Forum Files #19: Where Does Miz Rank As An Intercontinental Champion?

[klunderbunker]

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Here’s the latest WZ Forum Files topic:

Where Does The Miz Rank As An Intercontinental Champion?

A lot of people have an opinion on the Miz. Some people hate him, some people love him, some people forget that he's a wrestler. What you can't ignore however are his results as Intercontinental Champion. Assuming he survives this week with the title, Miz will move into second place for most combined days as champion. If he doesn't lose the title, he'll break the record by the beginning of May. He's also one reign behind Chris Jericho for the most reigns all time.

So where does he rank as champion? Is he one of the best of all time or is he just someone who has won the title several times and held it for a good while? This one depends on your criteria for the title but there are multiple ways to go. Let us know what you think and see where your answer ranks on the main page!

 

[Wildcat66]

If you had asked this question a few years back in say 2014-15: I would've said that he was a good, but not great champion that did his job as well as possible.

Now, in 2018: The Miz will go down in history as one of the top 5 greatest intercontinental champions in recent memory and a candidate for one of the best the title has ever had. So many great matches and feuds have come because of him: Dolph Ziggler, A.J Styles, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns, the list can go on. Not only has he seriously stepped up his in-ring game to a new level: He has delivered some of the best promos of his entire career.

Add in a smoking hot wife as his manager who's still going strong even after all the years and two cronies desperate to do his bidding, and you have one of the best gimmicks and champions WWE has seen in the modern era.

 

[Hakushi]

Hate to admit this, but I'd stack him at #1. I prefer Jericho, Hart, Piper and Henning, but Miz does his best to make the belt what it is suppose to be each and every time he possesses it. The only exception to this that I can see is when they turned him face.
Given the number of times and combined days he held the belt, along with his upper echelon feuds during the period, I don't honestly know how he could rate any lower than 1.
Honky has him on number of days in one run, but due ttyl the era, in the 18 months he held it he defended a fraction of the times current stars do. Jericho has him on number of reigns, but Jericho also had quite a few short....really short runs with it.
Bret gave some classic matches with it around his waist, but was on the losing end of the most memorable ones (Perfect, Bulldog).

 

[mancini999]

He's somewhere in the top 10 probably. Back in the day the ic title was a stepping stone to the main event. Now days it's a title for someone who isn't a main eventer 100% of the time. They can float up there for a ppv but will not remain there.

 

[CyberPunk]

I'd go out on a limb and say this: The Miz is the best Intercontinental Champion of this decade. In an era where IC title has become more and more irrelevant, Miz has not only kept it relevant, but has had some of the best programs for it. His number of reigns do not matter as much as the quality of IC title programs do. He's better in the ring than most people give him credit for. He's also gold on the mic in a time when performers are saddled with scripted, uninspired promo and more than half can't hold there own while talking.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I'm seeing a lot of Miz-love lately and while his most recent work is top drawer, I'm not going to hand out an Oscar nomination to him just yet when it comes to being Intercontinental champion.

He is currently on 8 reigns, and many of those have come with changes "mid feud". While to some that enhances the feud, at other times he seemed the "random" winner or because they had nothing else for him to do. That makes him a good champ for certain but a GREAT one? not so much.

How do you measure it, is it number of reigns, does quality of reign/opponent come into play? Then it IS Jericho... even if they now give Miz the 10th honor, Y2J's 9 add up to more in terms of quality. Warrior won the damn world title as IC champ and had one of the best feuds for the belt in history.

There are guys like Barrett, who will never be "THE best" but when he had it, he did a pretty good job with it on each occasion considering what he was being given. The same could be said of Randy Savage with his one reign, he wasn't really given the best opponents but when Honky won the belt from him it was elevated enough to elevate him... Honky, one reign but he made the title mean more than The Miz has at various points. Mr. Perfect same deal with 2 reigns.

Do you count Razor who made that belt seem REALLY important over his 5 reigns or Shawn, even though he never actually lost it to anyone and always got stripped?

