Seriously, The Miz? Why is this guy even employed, let alone showered with accolades?

[Creepy Old Man]

I just do not get it. I mean, there are people I was never a fan of - John Cena, Ric Flair and Triple H, to name a few - but I acknowledge their talent, screen presence, and ability to structure compelling bouts and segments. I understand why major companies elected to give them prominent storylines and titles. With The Miz, I'm baffled to say the least. My main gripes are as follows:

1) He looks like crap. He's small, pudgy, and plain unspectacular looking. Sure, that's fine if you have compensatory attributes, but Miz doesn't.
2) His mic work blows. His delivery is forced and unconvincing, and the slow, condescending thing just makes him come off like a second-rate Chris Jericho. I cannot recall a single Miz promo I found to be compelling. He likes to talk, but that doesn't mean he's any good at it.
3) He has no charisma. Fans are not drawn to this overbearing fool; there's generally no boo or cheer when he's around, just a sigh. Sure, fans shout along to "Awesome!", but they also sing Fandango's theme song. Opposite real greats like The Undertaker and John Cena, the guy has the star power of your average gas station attendant.
4) He sucks in the ring. Aside from perhaps a good match with the spectacularly athletic John Morrison on the January 3, 2011 Raw, Miz has never had a memorable singles bout over his 11-year run. A premier botcher who almost killed R-Truth, he's one of the few guys I remember garnering a loud "You fucked up!" chant, against Barrett at WM29.

Now, this guy has headlined WrestleMania (IMO, the single worst headliner in history). He's won Money in the Bank. He is a former WWE Champion, four-time IC Champion, two-time US Champion, and six-time tag team champion. That's more than guys like Steamboat, Hennig, Davey or Jake ever did. Really, is the fact that he's willing to do every radio show on the planet to extol the virtues of WWE, enough to cast him as a major player? Beyond his brown-nosery, I cannot see anything that would compell WWE to keep this man on the payroll.

Am I way off, then?

 

[laodaron]

So, things you said just aren't true. Sure, I could chalk some of it up to just opinion, but don't be silly. The Miz has a pretty solid look. He was WAY more in shape than someone like Punk, Bryan, or many other Indy darlings. He's probably one of the most charismatic guys on the roster. I would say he's easily one of the top 3 heels in the company, and he's the ONLY old school style heel left today (maybe Rusev, too).

He's quite underrated, and he does his job to perfection, and he's one of the few that I've heard of that people enjoy working with.

However, there is ONE issue that I have with him, and I wish he'd address it, and that's his unwillingness to catch guys diving out of the ring.

 

[Messiah]

You're just a hater.. He's one of the most charismatic guys in WWE, plus he's one of the top media guys in WWE as well.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I like MizTV, but I cannot stand The Miz himself as a wrestler. He never deserved to get the WWE Championship, let alone retain it in the worst main event of Wrestlemania history. I'll give the guy credit for a couple of things though, he's great for his media appearances and getting angry reactions from the fans. Miz should be kept around but primarily for MizTV to help get support for faces that stand up to him. Other than a speaking role and a few matches here and there to help a struggling face get over, he should not be employed for anything else in an in-ring capacity.

 

[Bernkastel]

Yeah, the Miz is awesome. He's charismatic, and great in his role. He's currently one of the best and most believable heels that WWE has going at the moment. And he's a good in ring worker to boot. I wouldn't call him excellent, but I've never been bored to tears by him.

I don't understand the hate that Miz gets. But then again lots of solid workers receive unwarranted hatred from the smarks: Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, John Cena... even if Miz bombed as money making champion I seriously do not see how that could discredit him as a worker.

 

[Seosa]

He's a useless piece of shit. Never liked him, or any of his gimmick alterations.

It's all about opinions though, some love him & in particular they loved his world title reign. As long as his role is minimal then he's doing no harm I suppose.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

So basically, this is another "I hate this wrestler, so I'm going to word it so that my opinions sound like absolute facts that everyone agrees with" thread.

My interest in The Miz has faded over the years due, in part, to his trip downward on the roster's totem pole. However, I honestly can say I've never understood all the vehement hate that he's gotten over the years. I understand that some people just aren't fans of the guy, that's understandable, but I'm talking about sheer, flat out loathing of everything about the guy from his appearance to his voice to the way he even breathes. The notion that he sucks on the mic is a pretty ludicrous one and Miz has always demonstrated a lot of personality; if you don't care for the guy that's great, but the notion that sucks at EVERYTHING important to a wrestler is a gross exaggeration. Inside the ring, I've never had any complaints about him; he's not the best, but I've always found him to be pretty solid and generally fun to watch.

