turn starts. Miz starts getting fan support as he fights back and avoids the kick to the head, lands his finisher and gets the big pin.
The Miz doesn’t sell a face turn. In fact, he brags about how he has proven people wrong, but the fans start saying his catch phrase with him and he doesn’t chastise them. Here is where you start teasing some heat between him and Alex Riley. At the Elimination Chamber, Miz survives by pinning either Sheamus, Orton or CM Punk after they eliminate John Cena. No champion really keeps their title at the Elimination Chamber, so this is big. even Jerry Lawler starts praising Miz’s efforts, much to Michael Cole’s chagrin. Cole will end up turning on Miz when everyone starts becoming a fan. But the key part here is that Miz won the Elimination Chamber, but did not pin Cena to do so. He avoided having to fight Cena and that sets up Wrestlemania.
The build-up around this match is that Miz has never been able to beat Cena. He won the title, but couldn’t beat the favorite. Everyone thinks Cena will win the belt at Wrestlemania. This is where the WWE can just do things UFC style. The match is about Cena’s quest to regain the belt and Miz’s quest for respect. He has to beat Cena in order for his title reign to mean something. There doesn’t need to be any crazy plot twists…just solid promos. And here is where the Miz can shine. He needs to take those promos about being bullied in the locker room to the next level. Bring in JBL and have him confront Miz. Do a more realistic contact signing and photo op. Keep it serious and straight.
Then come Wrestlemania, you have Miz tell Riley to stay in the back. He goes out for his match and Cena grabs the upper hand for most of the match. Miz is down and Riley comes running in the ring with a briefcase. He has a stand-off with Cena, but Miz gets up and takes Riley out. Cena looks shocked as Miz lands the Skull Crushing Finale on Riley. Miz gets up and confronts Cena. The two just have a stand-off…let the fans react. And then Cena puts out a fist and Miz gives him a pound. This never happens in the middle of a wrestling match. It happens in the middle of a UFC match, but never in the middle of a wrestling match. The two have just shown a respect for one another as they circle around…letting the fans react. They lock up and continue the match…keeping it clean and back and forth, complete with a number of false finishes for both wrestlers until one reversal after another leads to Miz landing his finisher and getting the pin. Cena slowly gets up, looks up in disbelief as he celebrates with the title. He shakes his head in disappointment at himself and slowly gets up and starts heading out of the ring. But Miz stops him, pulls him back in the ring and shakes his hand to the delight of the crowd. You really play up the emotion with the Miz…he needs to look like he’s crying to make this work. You also need Cena to have a real reaction to everything going down so the fans get behind this change.
The following night, Miz has to conduct a face promo without it taking too much away from his character. Cena should react to Miz in a backstage promo before being confronted by John Morrison. Morrison is going to start turning heel here and needs to tear into Cena for shaking Miz’s hand and showing him respect. This will start a program between the two of them. Cole will get behind Morrison much in the same way he did for Miz. Everything he said about Miz, he will say about Morrison…in a very obvious way. Morrison will eventually face off with Miz for the title, but in the meantime, Miz is going to start a program with CM Punk. Punk is so good at getting heel heat, that he will help Miz get over with the fans and the two of them will be able to put together a great series of matches.
During this time, Miz will do more promotions. He might bring back Mizfits (although that sounds horrible…but not so in a PG world) and he will become a real face of the WWE. This could be a big deal. Miz could be one of the biggest faces in a very long time…if done right.
Jon Minners
JMinners@gmail.com