The Miz' face turn

[The_Awesome_One]

Okay, simple question, How do you think Miz is going as a face now after about 5 months or so?

I think it started out okay, then went really bad, now he seems to be getting over quite a bit. There's normally 'Let's go Miz' or 'Miz is awesome' chants throughout his matches now. He seems to get one of the best pops at house shows according to reports and he doesn't seem to tell many stupid jokes now. I think he's finally starting to get the hang of being a face and the feud with Antonio Cesaro has really hoped him and Cesaro get over in their respective roles.

What are your opinions on Miz's faceturn at the moment?
Is he getting over?
Do you see him being a main eventer anytime soon or will he be like Jericho, an upper mid carder who goes to the main event scene when he is needed?

 

[Marshyishere]

I have always been a massive fan of the miz, hoping for a face turn as I enjoy his mic skills and he's not too bad in the ring also.

Slowly the crowd is starting to get behind him, probably due to the fact that he has dropped the smugness from his act. Also think that he needs to use the "Really?" chant more often, the crowd loves it.

 

[MCMG]

I have been a fan of the Miz for a while. It was roughly when he won MITB when I really started to think he has ability. I was one of those guys who thought John Morrison would be the "Shawn Michaels". Wow, was I wrong.

Being heel worked well for him because he portrays arrogance very very well. I kinda think he should go back. As a face he can't brag about beating Cena at the main event of a WreslteMania. He can't mention how he is undefeated at WM. He suits being heel better.

However, as a face he is doing a decent job. The Flair thing disappeared which didn't help. Ric Flair would certainly aid his development and get him over. Everyone loves Ric Flair. I can't really tell if the crowd are liking him - its probably mixed. I see him as a main-eventer. He can put on great matches and is terrific on the mic.

His only problem is the WWE's problem. There are too many good faces. A few years ago it was the complete opposite. Not enough faces too many heels. Right now The Miz ranks behind Cena,Orton, Sheamus, Del Rio and arguably Ryback. (Not including part-times like Jericho,HHH,Taker and the Rock). This being said, I think he is a better all-round option than Ryback and Del Rio. When the four who are only here for Mania leave it puts The Miz fourth. How I see it is that this leaves The Miz fighting with Orton for the main face in terms of the WHC. Not a bad place for someone who could have been released 5/6 years ago.

 

[Marshyishere]

I have been a fan of the Miz for a while. It was roughly when he won MITB when I really started to think he has ability. I was one of those guys who thought John Morrison would be the "Shawn Michaels". Wow, was I wrong.

Being heel worked well for him because he portrays arrogance very very well. I kinda think he should go back. As a face he can't brag about beating Cena at the main event of a WreslteMania. He can't mention how he is undefeated at WM. He suits being heel better.

However, as a face he is doing a decent job. The Flair thing disappeared which didn't help. Ric Flair would certainly aid his development and get him over. Everyone loves Ric Flair. I can't really tell if the crowd are liking him - its probably mixed. I see him as a main-eventer. He can put on great matches and is terrific on the mic.

His only problem is the WWE's problem. There are too many good faces. A few years ago it was the complete opposite. Not enough faces too many heels. Right now The Miz ranks behind Cena,Orton, Sheamus, Del Rio and arguably Ryback. (Not including part-times like Jericho,HHH,Taker and the Rock). This being said, I think he is a better all-round option than Ryback and Del Rio. When the four who are only here for Mania leave it puts The Miz fourth. How I see it is that this leaves The Miz fighting with Orton for the main face in terms of the WHC. Not a bad place for someone who could have been released 5/6 years ago.

While I agree, I also think the majority of faces at the moment are not completely over...this may be because there is too many? or maybe they just aren't doing a good enough job. I could easily see Orton, Sheamus or Ryback taking a heel turn...it would be easy for all of them and would be fresh as all of these guys have been a face for at least the past year or so.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought Miz was a lot of fun as a heel and got a lot of unjustified hate. More often than not, he'd get criticized by the IWC for doing things that heels are supposed to do, such as cheating to win matches or retain championships. His in-ring ability was also, in my view, unfairly criticized. He's not the greatest in the world or anything, but he's certainly not the dismal failure some haters try to make him out to be.

I wasn't wild about Miz's face turn, but I do think he's starting to come along. To me at least, it feels fresh after seeing him go as far as he could with his heel character. I'm still not crazy about certain aspects of his face turn. My biggest complaint revolves around Miz still being the same smarmy bastard as a face that he was as a heel. He comes off as a cocky, condescending asshole and it's just plain hard to like guys like that. At the same time though, he's more aggressive than he's been in a very long time and leaving behind the cowardly aspects of his heel character does give him a fresh feel to me, as I alluded to earlier.

 

[Suviluer]

I have always been pro-Miz since he was doing the diva search, i liked him, now I'm a big fan and althou i liked the turn and like him, technically speaking, it hasn't been good, sure i enjoy his segments... but the forced jokes and things like that "pink and stink"!? Really? really? really!? really?!... "walrus" was funny, but i mean its been a lot of miss and only a few hits. But recently you hear the people cheer and chants and that plus the fact that even when he was a heel people loved to chant "Awesome" and "Really".... truthfully speaking i think he is one of very very very few, who try to come up with catch phrases, but that's a different topic all together.

All in all, He is getting better as a face, and with his marketability and appeal it won't be long till he's completely over, and hopefully having some meaningful feuds!

 

[KettleFace]

My god I hate it. He really doesn't have the gimmick or persona of a face at all, and he just comes across as so unnatural in the role. The Miz has been on a downward spiral for the last 12-18 months, and for me personally this face turn has done nothing to help him.

His matches with Cesaro have been alright, but I pray that they don't give him the title at Mania. Cesaro deserves to hold on to the belt and Miz just does absolutely nothing to entertain me. I'm not knocking his in-ring skills or his ability on the mic (he's probably one of the strongest mic workers in the company), but everything about him just screams "heel".

 

[HBKistheHOF]

The only thing Miz changed to become a face is that he pretends to like people now. He is still the same arrogant, annoying, self-centered, whiny character he was before, except he smiles more. Besides a very small pop at shows from the general crowd, the only thing truly defining Miz as a face are threads like this one. Between his reaction & his fanfare The Miz SHOULD really be a tweener in my eyes & would work much better as one. But his schtick of just trying to being a really goody-two-shoes version of his old character got old REAL fast & if it wasn't for his feud with Cesaro being really good(mostly because of Cesaro), I don't think I could care less for The Miz right now.

I've never like the Miz & I never will but atleast when he returned & became IC champ he had a solid new look that he portrayed well, he was getting over as a solid mid-card heel & he was having the best matches of his career. He was in the perfect spot that I believe he should stay in & it was the only run of The Miz I ever really was interested in & wanted to see him on TV with regularly. Now it's back to him just taking up spots from other talents or just filling a spot.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I can't get into Miz as a face. He plays the same character he did as a heel, but insults heels instead of faces, there was really no point to the turn. His version of the Figure Four Leglock is an insult to the memory of Buddy Rogers, it looks absolutely terrible. He needs to turn heel again, ASAP.

 

[SacredMesa]

Frankly I've always thought Miz was a hack, even as a heel. I always said people didn't boo him because he was over as a heel they booed him because they didn't want to see him. He's boring be it in the ring or on the mic, and that has not changed as a face, and IMO turning him faced exposed him. It's exposed him to the fact that people are simply not behind him, and haven't been. It's explosed him to the fact that his character simply doesn't connect to the audience. It's explosed the fact that he simply isn't over and never has been, he should of never been WWE champion, should of never headlined wrestlemania, and until he drasticly improves he shouldn't be hold any title in the company until then.

Long story short this face run was a disaster for the Miz.

 

[The Eighties]

I don't think he works as a face, for starters he has the frat boy rapist look and is just a natural heat magnet. Add to that his ring work, which is way better suited to being a heel and this face turn is a waste of time.

To me Miz is a modern day Honky Tonk Man, a natural heat getter with mid card talent who makes for a good stepping stone heel for mid card faces with main event potential.

 

[Wolowitz]

was better as a heel IMO. Seems like he tries too hard as a face, and the crowd knows it which makes it hard for him to get over. He just seemed more comfortable being an arrogant jerk/heel.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Miz's face turn has sucked so far. He needs to go back to being a heel unless they are going to do something different for his character. The big problem is that he is still acting exactly like his heel persona did, only he is now being sarcastic toward heels rather than faces. It's not that it's a bad character, it's just akward as a face. This needs to be a villainous character, it worked as a heel. Sometimes you try things in life, much like this face turn, and they do not work out. They have two directions they can go in from here that can benefit Miz. Turn him heel again, or keep him face and change up the character a little. Keeping him face without changing anything is not going to do him any favors.

