The Miz as a Commentator?

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

So tonight on RAW they ran an angle where Jerry Lawler was attacked by Punk and the Miz replaced him as colour commentator for the night. I'm just wondering what people thought of him as an announcer, did he do a good job? Why or why not?

Personally, I thought he did quite well. He was able to be a classic heel colour commentator and put himself over while still giving solid analysis of the action and putting over the matches/angles. Also, he was willing to sometimes give babyfaces credit where it was due, so as to not totally bury them, and he was even critical of heels from time to time. Overall, the Miz has always seemed very comfortable on the mic and is quite well spoken, so commentary seemed like a natural fit. Maybe down the road once his in-ring career is over, or if he ever suffers an injury but wants to still be a part of the show, he could find a more permanent spot in the booth.

 

[Dr. IaN]

I really have to agree, The Miz on commentary was very good tonight. He was making me laugh and most of what he was saying was true. Which brings me to another thought, they should turn Miz face about now. I feel like it'd go better for his character. He can be kinda silly, but very serious and calculating.

 

[HBsam31]

I have to agree also. He came across smart, confident, and was entertaining as well. I have always been a fan of a former wrestler doing some commentary. Ventura and Monsoon were great of course. Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, and even Macho Man were good in their time doing commentary. I am not saying Miz is on that level yet, but it does seem like something he could have a future in based on tonight.

 

[trashboy]

I disagree. I thought he was very annoying. He was more annoying than usual. I have never liked Miz and probably never will. His face expressions tick me off, makes me wanna punch him every time he's on my screen. I can't stand to hear him cut a promo for a few minutes, but hearing him for 2 hours, holy crap, my ears were bleeding. Especially when him and Layla kept arguing. That was downright painful to hear.

 

[matman8540]

Ordinarily, I HATE hearing the Miz speak. At one point, he was my #3 most annoying person to listen to; behind Vicky and Michael Cole's anonymous RAW GM talk. However, he was actually fair and balanced tonight. As a matter of fact, I have a feeling that Punk will come after Miz now that he repeated what Lawler said about the "turning his back on the WWE Universe".

 

[K-Mac]

Usually, I find The Miz to be annoying, but tonight, he was actually entertaining. What was with the Robert De Niro face though? He looked like he was trying to do an impression at one point during the night.

 

[MayorMcCheese]

i feel like anyone is better than jerry lawler these days, respect his career but he mails it in most nights. he adds nothing to commentary anymore. Miz did a great job considering it was his first time

 

[LegendKiller716]

I'm in the middle here. I didn't love him, I didn't hate him. I actually think Cole by himself was better. When Cole isn't out there bickering with someone he is really good.

Can Miz be a commentator after he is done in the ring? Sure, Booker T did it, anyone can.

The thing I liked most about it is that WWE has nothing for Miz right now, this was an awesome way to keep him on the show and talked about.

Also, as someone said above, him and Layla arguing was the worst part of the show. (A show that dedicated 10 minutes to 2 guys hugging.)

 

[kenvin100]

Personally, I think the angle between the King and Punk would've been better if Punk actually came out to the King's music and did commentary.

But as for the Miz, it was def bearable. I think it's Vince that tells Cole to be a dick around Lawler. What Vince fails to realize is that Heel Cole is annoying, and generally unbearable. Cole did a great job with Taz and JBL in the past.

But back to the Miz: If Lawler were to retire today, he is not the suitable replacement. Not by a long shot. His commentary was fresh. That's all I can say based on his first show as commentator.

 

[Ethelion]

Did The Miz do a good job as an announcer? Why or why not?

I couldn't post my comment this afternoon since I was at work. But after going home and watching him do commentary on WWE.com, I can safely say that The Miz did an AWESOME job as an announcer (yeah, pun intended). While being the face to Michael Cole's heel, he also did his best to be impartial, exceptionally selling terms like Rey Mysterio "not missing a beat", "defeating the World Heavyweight Champion" in Sheamus and the "anything goes" concept of the Falls Count Anywhere Match, despite being a heel himself. But hey, Jerry Lawler was still face when wrestling part-time, even though he was a heel commentator when he was paired up with JR.

The only problem I see with Miz's commentary skills is that he's also playing the color commentator role like his partner Cole. He IS the wrestler after all, so I'd have him do play-by-play instead to further balance the announcing teamwork. With his time in the ring as the United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, World Tag Team Champion, WWE Champion AND the current Intercontinental Champion, surely he could mention even the most basic of wrestling moves with ease, right? Besides, you have to admit that he's at least decent in the ring.