Rick Rude, one VERY short, but memorable run... Bret Hart, two VERY memorable runs? Too much is on this "let's get him caught up to Jericho..." and it's meant Miz has dropped more times than he needed to. If he were on 5 runs with what he's producing now he'd STILL be in the conversation.

In truth, I have to say that Jericho is the Greatest IC champion, I genuinely think it'd be tragic to let Miz have than honor, he's clearly above it now. Winning that 10th IC title against Miz would cement Jericho's legacy, reward him and you know he'd defend the title brilliantly as long as he has it before putting someone over like Alister Black who would REALLY get the rub from it.

Miz will always be in the conversation and over time may even beat that record... but other guys need their first second and third reigns before Miz needs a 9th, much less a 10th.

To seal it - in my eyes the top 10 are:-

1: Jericho - Number of reigns and quality of them
2: Miz - Elevated the title at times but continues to do so
3: Razor Ramon - THE guy in the 90's, he was as strong a champ as Rude was with the US, both seemed World title level when they had them.
4: Bret Hart - Had some of the greatest matches in history for the belt, but it was clearly a stepping stone for him.
5: Ultimate Warrior - How he won it, who he feuded with and what he then did against Hogan
6: Cody Rhodes - Took a basically defunct belt and reinvented it/renewed it... he really doesn't get enough credit for that.
7: Honky Tonk Man - Longest reign ever and always entertaining but his opponent quality was sometimes lacking.
8: Curt Hennig - What could have been if they'd given it to him sooner?
9: Wade Barrett - Surprise choice but whenever he got the belt he looked a good champion... it's a shame how they screwed him over.
10: Chyna - The only woman to hold that title ever, and it was SO right to do it that Vince paid Jarrett to do the job. Without Chyna, Jericho doesn't get on the list, much less #1.

 

[stingray11214]

As someone who remembers Ted DiBiase holding the WWWF North American strap, as well as the night when WWWF "President" Willie Gilzenberg announced that Pat Patterson won a "tournament" in Rio for the Intercontinental Championship, the Intercontinental strap was bounded about for almost five decades. Many greats of Pro Wrestling have held that strap. Some made it great. Others did not. So, where does The Miz rank on the list of all-time greats to have held the Intercontinental Championship?

In my humble opinion, he would be somewhere near the bottom of my Top Ten. Pedro Morales, Don Muraco, The Honky Tonk Man, Warrior and Chris Jericho are my Top Five. Morales and Muraco would give the belt life. Honky Tonk would give it charisma and importance. Warrior would take it to the next level. Jericho made the belt in his era greater than what it became. Those in the Top Five you actually PAID to see. Do you pay to see The Miz? Sure, you hear him on Raw. You watch his antics. Sure, WWE is a very different company than it was back in Morales' day. But, how many people will tune in JUST to watch the Miz? How many will buy a ticket to see The Miz. Morales and Muraco spent parts of four years over that strap. People PAID to see Muraco get called "Beach Bum". People PAID to see Morales fight whoever up and down the Northeast. The Miz cannot say people paid or tuned in just to see him. Sure, he won the belt 8 times. He also lost it eights times. During a time when the Intercontinental belt has been diminished greatly since the days of Warrior and Jericho.

This does not mean that Miz does not deserve some praise. He does. He has made the Intercontinental Championship have some relevance in the greater landscape that is WWE. But, he is with the likes of The Rock, Rick Rude, Randy Savage and Pat Patterson in the second half of the Top ten, and not with the Morales' and Muraco's.

 

[GOOZEKING]

He is probably in top 10 because of the number of reigns but I'm going to be honest with you guys. I do not remember any of Miz's intercontinental or US title reigns at all besides the 2016- and on. I think it speaks for it's self. Miz was ok but it wasn't until 2016 when he actually stepped up and performed well both in the ring and the mic. But this also means that for the first 12 years of Miz's career atleast to me where completely forgetful which I can only assume means they were awful.