In hindsight, I think I agree with the notion that Miz shouldn't have been WWE Champion, though I thought differently at the time. However, I think much of that had to do with some of the booking Miz was subjected to in his feuds with Randy Orton and John Cena; Unless a guy is loaded with big muscles and/or is a physical giant of a man, Vince has this near obsession with having him booked as a vulnerable heel champion that often seems to be in over his head. I've no problem whatsoever with heels cheating to win, but one thing that's dogged Miz's run as champion was the fact that he constantly needed outside interference to help him retain; it's a card that, in my opinion, should be played every once in a while instead of nearly every friggin' time the heel champion wrestles. We saw the same thing go down in TNA with Bobby Roode's TNA WHC run and, low & behold, his title run was praised fans and dirt sheet writers while Miz got raked over the coals. We're seeing it right now with Seth Rollins and, again, he's getting a lot more love than Miz did.

When I look at Miz, I see a guy that's genuinely worked hard for the success he's had in WWE. When he first began, fans hated him, veterans hated him, writers hated him and it was largely due to the perception that he was just a reality TV show hack who thought he'd make some easy money in pro wrestling; however, Miz literally worked very hard and got very good in my opinion. I think he's been the victim of some lousy booking at times, especially over the past several years, but I've seen some guys rise to be very huge stars who honestly didn't have nearly as much to bring to the table overall as Miz.

If nothing else, Miz is someone that does represent WWE quite well in the media. He's very comfortable in front of the camera, he has no problems being interviewed by reporters, he's always done a good job of putting over and hyping WWE cards, upcoming shows, partnerships with charitable organizations, etc. When he ultimately hangs up his boots, I can see him working the corporate side of things along with Stephanie; Steph's job is mostly to promote and hype the WWE brand, so Miz would be a natural fit. I could also see him as a commentator, he's been entertaining on commentary in the past and it's another job that I think he could pull off well.

 

[Tastycles]

It's the Miz's job to make people like you hate him. That's what he does, week in week out.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

He's underrated. I wouldn't be against him having a her run on top. He deserved the last one and did well considering he was background in his own Mandarin event.

 

[SSJPhenom]

The mere fact that you made this thread OP is evidence of the Miz's success as a heel. As long as he garners some type of reaction he's doing his job and doing it well.

Like some have said, this Miz hate is unwarranted. The man is gold on the Mic, he's solid in the ring, he's in damn good shape if you ask me, and when you add to him that he represents the company well in the public; then he's a WWE dream.

Unlike the majority, I enjoyed the Miz's title run and was very entertained by it. I was just talking to my Dad and saying last night that I didn't understand his downward spiral. He has all of the abilities and skills to be on top in the WWE. Notice that I didn't say talent because I don't think Miz has natural talent. He worked his ass off and became better and better over the years and I think that's something that has to be respected.

I like the Miz.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

There are a lot worse wrestlers on the rosta. I feel bad for the Miz. He really stepped his game up to come from being an announcer to being WWE Champion. I think Miz was given a dis-service by WWE by promoting the Cena/Rock feud over Miz. He never has recovered from that - and his feud with Sandow - as funny as it was - also brought him down again. He needs a sustained main event push; like anyone who will get over.

 

[Prince Vee]

Miz is a multi talented personality in WWE. He's a movie star nevertheless that doesn't make any sense why he's still in the WWE and not in Hollywood. But you see, Miz is a real heat magnet. He can get boos from the crowd pretty easily which Sheamus couldn't do even after Ambushing the crowd's favourite Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler. But Miz can get the crowd to hate him. In WWE one needs to connect with the crowd and this guy can do it.

But he isn't a MainEvent material. Never has been. But I loved his tag team with Johnny Morrison. He can put over any midcard talents. He did a great job by putting over Damien Sandow but god knows why the WWE decided to bury him instead.

Moreover Miz represents WWE in the media just like Jack Hammer said. He's underrated. He definitely is. But I completely disagree that He's bad in the mic. He's one of the guys in the WWE who's pretty much natural in the mic. Blame the creative team not the wrestler. And for the record, he was ranked #1 in the PWI top 500 in the year 2011.

Cheers!!

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I don't care for The Miz either but he clearly get's a reaction out of some people as clearly demonstrated by this very thread.

Also I think several assessments made in the OP are pretty far off. Look is subjective but he does look very mousey, so he's alright for a heel but not the best look I guess. His mic skills are very rehearsed & plain but actually quite solid for live TV & clearly effective enough to piss off some people. Charisma is once again very subjective (I suggest you watch Daniel Bryan's new DVD/Blu-ray, he gives an excellent explanation of Charisma & how he has Charisma but not necessarily the kind WWE likes & what not) but I think Miz has at least a certain type of charisma that certain people in WWE clearly find marketable. & as far as his in-ring abilities go, he is at least average. Maybe he hasn't had tons of great singles matches but he hasn't had many matches that were that bad either.