If only he could call the moves...

 

[Uncle Sam]

Like a sixteen-year-old in a brothel, he seemed to get more comfortable as the evening went on. When he first put on the headset, he seemed a bit less than confident and a bit awkward.

The Miz isn't exactly my cup of tea but I found that he improved as the night went on. He made wrestlers seem dangerous, titles seem important and sold the big moments well. Extra kudos for the enthusiasm.

Congratulations, Miz, you've filled out my check list.

 

[braylix]

when Miz came out it was oh great, and when he took over as commentator we almost changed the channel, but as the night progressed, I was impressed with his commentating, even shutting up Micheal Cole, in some ways it reminded me of Vince and Jessy and Bobby and Gorilla, and i see a face turn for the Miz, and hopefully a Push(and i cant stand the Miz) but they got potentiol for some great feuds, I look for shaemus to lose the title to dolph in the near future, and them setting up shemus vs punk this gives Miz the opprtunity to face ziggler for the title

 

[Ryan1025]

You could tell he was nervous, but overall I enjoyed his work. I think he has real potential to be a great commentator, and was far better than Jerry has been in years.

 

[keehlnate]

I gave him a below average mark as a commentator. I don't know if he is just nervous because it is his first but for me he did not do a great job. He doesn't speak too much, unlike when he is on his microphone. I believe there was a time (the Cena-Del Rio match) where Cole does all the talking for about 5 minutes or so. He should speak more, I mean he is The Miz, but he really is a different guy on the commentary. So I gave him a failing mark.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Calm down, it was one night. Like Punk and his Punkisms on commentary before him Miz did a great job and brought some entertainment and insight where it was needed but it was just one night. Give him a month and I assume most people here will turn on him and start calling him repetitive and annoying.

His argument with Layla made me think they are sleeping together in real life.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

The Miz is one of my favorite wrestling personalities, period. So suffice to say, I loved having him such a big part of the show as a commentator, and it shows he has a future outside of the ring. Love him or hate him, outside of the big names like Punk and Cena, few have done as much to build and develop his own personal brand in the WWE as The Miz. Chris Jericho built the blueprint, and Zack Ryder worked to get himself over as the first true adopter of the social media craze, but The Miz has built himself as an indispensable multi-media maven.

That said, I loved his commentary for a few reasons. First, he added his own pro-wrestling history knowledge to his commentary. I didn't feel like I as listening to a man simply regurgitate what VKM was shouting into a headset. When Cole mentioned Zack Ryder's Internet Title, Miz smartly put Ryder over by reminding us that The Million Dollar Man created his own title as well, and that worked out.

Miz also smartly put Rey Mysterio over by mentioning that Miz was the first to really get a series of matches with Rey after his injury return, and said "trust me when I tell you, he hasn't lost a step." Miz came off as the cocky heel, but still put the babyfaces over on commentary, which is a hallmark to his knowledge and business acumen.

 

[JaylisJayP]

I actually thought he was pretty bland and boring, and it seemed he was uncomfortable with timing his comments around the action and Cole talking. It seems anytime they even hint at making someone a face, they have to become this stale, boring character before they even get off the ground.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I liked seeing Miz in the role of an announcer. His biggest strength has always been his promos and although he did seem a little nervous he was far better than Lawler has been in a long time. Part of the problem might have been that he was paired up with Michael Cole. BOTH of them are annoying heels. Had he been working with Josh Matthews it may have worked out even better. A heel/heel announcing team is unlikely to work and the better teams have often been a face/heel combination. Cole & JBL worked due to Cole being a face at the time to respond to JBL supporting the heels, for example.

If Miz wants to stick around in some way after his in-ring career ends, which will likely not be for a VERY long time, he would have a whole new chapter awaiting him as an announcer. Miz could be the best heel announcer since JBL if he took on the role on a more permanent basis. It won't happen for quite a while though, they should use him as an in-ring worker while they still can. I enjoyed it though, it showed not only that Miz can potentially be an announcer someday but also that the commentary is better without Lawler. I'd like to see more Miz announcing in the future somewhere down the line.

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

The Miz will be a great commentator when his career is over. I don't want him going on commentary full time until he's finished wrestling because I enjoy his ring work too much.