I give WWE credit for trying, but they need to turn him back unless they plan on changing his character somehow. Alberto's face turn worked due to his character being different now. A face whining about his destiny all the time? That wouldn't work. He stood up to Big Show and got the crowd behind him. Miz needs more than simply switching the target of his sarcasm to heels as opposed to the faces. He is better suited to be a heel anyhow, he's annoying, hardly "awesome", and can get the fans to hate him. They tried and it has not worked out. I say turn him heel again. That will get him back into the world title scene much faster simply due to how well it worked, and this is coming from someone who dislikes The Miz.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The only thing Miz changed to become a face is that he pretends to like people now. He is still the same arrogant, annoying, self-centered, whiny character he was before, except he smiles more.

Well put, although I'm enjoying his face turn more than most folks; I think he was long overdue for one. But you're right; he's essentially the same character he was when bad.....it's just that he now fights on the side of truth and justice (sort of). But when he comes strutting down the ramp, we still see that same "I'm Awesome, You're Not" banner on the Titan-tron and get the feeling he could turn on anyone at any moment.

In bygone days, wrestlers were good or bad... there seemingly was no in-between. If a heel performer had a "change of heart" and became a good guy, all his evil ways suddenly disappeared and he started wrestling strictly within the rules. In my memory, the first to change that approach was Randy Savage, who wrestled as a good guy essentially the same as when he was the most evil thing going. Yes, he was less likely to hang a Ricky Steamboat with the ring ropes, but he otherwise used the same shortcuts as before. After him, a type of wrestler emerged who could change his ways more easily because he didn't necessarily have to alter his in-ring style to do it. From this, sprung characters like The Miz, who morphed from an unsavory character to a hero without really changing his personality.

No, I don't think Miz is being geared for a main event push; I think management likes him doing what he's doing; giving great battles to the Antonio Cesaro's of the world, yet coming up just short.....and being a talking head in between matches.

But I like him as a face; definitely so. As I've been saying for a long time on this forum, when anyone expresses a "should he be good or bad?" opinion, they seem to prefer everybody as a heel (except for John Cena, who is a law unto himself). But face it, someone has to play the face, lest these bad guys have no one to use their evil tactics against.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

I could be way off base here but I get the feeling that they are trying to turn The Miz into a Rowdy Roddy Piper type of character. Someone who can maintain a tough badass type of persona yet still give the crowd a babyface protagonist at the same time. The biggest hiccup in his face turn has been his lack of consistent insults. When you're a heel, people often boo you just because they're supposed to. And every little thing you say, stingingly offensive or lame, has a high chance to get booed. But when you're a face character and you're insulting heels, if your insults are lame or "miss", you hear crickets.

I think this face run in a way has basically revealed to many people what they hadn't accepted all along: The Miz, while comfortable on the microphone, his lines are usually ineffective.

 

[Dirk]

It's a matter of taste. It's like being either a leg-man or a boob-guy (or girl). With Miz, his supporters enjoy his skills on the stick (microphone, not ******io) and his detractors don't like watching him wrestle.

I'm an in-ring guy, I really don't give half a crap about segments like MizTV. I hated the Miz as a heel and now hate him as a face, but I suppose there are worse guys. I have to give Miz props on his much-improved style of wrestling, though.

If he's getting a good reaction, then power to him. I'm glad he's kept much of his character and not going cold turkey on his worse traits. He was on reality tv, so there IS the off chance that he really is such an insufferable tool, but that's unlikely.

 

[ThePrawnCurry]

I really have not bought into the face turn myself

it feels a bit programmed, without conviction

the heel phase made whole lot more sense - doing whatever it took to get/hold the gold

without the belt in sight Miz has been far from his Awesome best

 

[flawd101]

the problem is the face turn just happened. there was no real set up. it occured so close to the ADR turn so it was just forced. wwe is heel heavy heavy at the moment. they just needed a face. miz was doing literally nothing so i understand why they did it.
i like the flair angle. ive always been a fan of the figure four. glad to see it back in the wwe!

 

[H33LTurn]

I wasnt much of a fan of it at first, seeing as though Miz is one of those "natural heels", I didnt think it would take off the way it did. Adding Ric Flair into the mix just spiced things up for his face turn and hopefully we'll be seeing more of Flair as this face turn continues. In five months I see him contending for one of the major titles, since by then it'll be August and WWE would be getting reading for its autumn programming. The absence of The Rock also opens up some room for a Miz title run.