The Age of Miz

[S.J. Maximus]

There is a bunch of speculation on WZ these days regarding the Miz's career now that he's no longer WWE Champion. Some people believe that he will go back go the midcard, others think he will turn face. I, however, think that Miz's future will be neither of those things, and you look back to 2007 with me maybe you'll agree too. It all starts with this simple equation:

2007-08 Randy Orton = 2010-11 Miz

Their first WWE title win:
Although Randy Orton was awarded his first title, his first real WWE title run came when he defeated Triple H that night at No Mercy. It was HHH's 3rd match in 1 night, and the whole time the announce team put over HHH's fatigue and injuries, clearly implying that if HHH was 100% then Orton would have no chance.

Miz also faced a fatigued man in order to get his first WWE title run. Ironically, it was Randy Orton who was attacked by the Nexus and then had to defend his title against Wade Barrett before losing it to the Miz that night on RAW.

Their title defenses:
Randy Orton successfully defended the title during his reign against the likes of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, John Cena and Jeff Hardy. The only clean win out of all of those defenses was the one against Jeff Hardy, the only contender who wasn't a former World Champion when they challenged Orton.

The Miz successfully defend the title during his reign against the likes of Randy Orton, John Cena, John Morrison, and Jerry Lawler. His clean wins also came against the 2 men who had never ever held a World Championship before.

WrestleMania:
92% of the WWE Poll voted that Orton would lose his title at WM24. The build to that match was basically who was going to beat Orton first, HHH or Cena - no one cared about Orton or viewed him as a threat to win. However, Orton walked out of WM24 as champ and had more credibility then than ever before.

Finally, The Rock came back to the WWE and suddenly Miz being champ didn't matter anymore. Everyone salivated over Cena vs. The Rock and didn't even give the Miz the time of day. After a brilliant video package at WM27, Miz took advantage and walked out of WM27 with some credibility and a memorable moment.

Their title loses:
After WM24 Orton ushered in the Age of Orton and it was hard to believe that anyone would be him because he literally beat every major face multiple times during his reign. This incredible momentum was suddenly halted when HHH won the Fatal 4 Way at Backlash and started a rivalry that continued for a year.

After WM27 the Miz was finally respected by the face commentators and it became easier and easier to picture Miz as the face of the WWE. We all started to get used to the 'Miztory' he was creating but then at Extreme Rules Cena wins the triple threat match that ends Miz's reign and we've yet to see how he responds but one come only assume that they're using Orton's formula to build Miz for the future.

If we evaluate how Orton's formula played out, he dominated 2009 as the top heel in the WWE before turning face in 2010 and he's been the 2nd face of the company ever since. Why not have Miz dominate 2012 as the top heel before finally turning him face in 2013 where he will truly shine as the face of the WWE? I'm not a fan of the Miz by any means, but this is the formula that got my favorite current wrestler Randy Orton a permanent spot in the main event and the same can be done for a new young talent like Miz.

Do you agree that Miz and heel Randy Orton have had basically the same reign?

Do you think the impact of Miz's reign will be equal to the impact of Orton's?

Could you see the Miz as the face of the WWE in 2013?

Who's reign was more entertaining?

Is a 100-150 day reign the best way to establish a young heel champ?

 

[The Wrestler`s Wrestler]

I thought that I was the only person that seen the age of Orton and the Miztory that Miz was making for himself as being quite similar. Much like Orton THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL that Miz is going to drop down the card. Look how they protected him in his lose to Cena on raw with that screwy finish, If Miz was going to be dropped down the card they would of had Cena just stright beat him. FACT is Miz IS HERE TO STAY in the main event picture.

I would say that Orton's reign was better then Miz's reign. What I didn't like was when Miz got to Jerry Lawler. I would not of had my new young wwf champion anywhere near a 61 year old man. I would of had Miz defended the title @ elimination chamber with him coming out of his pod last, the whole time just looking at the carnage and shitting himself to when he has to come out. When he comes out by some form of luck he retains the title then goes on to brag about how he beat 5 other men to retain his title (when we know all he did really was outlast 5 other men.) Going into mania with that kinda of heat would of been miles better then "I just beat a 61 year old man" What went down with The Rock @ the end of the match @ mania could of still happened to keep inline with the storylines and Miz could of lost the title at xtreme rulez which he did anyway. And YES a 100-150 day title run is a good way to get over a young heel champ.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Miz's progress was halted by the lack of a "killer feud" to continue the reign with or to put it another way, Morrison's problem with Trish...