But I was blown away with how well he did. I loved he used examples from himself to "explain" why people were doing what their doing. Like when he would say "Well,when I was WWE champion..." or "I've faced him before and you have...". Something I wish Jerry Lawler would do being that he was a former wrestler also. I don't even remember JBL doing that.

 

[IHW]

I think Miz did a great job. Everything was good, except the argument with Layla. That was to much. He did play a great commentator though.

The real surprise for me was Cole. He seemed to be more on the Face side of things last night. This time last year, he was all over the Miz. Good thing he has settled down. Commentary has been hectic as of late on both Raw and SD. Cole is the only stable one the past few weeks. I hope we can get back on track soon.

 

[SacredMesa]

I normally can't stand the Miz but I will admit to enjoying his commentary. Even if it was only because it was fresh I still think he did a good job with his delivery and some of his interactions with Cole. He handled the matches very well I felt and was reasonably impartial about it between super stars. While it might get old over time I could see The Miz doing commentary here or there, or perhaps even pulling and Rock and grabbing the head set to do his own commentary mid match.

 

[IT Factor]

I throughly enjoyed The Miz on commentary last night. Jerry Lawler hasn't been impressive as a color man for a long time now. The Miz came across as intelligent and funny at times[his arguing with Layla for example]. Or how about his refrences to Kane & Daniel Bryan? And for once, we actually had an announce partner who would comeback at Cole when he said something stupid. Cole usually gets the better of whomever is announcing with him and The Miz didn't let that happen. The only bad thing was at times, The Miz was talking too low and you couldn't hear what he was saying over entrance music[after wins] or different times when Cole was being loud. As the night went on, Miz got louder and more comfortable and I haven't enjoyed that kind of announcing since the days of CM Punk or JBL on commentary.

The Miz is showing more and more why he should not only be talking more, but should be in the main events. At the very least, he should be moved to Smackdown and made the World Champion, as I'm bored with the numerous Sheamus/Del Rio matches. Enough already. WWE needs to take notice of how they've been underrating The Miz and make him the main events once again.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I wouldn't be shocked if this was an "audition" of sorts for him for the vacant Smackdown role now Booker is the GM... He also wouldn't be the first "active" guy to move to commentary, as Honky Tonk Man did it before.

Would it be a backwards step for him though? Of course, he isn't hurt, and is IC champion, but I get the feeling his reign will end sooner rather than later and perhaps the announce table might give him a chance to move towards that face turn.

So if Jerry is now "hurt" who do we see next week? I'm hoping Regal but...

 

[TheLoneCharles]

I'm suprised how no one has really mentioned how quiet at times the Miz sounded when he actually spoke. I saw his headset and it could have been because the mouthpiece was positioned too far up. Or his live mic was being silenced at times which was a possibility.

I felt Miz was hit and miss last night, but considering it was his first time and his "hits" far outweighed the misses. The banter during the divas match seemed to have stole the show, and it was hilarious when Cole had to fight to get a word in.

Something I liked was how he put over Ryback as an indestructable monster and tried to offer his own insight on how to defeat Ryback. Found it interesting he said he can't go for more than 5 minutes and would out technical him. I lol'd when Miz said if the WWE was all about strength then the Big Show would have all the titles.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought Miz did pretty well, surprisingly. I don't think he was super crazy good or anything, but he did a good job. I was worried that Cole would spend most of his time hyping The Miz in the way that he used to back when he was WWE Champion but, thankfully, they didn't go that route. I'm also glad that they didn't have Cole out there bickering endlessly with Miz like he usually has been in the past with Lawler, Booker T or Josh Matthews. They didn't try to make any lame jokes, they didn't try to hog the spotlight in any way, they just called the action and did it in an informative way. For instance, Miz didn't run down any of the wrestlers out there, especially guys he's feuded with like John Cena or Daniel Bryan. He put them over actually.

I agree with those that've said that this might be viewed as an "audition" of sorts. Miz did well in my opinion and if they kept the general formula that he & Cole had last night, I could see them being an effective commentary team. While Miz is IC champ, it certainly looks as though his career as an active wrestler is heading downward. It wouldn't surprise me to see Miz drop the title at NOC before assuming a position as a commentator on possibly SmackDown!. I don't see him taking Jerry Lawler's spot on Raw, it's just not gonna happen unless they decide to go back to a three person commentary team for Raw.