So overall, once again I could care less for Miz but I don't think he is a complete waste of space. He's okay for pre-shows, lower mid-card, occasional tag team, etc.

 

[ABMorales787]

Because despite being quite shit in the ring but still quite reliable, he's actually very good on the mic, extremely versatile outside the ring and very, very good at public relations work which is a big thing to the WWE.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

You need to really research the difference between being having a subjective opinion and providing real objective facts. Everything you have provided as evidence is debatable, except for one instance of making a mistake in a match. Go watch some Botchamania man, lots of WWE wrestlers are making mistakes weekly.

The biggest issues people have with Miz are his WWE title win and subsequent Mania main event, neither of which he was really ready for. The problem at that time was kind of a who else question. WWE was unwilling to pull the trigger on Barrett. They weren't quite ready for Punk. Jericho was gone again. Sheamus had slid down to the midcard. Orton and Cena had been done. There was really no better option to help set up the year long feud between Rock and Cena.

Miz was pretty freaking over from his 2009 draft to Raw until the summer after Mania 27. He was getting real heat and portraying an old school heel. I would even argue he was getting popular doing this. Watch that Raw after Mania 27, listen to the pop when Miz comes out with Alex Riley in tow. The crowd was foaming at the bit for Miz to turn face. In my opinion, the biggest mistake with The Miz was turning Alex Riley face and not him. If they did the right thing and had Riley turn heel, both guys might be in different places in their careers.

You might misconstrue this as me being a Miz mark. Far from it, his face turn was abominable, it came way too late after all the post-Mania buzz. I think there was actually a backstage segment where a diva complemented a face Miz's spray tan. Really?

He's a natural heel. A brief face interlude should have occurred in 2011 when it would have mattered. His IC title runs have been forgettable. He's basically been a comedy act since they introduced the Hollywood Miz character last year. And you know what? That's ok.

You need a bit of comedy and lighthearted in wrestling to break up the serious stuff. You don't want a crowd sitting in shock after a heavy moment. Miz can fill that role while also being an old school heel. I'd say it's a good place for him and we likely won't see him rise farther than the occasional upper midcard feud.

We've talked to death on these forums that look doesn't matter. Look at all the freaking Kevin Owens threads there have been in the last month. Look doesn't matter. You think he's pudgy? I'd kill to have a body like Miz's. I've got the Kevin Owens look going on personally, strong and muscular with dad bod overtop.

Miz portrays a pretty epic level smarmy little prick. Perhaps that's gotten over with you. I wish we had more guys in WWE like Miz, actual wrestling fans. Guys like Reigns and Baron Corbin or even Bill Goldberg all have the look, but started wrestling when football didn't work out. Miz was talking about being a wrestler when he was on The Real World.

Miz is not great main eventer, but he's an excellent midcard old school heel that will be taking beatings from faces for years to come. WWE will always need guys like The Miz.

 

[tak161]

Hate for Miz is misguided at best. He's a guy that that came into wrestling with people believing he just wanted the attention it would bring, coming off his stint on The Real World. He was kicked out of the locker room, viewed as a joke and was thought to be a waste of space. However, he worked, and he worked to improve himself and show that he was serious about being a wrestler, and that he wasn't in it just for the money and fame.

After seeing his journey, I was extremely happy when he won the Money in the Bank contract, the look on his face that night was one of pride, accomplishment, and proof that he had made it. His title run a was great, even though he was used as a backdrop to the Cena/Rock deal, but Miz still made his mark.

Consistently, he is one of the guys that can draw a true heel reaction from any crowd on any night. He's excellent on the mic, and made the whole Mizdow thing work. If not for his mic work and interactions with Sandow, I don't think that it would have worked.

On a personal note, I have met Miz, and saw him interact with numerous other people. I don't know if, other than Ted Dibiase Jr, I have ever met a nicer guy. The way he treated the kids he encountered was wonderful, he made them all feel special and important.

 

[Pedigree1]

I will give the Miz credit and lots of it for making himself for what he is today a complete success.. For one thing guys hes married to Maryse shit that alone deserves accolades.. This guy took ribs after ribs dressed in the fucking broom closet and made himself what he is today..

Whether or not we think he deserved to be the WWE champion some years ago or not,fact is he was the champion.. He constantly brings heat,the crowd hates him always has a smug look on his face that you just wanna slap off,he does an incredible job of pissing his opponents off and the crowd.. Love his MIZtv work

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I can't believe there are actual people on here that think Miz is "gold on the mic". I'd be more than happy to make the claim that Miz is the most improved wrestler of the last decade. In that amount of time he's gone from being a Josh Matthews/Todd Pettingill kinda guy to being a World Champion, WrestleMania main eventer and garnering all the other accolades that the OP stated before.