Miz needed that feud with Morrison to take off to make the reign work... as it stands, it's going to be Truth/Morrison that captures people's imagination... so it made sense to get the belt off him and put him back in the title picture once that feud is done...

 

[Scuba 06]

I see some similarities but overall I would say Orton's run was significantly better than Miz's. I figured if Miz would retain at WM, he would lose at the next ppv, just like Orton or HHH back in 2000. Call me bias, I never thought Miz deserved to be champion. I thought his time in the midcard did little to prove he was capable of putting on solid main event performances. Orton was red hot leading up to his win in 2007. I did give Miz the benefit of the doubt like JBL but he failed to deliver everytime. During Orton's run he had some pretty good matches with guys like HBK, Y2J, Hardy, Cena, and HHH. Because of the way Miz was built up sort of like a fluke champion, it was already hard to take him seriously. In my opinion he was booked horribly. His fued with Orton was awful, his Lawler fued was pointless, and he was shoved in between a program with Cena and Rock, and placed in the main event of WM after continously putting up below average performances in his previous ppv title defenses. Even after holding the title as long as he did and beating Cena at Mania, I still dont think Miz will or is being taken any more seriously than we was he first won the title. I cant stand Orton now, its like he has gone backwards but I really enjoyed his first run and really helped solidfy his spot at the top with guys like Cena and HHH. Miz on the otherhand had an amazingly underwhelming run that hurt the credibility of the title by attempting to get cheap heat from a guy seen as an underdog champion. Basically a paper champion. Do heels cheat, yes but they have to be able to deliver in those big match performances. Miz was just so out of place. Look how bad his WM match was. I know Cena didnt help but he has had solid performances with Batista, so Cena can hang with anyone. With all this said, I dont think necessarily he needs to go back to midcard but in no way is he ready to be champion again anytime soon. He needs to continue to improve his craft in the ring and be a little more creative with his promos, he is overall un-entertaining imo. Cena is the face of WWE, Miz has not proven anything to me, Del Rio, Barrett, Punk are all better heels and wrestlers than him, but apperantly that 'hollywood' appeal is what Vince thinks the fans want in our program. And no, you dont give a relative newcomer to the title scene a rub like that, most often they have proven very little to warrant such a reward. And most often they arent ready and cant step up to the plate. Ala failed champs like Miz (imo) , Sheamus, Swagger. Orton already had an impressive resume before his 2007 title win and a run for him was way overdue.

 

[StunningBlackMamba24]

Orton and Miz did have the same reign. Finally someone other than we who noticed this. But there was just 1 thing different about them. Randy Orton was a world champion already before that title reign, and Randy ortons gimmick was serious. Miz's gimmick is like....cocky...and sometimes joking around(u get my point) but anyways i do have a feeling miz might turn heel in 2013, but i do hope that he doesnt. But i can probably be seeing miz as one of the top heels in 2012

 

[LegendKiller716]

I don't think they are similar at all. Orton wasn't handed his first title. He won it from Benoit, clean win if I'm not mistaken. Then he lost it to HHH and was out of the title picture for quite some time. By his second reign he was much more established and respected, and was built into the man he is today.

Miz still has a long way to go. I think Miz dropped the belt to start a face turn. The commentators are respecting him, his "dirty" in ring tactics cost him is rematch. I think this is the start of Miz turning face, and Cena turning heel.

 

[RKOFUC*KENFAN]

randy ortons reign was far more entertaining when he had the rivary with triple h and what he done to vince steph and shane was just to good hes been one of the best heels out there

 

[[cL]]

As long as he's no longer champion, i dont' care what they do with him. He's no Randy Orton, and as similiar as they may be, he's not of the same calibur. Period.

 

[The Universal Re-monster]

I really believe this title reign was a great play for Miz, including how he lost it and the near miss with re-gaining the belt on Monday. It showed he could hold his own with the upper level and made it believable that he's there. He never won clean, but thats how the bad guy is supposed to work. He had me hooked on whether or not he was going to drop the belt to Cena or Orton. It made for really great storytelling. Yea the run wasn't absolutely perfect, but what is?

The detractors are going to point out the negative no matter what, but I'll be damned I'm looking forward to the future of Miz. He really has "it." The man has a passion for what he does, he plays his part well and does whats asked. And most importantly- he gets a reaction, a good one. Crowds aren't dead for him, and I'm not the only one believes this. I believe that the lineage of the "top guy" runs through him.

Fuck it, I'll just come out to say it: Hogan --> Stone Cold --> Rock --> Cena --> Miz.