WWE: 5 Ways to Rejuvenate The Miz’s Stagnant Character

For nearly six straight years, The Miz was one of the most hated heels in all of the WWE. However, after floundering in the mid-card for the better part of last year, it was time for a change for The Awesome One.

In November 2012, Miz began to “organically” turn face by making friends out of his former foes in Kofi Kingston, Mick Foley and others. While his face turn was long overdue, his transition in becoming a fan favorite the last several months has not been well received by many members of the WWE Universe.

I, for one, have enjoyed The Miz as a face thus far, but that may be merely due to the fact that I was already a fan of his. I believe he has the potential to be a breakout babyface for the company, but it’s been mishandled in more ways than one since late last year.

From his lack of evolution as a character to not being featured in any meaningful feuds up to this point, there are a number of things that have made Miz’s face turn a forgettable one. However, there are also several things that can be done to correct that.

Give Him a Tag Team Partner

The most obvious way to hide The Miz’s weaknesses as a babyface is to give him a tag team partner. He aligned with a number of people during his days as a heel, including the likes of John Morrison, R-Truth, Chris Jericho and others.

While a Dirt Sheet duo reunion isn’t all that likely given the fact Morrison isn’t currently employed by WWE, reuniting Miz with either Truth or Alex Riley could be a possibility. Miz and Riley were an entertaining pairing for the first half of 2011, while Awesome Truth dominated the rest of the year in feuds with CM Punk, Triple H, John Cena and others.

Neither Truth or Riley are doing anything at the moment, so why not? Miz was involved in a number of fun tandems as a heel, so flipping the switch and having Miz and a partner from his past chase WWE Tag Team Champions The Shield as faces could be exactly what the division needs at the moment.

Move Into an Authority Role

The Miz was first featured on commentary in August 2012, where he did an exceptional job alongside Michael Cole. He starting commentating on WWE Main Event shortly thereafter and has been a regular on the Wednesday night program ever since.

The Awesome One has always been a great talker, so perhaps transitioning him into the role of an authority figure would be the best thing for him. Vickie Guerrero has been in charge of SmackDown and Raw countless times over the last six years, so Mr. McMahon appointing her as the new General Manager of the blue brand a few weeks back was a mind-boggling move to me.

That being said, Miz should be next in line to take charge of SmackDown, as he seems to work better on that show than he does on Raw nowadays. If not Friday nights, then Main Event would be another good platform for the former reality to be an authority figure for.

The Miz hosting the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view is the true test as to whether the former reality can truly take charge of a high profile event.

Chase the World Heavyweight Championship

Over the course of his career, The Miz has held almost every active title in the WWE today. From being a former five-time tag team champion to holding the WWE Championship on one occasion, Miz has seemingly worn every current championship around his waist at one point or another.

However, one title that has alluded him thus far has been the World Heavyweight Championship. Miz expressed his intentions of re-entering the world title picture earlier this year, so it’s only a matter of time before he’s put in contention for one of the two top-tier belts.

Some may argue that Miz did the best work of his WWE tenure during his reign as WWE Champion in 2011, so having him chase the World Heavyweight title could finally motivate his character for the first time in a great while. The Awesome One hasn’t had a memorable feud in years, but one of the primary reasons behind that is the fact that he hasn’t had any direction as of late.

Whether it be Alberto Del Rio, Christian or anyone else, there are a number of fresh feuds over the world title awaiting The Miz following SummerSlam.

Exploit His Bullying Story

When The Miz first got started in WWE, he was the victim of backstage hazing from various WWE Superstars, most notably JBL. Miz even stated in an interview at one point that he was kicked out of the locker room for eating a piece of chicken over someone else’s bag.

From 2010 to 2011, Miz referenced these infamous incidents several times as he quickly ascending to the top of the WWE. However, overcoming a common case of bullying didn’t make sense when he was a heel, merely due to the fact that he should be trying to garner heat and not sympathy.

However, now that he’s a face, there’s no better time than the present to start using his past as a boost to get himself over with the fans. It’s a simple story that many members of the WWE Universe can relate to, so it’s mind boggling to me as to why he hasn’t already started bringing his underdog story back up again.

Bring Back Maryse

In the summer of 2009, The Miz attempted to impress Maryse on several occasions during his feud with John Cena, but to no avail. The two crossed paths many months later on the premiere edition of Raw in 2010, where Miz told Maryse that he just might give her a chance if she won the Divas Championship tournament (which she did about a month later).

Fast forward three years later, Miz and Maryse are a currently couple outside of the ring and have been engaged since February. It’s unfortunate that Maryse left the WWE in November 2011, as I strongly believe that those two would have made for the perfect pairing on television given how similar their on-air personalities were.

However, what if Maryse was to return to the company at some point down the line? She departed WWE on good terms, so it’s certainly not out of the question.

I understand that Maryse is now exploring other interesting outside of wrestling, but she wouldn’t even need to wrestle if she were to make a comeback to the company. While Maryse never worked as a face during her WWE tenure, she might be exactly what Miz needs in order to get over as a fan favorite with the audience.

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