The trouble with that is, these accolades were achieved in an industry that pre-determines who succeeds and who fails. Did Miz deserve to be champion and headline WM27? I say no, so does the OP, but other posters strongly believe he should've. The bottom line to me is his talent, ability, and drawing power. His ratings were atrocious, literally his ratings were among the worst in RAW history and his mic skills are exaggerated by his supporters. He has never sold a single match, rather just says the same formulaic garbage he's been saying since 2009 and then proceeds to have average feuds. Not a single person that Miz put over became a star as a result (Alex Riley, Damien Sandow, Daniel Bryan rose to stardom 3 years later on his own), and as the OP mentioned Miz has never had a 5-star/memorable match despite all the time and attention his feuds get.

In the ring he has almost nothing to offer. On the mic he is average but his promos are often repetitive. He can't draw. Where is his value? In the fact that he does every media appearance asked of him and consistently portrays WWE in a positive light. That's fine, I'm not saying fire the man, but the WWE and its "Superstar Hierarchy" should be based way more on Talent, Charisma, and Money than a willingness to do media appearances.

 

[yur_momma]

wow, i kinda like the miz!!
i was always "on the fence" when it came to him being on tv but his time in wwecw made him shine a little, teaming with morrison and the things those two did online was entertaining to a small degree, imo.

theres two moments that won me over. the first was this promo here:
[YOUTUBE]watch?v=bFRIp3OKCfo[/YOUTUBE]

but THIS is what made me a miz fan and i never looked back:
[YOUTUBE]watch?v=lAB_xnyynUw[/YOUTUBE]

"(put his struggle over for a while) if you take anything from this speech, take this: if anyone says you cant do something.....if anyone says you cant you cant live your dream....believe them! because YOU cant! YOU are not ME!"
hahahaha! epic shit right there.

he is a natural heat magnet, something 99% of the roster wished they had. its what they work to achieve and fail.
miz deserves his spot and imo, he deserves more.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Am I way off, then?

Its your opinion, but in my opinion you are way off.

He looks OK. He isnt Roman Reigns but he is fine.
His mic work is better then 90% of WWE right now. Literally maybe Cena and few more guys are in front of him in that area. Just look at this and see yourself

[youtube]bFRIp3OKCfo[/youtube]

He has plenty of charisma. Even when he is irrelevant as hell he still garners reaction. Still something that 90% of roster cant do.

He is OK in ring. Below OK but OK. I dare to say that if he is lot better in that area he could be new Jericho. He lacks in that area.

I can agree that headlining Wrestlemania even by playing "third wheel" in setup of "Once in a Lifetime" beetween Cena and Rock is maybe little too much. But other then that he is fine and he is in a midcard where he should be based that he lacks better in ring work to do more meaningfull stuff.

 

[HeymansPonytail]

I hate the Miz as a character but i've got to admit he is great on the mic and gets heat like nobody else at the moment (4 years ago)...giving him Sandow was a blatant attempt at getting miz back into the limelight as well as helping Macho Mandow get over even more. also, to the whomever said the miz has a strong look, please get your head out of his arse, arrogance is an expression not a body shape

 

[Aquaman6686]

The fact that so many people HATE The Miz is proof of what a brilliant heel he is. The Miz is one of the most gifted wrestlers of his generation. He's gotten inside fans' heads like nobody has since Roddy Piper. The Miz is great in-ring and on the mic. Overall he's one of WWE's top talents today.

 

[MartialHorror]

I think he's exceptional on the mic, even if a bit average in the ring. But I guess everyone will have different opinions about everything. I see Ziggler as being overrated, but I'm mostly alone.

 

[Shotaro]

In all my time on this forum I have seen threads about so many stupid, stupid goddamn ideas. But this one takes the cake.

The Miz is in the WWE because he's actually one of the best guys on the mic in the roster. He's a solid worker and for all of your comments about nearly killing R-Truth need I point out that Owen Hart broke Stone Cold's Neck or that Goldberg ended Bret Hart's career? The job is a risky risky thing and even the best make mistakes.

The crowd cares when he walks down that ramp and it isn't "go away" heat, people don't hate Mike Mizanin they hate The Miz. Were it not for the fact that he has spent much of the past few years working on films he would likely be up there with guys like Ziggler, Sheamus and others just below the main event.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

Because he's The Miz, and he's awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKU_k9mcZsc

Seriously he improved hugely since his debut and now he's become quite entertaining. In ring he's not amazing, but he has tons of charisma.

Honestly, I really hope at some point they'll try a new single push as a face for him, although for now his heel shtick is as entertaining as ever.