LogFAQs > #901321233

#67 - The Miz Nominated by: Lopen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d4SLA4HYp0" data-time="

Despite being ranked very highly, I can already tell that I'm going to have to defend my position on the Miz to a board of unadultered fans of the guy. Remember that his early runs came at a time in which I wasn't watching wrestling; I don't have the same sense of his improvement as others. What the Miz is, to me, is a representation of everything that I don't like about WWE taken to the best possible conclusion. His promo work can reach the top echelon of WWE work, but he is a very staged character. The moments of the Miz on the mic I like the best come from Talking Smack. He CAN be real. I CAN suspend my disbelief for the guy in a way I cannot for other WWE talent. But, too often, I am forced to witness the words of a non-wrestling writer phoning in a monologue instead of the Miz's pure and raw emotion. When the Miz, for example, cut that phenomenal promo on Daniel Bryan, he was at his peak. But after a year of Miz on RAW, I lost all of my goodwill for Miz as he sank back into mediocre storylines with promos that didn't ring true.

Similarly, Miz's wrestling style is some of the best of the pure WWE practice of safe in-ring work. When he's ready to go, he's definitely in the top ten! Top ten percent of the guys in the company. Put him in the ring with a Cesaro or a Ziggler or a Zayn and I guarantee you he will deliver a great match. But it will likely not inspire me the way an Ishii does with his brutal realism or a Ricochet does with his mind-blowing acrobatics. Miz is a safe choice, and I like to play it risky. I want to feel something new and witness something original. Miz is one of the best possible midcarders you could ever have. But he doesn't elicit a strong reaction from me, and almost everyone else above him on this list does.
---

"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer