Throwing Shade, Working Smart: The Miz Deserves Credit For Doing His Job

Wrestling is drastically different from the territory days of yore, there is no argument about that. A form that started on the road with the carnies evolved to sell out arenas all over the world for over a century. TV changed the game even more and the business adjusted accordingly.

Today, the in-ring style has changed as much as the production values due in large part to hardcore, a faster pace of a spot-heavy indie approach, and the playing up of entertainment value. Silly, kayfabe-killing (if there is life left in it) moves like Joey Ryan’s Penis Plex and Chuck Taylor’s grenade spot are what is getting over, and that meets with disdain from the old guard – Jim Cornette being the most outspoken of them all.

Jim and others (including Disco Inferno, of all people) added their two cents. They lament the obsolescence of psychology and agree working safer is a lost art. Connecting with people now has as much to do with wrestlers putting their bodies on the line as it does with a persona or if a guy can talk.

Work rate and match quality are high above any metric you can put on a wrestling product. But being able to take only a limited amount of punishment before a career is all said and done hasn’t changed. Injuries pile up on the whole these days more than they probably ever have.

But one person manages to circumvent all that and do the opposite. He relies on his charisma and keeps his moveset small, becoming a superstar and a top heel in the process. That person is The Miz, a poster boy for unlikely success if there ever was one.

When you take a look at his background, a former reality TV star not known for much else before WWE, you’d never predict he’d reach the pinnacle of the sport and main-event a WrestleMania or win a major title. Yet, here we are and he’s not only accomplished all that, but he’s also one of the longest reigning Intercontinental Champions of all time.

And he did it all without performing flippy divey stuff or wrestling clinics night in and night out. He didn’t come from the indies. Never has he seriously hurt anyone or himself, either. Miz is currently at the top of his game and is poised to remain that way for the foreseeable future.

That’s clear as day, but some -if not all- can’t, or refuse, to acknowledge it. Why? Because the people, spoiled by incredible spots and high-risk offense, have largely lost touch with the aspects of wrestling mentioned above that always sold the matches and the tickets.

For The Miz, the instance this problem is glaring is when he works with Daniel Bryan. The two are polar opposites: Bryan is everything Miz is not as a wrestler, Miz represents everything Daniel had to buck in order to make it to WWE. They are from two different worlds and naturally should not like each other. When they exchanged words, everybody was behind Bryan because he’s the underdog and indie darling who scratched and clawed. Miz looks like the guy who has everything handed to him.

Therein lies the point the detractors miss – it doesn’t take much to despise the Miz. What’s his secret? Simple, he is a consummate heel, one of the few left you can point to who can get heat. He serves a niche convincingly but is taken for granted. The irony is -perhaps in a case of who laughs last- Daniel’s in-ring future is doubtful due to his style while Miz still gets to go out there every week.

Miz works smarter so he can prolong his career. It’s a winning formula and he is doing everything right. So shouldn’t he be spared the rebukes? Shouldn’t he be seen as an archetype to lead the way? Someone keeping traditions alive? An answer to all those grievances, and prayers that the young talent will wise up?

Some indication exists that the pendulum is swinging back. Alexa Bliss is over among the women in large part because of her successful heel turn. Eli Drake is filling the void at the top of Global Force because he’s such a great talker, and doesn’t need to take risky bumps. Then there’s the likes of Cody (Rhodes) and Adam Cole, fine athletes who can place the crowd in the palm of their hand with just a few words. Moreover, all of them have championships to their name – currently or recently.

The Miz is a forerunner in this century to them. He deserves credit for keeping the heel who “works smart” by working crowds alive in the upper echelon of the industry. More and more, people are duplicating his results. And if the trend keeps up, he will have one word: awesome!