This Wrestler Retrospect is a little different from the previous ones. Most of my Wrestler Retrospect is my impressions of wrestlers that I seemingly liked from the beginning or maybe not cared for but quickly grew to love. This is not the case with this one. The wrestler featured in this Wrestler Retrospect has been a long drawn out process of becoming a fan. There have been highs and lows with my feelings toward this wrestler, but eventually I’ve come around to not only appreciating his work but I can actually now say that I’m a fan of The Miz.
Like I said I did not initially like The Miz. Well, his character at least. Even from the beginning I try not to judge a wrestler personally. They’re playing a role and I’ve come to find are most likely not who they portray. I think that's a forgettable thing in today’s world of being a wrestling fan.
Like most wrestling heels he was brash and confident, but his most irritating quality was he had a big mouth. At first he was the Chick Magnet. Boasting almost endlessly about how great he was and how he could get any girl. Not to mention his look. He had a faux hawk, which at the time really bugged me. He dressed in a t-shirt and shorts with fingerless gloves. He looked like a douche. Which, come to find out, was the intent all along. He dressed in a way to make you hate him. I thought it was brilliant when I found out, but at the time it was tiring to watch him each week.
It wasn’t until he created a tag team with John Morrison that a slight change occurred. During this time they created a YouTube show called The Dirt Sheet. Although The Miz really didn’t change his personality any, the segments that the two created were very entertaining and had me tuning in each week to see what they were going to do next. So even though I still didn’t like The Miz, I realized the entertainment value in him.
It quickly faded when the tag team ended. There was a falling out and Miz declared himself the Shawn Michaels of the group. He’d go on to be the star while John Morrison, the Marty Jennety, (If you don’t know what I’m talking about go look up the Rockers.) and would fade into obscurity. With the talent that John Morrison had, it was infuriating to think that Miz would become the bigger star. The most infuriating part was that he would prove himself right. In WWE anyway. Miz would go on to become the Money in the Bank briefcase winner and eventually, and successfully, cash it in and become WWE champion. While Morrison, not really fading into obscurity by any means, would leave the company and do other things in other companies. It made me hate The Miz again and that much more.
There were a lot of these ups and downs throughout the Miz’s career for me. I’d start to like him, then I’d hate him again. He’d start to endear himself to me and then do something that would make me wish he’d crawl under a rock and never be seen again. I soon came to realize that was the point. He wanted you to never fully like him. That’s what being a heel is about and it was Miz that helped to teach me that.
Whether it was feuding with a then retired Daniel Bryan and stealing some of his moveset or showboating about a Hollywood career that boasted more straight to video releases than box office weekends it was infuriating to watch, but all part of his plan and I was realizing how brilliant it was.
It wasn’t until I started watching clips of Miz and Mrs., a reality show showcasing The Miz and his wife Maryse, that I realized what kind of person he actually was. The clips cracked me up because I was watching a guy that was a slight bit (in a humorous way) like his in ring persona, get into some shenanigans and be hilarious. I talked my wife, with little prompting, into watching it. We fell in love with it. I found that The Miz was a regular guy, not unlike myself. I mean he was rich and lived in a fancy house, but he was basically my same mentality. I find that when I learn how a person really is from the character they portray I can’t really totally hate them.
I think Miz is brilliant in that he’s very in tune with what it means to be a heel wrestler. I think that’s why he has had the staying power in wrestling that he’s had. He’s been around for more than a decade and even though he hasn’t been the Heavyweight champion more than two times, he just had his second reign, he’s held other titles and continues to evolve his heel persona to make you continue to hate him in the ring. On the surface you may not think he’s all that great, I know I didn’t, but I’ve come to realize that the Miz is one of the smartest wrestlers out there. He has his finger on what it takes to stay relevant and keep himself in the spotlight. He’s also proven that he doesn’t need to be the Heavyweight champion to do that although I’m glad he was able to capture again. He deserves it.
Comments
Post a Comment