Mizerable Timing: Analyzing The Miz's Face Turn

By Sadia Shahid

It was the starting of the November 5th, 2012 edition of Raw that got the WWE Universe talking. An unexpected “I quit” came from The Miz regarding his status as a member of Team Punk for Survivor Series (Nov. 18th, 2012). This was the first step we saw from WWE in an effort to turn Miz babyface. Later in his match against Sheamus, no one actually cheered for him, but the ‘booing’ factor was just low enough to get noticed, at least by me. Miz being a longtime heel, it was obvious turning him face won’t be an easy task. It all came down to Survivor Series where majority had speculated he will remain heel, but eventually came to know this could last a while. 

Week after week, strong segments of Miz Tv continue to make and stir controversy, especially by going up against the WWE Champion CM Punk, the current ultimate heel in my opinion. There was also hype during the minor Ziggler/Miz feud. Shame it wasn’t persuaded in the long run. The starting point of this face turn was interesting as for two weeks WWE shows stayed in Cleveland, Miz’s hometown, so things went smoothly. Afterwords, everything went downhill from there. Miz being a former WWE Champion with the longest title reign in 2011 (160 days), wasn’t given worthy opponents, and came to the point where Miz TV, no matter how entertaining, was the only thing keeping him in the ring.

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This was such a blow to Miz’s wrestling career in my opinion. He had the potential to be a World Heavyweight Champion going up against his former tag partner, The Big Show, at that time. It’s undeniable that Miz fully handles WWE media front. Every Monday and Friday morning we see Miz promoting WWE shows, and yet rarely see him in them. With a movie coming this march (The Marine 3: Homefront), and a Telefilm in production, it’s sad to say and realize we won’t be seeing much of Miz’s wrestling skills anytime soon. Sure, we can see minor feuds along the way, but I would really appreciate a solid one. Rumor has it that by WrestleMania 29, Dolph Ziggler may be World Heavyweight Champion and will be feuding with The Miz. Since Miz has a slim chance of winning the upcoming Royal Rumble this Sunday, I would like this rumor to be true. 

Overall, this face turn had disastrous timing. Miz went from a Triple Crown winner to a mid-carder. Currently feuding with Antonio Cesaro, the U.S Champion, it’s pretty obvious Miz won’t win the title, and quite frankly, he shouldn’t win at all, but using him for making another superstar more credible? Miz deserves better. WWE needs to make Miz more relevant in the coming five months or I honestly believe people will eventually forget The Awesome One, which is a tragedy. Miz has given WWE matches like Miz vs. John Morrison (Jan. 4th,2010), Miz vs. John Cena (WrestleMania 27), and many more. At least make him relevant enough so his movie, which will probably go straight to DVD, may flourish a little.