I'm actually really glad they put the IC title on him to cover for Fandango, because I honestly couldn't imagine them putting him in the main event so early. It might have ruined him because, let's be honest, he's far from ready for it. Beating Cena and taking HHH to the limit was a nice start, but to push him so quick when he still can't make it without Heyman would be a grave mistake.
Now that he has the IC title, he has no choice but to stick to the midcard for a bit. The feud with the Miz actually helped him in my eyes, because he managed to beat Miz without Heyman's help on multiple occasions, making him a solid heel champion. And now he's a third wheel in WWE's biggest or at least second biggest angle going into Summerslam right now. That's not a step down. I see that as proper fermenting.